Re-Cap of a Visit by Chris

I never really did spend a few minutes documenting the fun we had with Chris. So, for the 9 people who read this blog, I think I'll delve into the week that was...

Let's rewind our watches, shall we? Way back on Saturday, Dec 2nd, we first found ourselves reunited w/ Chris in Singapore. We took a stroll through the park, where I suddenly found myself shorter than Cheryl.


We stopped for a bit to eat at this nice place known for its unique name.


During the actual Marathon on Sunday, I decided to stop and do my best "Riverdance" impression. What do you think? Do I pass?


There are things in Asia you just don't see anywhere else. We even found a tricked out McDonald's with a Skate-Thru lane:


What day wouldn't be complete without a nice warm bowl of Apolo Fish Head Curry? Not ours -- we dined for hours munching on the delicious goo.


Singaporeans DO like to celebrate Christmas. They just do it a bit differently than we'd see in the States. Count how many 5-star hotels YOU know that feature pink Christmas trees in the lobby...


The next weekend, back in Kuala Lumpur, we started the task of building our glorious gingerbread Petronas Twin Towers. Here, Ashley works on the foundation:


Brooke was SO excited to see her uncle that she tried to squeeze all the love right out of him...


We took Chris on a grand tour of the city. He loved our mobile grocery store as it drove into our neighborhood.


Yes, our neighborhood has monkeys. The things are actually pests because of the mess they make tearing through trash, but here is a friendly critter perched up in the tree:


Here we are in front of our real grocery store, "Ng Choon". Like it? It's just a TAD different than what you'd find in the "burbs" of the US.


Ashley collects more cookies for our glorious towers. The grocery aisles are a bit more crowded than what you'd might expect:


Of course we had to take Chris to see the actual Towers. Nice photo, eh?


Brooke shows off her BLUE hair:


The interior of KLCC features a huge six-story Christmas tree. Here is just a piece of it:


Fun with a digital camera and a timer...


A trip to an outdoor market. This is Petaling Street -- home of the everpresent bargain and far too many pirated DVD's...


Here I am buying some delicious minced pork. Only 2 Ringgit per slab. It's kind of like eating a combination of beef jerky, leather, Lucky Charms, and a puddle of honey all at once.


The boys dine on a breakfast of champions:


Quick picture of the girls' school. All hail the International School of Kuala Lumpur. Very tropical, very awesome, very much closed for winter break:


Escalator cruising. Nothing like it. You can even ride backwards....


Ashley had an orchestra concert at the local mall. Her cello kept slipping so she put the "stick" into her shoe. Now that's thinking, my friends...


For his birthday, we decided to take Chris out for a Thai-style massage. Here he is in his slick massage garb, all ready to be given "the treatment". Ask him just how it went... (maybe a BIT too painful... but in a good way.... kinda)


Had dinner at our favorite Hong Kong cafe. Tons of strange food combinations you'd never dream of. Here Chris stretches out his food...


Back to work on the towers, just check out the building materials. Yes, I looked up the actual architectural dimensions and made a drawing. Our towers are 1:400 scale models of the real thing.


Chris keeps the dream alive, moving like lightning with his patented icing application technique that re-wrote the book on efficient gingerbread homemaking...


Finally, success! Brooke provides some scale for the magnitude of the accomplishment. All that remains would be the details and color -- for later.


The Boncimino Twin Towers turned out to be about 1.12 meters tall, just a bit shorter than the 450 meter real ones. However, you can EAT ours. Can Petronas say that?


OK. Now, that this post has gone on far too long, I'll end here. Hope you enjoyed the pics. Which was your favorite? Which made you laugh? Which made you cry? C'mon we ALL can vote!!!

Happy Christmas.

greg