The Party's Over - With A Few Pictures...

Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur 

Now that the party is over, so to speak, and my adrenaline is completely depleted, I have absolutely no idea how I will be able to make it home. After a party, you're running on "wasn't that fun" fumes for a bit, but really, everything is a mess, the balloons are sagging and much air has gone out of them (metaphorically speaking) and you're suddenly exhausted, the kind of exhaustion that often causes involuntary tears, the CFIDS/ME/fibro kind, because it is so much more than exhaustion and simple sensory over-load, as well as being brain tired/fried/fogged. It's almost indescribably more.


That's how I feel today: it was a good party. I saw my first child get married on Sunday and on Monday I even managed to go with hubby and the newly-weds to the famous Petronas Twin Towers, did a tiny bit of shopping, and waited for the dark so we could see the beautifully colored fountains and breathtakingly stunning lighting of the towers.


But though my feet held up marvelously, they are full of blisters and are signaling me that it's time to go home, as I still have four more days here, days I know I need to gather up the energy to make yet another trip half-way around the world. The rest of my body is screaming for its own bed, but my brain is trying to figure out how we'll - body, brain and spirit - ever get there. Packing needs to be done. Changing flights will again be a challenge. Duty free shopping is, as I feared, impossible (thus, no fun!) and sitting on tarmacs for hours puts me in a mood that says, "it's just all too much."

But as I rest up today with my brain-fried, beaten-up body and try to rest up enough for the journey home, I can take satisfaction in that I accomplished two "superficial" things. I say "superficial" because the biggest joy by far - completely immeasurable - was meeting my son's now wife and her parents and siblings, not to mention the parents' many brothers and sisters. Everyone was so kind and gentle, words I'd use to describe the Malaysians in general. This is an experience I'll never forget and will always cherish. And the couple was kind enough to take us shopping while they had wedding plans of their own that needed taken care of, as well as spending time with us the day after the wedding, the only day they had off until their delayed honeymoon. And it was, truly, wonderful to spend time time with them, to see the interaction between this beautiful, young couple.

Nighttime display of colored fountains, KL has a stunning "City of Lights" look going on!

But my "superficials"? At the Petronas Towers we were almost overwhelmed by all we saw. It's a beautiful mall for the first 5 or so floors but since we were there on a weekday, it didn't have too many people, nor was it empty either. It was absolutely great not just for window shopping, but for taking in the magnificent architecture, and my all-time favorite activity, people-watching.


Somehow my brain didn't go into sensory overload. When it came to finding a restaurant, for example, we left the first one, since the music was entirely too loud for me, and managed to find a quiet restaurant with, thankfully, few customers. The Indian food was delicious and the wait staff was superb, which I have come to appreciate in this beautiful country.


I even made a few purchases: a couple of books about Malaysia's history after WW2 dealing mostly with how Malaysia did not succumb to communism....fascinating and I now regret that hubby put the books into his luggage to spare me the trouble. Yes, he's left on an early flight back to work and my son came by also before flying up to his job. (The party IS indeed over.)

The groom is trying to figure out what he wants to eat at an Indian restaurant.

Then to the fun part, the decadent part of the shopping: I actually bought the Sisley face mask and a travel size assortment of Sisley products. After seeing the Sisley booth in duty free in Singapore out of the corner of my eye as I was whisked from one terminal to another, Sisley has been haunting me! One thing to check off my list!


And, finally, though we have our own mini Sephora, which I've never been to, there was a real one on our way out of the tower and at one point I thought I'd died and gone to heaven! I especially loved the lay-out of the store: so organized and not at all overwhelming but fun.


So, it's been a bit of an action-packed eight days, so different from my usual style! I'm sure bits and pieces of the trip will find their way into my posts for a while, especially as I have access to my pictures and am sent even more pictures from the young couple and as I think about what I saw and learned. But for now, I need a few days of rest as I wait for this body of mine to gather up enough energy for the trip home, back to my bed!

The fruit platter was always full, no matter what you ordered.

Does anyone know what the leaves with the golden cherry tomato look-alike is?