Elephants, Monkeys, and 'Mericans

My parents landed! After a 25 hour trip that took them through Chicago and Seoul, they arrived safely in our flat via the Mr. Happy transport around 12:30am. I quickly put them to bed so we could jump into sightseeing mode the next day.

In the morning, we hopped on our hog and headed to the Chow Kit market.



They didn't care for what they described as "that dirty, fishy smell" of the wet market. But we did have fun.

The mother and the father were tempted by these chickens (and the man behind them with the cleaver was tempted by them)But I explained about my kitchen not really being a place where food is prepared in any sort of traditional way (and I successfully pleaded with cleaver man not to butcher them).

But this is not to say that we did not eat. After relaxing by the pool, we met some friends at Sao Nam in Bukit Bintang for a bit of Vietnamese.

Here’s the mother enjoying the seafood pancake – a popular, but s-l-o-w-l-y prepared – choice that evening.

Now it's time for some ele-fun!

This morning we revved the adventure throttle up a notch and journeyed to Kuala Gandah, two hours to the east of KL. It's an elephant sanctuary for animals who have been injured and displaced from their herds by predators, poachers, and plantation owners.

We had to wear old clothes and the mother and the father looked like they were heading off to summer camp.

Mr. Happy worked very, very remotely and prepared for a board meeting with land beasts watching his back.

First, the elephants washed off the dust from the hot day with a bath in the river.

One little boy had the best seat in the house.

Next, it was time for some snacks. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to do the eating. But doing the feeding was just as fun.

In fact, those elephants were so grateful for our papayas, bananas, and human limbs they offered to give us a lift.

And, after noticing how hot we got during our visit, they took us for a dip! The mother and father went first and we captured it on video!

Followed by Merbear and Mr. Happy in an old fashioned still.

Playing with the elephants was a lot of fun and definitely a once in a lifetime opportunity.

On the way back home, we stopped at the Batu Caves.

It was nice dropping by in the evening.

The climb, though steep, is much more manageable with the absence of the sun’s glare.

Everyone waved to the camera!

As always, you see some cute monkeys.

And, as always, things can change very, very fast.

But we did our best to stay on good terms with the primates.

We made it to the top, had a look around, and then raced to the bottom for a bit of dinner.

Next stop? Showers to scrub off some of the sweat, dirt...and that darn elephant smell.