Shaking hands with Will & Kate

 Prince William and Kate Middleton are in Malaysia for three days as part of the diamond jubilee tour.  I first read they were coming in Vanity Fair (which has a great article on Kate BTW -- go get it) and have been scouring the web trying to figure out when they would have a public greeting.  So much of their time is taken up with private teas and visits to charities and such.

 So once I found out they would be at KLCC at 10am today I rearranged my schedule so I could get their early (with the boys at school).  I had to cancel the second day of my teaching the Burmese refugees (man I feel so bad! but I promised them I would spend extra time with them next week).  Hello when else do you get to see the future king and queen of England! Surely they will understand (?)

 So I met this British guy while I was waiting and it turned out he was the head of security so he told me just where to wait to get the best view.  He also said the key to gettting to shake their hand is not to have a camera in their face.  So when they come close, put your camera down, and cheer and put your hand out.

 You can tell these photos are too close they are so blurry.  Right after this I put my camera down and he shook my hand.  He is seriously so handsome in real life.  And I know the tabloids make such a big deal about his balding spot but in real life it is really not a big deal--you don't really notice it.

 Prince William is cute but my husband is way cuter...

 So then Kate came along and I was just about dying.  She is just so elegant in real life, plus it was cool to see her with her hair up as she almost always wears it down.  It was a smart choice since it was hot out. 

 She was wearing a gorgeous white dress with sheer sleeves.  I love her style because she is all about being gorgeous while being modest and not flaunting skin everywhere like most celebrities.  I have already told Mike that I want her wardrobe

 I was practically in tears when I shook her hand which was kind of embarrassing.  Then last, they drove off to a private lunch and I was left standing there surrounded by a bunch of sweaty Malaysians but seriously in awe.

 Bye Kate and William!

Tiger day at MKIS

A few more Borneo pics

Trip to KK

Heather and Scott came to visit us, so we used it as an excuse to travel around Malaysia a bit since we haven't seen much yet (until now we've spent more time going to other countries...)

KOTA KINABALU on Borneo

Day 1 - Wildlife park

Riding the Borneo pygmy elephant. 

More elephants.  It was hot

Joseph and Heather were chosen to participate during the Orangutan show.  They had to use that stick the guy is holding to move a piece of food through the plastic box.  The orangutan had to do the same thing with another box.  The orangutan won.  I surmise it's because he's had a lot of practice

 Here we are in front of Malaysian Tigers.  Joseph was pretty stoked about this one.  We got to see tigers, bears, elephants, orangutans, plenty of monkeys, and the saddest-looking leopard we've ever seen, in a cage about the size of a large closet

The hotel was right on the harbor, and had great views from the pool deck

 
Jofess was going for the camera here...

Day 2 we jumped on a boat for Mamutik and Sapi islands, a short ride from KK.  Buddy was a little wary of the getting on and off the boat, but he loved the ride

Ah...paradise.  Mamutik island (the first one we visited).  The water was warm, clear, and the waves were tiny.  After a little bit of anxiety at the beginning, Buddy loved it.  By the end of the day he didn't want to get out of the water

The lifejackets probably helped Buddy's confidence quite a bit.  Both boys loved floating around with them on

We didn't really want to leave this beach...

Sapi Island.  Just as beautiful as Mamutik, and better snorkeling.  Lots of interesting fish and other creatures swimming around.   Here Erin is doing her best impression of a starfish that has washed up on shore.  Jofess is counting the sand crystals

Of course there were plenty of people who wanted pics with the boys.  Here is one group of nice Chinese ladies who got about 3 seconds with Andrew before he ran off

Day 3 - Waterfall

We took a taxi about a 30 min ride away to a waterfall in the jungle.  Entry fee: $0.50.  We decided that was a pretty good deal

The upper falls.  Notice the bathing Indians

The lower falls.  Scott and I headed over to jump off a cliff into the deepest pool

Scott and me on the cliff

The lower falls had kind of a little waterslide in them.  You can see here I'm making friends with the locals

As you can see, we got a lot of sun on this trip--nice and tan

My second jump.  Much better form that the first time.  The water was only neck-deep, so I had to be careful when I landed to angle in and not hit the bottom too hard

We headed home on Day 3.  It's about a 2.5 hour flight from KL to KK, and the boys did really great.  Andrew watched Wall-E on Scott's iPad (Thanks Scott!)

The last night (before we dropped Heather and Scott off at the airport), we headed to get some dinner at our favorite little Taiwanese joint near Bukit Bintang in KL.  The food was great, and it was a fun last activity before we sent our guests on to Japan.  We loved having Heather and Scott in town!  Until next time...