The Central West End is the neighborhood we chose to stay in, which is strategically located between Forest Park and downtown St Louis. It is a safe neighborhood, and Saint Louis University’s campus is only a block away from our accommodation. Even before the trip, we were very well aware that St Louis consistently ranks among the most dangerous cities in the US every year. In fact, we heard about a high school shooting incident on TV on the second night of our stay, which occurred just 3 miles south of our accommodation. We also drove past the bright collapsible spotlights and reporters’ vans parked beside the school on the following rainy evening. It’s worth noting that the high crime areas are mainly concentrated on the north side of downtown St Louis and in East St Louis. East St Louis is technically not part of St Louis since it is located across the Mississippi River in Illinois.

We allocated a full day to explore the Gateway Arch National Park and downtown St Louis. Knowing that parking in big cities is always problematic and costly, we left our car in the parking garage for the entire day and explored by foot instead. Our combo tickets covered a tram ride to the top of the Gateway Arch, a short documentary movie, and a riverboat cruise. It was fascinating to learn about the purpose of this arch and how President Thomas Jefferson played a pivotal role in the westward expansion by acquiring the Louisiana Territory from France. On the other hand, the riverboat cruise on the Mississippi River in the afternoon was a rather forgettable experience. Apart from admiring the giant arch from different angles and enjoying the beautiful fall weather, nothing was interesting outside that area, especially on the Illinois side. In the evening, we drove across the river to watch the sunset overlooking the St Louis skyline from the Illinois side.

We visited several public parks throughout the stay to capture the fall colors. In addition, we took advantage of the free attractions in St Louis and its vicinities, such as the St Louis Zoo, St Louis Art Museum, Missouri History Museum, World Chess Hall of Fame, and Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site. Besides covering the city attractions, we hiked in Lone Elk Park, Castlewood State Park in Missouri, and Pere Marquette State Park in Illinois. One of the trip highlights was the Anheuser-Busch Brewery tour. The guided tour was 2 hours long, and it wasn’t cheap, but we got to drink lots of beer to make up for the price. Our tour guide also shared many interesting stories, two of which stood out. One story was how the brewery founder originally wanted to name the current Busch Stadium as Budweiser Stadium. However, the Major League Baseball rules prohibited naming a venue after an alcoholic beverage. So, the owner circumvented that rule by naming it after himself and introducing Busch Beer later. The second story was about Walt Disney’s ambition to open a second theme park at St Louis Riverfront (where the Gateway Arch is currently located). However, the founder’s great-grandson vehemently opposed this idea after discovering that the theme park would not serve beer. Hence, Disney World was built in sunny Florida.

Our drive home included a stop in a small city named Hannibal. When we drove past this city on our way to St Louis, the city’s name piqued my interest. My impromptu research discovered this city is definitely not named after Hannibal Lecter (because it would be silly). Instead, it is the boyhood home of Mark Twain. I vividly remember my struggles with the college’s English reading assignments about Huckleberry Finn’s adventures. Every student was required to share their opinions after reading the assigned chapters. In the class, 2 nerdy students dominated the discussions among themselves and the teacher. Besides being lazy, the idea of speculating based on a storybook was odd to me since we could have read further chapters to learn about Finn’s next adventure. I digress. It is also worth mentioning that Samuel Clemens and Mark Twain refer to the same person, whereas the latter is the pen name of the earlier. As we drove home, we passed by a state park named Wakonda in Missouri, which we obviously had a few good chuckles at. And no, Black Panther is not a Missourian.

The overall trip was enjoyable. We were blessed with excellent weather and stunning fall colors, not to mention the gas price was considerably lower in Missouri. We tried several classic St Louis foods such as St Louis-style ribs, toasted ravioli, gooey butter cake, and pizza with Provel cheese. We also had several fantastic Chinese cuisines in the Chinatown area. Apart from a few ghetto areas we had to drive through near downtown St Louis, the rest of the neighborhoods were generally very safe for us to explore.

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We headed out early and began our hike at 9 AM. The forecasted passing shower didn’t happen that morning, although it was very chilly with the temperature hovering below 40F. The campground still had quite a few die-hard campers, especially at this time of the year. We hiked leisurely on relatively flat trails for 5.8 miles in under 3 hours.

