[Vlog] Expat Life: Money vs Happiness on My Birthday

I turned my phone off and spent my birthday disconnected and out-and-about in downtown Kuala Lumpur. The idea was to take a beat and think…

[Vlog] Lesson on Expat Life in Kuala Lumpur

Today was fun. Like crazy fun! Not because it was epic or something truly special happened but because I was able to find joy in…

Christmas 2017 | Kuala Lumpur with Friends

If you saw the video of my first Christmas Eve in Kuala Lumpur in 2016 you’ll know why I am so grateful to have experienced a fun, festive, and lovely Christmas dinner this year. Unfortunately, once I started drinking (and eating) I forgot to keep shooting video but this is what Christmas Eve with friends looks like in Kuala Lumpur (at least the non-messy beginning bits!) ???? (more…)

Expat Life: Reality of Raising My Child in USA, Spain & India

You know how sometimes we can’t see what’s right under our noses? And as parents we don’t realise how quickly time passes until it’s too late? Well that was me. My little angel was the best thing to ever happen to me. She was my greatest joy and my deepest frustration, sometimes in quite equal doses! Her father and I divorced when she was just 1 year old and anyone who has done it can attest that being a single parent isn’t easy. Yet she made that life we shared a true joy and she always made me proud to be a single mom. (more…)

A Week of Moon Cakes & Passion Fruit in Kuala Lumpur

This was a fabulous week in my world, discovering moon cakes after all these years in Asia … and finding SWEET passion fruit finally in Malaysia (woohoo!). (more…)

Why I Chose Expat Life in Malaysia

The last time I remember being this light, this joyfully happy, this optimistic, and this positive was the summer of 2013. I can pinpoint triggers in my mind and there are precisely two to be exact. The first was in July when my daughter and I went on a very fun weeklong road trip in India before she moved away to head to uni in the UK. We drove the chauffer (not Shiva!) mad for hours-on-end singing our favourite songs from the 60s to 2000s, had wonderfully long talks that touched my heart, and shared special and dodgy moments adventuring around South India. The second was the next month when I flew back to the U.S. to renew my India visa and had a wild weekend with my brother and sister in San Francisco. It was indulgent, hilarious, and a bit naughty … everything you want from a reunion, right? (more…)

Exploring Chinese Cemetery with Li Kim from The Paranormal Zone

Ever since my daughter and I explored the cemetery island in Venice, Italy back in 2008 I’ve loved visiting cemeteries. They are a beautiful and unique way to better understand a country or region and its culture. That is certainly true for Malaysia, which I discovered first in Penang at a Protestant cemetery and now here in Kuala Lumpur at the Chinese Cemetery located right downtown (but feels a million kilometres away). (more…)

Exploring Super Cool Malaysian Rest Stop Behind-the-Scenes

Sooooo I’ve just returned home to Kuala Lumpur following an 11 day solo road trip in and around Cameron Highlands and had a fascinating adventure at a typical Malaysian rest and truck stop. It was my 1st solo road trip here AND the very 1st time I’ve driven in Malaysia, which mad it extra-super-duper-hella-fun! In fact, it was my first time driving since a solo road trip in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado while on holiday in the USA back in 2014 … but shhhhhh, don’t tell my friend who lent me the Subaru 😉 While stopping to refuel both my body and the petrol, I discovered that Malaysian rest stops are the BOMB and something truly special. (more…)

Malay-Muslim Wedding Reception – Discovering Peanut Candy

You never know what life in Malaysia will bring your way, and this was never more apparent to me as when I was spontaneously invited to my very first Malay-Muslim wedding reception in Kuala Lumpur. It was so lovely, with such beautiful traditions and customs, and so splendid to behold. The setting looked like the scene from every little girl’s fantasy of what her wedding day would look like, it was magical. (more…)

Expat Life in Malaysia: Gorgeous Government Buildings Near Kuala Lumpur in Putrajaya

Woohooooo! My 1st (non-airport) experience with the Malaysian government was fantastic … every single employee was kind, gracious and helpful (NOT something expats experience in some countries, trust me!!! I’ve been yelled at in China and India for not being in the right queue so this was a lovely experience!). (more…)

Expat Life: The Joy of Multi-Cultural People Watching in Kuala Lumpur

After spending 7 weeks back in California in a very ‘white’ residential suburb, one of the things I’m loving most about being back in a city – especially one like Kuala Lumpur, and my new village of Mont Kiara – is being able to walk out the door and have a very multi-cultural life buzzing all around me. There’s something about that initial burst of morning fabulousness that really starts the day off perfectly. And for me that all begins at my friendly, local coffee shop and bakery on the ground floor of my building that is perfect for people watching. (more…)

The ABCs for When You’ve Gotta Pee in Malaysia (well, in Kuala Lumpur!)

I still remember my first squatty toilet experience just like it was yesterday. I was 22 years old and on a fabulous road trip that took my dear friend Janine and I by car from Barcelona all the way to Gibraltar, then across on the ferry to Tangier and back again. The trip itself was laden with so many memorable travel moments that to this day it still ranks in my top 5 favourite trips of all time. And one of those memories is from a seaside restaurant in Africa where we were eating the most amazing fresh fish … and where I discovered the squatty toilet bathroom, and that a cupful of water can replace toilet paper. (more…)

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