Bouwsema & Atkinson families

It was a very relaxed morning. The scene was a bit laid back. Maybe, due to it being a public holiday. Whatever it was, it was good.

The weather was not too hot. However, it was still humid.

Laura had made arrangements to meet a fellow Millikin University student, who had arrived in Malaysia on a holiday a few days ago with his family. He was at the university for a semester and they had kept in touch ever since.

Their arrangement to meet was at the KLCC Shopping Mall, which is part of the Petronas Twin Towers – once the tallest building in the world. We, Jeannie and I offered to drive Laura to the Mall. The mall was expected to be crowded because of the holiday.

We got to the Mall at about 4.00pm. Getting a car park space was surprisingly easy. We got one almost as soon as we got into the building.

Laura was in contact with her friend, found out where they were at the mall, gave our location and finally met.

Youri and his family are from the Netherlands. They had just come back from the island of Borneo after a short visit. They visited the town of Sandakan in Sabah. Sabah at one time was referred to as “North Borneo”. It is one of the 14 states of Malaysia. The states of Sabah and Sarawak which make up East Malaysia; are on the island of Borneo. The other 12 states make up Peninsula Malaysia (or West Malaysia).

It was tea time. The Bouwsema family were game to try local food. One of the best places that offered local kuih (cakes), pastries and drinks was “Nyonya Colours”. Jeannie is undoubtedly the food expert (besides being the renowned Batik Influencer). She, Laura and Youri picked out a variety of the kuih and currypuffs, probably a little bit of everything that was on display. As for drinks, local coffee and tea in the various offerings were ordered. The exceptions were: Lucas had soda (Coca-Cola) and Laura, plain water.

We got to know each other a little bit better. Peter is an Operations Director for an international manufacturing company and Manon works at Flight Control (Ground). It is exciting work where she directs aircraft or helps them maneuver between and around other aircraft and land vehicles on the ground. Their children are in various levels of education. Youri wants to be a pilot.

The Bouwsema family made bookings to visit the Petronas Twin Tower Skybridge on the 41st floor and the Observation Deck on the 86th floor later that evening.

So, what’s next after tea? We did the most natural thing – planned for dinner. Manon and Peter were keen for more local cuisine. They wanted dinner to be at the Mall so they could be in time for their visit to the Skybridge and Observation Deck. Jeannie suggested we dine at “Serai”, a restaurant that offers both local as well as western cuisine.

We headed to the restaurant which is located in the Signature food court area. To get there is easy. At the entrance of the food court, you turn right and Serai restaurant at the end of it, about 150 meters walk. Jeannie helped make a reservation for 10. The head waitress said that they do not usually accept reservations. However, they would make an exception for us.

We then, had about an hour before dinner on our hands. We split up to shop at the places we were most likely to intertest us. I did a quick tour to the IT (everything technology) section. I am quite keen on the idea of getting the Insta 360 X3 action camera. I want to explore fun, action simple cameralogy, sort of a new hobby to alternate with journalism, perhaps. The X3 is a great improvement from the X2 model I had 2 years ago.

I started heading to the restaurant with 15 minutes to spare before time. It was easy to find out reserved table as Peter, Manon and Jeannie were already seated there.

One of the first things that caught the attention of some of us at the table were the large mirrors on the ceiling, above our table. Very interesting. What an easy way to take selfie pictures! Place our smartphones on the table and start tapping the camera shutter button.

It was a good thing that the service at Serai was good and all our meals were served quite quickly. We all enjoyed our meal and had a great time getting to know each other more.

Alas, the time came when we had to go our separate ways. The Bouwsema family had a high speed lift or two to catch for the next leg of their holiday visit to Malaysia. In the next few days, their holiday expedition would include a trip to Georgetown, Penang and Taman Negara (National Park) in Pahang. We wish them the very best for the rest of their holiday vacation. We look forward to meeting them on their next trip to Malaysia. Or, we visit them in The Netherlands.