After the hike, we headed to Faribault for lunch. This small city — named after Alexander Faribault, who set up a fur trading post there — has a similar population size as Winona. It is safe to say that most small cities in the US — regardless of how ethnically diverse they are — have at least one great Mexican restaurant that the locals universally love. After having our fajita, enchilada, and margarita, we explored Faribault’s Historic Commercial District, which consists of many well-preserved historic buildings from the 1880s to 1950s, before heading home.

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We started our day by heading to Fort Ridgely State Park for a hike. It was so cold in the morning that the rain turned into snow flurries when passing by Mankato. Fort Ridgely is the fourth oldest state park in Minnesota. It served as a military post to keep the peace as the settler-colonists pushed into the Dakota homelands in the mid-1850s. This fort was named “Ridgely” to honor three army officers of the same name who died during the Mexican-American War of 1846 to 1848. We hiked 3 miles below the freezing point before heading to New Ulm for some fantastic hot German dishes for lunch. In the afternoon, we explored the historic downtown and visited several small local attractions before hanging out at Schell’s Brewery — the second oldest family-owned brewery in the US. We continued with more German dishes for dinner at a different restaurant before calling it a night. Last year, our visit to North Dakota introduced us to various German food and expanded our already-broad taste palate. At least we can now comfortably order German dishes other than bratwurst and sauerkraut.

The next day, while having our complimentary breakfast at the hotel, we overheard chatters beside our table that the Twin Cities had snowed. Unfazed by the snow heading in our direction, we proceeded to hike 5.5 miles in Flandrau State Park in the morning. While the temperature was as cold as the previous day, the hiking experience was much more pleasant because we didn’t have to battle the brutal wind. We were glad the snow didn’t make it here. After our light lunch in downtown New Ulm, we headed home.

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This time, we consciously tried as many different dishes as possible whenever we dined outside. Food prices were noticeably higher due to the impact of the pandemic and rising inflation. Still, we benefited from the weakened local currency. A $2 meal would comfortably fill one stomach, whereas the same dish would cost about $15 in the midwestern US. The Klang Valley is blessed with endless restaurants and food options. We typically searched for popular restaurants for a dish we craved on our phones before driving just a short distance to reach there. We also had Bak Kut Teh a grand total of 5 times — the most iconic dish in Klang that literally means “meat bone tea” in Hokkien. So famous that it is also commonly known now as just BKT. Every night, a dim sum food truck passed by our house with a young voice blaring on a loudspeaker, yelling “tua pau, char siew pau, lo mai kai” — all the tasty treats we liked. It failed to entice us to get our supper because we locked the door, threw the key away, and stuck to the plan to protect our ever-expanding waistlines.

We had many visitors throughout our stay here. Sis’ family spent quality time with us several times — whenever we could align with her hectic schedules. Simon’s family and a few cousins went out of their way just to have lunch with us. Shuang’s family drove 5 hours from their place and stayed overnight at a nearby hotel in Klang to see us the following morning. Of course, we treated them with BKT, which they absolutely loved. One memorable moment was when my 80 years young world-traveler neighbor paid us an impromptu visit — Uncle Mohd Nor, we called him. Speaking to him brought back many priceless nostalgic childhood memories.

Just like that, our 3 weeks in the Klang Valley and the overall trip concluded. Our flight transited at a familiar INC, and we stopped at the same cafe to get our Ginsengccino fix — a beverage we stumbled upon at the beginning of our trip. As we sipped our drink, it reminded us how fast time flew. Just 5 weeks ago, we spent 19 hours in this airport terminal. This time, we were there again on our way home. Apart from the stressful luggage-hunting incident on three separate baggage carousels at DTW, the journey was relatively smooth. We battled grogginess due to the 13-hour time difference on our final 1.5 hours drive home and slept continuously for 12 hours upon arriving home.

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Since our last visit 3 years ago, the garden has been tidier and more spacious. Messy shrubs were replaced with grass. The dirty sculptures were cleaned and carefully repainted with bright colors. There used to be a wooden “prison cell” for the incarcerated monkeys to think about their wrongdoings for a few days, but it was now dismantled. Nevertheless, the wild monkey problems were still prevalent, where a troop of them would swing from the nearby jungle to steal ripped fruits. We marveled at Richard’s enormous vegetable garden project, where the rainwater collected from the roof irrigated the vegetables. Another new addition was a row of dragon fruit plants, although none bore edible fruits yet.

