London,

So.... the London attack commences!
I'd downloaded some walking tour ideas from The London Toolkit website and armed with these... We hit the town. We hopped off the Tube, emerged to a gorgeous day and first spied the London Eye and Spire of St. Stepehns housing Big Ben. What. Great way to kick off the day!
Then to discover St. Margarets church and the exterior of Westminster Abbey. Being a Sunday, it was dedicated to worship and not tourists so we continued on our way. Next major stop for us was the Churchill War Rooms and we all enjoyed these. What an amazing piece of history preserved for all to see - and very well presented and taken care of. Winston's War: Churchill, 1940-1945 (Vintage)

Travel day!

Well, next day was head to Uk and a very long day it was ..... Ended by being up well over 24 hours and were shattered. After 14 hours in a tincan we were treated to the most appalling Customs entry to any nation I've ever entered.
Trains from the terminal were overcrowded and poor and 3 staff were assigned to process close on 300 people... With 3 women directing traffic! It was truly farcical! Third world countries treat their visitors better and dont make something so easy take 2 hours! It then took us over an hour to get to town with a cranky bus driver and then a short cab ride to our serviced apartment in Battersea. On arrival I wondered what I'd booked but once we were safely installed... Crashed!

Foodie Tour - KL

So, Terrence came and picked us up at the Caves and gave us a locals tour of the food places he'd grown up with... Trust me - you'd never find these places on your own!
Which of course, is the whole reason for doing the tour...
Our first stop was in a neighbouhood completely devoid of any other Westerners and comprised of the best Char Siew I've ever had in my life. This was bbq pork and home made lemonade to take the breath away! Amazing food... And just the beginning!
Our next stop was a roadside food vendor for burgers. We'd told Terrence we were travelling with our children and this was a special stop for them.
These people are licensed and had set up a stall outside the family home years ago. They've now moved to another area but the stand remains. People come from far and wide for their burgers and they do very well! They work from 11-3 and sell between 250-350 buns per period. This provides an income for the family of around RM 3000 per week - around $1000 US or AUD. This is 3 times what a post grad student earns when working in Malaysia. And was enough to put their son their son through University overseas. And the burgers were good - the kids loved them!
Next up was an Indian banana leaf meal. All food and sauces are served on a cut banana leaf plate and locals eat with their fingers (of their right hand to be precise - left is for the toilet!) The flaours here were spicy and overwhelming - this gave new meaning to 'bursting with flavour!'
Next was a drive by to try the local stinky fruit Durian - Terrence's personal favourite! But not with our kids. The small turned them off! It's a very creamy flesh in a spiky shell - not my favourite either, but had to be tried!
Lastly, wew were up for dessert... If you can believe it... And from another street vendor. Hot bananas in batter and sweet potato and glutinous rice in batter and deep fried! OMG! Needless to say, we rolled home... via a stop in Chinatown and took some pics at the Skybar at the top of Traders Hotel. No meal necessary that night.
If you're heading to KL and want to try these guys look up Trip Advisor and hunt down Food ToUrs Malaysia. Definitely recommended!

2 Days Left!

Well the house sitter is now organised, most of the tours booked and hotels confirmed - hard to believe that this has been a year in the making and it's finally here.
So I ducked out for lunch with my son on the weekend and the car was rear ended - the light ahead went green, so the guy behind me decided to go!  What the?  Just what I need with days to spare!  Anyway, Allianz has been great and Miami Smash Repairs have it all under control for me!  Thank goodness the claim is going smoothly!
Work has now let me know I'll be included in a panel discussion during the AFS Conference in Estonia in early May - Young Guns vs the Rugged & Buggered.  Hope they've included me in Young Guns - or I'll be pretty miffed!  I'll probably post updates on my Twitter site as I go - check out WealthPP for news!
So, I've now prepaid our trip up to the top of the Eiffel Tower, booked a 'factory and museum tour' of the Lamborghini Factory in Bologna, Italy and entry to The Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg - no waiting in lines for this family!
The family in Malta have been in touch to arrange our pick up at the airport and we're all looking forward to putting faces to the names at long last!
I think it's all come together nicely!