Visit Malaysia 2007 - 50 years of Independence

Selamat Datang! After a short and terrifying plane ride (we hit a few air pockets which proceeded to throw everything that wasn't fastened down up into the air... several times.) we arrived in Malaysia at the nation's capital, Kuala Lumpur. From there we made our way into the heart of the Chinatown area and set up camp for the next five nights. This was the longest that we had stayed in one location, and it felt good. Our first mission while in Kuala Lumpur was to get some shopping taken care of. For those of you who don't know, the Laakso's are born to shop!! First, we made our way into the Times Square area where Jono could shop for his favourites, electronics, Aimee could shop for clothes, and Amanda could shop for... well she's not a Laakso by blood, so she just enjoyed the show! After a bit of shopping we headed towards the Petronas Towers, the world's largest twin towers. We were lucky enough to secure a spot (as they only allow 1000 people up the tower a day) and catch a great view from the observation bridge that connects the 2 towers! With shopping out of the way, we were able to so spend a few days catching some of the unique sights that Kuala Lumpur had to offer. We made our way into Medaka Independence Square, an area full of museums, historical buildings and bird parks. We were able to check many of these sights out, including the world's largest covered bird sanctuary, which ended up being a total blast!! Where else can you hand feed giant rhinoceros hornbills?? A highlight of Malaysia for all three of us was the day that we left Kuala Lumpur to go to an elephant relocation centre which was about 2 and a half hours to the North. This centre is set up to help relocate and house elephants that are losing their habitat to farming, and put them back into the rainforest, while providing lifetime habitats from those elephants who can no longer return to the wild (orphaned or injured elephants). When we were at the centre, we were greeted by 8 beautiful elephants. We were able to feed them, take them for a short ride and even bathe them in the river!!! We spent just over 2 hours working with the elephants, and we left with a feeling of awe and disbelief. Being so upclose and personal with those beautiful giants, nothing else has compared (at least not yet!). Our final day in Kuala Lumpur was spent in a celebratory fashion, as we geared up to head out to Sunway Lagoon Waterpark and celebrate Jono's 24th birthday!! We had lots of fun in the sun as we played in the wave pool, sped down waterslides and were even flung into the air and thrown around by the G-Force X! It was a fun way to celebrate the special day! Finally it was time to head out from Kuala Lumpur to the historical city of Melaka. Here we enjoyed sights from this old Malaysian port city. Some of the sights included Christ Church, St. John's Church and an old fortress (Porta di Santiago). It was a fun little place to slowly wander around and enjoy ourselves while getting rested up for our next destination... PS> Check out Amanda's Birthday present to Jono! It was great!