Family And Travel

The morning begins with meeting new family as Kim and I go to breakfast with Sister Hong, Niece Stephanie and Nephew Ah Kok.  He and his family are down from Johor Bahru for a visit with his mother Hong.

After visiting for a while Kim and I were off to guess where... Johor Bahru, about 2 1/2 hours by bus.  We are on our way to do a couple of things, first and foremost, to visit family.

A few posts ago I had talked about the drainage system here in Malaysia.  As we traveled on the bus I saw numerous examples of the drains to prevent erosion.  I have included a couple of them here.

We arrived at the bus station in Johor Bahru (JB) and it was time to take a taxi for the last portion of our trip.  Our driver was a great chap, long time resident of JB and he had good stories to share with lots of history about the city.  He and Kim kept up a running discussion the whole trip until we arrived at our destination for the day.



We had a welcoming committee when we got to the home of Kim's daughter Jaclyn, husband Kent and children Valen, Vaness, Vanessa and Vince (ranging from ages 12 to 2).  It was pretty special for me as I was meeting all of then for the very first time.  Shortly after, that huge suitcase we had brought suddenly got a whole lot lighter.  Gee, I wonder why that might have been.

The reason that we came on this particular day was that Vaness would be performing in a concert at her school.  So the day I met my step-daughter and my grandchildren was the same day I got to see one of them in her school concert.  It was a day that I shall not soon forget.  When we got to the school (Valen, Vaness and Vanessa all attend here), Valen took me under his wing (so to speak) and showed me around, introducing me to his friends (and it seemed like anyone else who would listen).


This school has so many students that they have classes from 7am to Noon for one group and 1pm to 6pm for another.  Valen and Vaness go in the morning, Vanessa in the afternoon.  Not all schools are like that, however this one is held in high regard and is very popular.  Part of the original school is kept to this day.

There was much festive activity prior to the concert with a Dragon Dance and a Lion Dance, as well as a mini market with food and other items.  There was many parents and students in attendance.

Amongst all the activity, Grannie Kim got to meet with a costumed Vaness prior to the start of the concert.  Then it was time to start wending our way to the concert seating and get ready for the big show.  And big show it was.  There was a large number of performances, displaying both Chinese and Malay culture and history.



As per usual, I have many photos, many of which will make an appearance online later, however I would be terribly amiss if I failed to have one of the performance including Vaness.  Then one of proud Mum, Dad and Grannie (oh and Vince too) with Vaness in the background.

It was a most excellent day.  Tomorrow will be pretty special as well.  See you in the next post.