We decided that due to the arrival times into Korea from Bangalore that we would schedule an 18 hour layover in Kuala Lumpur. We thought this would be a good idea and it indeed turn out to be just that.
We left India at 1:10 am and the four hour flight was very uneventful. The kids did manage to nap and we managed to have a couple of hours of down time to reflect and prepare for the next couple of days. We landed at 7:30am and realized our first mistake. We packed our bags with the assumption that because we had this layover that we would have to recheck our luggage, not so. The problem of course is that we packed our spare clothes in the outside pockets of the luggage, and of course they were checked all the way to Seoul. Sometimes being efficient can have its downfalls. No bother, there would be plenty of shops for us to help boost the local economy!
The hotel was inside the airport and the room came with a complimentary breakfast buffet. The plan was to feed everyone as much as possible and then hope to take a 4 or 5 hour nap. The food was great and we all had our fill and sure enough we fell asleep at 9:30 and we woke up at 2:00 perfect.
We were then off to the Aquarium and then to the Petronas Towers. They booth were great places for the kids and of course we had to go to McDonald's for dinner where Jimmy, the eating machine, had two kids meals!
The towers were great to see at night and were full of spectacular shopping, if you are into that. Tracy and I each spent more than we wanted to but it was fun. We walked around the whole complex, outside in the rain, in the hopes the kids would sleep on the plane.
We arrived back at the hotel around 9:30 everyone took baths and we headed back to the airport for the final leg. Our flight left at 1:00 (again) and the kids managed another 4-5 hours of sleep. They love planes, but I tell you, 2 overnight flights in a row is enough to drag anyone down.
As prep for our next few blogs, I will add the proposed schedule for Seoul to give you an idea of what we are in for. Keep in mind, we are traveling with 10 adults from 4 different states and 3 different countries. There are also 8 kids all under the age of 6. 2 6 yr old boys, 2 4 (soon to be 5) year olds, 3, 3 year old boys and a baby. We have our work cut out for us!!
Day 1: Arrive and get settled, late afternoon meeting with the people from Eastern ( the agency in Korea as well as the place we will be staying).
Day 2:12:30 meeting with Jimmy's Foster Mom trip to Kyobo Bookstore ( the largest bookstore in the world), 6:30 meeting with Kay's foster Mom and then a 7:30 meeting with Billy's Foster Mom.
Day 3: Lotte world, like Camp Snoopy on steroids
Day 4: The DMZ
Day 5: Visit Palaces
Day 6: Korean War Memorial and Seoul Tower
Day 7: Seoul Theme park, Zoo and Namdaman Market
Day 8: Lunch, Namdaman Market and final good byes
Day9: The trip home
So we will be adding a bog for each day over the next few days and pictures as well.
Happy New Year and may it be prosperous!
