A few themes going on right now. The point of no return. Or cool George Bush's book: Decision Points.
Our goal when we started this trip was to go as far north as we could - hopefully to the border of Thailand. That area of the country is more mountainous and looked fun. But I also wanted to make it to church on Sunday. That left us with a tight window of 2 days to ride to the border and make it to Georgetown covering more distance than usual with hard terrain and we had rain in the forecast.
Long story short, we axed our plans to go to Thailand and chose an enjoyable, easier ride. Looking back, if we hadn't done the rest day in Singapore, or taken and extra day in KL, or just rode a bit more at the beginning of our trip we could have easily done it. Now I'm mad.
This used to be a water tower for the city but they decorated it up after it started to tilt.
Crossing a muddy river.
Holly had been wanting to eat some roti for days and we finally stopped at a shop that sold them on the side of the road. Very dense tortillas. They were all good.
One of the less desirable places to stop for lunch. Since it was New Year's Day a lot of places were closed and timing was just right where we couldn't find a park so we ate our lunch on the curb and later a laundromat.
Look at the Asian boy. He's the best ever.
This place was all neat. If you're in Ipoh go here.
Built (but unfinished) over 100 years ago by a British person with the last name of Kellie who was doing business in Malaysia.
He planned to construct an elevator in it for all 4 floors. It would have been Malaysia's first elevator.
I wish our exhibits in the States granted such freedom. But crooked lawyers and people who granted them power have ruined everything.
They like to play.
One of the many secret stair cases.
The Malaysian flag almost looks like an American one.
It rained on us right before we got here that gave everything a shimmering look.
See you can walk out to the edge without a care in the world.
Those mountains were calling my name!! That's what we were missing out since we changed plans. I have to come back here.
KFC!
Few mementos to remember our experience.
Nice sunrise greeted us this morning.
Finally a decent, clear river!
Almost every sign says awas which means danger. There was never any danger on the trip though.
Holly got us breakfast. Yum!
While stopping at the gas station we were swarmed with people asking us questions about our ride. This guy gave us durian and that other little yellow fruit in the yellow bag. It reminded me of lychee.
They love their eggs.
He likes to look.
A nice park under the largest tree in the whole world.
Relaxing.
Another decadent mezzanine to tempt us with. See how neat it is?
Our first real mountain pass. And right before this I got soaked by a truck that passed by at the opportune moment when there was a large puddle next to me. The water was so warm.
Another 2 1/2 days and these tires went out again! Fortunately, we got to the bike shop right as they were closing their doors.
The bike shop owner cut up some coconuts for us to enjoy. Now that's customer service!
They're ready to go.
I featured this on my IG but it bears worth repeating. I asked Holly if we had ketchup for the hot dogs and she put tomatoes on it...
The phone is one of their favorite toys to play with in the hotel.
We've made some pretty big gains before lunch the past few days. We either don't give the kids breakfast until we stop around 10AM or we give them a light breakfast before taking off then stop at noon for a large meal.
I'll keep this one short because time is limited. We're trying to make it to our goal.
Look, Holly is the best and puts treats in my bag when I'm not looking so I can indulge while riding.
When the Bean is asleep, the White Dragon will look over at her making sure she's not awake then reaches and grabs her toys. So funny 🤣
If we have more kids, I'll be doing something along these lines for future trips.
Grocery shopping and break time!
These Buddhist temples remind me of Taiwan.
Hey look, they didn't color this one.
The stoplights have timers on them telling you when to go and how much time you got left. Also, the green light flashes green before turning yellow. This should be incorporated everywhere.
This was a really hot day. We're exhausted. Holly's napping on the bench in the back.
A typical glimpse of a ride through a town.
A typical glimpse of a ride through the countryside.
Bean's helping me pay for the laundry.
Perfect shot with the sun lining up in the minaret.
I still don't know what these are but they're fun to look at.
This house was so neat to look at in person. Just look at the architecture.
This reminds me of the Clown Around Family book that Aunt Erin gave the kids.
It's tough dealing with a semi-potty trained toddler whether at home or on the road. Might as well as fun out and about instead of being stuck at home.
Holly noticed the threads showing on the trailer tires right as we pulled into town (they lasted 2 and 1/2 days!!!) . Thankfully this bike shop had new ones we could buy. Also, some bystanders admired us with the kids and gave us cold drinks and snacks.
She's been making it a habit to climb into bed like a queen.
