Familylane: The travels of Su and Jay in Singapore and Malaysia

Just a few days ago on June 18 was the 1st Anniversary of the marriage of Su and Jay, which was spent in Singapore at the Holiday Inn and exploring Sentosa Island during the day. They had decided to tour parts of Asia which started with the visit to the homeland of Jay's parents ie Taiwan, then to be in Hainan island, the homeland of Su's grandparents with her Mom to join them there.

Finally they landed in Singapore on Father's Day and this post will cover the rest of their journey and experience in Singapore and Malaysia. There will be many get-togethers of family members on occasion of their visit as well as the leaving of Han for his mission on 27 June.

To Johore Bahru

As the the two younger boys would be away from home for youth conference in Singapore, a quick trip was planned to head out to Kuantan on the east coast of West Malaysia to visit for a few days. We went to pick up Han first from the couple, Elder and Sister Beard, in Johore Bahru where he had been attending some missionary meetings.

This road trip covering Singapore and Malaysia reminded me of our first trip together in June 2010 when Jay was still courting Su and followed us through 3 States in the US during our trip there for Fei's wedding.

To Kuantan

It would be a unique trip for Jay, trying all the new types of food in Malaysia for him....

...including meeting new relatives from our family like my brother's family in Kuantan

Jay deeply felt the generosity of my brother whom he calls 'Sar Pek' or 3rd uncle when he sacrificed the biggest/heaviest fish from his pond to be cooked for dinner as seen below :

Here is the cook of the restaurant who cooked the fish with his thumbs up, stating that such a fish known as Kelah would be charged about RM900 or more for the size that we ate.

Click the videos below to watch the children playing on the beach :

There was time to have some fun at the beach, children or adults!

Even the dog enjoys the water :

Here are our other 2 dogs enjoying the sea and the beach in Port Dickson quite a few years ago from this time of writing!

Back to Singapore

This photo walking into the IKEA store of Su with her husband Jay and Mom this June 2012 is compared to the photo below...

... where just over 5 years ago in Jan 2007, Su was just walking with Mom alone in the same store. This was when the base of the family first moved to Singapore as recorded here. We look forward to another comparison years down the road when Su returns again for a visit.

Walking on the famous Orchard Rd

Treated for lunch by Stake President Lai

They mustn't miss the Marina Sands Bay icon in the background!

They spend special time with Keshia Lai who performed well as head of the bride's maids back then at their wedding in Utah, to provide resistance to the approaching groom. You can see the photos and a video clip to review her excellent performance and aggression that created a lot of fun at the wedding!

Meeting Mom's family over dinner...

... and an after dinner treat of ice cream!

Home concert at Uncle Yen Wei's home who is away in Taiwan but could join in

Lunch with Dad's nephew and niece

Dinner after Han was set apart as a missionary before leaving to the airport

At the airport with Han to see him off before his flight to Manchester UK

The last 3 hours of Han's time in Singapore from being set apart as a missionary at the Church Stake Center in Singapore to catching his plane at Changi Airport is captured in pics found here.

Next to Kuala Lumpur

The tour of KL starts off on bicycle!

Covering the National Mosque

Merdeka Square and the old GPO

The Lake Gardens

At the old Railway Station

Lunch was to try the famous 'Yong Tau Foo' in Ampang town near where we used to live

We took the elevated highway from Ampang to drive into the basement car park of the KLCC where we could walk in the grounds of the park to have Jay take his first photos of the icon building of Malaysia.

We then made it quickly to the nearby KL tower to get a 360 degree view of the city at the observation deck.

Jay could take more pics of the KLCC Petronas twin towers from a higher elevation

Next to the Elephant Sanctuary in Kuala Gandah, Pahang

Driving in two cars to a remote area in the state of Pahang...

Jay feeding peanuts to a baby elephant...

... with Mom following suit to do the same!

From the remote jungle, we returned back to KL for dinner at the home of Dad's 4th brother...

...who treated us dinner again the next day at the Raintree club, going down memory lane for the family where several of the kids had learnt to swim at the club pool

Here they are the older kids reenacting the old days by the pool side in the club!

Sunday July 1st, a Family Home Evening with family and friends at Church

Was a real treat to see family members and many old friends of our family to share special moments with us in our family home evening that we organized :

Farewell to the boys going back to Singapore for school while their sister and husband continue their travel north with Mom and Dad.

Sadness in their hearts as it's the last time for a while before they will get to see each other again physically but they can always pull a funny face for a picture perfect moment!

On the way to Penang with stop-overs off the highway and Ipoh

Buying some local fruits for Jay to try.

Visiting the Toh family for Su to find our Lady Diana who has cared for her and all her sibblings in the 1st month after birth.....

... not forgetting taking care of their Mom too!

Dad was particularly happy to see Diana's parents, especially Papa Toh who is aging at 90 years of age, whom I had the privilege to share the gospel with in Ipoh when I was a missionary. That's over 30 years ago as recorded here

In Penang

Visiting my oldest Sister and sibling in my family who had a great birthday bash when she turned 70.

Every visitor to Penang must climb up the stairs of the Kek Lok Si temple....

... to see or feed the tortoises

... to walk through the Chinese Gardens

... to take photos with the beautiful architecture of the temples

...even a group photo

... a mother daughter photo in the symbolic oval entrance

... or climb up to the famous Pagoda temple with a panoramic view of George Town below

The view of George Town from the Kek Lok Si temple

At the Kek Lok Si temple, we found the statues of pioneer donors for the temple, one of which is of my great grand father named Tjong Yong-Hian. See our initial family history page here and many years later came a more elaborate page.

Many may have been to the Kek Lok Si temple but few would know of this special room where the statutes of all the major donors to the building of the temple are kept. The video below is a live recording of our adventure to trace our family tree to my Great Grand Father who was one of the donors to the temple :

Driving higher up the hill for a better view of Penang :

One could drive up to Kek Lok Si temple and a little higher to visit the Penang Dam

Here is Jay simulating Brigham Young when he first reached the Salt Lake valley to declare "This is the Place".

Jay from the tall pedestal also took this photo of George Town at a higher level than the KeK Lok Si temple seen slightly hidden by the trees below

More visitations with family members in Penang :

My oldest brother and wife happened to be in Penang from KL for us to visit

Andrew Lim or Chong Huat, my nephew or son of my sister, seen on the far right hosted us dinner in a nice restaurant. On his right is his son who turns seven this year.

A quick after dinner photo with my other nephew Chong Hee on the right...

... and Mom with Chong Huat and my oldest sister

While in Penang we have been trying out lots of their famous local food

... including their famous dessert of 'Chendol' from a famous stall who has a pic of the Chief Minister at his shop

The Snake Temple is a famous tourist site in Penang to visit too

Jay is probably simulating the posture of the snakes he encountered

The last relation we visited is Su's 'Ee-Poh' who has a recurrence of cancer

She was touched to see all of us who had come from far to visit her

Postdated info : Just received a phone call today,18 August 2012, while in Singapore that she passed away at 6.30am in the morning. Funeral journal is found here.