Beijing was incredible! We stayed with a wonderful family the Sudermans who always had amazing meals for us. They have a two storey apartment and a friendly dog named Shira. We went out every day - rain or shine or smog. I had fun figuring out the Beijing subway which was crowded but clean and very fast. We ate in lots of different restaurants and I enjoyed the rice, the noodles, and especially the Beijing duck. We went to the Noodle Loft where Kathi showed me how they made the hand-stretched noodles. Every day we took our local bus number 467 to the subway. Ikea was fun to visit especially since everybody takes turns sleeping on the furniture. Rod wears this mask when he goes jogging on smoggy days. Lucky for me there was a piano so I could practice.
We took a trip to 'Uncle Tom's Cabin in the country where we had lots of fun hiking, climbing trees, and playing games. I saw some really cool paintings on the way home.
There are so many things to do in Beijing like visit the Olympic Park where we saw the Bird's Nest and the Cube. We also went to the Beijing Zoo to see the pandas but it bothered me to see people feeding the animals. The Aquarium was much cleaner and had lots of colourful animals in it.
Shopping was a lot of fun at the Panjiayuan Market. We saw lots of antiques and I bought a Hobbit book and some coloured rocks. I learned to haggle to get a good deal. There were lots of Mao books and statues as well as some fake Terracotta Warriors. Kathi took us on a tour of the Hutongs which is the old part of Beijing. The streets were narrow and quiet with lots of alleys and doorways. We saw lots of lakes in Beijing and bought some gifts at the Qianmen Avenue Market. I never stopped looking for good Chinese books for Mrs. Gilmour, my favourite librarian.
Penang was sooo beautiful but the best part was the pool in our Airbnb home. We had a really big pool where we swam every day. I met Will, Nicole, and Clay at our pool and it was really fun to play with them. Our favourite thing to do was slide down the waterslide. I even did my schoolwork by the pool. I learned lots about fruit at the Tropical Fruit Farm but my favourite part was having an all you can eat fruit buffet. And did you know that there is yellow watermelon? We went around the island and saw lots of different temples with snakes, reclining, and standing Buddhas. Every evening we went to the Night Market where we saw of interesting stalls where vendors were selling their wares. One of my favourite days was when I went to the Escape Park with Will and Nicole. I loved the Monkey Business rope course with its ziplines high in the air. I also climbed trees, the Gecko Tower, and rode around on a Zoombug. We went up Penang Hill on the tram and could see all the way across the island to the mainland. We rode the buses everywhere and my favourite seat was in the front because the drivers took really sharp turns around the corners and everybody would go flying. I would pretend I was driving even wilder than them. In Penang we met lots of interesting people like our British friends Steven and Colin, our roommate Giulio from Italy, the Haddon family who had just moved to Penang from the Isle of Wight in England, Matthew and Sally from Australia, and our host Khalid. I really enjoyed having friends to play with every day for two whole weeks in Penang. Penang felt like home to me.
Penang was sooo much fun but Kuala Lumpur also had an awesome pool. At night time we could swim right under the lit up Petronas Towers which were only two blocks away. Our apartment was fantastic because it was close to everything and we could see the Petronas Towers out of our window. It also had a Wii which I played on a lot. The Petronas Towers weren't the only incredible places we saw. We also went to the Pavilion which had a really cool fountain in front and Times Square which are the largest malls I have ever seen. We went up the Petronas Towers which has 88 floors. It used to be the tallest building in the world. I was petrified because I thought I felt the building swaying. I found lots of Petronas building sets. Sayid was our wonderful host in Kuala Lumpur. Malaysia had amazing food but my favourite meal was mashed potatoes and nuggets. We went all over the city including Chinatown and the parks, but it was great to always come back to our wonderful pool. I am going to miss swimming every day when we get to China. Malaysia was a fascinating country and I really had a great time exploring it. I really want to come back!
