february 2012: malaysia

We are back.

As of 27 February 2012, Zinc is our home again. It feels good. Really good.

The trip from Burleigh to Langkawi was a mission. We hauled two suitcases, two surfboard bags, one portacot, one stroller, two backpacks, one nappy bag, one camera bag, two small passport pouches (weighing in total 142.5kg) and one toddler (weighing 10.5kg) in a car, two planes, a taxi, a ferry and a golf buggy. Generally, Willow had a lovely time- Dale and I, not so much.

Coolangatta airport. Excited. Sad goodbyes.
KL airport. 153kg (of which 10.5kg refused to remain stationary).
KL airport. New crew member.
KL airport. Excited to be back in Asia.
KL airport. Eating lunch/dinner. Willow refused to eat the “organic” plastic space packed baby food that I bought for the plane. Not surprising really; it tastes revolting. She likes to eat what we eat and we eat good food so I am happy to run with that. Processed plastic baby foods (even the “organic” versions) really are crap.
19 hours from bed to bed.

We have adjusted Willow’s routine to account for the elements. The sun rises and sets here at around 7.30am/7.45pm. Quite different from the 5am/7pm that it was doing on the Gold Coast. We are putting Willow down at 7.45/8pm and she is up at 6.30/6.45am. We are not into the late bed time- we love our Willow-free time in the evenings- however, with the sun shining so late there is absolutely no way we can get her down without a battle. And there are already too many battles each day as we set boundaries about what she can/cannot do and where she can/cannot go on board. Gee. The girl has “spirit”. We hope we can set the boundaries without completely stamping the spirit out. It could be an asset to her one day. Anyway, we will be in Thailand soon where the sun does something again which should be conducive to a 7pm bedtime.

Home. 7am. Finally.
Rebak resort. 7.30am. Breakfast (in the dark) of “real” food: egg, toast, muesli, fruit.
Rebak resort. Guided walk. Loads of beautiful birds live on Rebak island (Willow LOVES birds), as do huge monitor lizards, otters and a tree that produces the most delicious berry ever. I have not seen this berry in a market or anywhere else and I do not know its name but I can spot the tree on which it grows from a mile. The berry tastes like a strawberry cream lolly but even better. It is divine. No doubt its nutritional properties are astonishing. I nominate it as the next “superfood”. (Note: this assertion is not evidence based.) When we were here at the end of 2010, there were monkeys on the island too. However, they created somewhat of a nuisance and appear to have been relocated (shot?).