This city (KL) is huge. So we're going to avoid biking through it. After going through Eternal Cities on the west coast of Taiwan two years ago it hasn't been the same riding through them anymore.
So the way I navigate during biking trips is I look about 50-70 miles in the direction of our course and search on Google Maps for places to stay (campsites or hotels, whatever is available or we're in the mood for) and other notable things to visit then I click the route button. I turn on avoid tolls and highways because the bike option isn't available in Malaysia (it was for Singapore though - not all countries have the bike option for routing including yours truly, Japan). We've been riding on some busy highways especially as we got closer to Kuala Lumpur. Even though we have the nice shoulder, it's noisy and we wanted something quieter. So I clicked on the walk option for routing. Now this *sometimes* works to give shorter routes as well as avoiding big roads. So I expected a terrific day.
That did not happen.
We did manage to get our quieter road but it was almost too quiet, where the road seemed very abandoned with potholes and animal poop all over. But every once in a while there was a motorcycle or car so that gave us hope that the road at least connected and wasn't a dead end. Because the last thing you want when taking a shortcut is finding out the road doesn't go through and then you have to backtrack...and backtracking on bikes, that effect is compounded.
Oh, I forgot to mention yesterday that the tires already wore out on the trailer already. Had them for only 6 days. I hate this.
I'm eating something that Holly got in the dead food court of the mall while the kids play in the arcade. Also, I'm soaked in sweat.
Oops.
Here's our shortcut.
Turned into dirt because there's actually a new development happening in this area. So I suppose at some point in life the roads will be improved.
Dead end!!! We could see the highway we needed to meet up with. 50 feet away. But a fence and river blocked us. I was so mad.
Now we're trying a second path to get around but lo and behold this was also a dead end. I was at my wit's end here and my bike got so muddy on top of that road. If it wasn't for the Bean singing "Called to Serve", I would have snapped.
These people were passing by and offered to guide us to a road that actually lead out to where we needed to go. A Tender Mercy from the Lord. They even gave me a chocolate milk drink. Note: this is a fake smile here because I was still so mad at all the lost time we accumulated because we needed to get to a certain destination in KL if we wanted it to pay dividends later. I'm one of those dad's that loses it when we get behind.
The gas stations are good here. You can air up your tires and use the water to wash off your equipment for free. Unlike the states where it's broken or you have to pay 75 cents for 3 minutes of use. We had so much mud on it
The mosques brightened my day.
Especially this metal-chrome one. Haven't seen this kind before.
lol
We splurged and got this nice skyrise to stay at for three nights about $250 total for you people that actually care about that stuff.
Another restaurant I have to go to in foreign countries is Domino's. This was a great big let down. One of the worst I've had.
Feeding the kids before Church!
At these train stations you pay for your ticket and get these plastic tokens to put in the thing.
Church was supposed to be in that big building on the left according to the map. When we got there it was just getting out and we told them we were only a half hour late. They said no you're an hour late. After chatting with the members for 15 minutes and eating delicious soup (break the fast?) we realized this isn't our church. They are Protestant! Could have fooled me. At least we know now that Heaven will consist of many denominations.
Bean made a friend at church.
I love this one. She wanted to wear my new sweatband.
Time for her first carousal ride!
Remember the restaurant in Seinfeld, Kenny Rodgers that I featured in a previous post? It's all good.
Love the economic differences.
He likes to play.
You know what time it is.
Good, unique chip flavors!
I snapped this pic of us swimming to all my Arizona friends and they said it's too cold to swim. Then I told them I'm in a tropical country and they got all quiet.
Ramayana Cave. Very colorful with many gods and goddess inside.
Our favorite fresh drink for less than a dollar.
Batu Caves! I like that word; it means rock. Look how huge that golden statue is.
We climbed up 100,000 colorful stairs. Also, some people were doing this barefoot. Sick.
Here's looking at it from the other angle.
Look at the colorful little carvings.
More stairs after you get into the cave!
The kids loved the monkeys.
He likes to look.
So intricate. We see these in various towns. Some Hindu shrine that I don't know what its purpose is though.
The best twin towers since 9/11. While KL was pretty modern and advanced, it's still developing like the rest of the country. It wasn't very walkable with a stroller at all. Also, their public transit could use better, more conspicuous signs.
Malaysia is way underrated I've been realizing. And there's still a whole other half of it on an island by Indonesia to visit for another time.
