Where are we now - 2017 update

After travels in South Africa in early 2016, following Gordon's retirement, we spent the spring and summer of 2016 settling in to our compact new home in Horsham, England.  A lot of "stuff" had to go to make everything fit, but we've grown to like our brand new home and its small garden.

2016 happenings: Joanne commissioned as an officer in the British Army and Ellen moved to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to teach at an international school. Gordon and I enjoyed short holidays in Laos and Myanmar at the end of 2016 and this whet our appetite for a return visit to Asia.

So here we are in Kuala Lumpur, recently reunited after separate adventures in Nepal (Gordon) and Vietnam (me) and looking forward to the next few months "on the road".  Are we flashpackers? Apparently flashpackers are backpackers who upscale their travels, carry fancy electronics and are older.  We certainly fit the bill....except my luggage has wheels.

With Ellen here in KL we are using Malaysia as a base and will venture out from here, returning here to rest and do laundry and see Ellen between trips around the region.  Airbnb has supplied us with a one bedroom appartment to rent on a daily basis in the same block where Ellen lives (actually an identical apartment to hers), and after only a few days it feels like home. The area of Mont Kiara (where we are now) has a lot of high rise apartment blocks and small shopping malls mixed up with concrete motorways and some leafy avenues of low level residences.  Restaurants are everywhere and ubers are plentiful and cheap so eating and getting around is easy.

KL home!

Last night's dinner experience here in KL was a first for Ellen, Gordon and me - Dining in the Dark.  Obviously no photographic evidence! All belongings had to be left in a locker before entering the dining area. We were led into the pitch black dining room by Yus, our blind waiter, and over the next few hours he served us a three course meal with wine.  We'd been apprehensive about how we'd cope and would there be spillage (Ellen had advised wearing dark clothes, just in case!) but after a while we got used to the darkness and had a lot of fun trying to work out what we were eating and drinking.  We could hear other diners around us laughing and eating (we were at our own table) and the evening went quickly.  All the courses had several elements to them and finding out afterwards what we'd been eating was a surprise.  I'd say we identified about half the dishes, but I'm afraid a lot of the flavours described on the menu passed me by.  A very enjoyable evening - thanks to Ellen (a birthday treat).

Ellen and me before Dining in the Dark