Malls and Restaurants

As things open up, our exploration is expanding slowly. One of the first, and most necessary, steps was getting me a pedicure.  I made a friend who just moved here from Bangkok, and who was in equally high need of foot attention.  We decided to go to Linc, where BIG is, to try out a nail place.  One of the first things we noticed when we walked in were rainbows and bunnies.  There were also bunnies at Pavillion mall when I went the other week.  I think it has something to do with the Autumn Moon Festival, but I'm really not clear on the connection.  They're fun to look at though.

My friend and I went up to Lax, a place that does nails and massages.  It's on the second floor, above BIG.  I had never been up there before, so it was fun to be doing something new.  The place itself was very nicely decorated.

The manicure counter was impressive.

My friend and I were only getting pedicures though, which we were surprised to find out were "waterless".  We sat on these reclining chair things with our legs over the big roll at the end.  Then the pedicure ladies sat on the stool in front.

I'm so glad to have my feet cleaned up and my nails painted, but it was the strangest pedicure I've ever had, and it was also one of the most expensive I've ever had, so I don't think this will be my new pedicure place.

I took the girls back the following week though for manicures, and they liked it.

After the pedicures, my friend and I explored around the rest of the "mall", more properly called a shopping center.  There were several restaurants and cute shops, plus some nice decorative touches.

I was tickled to see that their special international store was selling bags and crafts from Colombia of all places!

I found a promising place to bring my meat lovers for a feast,

and a good place to get dessert afterwards.

Although, when we went to BIG, I realized there was a little middle eastern shop right after the check out area that has all kinds of nuts, dried fruits, and other treats.  I couldn't resist getting some baklava.  Yum!

Vivian has been getting a little stir crazy, so the next day I offered to take her to Suria KLCC, which is our closest real mall.  I wasn't quite feeling bold enough to try driving there yet, even though it looked really easy on the map.  Instead, Viv and I tried our luck at getting both of us in a Grab, which is the same as an Uber.  For some reason, Grab has kept a pandemic policy of only allowing one passenger, even though regular vehicles can now be filled to capacity.  It seems like a scheme to make more money, because two people who live together are not any safer taking two separate Grabs.  Luckily, they were understanding about a mother and child.  

Each ride or drive I take in KL emboldens me a bit more, and after watching the way the Grab went, I'm feeling pretty confident that I can drive to Suria KLCC in the future.  The tricky part is getting home, but I know how to do that now.  Vivian was over the moon to be in a real mall.  I took her picture outside the Coach store at her insistence.  The smile beams through the mask.

She wanted to walk by every store on every level, and then suddenly she looked up and said, I see the towers! Picture time.

We couldn't really capture it from inside the mall, but after quite a bit of walking, we got some pretzels from Auntie Anne's and took them outside to eat.  From out there, you have a much better view of the towers.

Our final stop was the bookstore on the top floor.  They actually have a pretty good selection of books for kids, and I was feeling so happy surrounded by books that I bought Viv a bunch.  It was a good outing.

She was even happier with our next mall outing which was next door at Great Eastern to get her hair done.  Jeff and I had walked around the day before to see what was actually open.  We found a hair place that let me make an appointment for Viv the next day.  She wanted to add more blonde around her face.  I don't dye my hair, and I didn't take her last time, so I didn't realize what kind of operation I had committed to.  The ladies at the place were all great, and she had at least two people working on her hair most of the time, but the whole thing took over four hours.  The first step made her look like a Christmas ornament. 

Then, they unwrapped her, and she looked like some kind of space age queen. 

Next was toning, rinse, and moisturizing treatment.

And finally drying.  She was adamant that her curls be preserved and not dried straight, so a full on treatment ensued.

She was very pleased with the results.

Our final mall outing of the week was to IKEA, which is connected to a mall called My Town.  I drove there, and Viv was the best co-pilot.  Every time I didn't get lost, she gave me lots of positive feedback.  It took us a little while to find a parking lot entrance, and we ended up parking at the mall and walking through it to get to IKEA.  Viv was very interested in the mall, and they did seem to have clothing that she would actually want to wear, as opposed to the KLCC malls that are full of Gucci and Prada.  But we pressed on through, because our destination was IKEA.  The girls have actually never been to an IKEA before, and, big surprise, they LOVED it.  I got one picture before we went up the escalator to the main show area.

Once they got into the model rooms though, they barely stayed still for more than a few minutes.  There was a lot of "Mommy! Mommy! Look at this!"  Then they would dash to the next model room and say the same thing.  It was great.  Elena did settle for a few minutes in an irresistible, child sized arm chair.

By the time we got to the shopping area downstairs though, she was good and worn out, so I let her ride in the cart.

On days when I'm not wearing myself out with the crazy kiddos, Jeff and I have managed to have some fun times as well.  Sometimes it's just getting in a walk together, or more mundane things, like picking up the tons of packages we ordered from Amazon that get delivered to the embassy.

The other day though, we finally got to Rama V, which is a Thai restaurant right across the street from the embassy.  We went for lunch, and it was nice to have a date, just the two of us.

We got there right before the sky opened up.  They have a lovely courtyard with what we assume are private dining villas, but we were glad to be inside during the rainstorm.

The food was excellent.  We decided it was the best Thai food we've had outside of Thailand.  We got a bunch of our favorites: morning glory, larb, spring rolls, and som tam.

I also couldn't resist ordering pad see ew, although I had to take most of it home.

The Saturday night before we had actually gone out to dinner for the first time with another couple we met through the school.  They took us to a restaurant called Canvass which is in a row of restaurants.

I didn't take any food pictures, but I got a fun picture of my gin and tonic with a light behind it.

We also had a good view of the KL Tower which puts on a light show at night.

The service was really slow, and multiple people came to our table to apologize.  They ended up giving us complimentary dessert, but we didn't really mind, because the food was delicious, and if it had all come together, we probably would have been way too full.

I feel like, little by little, we're getting to know our new home.  There's still lots to explore though, so we're looking forward to more adventures.