Flying Overseas and Seas and Seas

The actual flight to Malaysia wasn't bad at all. The kids really did pretty well considering they were confined to their seats and the toys that they had in their bags. The flight crew and all of the passengers, for the most part, were intrigued with our children, especially Phoenix and all of his blond hair. There was a woman and her sister in the row behind us and every once in a while I would see a hand magically appear between the seats to touch him. Seriously, they were very friendly and curious.

We only had one hitch... in LAX before boarding to Taipei, we were not allowed to board the plane without purchasing an open ended return ticket to the tune of $8500 US. Thank the Lord for credit cards. We were told that immigration would send us back to the US without proof of work or a visa. Malaysia doesn't require Visa's for visitors and the school wrote to us in the paperwork that we were not to tell immigration that we were working for ISKL - very confusing. So we bought the tickets as instructed with a promise that they were fully refundable once we arrived in Malaysia. They were not free from fees... surprised? me neither. So to shorten the story, we called the credit card company and denied payment for the original purchase as the tickets were unnecessary. In the end, not one person in immigration asked the white family why we were coming to Malaysia or asked to see our return tickets.

We're glad that is over. We hope.

Going Away Party

Family and friends gathered together at our empty home to see us off properly. Over 60 people converged with food, chairs, towels, kids, and well wishes per our request. We had vip guests with both of Brian's grandmothers, Hermine and Patt. We love to entertain and treat our guests with great food, but this time was really easy and extra relaxing because we didn't do any of the work. We just provided the empty home, backyard pool, and the booze. We will really miss all of our close friends and family. Brenda's mom, Betty, and sister, LuAnne, and her family and Brian's Godmother, Kathleen, came down in the months prior to our departure.

Moving Day!

Our movers came out today to load up our cargo. We did a good job selling most of our large furniture pieces, but we still had a lot to take with us. We used a 20 ft cargo container and our estimated weight came to about 6000 lbs. We'll see what we need once we get to Malaysia in our new home.