Parents

Went to Shanghai first of all - it was pretty rubbish until we got to the wealthy part of town then it was a beast.

 The Bund was awesome - it was a little like being back in the UK. On one side of this winding river was some quite colonial looking buildings which could have been in the UK and on the other side was a collection of massive skyscrapers. One of them was not lit up but towered over the others. I read on Wikipedia that this one is going to be finished sometime next year and is going to be the second tallest building in the World. I really want to see the Burj Khalifa now as I expect that would be awesome.

 I've been up to quite a bit lately and I'l try and remember it all on here. One of the first things that happened was going to Shanghai - it was an awesome time and the kids did really well and were very well behaved.

 When I came back I was straight back into it as I volunteered to give a talk to parents about the KS1 maths curriculum - was pretty nervous but it went well.

 After all the craziness, it was lovely to see mum and Gil come over to see us. We had a wonderful time and managed to do so many things. Mum wants an itinery so (to the best of my memory here it is: Met at the airport then took them for dinner at Pelita's. Was very proud of Gil as it turned out to be pretty spicy, but he powered through it. We all enjoyed the most sugary mango juices I've ever had. We had some awesome mojitos at Souled out too.

Oh and on the way to the airport, we got a lift from a friend. It was going pretty well until the Sat nav took us down some random road. The road got smaller and smaller till it was a lane and then it told us to go straight on but there was a massive water pipe going over the road. Luckily the car was small enough and I drove and managed to sneak it under. Some friendly locals then showed us the way to the airport and we had an awkward moment as we tried to give them some money for helping us and they refused.

This was probably the day mum and Gil first discovered La Casa, a bar downstairs. Next day we went out to Fatboys burgers for a nice dinner. Gil got a Malt Stout milkshake and it was surprisingly good! I think we also went for a lush cocktail at Bens.

 On Friday we went to Chef low after school. It's a lovely little Chinese restaurant and we went with friends. We meant to order a few small dishes each for one person, but I think they brought us small dishes for 3 people as the whole table filled with our food. The people we were out with couldn't believe how much we had ordered, but in fairness to us, we polished it off nicely!

On Saturday, we went to town and mum bought some lovely shirts from Brickfields. Gil and I got a lesson all about Saris and a lot of other things, none of which I remember. The jetlag and heat stroke caught up with them a bit and we had to dive into a nearby story to grab some water.

 On Sunday we went to town again but this time went to Jalan Alor. We had a lovely dinner in one of the restaurants and again over ordered. Still managed to eat it though!

On Monday Hannah and I went out and bought a scooter. It's a red beast but we don't get it for a while because the current owner needs to be in town on a week day to sign it over to us. In the mean time the store gave us the "work bike" - a beaten up old one to ride around on. Apart from leaving the keys in the ignition when we went to go shopping (a security guard gave them to us when we came out of the shop), it has been really fun. We've gone loads of places on it and the freedom is amazing. The only problem is parking - where we park it in our condo, is next to 2 Ducatis, a Harley and a Vespa. I feel as if we bring the whole tone of the place down but oh well.

When we came back we went to Petaling street to look for bargains but every stall pretty much sells the same thing: T shirts, perfume, bags, jeans, headphones. We didn't get anything but had a lovely Sour Plum and Lime juice - a favourite of ours!

On Tuesday and Wednesday mum, Gil and I went to Malaka. We were only there a night but managed to cram a lot in. We saw a thunderstorm, got some dim sum, mum bought some street art. The highlight though was a bar we went to. The guy let some people do karaoke and he played piano or guitar to accompany. As we'd all had a few beers, with a little encouragement Gil got up and sang a wonderful song. I followed afterwards and then the bar was treated to all 3 of us blazing out the most ridiculous rendition of a Simon and Garfunkle song ever! On the way home, Gil stumbled a hotel to ask for water but was turned away by the guards. Turned out our hostel was only next door. We chose the night the roads were being re-done too so between 2am and 8am there was beeping, drilling and shouting outside mums window!

On Friday was my Birthday and we went to a lovely restaurant called Fuego. We had the most amazing food and cocktails there - and it overlooked the Petronas Towers! Hannah quickly booked it for her birthday next month it was so good! I think it was probably one of the best birthdays ever - I really felt as if I was enjoying the high life!

After that, I met up with a friend and we did a home made milkshake session. We got a ridiculous amount of chocolate bars and put them in a blender with a bit of cake, ice cream an milk. The results were amazing and we had loads of it. The only worry was when I got home my foot went numb and I worried I'd given myself diabetes. It's still here though so all is good - and we've planned round 2 soon!

For the rest of the time mum and Gil were here, we did animally things. We saw the aquarium, the bird park, butterfly park and went to Frim. All of these were amazing, I couldn't believe the range of butterflies and birds and Frim was incredible. The canopy walk feels so flimsy and is pretty high up, but I still managed to take a few photos! The bridges were made of ladders tied together with rope and with netting either side to hold on to. You have to stand a certain distance back from other people otherwise it might break. I worried if they had taken into account that I'm heavier than most people who live in Asia, but it went ok.

As mum and Gil left to go, the bar that they had been to pretty much every night came out to say goodbye. They brought out a slice of cake to say goodbye to them. They didn't bat an eye lid when Han and I went on holiday, but evidently mum and Gil had been their favourite customers. It was pretty awkward because we live there and they've never got us anything. Perhaps a few more free cake slices and I'd consider going a bit more.

After mum and Gil had gone, we were back in school. I managed to get myself a promotion! As of next Year I'll be maths subject leader which is awesome. It's a big job so I've been spending all my free time since reading maths education journals to try to regain some of the knowledge I had when I was at uni. Hopefully it will go ok!

We have the Viper Arena coming up which is a 7km run along with 12 different stations where you have to complete a task. It seems pretty tricky so we've been out running trying to get the fitness up. I also tried out some new hairstyles and found a shop with my name on it! Happy Days!