Happy Merdeka!

It's another week and another three day weekend. What can I say, we like to 'holiday' in Malaysia. This particular three day weekend comes courtesy of Merdeka. From Wikipedia I just learned the word, 'Merdeka', which means, 'independence', comes from the Sanskrit word to designate former Portuguese and Dutch slaves in the East Indies. Later, the word became the battle cry of peoples in the region for freedom from their colonial oppressors. The gentleman shown in the first picture is the first Prime Minister of Malaysia, Abdul Rahman. He was the Prime Minister from 1957 till 1970. 

We couldn't think of anything that would say, 'Hey Malaysia, we love you', like spaghetti, meatballs, lasagna and the ever popular calamari. What better way to salute Mr. Rahman, his supporters and all the people of Malaysia? Believe me, if we did not have our wonderful children, we would have imbibed in all of the culinary treats, aromas and flavors that Malaysia has to offer; but when you are trying to fill bellies so children sleep through the night your own desires take a back seat. 

Behind the children is a flag of Malaysia. Each of the stripes represents one of the Malaysian states, the crescent moon signifies the importance Islam plays in the country, and the star gives ascension to the second largest minority group, the ethnic Chinese. Interesting tidbit, if you wikipedia other countries in the region you will see a similar theme with the stars and crescent moons.

I love this picture. Ella took it of Rachel and me while we were visiting an African restaurant in Kuala Lumpur. I know, I know, I just wrote about eating at an Italian restaurants because it's easier, and here I am now writing about African restaurants. But wait, before you crucify me for being a hypocrite, hear me out! It's not in my nature to research things out; I more prefer to fly by the seat of my pants. But, not wanting to visit Italianies (the Italian restaurant we were at again tonight), I researched kid friendly restaurants in the KL area and found that an African restaurant in the region had a great playground for the kids to enjoy while the parents could watch their kids and enjoy a relatively romantic evening. You had to overlook the location, but if you could get past the 1950's style swimming pool and the dilapidated facilities around it, the restaurant was great and the playground was a brilliant idea (I'm learning to incorporate 'brilliant' into my vocabulary courtesy of my British and Australian friends).