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Every morning, we headed to downtown Sarikei to have a long breakfast with several family members and relatives. We happily sampled many different dishes ordered by others. After spending the first night at Aunt Hung’s place, we spent the remaining nights at the secluded garden house. Many warned us about the relentless mosquitoes at dusk and how muggy it would be at night due to the lack of air conditioners. Nevertheless, we prevailed by hiding inside the house at night and bathing frequently. The morning temperature was much more pleasant, with plenty of big trees around the house. However, it typically rose to high 90Fs by 10 AM due to the high humidity. After that, it was almost like the scenes from Riddick where we quickly sought shade from the burning sun.

At this time of the year, only a few ripped fruits were available from the garden. Typically, there was an abundance of exotic local fruits available whenever we were home. That said, we rarely visited home in August, either. Many siblings brought and prepared various fruits, such as coconut, chempedak, papaya, pineapple, and jackfruit. This year, the garden has many dogs — six of the nine dogs were puppies. This gang of playful puppies had many mini adventures where they ran around hunting for small critters. They spread lazily on the cement pavement in the afternoon to cool down in the scorching heat. These hungry puppies followed us closely every time we got out of the house. We were the Pied Piper, and they were the rats. They licked our feet whenever we stopped, even for a second, hoping we would drop food on the ground. On the other hand, the mama dog hated our guts. Every time we walked towards her, she stood her ground and barked crazily at us.

Time flew by very fast. One by one, each sibling headed back to their respective home. It started with Simon. We were next, and finally, Tony and Jimmy. Eventually, it would only be just Richard and our parents in Sarikei. It was not easy to say goodbye to one another. Perhaps, it is never goodbye, more like a see you later. We promised each other we would have a get-together next year, perhaps in Kota Kinabalu or somewhere in China when COVID-19 becomes a thing of the past. We all realized it was not easy to see everyone together like this, and this year, everyone made an extra effort to make this a reality. Deep down in our hearts, we cherished the opportunity to enjoy the company and camaraderie of our aging parents and siblings. From Sarikei, we departed for Kuala Lumpur and spent the remainder of our trip in the Klang Valley.

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This weather was pretty wet in Kuching at this time of the year. The climate change in recent years has pushed up and lengthened the Northeast Monsoon that typically occurs from November to March. Aunt Hung graciously allowed us to cramp into her new 3-bedroom condo in a reasonably new suburb located southwest of the city center. Mount Serapi in Kubah National Park could be clearly seen from the balcony on the 7th floor. Aunt Kwong’s children lent us a car to move freely there. The development in Kuching has been multiplying rapidly over the last decade. Unlike our previous visit there, we couldn’t recall witnessing so many new changes or frequently getting stuck in countless traffics. Even the Kuching Waterfront has an architecturally unique pedestrian bridge over the Sarawak River.

We had no big plans to visit any attractions this time. Cousin Siang tried planning a last-minute trip with us to explore the Borneo Highlands, but that didn’t pan out. That said, we took the opportunity to meet with many relatives and friends daily. Our meetings usually revolved around food. Knowing everyone was busy, we typically reserved a table or two at a restaurant to maximize our opportunities to meet many of them at once. We tried many famous local dishes. To name a few: the undisputable Kolo Mee, Sarawak Laksa that was deemed as the “Breakfast of the Gods” by Anthony Bourdain, wild jungle fern known as Midin, Kueh Chap, Gong Pia, and spinach-like leaves known as Mani Cai. Then, there is the white Kolo Mee — the original version — and the sweeter red Kolo Mee, and we tried them all. Aunt Kwong’s family invited us to their home for lunch to eat the delicious homemade Mee Suah served with Kampong Chicken. These dishes are so unique to Sarawak that most don’t even exist in west Malaysia. In fact, we wholeheartedly enjoyed having these simple yet inexpensive dishes at the food stalls rather than dining at luxurious restaurants. After spending a wonderful week in Kuching, we departed to Sarikei with family members and continued with our packed travel itinerary.

