Week in Paradise

We have just arrived home in Beijing after 6 wonderful nights on Langkawi Island in Malaysia. If you would have asked us where Langkawi was a few months ago, we wouldn't have been able to tell you a thing about the place. Please believe me when I tell you that this is a true gem and a small piece of paradise!
Last Saturday, we took off from Beijing early in the morning and flew a 6 hour flight to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Then, after a quick layover, and an hour flight, we touched down in Langkawi!
As soon as we fot off the plane, the tropical heat and humidity began to soak in. What a welcomed change from the cold and dry air of Beijing! And, all the green vegetation helped get this vacation started.
The place we stayed at was gorgeous! Located in a quiet bay that is nestled within a bunch of rounded mountains covered in dense tropical foliage. Right away, it brought back memories of Hong Kong and Singapore (which is right around the corner). Here at the resort, we were definately treated like kings. Doors opened, rides to our front door, bags carried, etc... A bit unsettling to be honest... I'm not used to this type of treatment. Plus, I was right in the middle of reading Pearl S. Buck's The Good Earth. An awesome novel, but one that makes a person living in the lap of luxury EXTRA thankful for what he's been blessed with.
While there, we rented a car and drove (on the opposite side of the road, mind you), to a place where the boys were able to ride an elephant, feed rabbits and deer by hand, and held monkeys. Speaking of monkeys, there were both monkeys and macaus running around our resort. At first it was a Sight we couldn't get enough of. But, reality quickly set in and we realized that the macaws were a bit of a nuisnace. They rolled through the resort between 7 and 8 in the morning and were not shy. For instance, I was sitting out on our deck taking the morning in when a few of these guys decided to see what I was up to. They must be used to intimidating people sitting out on the porch. These people, who may be eaing, quickly go into their room, leaving whatever they are eating for the macaws to grab and eat. Well, I didn't have anything to offer them other than a rolled up towel. I didn't realize how scary these things could get by just showing up and looking at me. Add to that, they run in groups, so there ended up being between 5 and 10 of these blood thirsty creatures (note the embellishment to maintain my manhood), on our porch.
After going eye to eye with a handful of these things, I relented and excused myslef to the room to try and get my heart rate back under 200 beats per minute. This also offered me a chance to go and grab my camera to take a few shots as proof. But, as fate always has it, they had gone off to scare another resort patron by the time I had gathered myself and get the camera ready.
The pool goes right up to the beach where we stayed. These areas were where we spent a bulk of our time relaxing and watching the boys play in and around the water. Kieran was happy to comb the beaches looking for shells and "treasures", while Kellan was very happy to run into the gentle ocean waves as long as we would let him. As a parent, it sure is both a joy and a blessing to see them so full of happiness.
Laurie loved to hang out in the warm and sunny weather and either play with the boys, or read and relax. This type of weather has a way of recalibrating one self, and it was clearly evident with Laurie. She deserved a break, and was able to get one in Langkawi.
I personally was able to do a ton of reading, taking little hikes on the beach and going on little excursions, and sleep a bunch. The ocean brings back many many wonderful memories of both Navy times as well as North Carolina times.
We ended meeting up with a family who happens to live in Beijing and send their two sons to ISB. We went out to dinner for an evening on the other side of the island. We walked along the beach until we found a little place to eat. There, we had a few drinks and watched the boys run around and play in the sand as the sun went down. It was one of those moments when you stop and try to take it all in. Everything seems to "line-up" and seem absolutely perfect. It's one of those times that I will hold dear and will think of for a long time.
On our last day in Langkawi, Kieran and I took a boat tour of some surrounding islands, swam in a remote freshwater lake on one of the islands, and fished in the sea. We were in one of those little native boats that was run by a man who has lived around this sea his whole life.
Kieran and I enjoyed the time together as well as the sights and the fishing. On the island with the lake, there were many monkeys all over the place. By this time, we were not as awe inspired with these creatures as we were earlier in the week. But, the lake was very refreshing and nice.
Apparently, in this lake are some small fish who will come up and nibble on the dead skin on a person's feet. I swam around in the lake for a good twenty minutes and felt nor saw any signs of these aquatic masseuses. To be honest, the thought of a fish nibbling on my body is not an appealing thought, so I was plenty content being left alone. Maybe my mixed-blood makeup does not attract the appetites of these Southeast Asian fish. Good....
After leaving the island, we put out and began to fish. It was our lucky day too. We caught about twenty total fish that were mainly different types of grouper. We also managed to catch a small barracuda, a yellow tail, and a few other that I couldn't get the names from our guide. One particular fish was absolutely beautiful. Very dark and light blues covered this fish. It also had either red or bright yellow on its tail... Absolutely beautiful...
We left Langkawi knowing we had found a special place. Flew through the night and made it home to Beijing early today. Full of fond memories, rejuvinated for what may come, and thankful for the chance to go to Malaysia.
Being purposely stereotypical, I was impressed with the Malaysian people as a whole. To begin with, they are beautiful. The men and women look to be mixed with blood from every corner of the earth. They are aalso friendly, quiet, gentle, and a people who smile often. And I noticed a rare grace about some of the people there that I don't see everywhere else.
All in all, Malaysia was a wonderful choice for us. We loved being there and will hopefully return. We also spoke often about how lucky we are to be able to do things such as vacation in Langkawi. We truly live a blessed life...
Pics are on the way.
Love to you all!
The DuBois crew

