Family Gathers in Ipoh--4 (hanging with the uber cool Hellen)

Hellen, who is quite the cook herself, was not satisfied at the sleepy pace I had set, so she stepped in to expedite!

We were unusually quiet as we devoured the massive breakfast!

Then we proceeded back to the Haven where our family was staying for mangosteens.

Hellen treated us to western brunch at Indulgence. Complete with lovely coffee and desserts!

~ Shien

Family Gathers in Ipoh--3 (climbing the cave temple)

We could have spent the entire day lazing around Hellen's condo, but we chose to drive to the Cave Temple... supposedly a tourist attraction in the area.

The temple had several garish statues and was set into the limestone cliff.

Tim decided to join us for this excursion.

This was the main temple room and was smoky with lots of incense burning.

So many stairs... 

Our reward was a grotto high above the main temple. About four chambers up.

~ Shien

Family Gathers in Ipoh--2 (the Haven)

The next evening, we went into the old city and met distant cousins at a seafood restaurant that had reserved a large number of colossal freshwater prawns for our host who was a former prominent member of the ruling political party.

The food was so good, we barely made time to capture images of it.

Back at the Haven condo resort, we swam at the amazing pool!

Because it had just finished raining, we had the entire pool area to ourselves!

The Haven is built in an abandoned tin mine and still features the limestone towers.

A wonderful beginning to a lovely family gathering!

~ Shien

Family Gathers in Ipoh--1 (Dinner under the Tree)

Our extended family gathered in Ipoh, Malaysia to remember Rose Devadasen, Vincent's late mother.

One of the most memorable meals was dinner "under the tree".

At this 'zhuchar' place, there is a tree that cousin Hellen Tan remembers fondly because of a story-telling man who sit and read stories for a small fee ages ago.

It is still a magical location decades later, and there is a massive mural and delicious food to be savored.

Thank you, Vincent for organizing such a lovely gathering and celebrating your very generous and hospitable mum!

~ Shien

Family Fun at Escape Adventureplay

After hearing how much fun Ian and I had been having at Escape Adventureplay, Monica decided to join us with Aria. 

They had a blast!

But they were also surprised how physical even the Level 1 course was.

They pressed on through the course, resting at each stage on the platforms and waiting their turn to continue.

It was perfect weather for an outdoor excursion.

The highlight of our day was discovering that the slowed jump, "Atan's Leap" was open and now free of additional charge to try!

This is exactly the sort of thing that both Ian and Monica love... but not Aria and I so we happily sat back to watch them climb the tower and work themselves through the long line.

While the device slows your descent with a friction brake, the landing is still somewhat jarring. I fell on my butt the first time I tried it because my knees went limp. Monica crash landed too... :P

~ Shien