Beach Day!

After several weeks of non-stop working, Jeff finally got a day off this weekend. It was a school holiday here, so it was far to busy to go to the islands and go snorkeling. Instead we decided to make it a beach day and enjoyed the hotel's 8 kilometer long private beach. One of the other employees here with us, Greg, also had the day off, so he came along to play.

The day started off with ping pong and Tiger Beer. The boys had some fun while I took pictures.

The ping pong table is located just outside of the children's play area. Normally there is a hotel employee working inside the play area to prevent hooligans from entering, but she was called away long enough for us to run in and take the following picture:

We then headed to the beach, making sure to avoid the golf course and any errant golf balls.

We took many breaks along the walk to look for crabs and to play a little Frisbee.

We walked all the way down to this great rocky area full of small tidal pools. Jeff and I climbed on the rocks for some great pictures.

Then Greg and Jeff decided sumo wrestling in the sand would be a whole lot of fun!

We spent several hours like this just relaxing, having fun, and trying to get some sun. I'm not going to say who, but based on this picture and our tans can anyone guess which one of us works and which one sits at the pool all day?

Russian Pop Music

I know we are not in Russia anymore, but this was a blog I was thinking about writing in Russia and never did. We had a conversation at dinner the other night that inspired me to finally sit down and write it.

While in Russia we didn't have any English TV (although for some reason the last two weeks we were there Animal Planet changed to the UK version), so if we watched TV at all it was usually the music video channel, which often played American bands. In case you are interested, the most popular American artists in Russia (at least based on how often the videos were played) seemed to be Jennifer Lopez, 50 Cent/Eminem, Fall Out Boy, Akon, Christina Aguilera, Justin Timberlake and the Pussycat Dolls. The channel also played a lot music from other European artists. We didn't really think about what music was being played until one day it dawned on us that we only saw videos in Russian about one third of the time. Jeff and I could really only identify a handful of artists by then end of our stay. If you don't believe us you can check out the top video chart from Russian MTV and see how many of the artists Russian, American or European.

While we could only remember a few artists, our favorite by far was a "rapper" named Timati. We constantly saw a video with him and another artist named DJ Dlee that was rather amusing. If you watch the video I am willing to bet that the song will get stuck in your head!

Another artist that caught our eye was Dmitriy (Dima for short) Bilan. We could not help but remember Dima based on his unforgettable hairdo. Though it has waned in popularity in the US, the mullet is all the rage for stylish Russians (a fact that Jeff and I didn't realize until we walked around the metropolitan streets of Moscow). As you can see from pictures, Dima sports an excellent mullet. We also remembered him because this video reminded us of Rico Suave for some reason (who knows why). He has an official site in English located here if you are interested.

The other night we were at dinner with the couple here from Russia. The subject of pop music came up and Jeff and I mentioned that we could only remember a few artists. They both laughed and confirmed that Russia was lacking in the pop music area. The direct quote was "Pop music is the shame of Russia." I don't know if I would go that far, but it confirmed why Jeff and I didn't see quite so much Russian music on MTV Russia!

Imu Barbecue

Every time Jeff and I ride the elevator at the hotel we see an advertisement for an authentic Hawaiian style dinner every Saturday night down near the beach at the hotel. The pictures looked fun and we were definitely curious to see the Malaysian take on a Hawaiian tradition. Because Jeff was working such long hours we never had the chance to attend, but the crew recently started working shorter shifts, so Jeff and I made reservations for last night.

The formal name of the dinner is the "Banana Plantation Imu Barbecue." We didn't know what imu meant, but a quick trip to Wikipedia informed us that an imu is an underground oven traditionally used by Hawaiians to cook a pig (based on the pictures that's what we figured, but we wanted to make sure). We were curious as what would be prepared in the imu since Malaysia is a Muslim country and since Muslims do not eat pig.