Ice Skating at Houhai

Recently, we hosted some friends for dinner who have helped make our experience here in China AMAZING!

Chef Wong doing his thing in our kitchen... Unbelievable food!!

Only in China would you see a sleigh pulled by a creature that looks like a cross between a goat and a sheep... Not exactly sure what this is. My guess is that it is some sort of goat by the look of it's face... It's owner kept jumping in front of my attempts to take a picture as he wanted money from me to take one

Here is the 2-man sleigh that we rented. Please note the long screwdriver type poles that we are using to propell ourselves... And think about a lake full of people swinging these around trying to push themselves along.

You could really get going pretty fast with these and we managed to execute a few spin outs as well... Quite fun!

Kieran as he was about to give ice skating a whirl for the first time! He really did well and improved a bunch! Dad is very impressed!

A local Chinese man who is demonstrating his version of the Polar Bear Club. Note the open water behind him that he just emerged from. This is on the same lake we skated..

Houhai Lake... Right near the Drum and Bell Towers in a very neat part of Beijing. You can see them in the background if you click on the picture.

Things are going well since we've been back. We hit the road running as we tried to recover from jet-lag, and all the excitement that we were part of back home. It was so nice to see many folks, although there were also many whom we weren't able to cross paths with.

Kieran and I went down and had another China Experience yesterday as we went to Houhai Lake and skated.

In ways, I felt as if we were stepping back in time. I've seen pictures back in America of crowds of people skating out on lakes and ponds. This seemed to be a big social event at times in places back then. Well, here this truly is. Couples out on a date, families out for the day, friends meeting for a fun time.

The lake is surrounded by quaint little shops, pubs, and many restaurants. In fact, we ventured into an old Chinese neighborhood (called a hutong), to a pizza joint that served up some of the best pizza I've had. A great day for dad and son!!!

Also, we recently hosted some friends for dinner. We were able to secure the services of the very busy and hard to get Chef Wong. He is a favorite with people whom we work with.

You're probably saying "What in the world are they doing getting a chef?" Well, it's a very common and economical way to have get togethers here. Plus, the food is rediculously good, and you get a ton!!!

We had 4 couples whom have been wonderfully helpful to us in our transition to the new world that we live in. The Sadeks have offered guidance to us all along this wonderful journey from the get go. The Fidlers were THE best people that we could have had to welcome us here to China. The Sheridan's made out Olympic experience a once in a lifetime thing. And, the Merrit's have been our rock here. Matt and I have coffee each day, and have had many fun times together already... It was nice to get them all together and tell them "thank you." We've been on the receiving end much more than on the giving end here.

All in all, life is GREAT. Laurie has felt baby kicking and moving much more. In fact, last night, she could actually see baby moving across her stomach for the first time! Laurie is also staying plenty active, working out nearly each day.

Kieran continues to blossom. Our mellow, conforming one is learning every day in school. His teacher, Miss Cindy, is a true blessing. Kellan, our active one, is beginning to do stare-downs with us when he is contemplating whether to do something naughty or not. This is pretty young for that sort of thing eh???

Until next time, we send our love...

Then DuBois Crew

Back at it.....

