Second impressions - in and around Kuala Lumpur (KL)

We now have a few days of touring and, for me, 1 day of work under our belts. The humidity hasn't been as incapacitating as I'd feared. With A/C all over the place and a swimming pool at the ready, there's always a way to cool off. In fact, the humidity and lushness of the vegetation is still exotic and in some ways invigoration. We'll see how long that lasts. I'm fully aware that the honeymoon only lasts so long.

We've visited the bird park, which is "the worlds largest free-fly walk-in aviary." It was cool, though the novelty of scampering monkeys wore off when they took over the children's playground. They are aggressive little monsters. Lev shrieked at one and it swung down and bopped him on the head. He was scared, understandably, as was I, as I pondered a visit to the urgent care for rabies shots. Fortunately no skin was broken and Lev has learned not to f^c& with the monkeys!

We also visited the butterfly garden, which was on a smaller scale than the bird park, but in my opinion, a better tour. There were butterflies, of course, but the meandering jungle paths and cascading waterfalls were the highlight. It really drove home that we are only about 260 miles from the equator and that this city was literally cut out of the middle of a jungle.

People widely speak English and are very friendly. Uber is here in full effect, so we have no troubles getting around. Lev has celebrity-like status here with his curly blond hair and fair skin. People walking by will small and touch his shoulder or lighly caress his face. This weirded Anya and I out, but we've learned that it's a normal cultural thing and meant as a friendly gesture. Still, if people were doing that in the US, I'd be physically moving people away from him. Lev, for his part, takes it mostly in stride, though he now just raises his hand to them and gives a nod. Our little Bieber. When were at a local mall, a group of Chinese parents asked to position their child next to Lev so they could do a photo shoot. Lev will just have to learn to live with paparazzi I guess.

Lev and his celebrity status. What a sport.