Unfortunately the weather wasn't the best last night, so the hotel had to move the party into the restaurant where we eat breakfast every morning. Despite the change in scenery, there was still a festive atmosphere. We were greeted by a yummy tropical fruit juice drink and started to make our way through the massive buffet. The hotel did a pretty good job preparing food you would expect to see at a luau (although of course there were also a few traditional Malaysian dishes just in case you forgot where you are!). The focal point of the whole meal however was the meat prepared in the imu. In lieu of pig, they roasted a leg of lamb, and it was delicious! Of course the night wouldn't be complete without a stop by the very large dessert section. I don't know if it was an homage to American culture or just a coincidence, but there were more desserts there than I have seen the whole time we have been here! I was in a sugar lover's paradise! All in all, we had a really good night and for a moment there it almost felt like we were back in the US at a Hawaiian luau.

What is Petronas?

This is a question I have asked myself many times while here in Malaysia, and I finally have an answer. Before arriving here the only thing I knew about Petronas was that it was the name of the two connecting towers in Kuala Lumpur (completely random side note - my whole life I thought it was Kuala Lampur . . . oops!). I figured it was some corporation that was headquartered in the Petronas Towers or some famous Malaysian named Petronas. Well it turns out I wasn't that far off (okay, maybe I was on my second thought!).

In driving around Malaysia I have seen the Petronas name everywhere, so I finally decided to investigate what it was all about. Jeff informed me that Petronas is a gas and oil company owned by the Malaysian government and that "Petronas" was actually short for Petroliam Nasional Berhad. Jeff drove me to his plant on his last day off and we certainly hit the petroleum district! You couldn't drive 10 feet without seeing a building or a person with Petronas emblazoned on it. Jeff explained that the company controls all of the gas and oil production in the entire country, and let me tell you there is a lot of it! Now it makes complete sense to me why the towers in KL (that's what everyone around here calls Kuala Lumpur) are named after Petronas!

Who Doesn't Love a Layover?

The layover. Unfortunately in today's travel market it's almost unavoidable if you are traveling more than a few hundred miles. In our travels Jeff and I have had many layovers in many different airports. Some were excellent while others were, well . . . lets just say less than enjoyable. Since we do so much traveling I check the Travel section on MSNBC.com almost daily. Today I came across an article that I could really relate to: the Best Airports for a Layover. As I read the article I noticed that Jeff and I have been to the majority of the airports listed - most of them in the past few months!

After reading the article I clicked on the link within the article to get the actual list compiled by Forbes Magazine. If you are planning on doing any international travel any time soon I would definitely check it out. In case you are too busy (or lazy!) to click on the link and see the pictures, here is the list along with Jeff and my experience with the airports:

Changi International Airport, Singapore - We both flew through here on our trip to Malaysia. I got in at around 12:00 at night and walking through the terminal was like a breath of fresh air. There were all these gorgeous native plants and little ponds everywhere that just seemed to put me at ease.

Hong Kong International Airport, China - Jeff flew through here on his way to Malaysia (I went through Tokyo). He agrees that it is a really nice airport.

Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, Texas - We flew through here on our way to Costa Rica for our honeymoon. The terminal was really nice and it had a TGI Fridays so we were happy campers!

Zurich Airport, Kloten, Switzerland - Never been there - if you have feel free to share your experience!

Munich International Airport, Germany - Never been there either, so if you have, share away!

Incheon International Airport, Seoul, South Korea - Jeff and I flew through here on our way to Ulsan, South Korea. Honestly, I don't remember being all that impressed with it, but I also don't have a negative opinion of it!

Central Japan International Airport, Ise Bay, Japan - Never been there, so let's hear about it if you have!

Luftansa First Class Terminal, Frankfurt, Germany - We have never been in the first class terminal, but we have been in the Business Class Lounges. Let me tell you, they look NOTHING like that picture! While there were a few beverages and some snacks, there was no elegant food and seating was cramped and hard to come by. I guess we are in need of an upgrade!

In the article they also mention the Doha, Qatar International Airport. While the first class lounge there may be nice, the rest of the airport is quite possibly the scariest/busiest/least organized airport I have ever been in! Thank goodness they are building a new larger one - hopefully that will be an upgrade!

While these places are awesome, there is one that I have seen on previous lists of this kind that I think should be included: Schiphol International Airport, Amsterdam, Netherlands. I have flown through here several times and there is so much to keep you occupied and entertained. If you ever fly Northwest/KLM to Europe you will likely end up here.

In closing, to all of the airports out there making the layover better for all of us travelling fools, thanks for keeping it interesting!