- juddy (right) and his new brother george with

riley

-Kieran in snow

-our new cabin by Kimball!

kellan's first haircut from aunt heidi!

all the DuBois boys wearing the Petersen Jerseys we brought back from China

The DuBois grandkids Hutton, Junior, Aliana, Baby Ben, Johnny, Kieran, Kellan

The Plahn Grandkids: Jaren, Hunter, Maddie, Kaylee, Damon, Kiana, Treyson, Kellan, Kieran

Kieran and Kellan were all smiles as we got ready to head home to Minnesota for the holidays!

After two wonderful weeks at home in Minnesota with friends and family, we are back at it here in China. We struggled through jetlag and sickness all week and have made it to the weekend. Two more weeks and we get another holiday break, Chinese New Year, which we get a week off for! Yeah we can't wait!

Christmas was great-it was too quick (and cold) and we didn't get to see as many people as we would have liked, but we got to spend some quality time with many friends and family. You forget how cold Minnesota can be until you are away and go back to it! i am not going to complain about our high 30 days that we think are cold!

The kids were incredible on the planeride to the states and home to China. We are so fortunate to have been allowed to have an extra seat for Kellan on both 12 hour flights to/from chicago to/from Beijing. Kellan doesn;t have to pay for a seat until he turns two (in march) so he is supposed to sit on our lap....luckily both almost completely full flights we were on there were people nice enough to move to allow us to have an extra seat. Boy did that save us! I honestly don't know how the boys keep entertained-but they were incredibly good for not sleeping much. All the moving and entertaining doesn't allow for much sleep for Riley and me, but that is the way it goes. I have been sleeping like a rock since being home but Riley is still up and ready to go about 3 or 4 every morning.

It was nice to come home and see that Santa had visited us in China. Lots to do unpacking 7 suitcases and 3 carryons. The new presents kept the kids occupied as Riley and i unpacked all our goods. Yes i did manage to calculate how many diapers Kellan would need until we go home for the summer so we brought nearly 700 diapers with us back here. That along with vitamins, baby bath and lotion, socks, soap, and lots of other hygiene products. But we are pretty well stocked ---AND we have a friend coming to visit over Spring Break and she said she would gladly bring over things we needed. I wonder how many mountain dews she can fit and stay under the 50 pound limit? i did stock up with mountain dews in my carry-on's once we had cleared security in the minneapolis airport! i stuffed 7 into our very full carry-ons. thought i would maybe try to ration them to make them last, but i was back to my one pop a day so i have one left i think! i wonder how long that will last?

Anyway-we had our car getting a tune-up this week so riley and i were back to biking to work for a day. Very cold but still enjoyable. i hadn't been through the village in quite some time so it was fun (if that is what you call it) to ride through there again on the way to school. Glad to have our car back now with the cold weather. Pretty spoiled!

Kids have been great all week. Many kids traveled far away for the holidays and some were still gone all week. Everyone was dealing with jetlag so it was a pretty long week. we had another grade 8 fieldtrip which allowed me to dodge doing lesson plans for at least a day. We went to the Beijing Planetarium. It is right by this place called the Zoo Market where you can go to get wholesale prices on EVERYTHING! It is so unbelievably crazy on the streets around there. EVERYONE has dollies with them and garbage bags stacked and tied together on their dollies...i guess this is where some of the markets we go to get their items. it may be worth a trip sometime just to see everything!

We had a doctor's appointment on wednesday....the 21 week ultrasound where you can find out the sex of your baby if you want. It was a pretty big deal, but riley and i literally decided on the way to the doctor that we would ask them to write down boy or girl and then put it in an envelope and have kieran open the envelope when we got home and video tape it....well in China i "guess" it is illegal to find out the sex of the baby (for abortion/one child policy reasons) so when we tried to tell the ultrasound tech what we wanted, she said she could not write it down. If we wanted to know all she could do was tell us. Didn't understand why, but on the spot we decided NOT to find out. The two boys were a surprise so this one will be as well! All is well and once again my doctor told me to watch what i eat b/c the babies i have delivered have been so big and the third is ALWAYS the biggest! Bla Bla Bla.....i went home and had a milky way candybar and a 20 ounce mountain dew in honor of my doctor! Cheers!

Ok enough babbling....i will try to find a few pictures to attach since i always find those easier to glance at when there is time rather than read the blog.

We haven't updated much lately, but will try to do a better job of sharing our experiences with you all!

We hope you are all having a wonderful new year!

LOVE

The Dubois Family