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Sipadan — the only oceanic island in Malaysia — is considered one of the top 10 dive sites in the world. Unfortunately, none of us are divers. If we dive, we sink and will never resurface. Still, we were all very excited to snorkel there. Many Chinese tourists paid top dollar to visit this exotic location during the pre-pandemic period. Our boat carried six passengers, two local guides, and one driver. Although we shared the same boat with one young Chinese couple, there were still not many Chinese visitors due to the strict travel restrictions in China. We were very well aware of the rampant kidnappings-for-ransom threats from the pirates in this part of the country. The US, UK, and Canada travel advisories also discourage their citizens from avoiding non-essential travel to the east coast of Sabah. That said, we felt we were in good hands since Jimmy and Shing knew the excursion company very well, and we would be back on the mainland before dark. It was a blessing in disguise to arrive a day late because, unlike the previous day, we had a perfect sunny day. The gloomy weather would have prevented us from seeing the corals and marine life. The boat driver mentioned one of the boats had to turn back on the previous day due to the rough waves. Our snorkeling excursion covered Barracuda Point, Coral Garden, and South Point. We saw many green turtles and batfish. The most surreal part was swimming with thousands of jackfish at the Malaysia-Indonesia border.

This trip educated us about the existence and the plight of the Bajau people — the stateless indigenous seafarers. They escaped the Mindanao civil war in the 1970s and now live in the waters off the coasts of Malaysia. Given their status as outsiders, they are forbidden to set foot on Malaysian soil. However, during traffic stops in Tawau, we saw many women and young kids on bare feet begging for food and money. The Bajau people are isolated from the rest of the world and live in dangerous waters. Just like most of us who get seasick after spending too much time on the water, the Bajau people get land sick after spending too long on solid ground.

On the final day, we traveled to Kuching to meet more family members and relatives. Given the remoteness of this area, there were no direct flights from Tawau to Kuching. Hence, we spent the whole day traveling and eventually arrived in Kuching at night. This trip to Semporna was too short, but we were grateful to make our first-ever visit. Our super gracious hosts — Jimmy and Shing — went above and beyond to make our stay as comfortable as possible and treated us to delicious local dishes in Tawau and Semporna. This would not be our last time visiting them. We would love to explore other beautiful islands around Semporna in the coming years.

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Our journey began in the middle of the night when we prepared our trip to catch our flight from Minneapolis (MSP) to Seattle (SEA). It became painfully clear the airport staff tried in vain to keep up with the ever-changing vaccination and travel rules imposed by each country. The MSP staff insisted that we present our vaccination proof (which we had) and a negative test (which we didn’t have). All of these were optional to enter Malaysia since August 1. On the other hand, the SEA staff didn’t bother checking these documents at all. Half of the passengers on the domestic flights didn’t wear masks, while we opted to wear ours the whole time. An unexpected delay at SEA reduced the already tight an-hour transit to less than a half hour in South Korea (INC). We discussed with a flight attendant at the back of the plane the possibility of allowing us to deplane first upon arrival. She convinced us that we would miss our next flight. Sure enough, our next flight had just departed by the time we landed. We discovered there were six more passengers who missed the same flight. The next flight out was 11 AM on the next day — a 19-hour layover at the airport. Because the layover was less than 24 hours, the airline did not provide complimentary hotel accommodations. Instead, each stranded passenger received two complimentary meal coupons. We frantically rebooked our subsequent flights at the lounge area and readjusted our travel plans.

Unlike the US airports, INC required all passengers to wear masks. We could only roam inside Terminal 2. One stranded passenger tried unsuccessfully to convince the security staff to allow him to get outside the airport for a few hours. The prerequisites to leave the airports were a multi-day visit and a visitor visa. Terminal 2 is a reasonably new building — built in 2018 in preparation for PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics. We covered almost every square inch of this beautiful terminal. By 8 PM, the scenes were pretty desolated. As we loitered around, an airport employee kept yelling “TAIPEI” in our direction, thinking we were one of the oblivious passengers who forgot to board the plane on the final calls. After tiring ourselves with long strolls, we found a quiet place to cat nap for 4 hours.

By 5 AM the following day, we were already wandering in the terminal. After our early breakfast, an airport employee met us at the lounge area at 9 AM and ushered us past a labyrinth of secret passages and security checkpoints to Terminal 1. We made friends with a few stranded passengers, which helped everyone to pass the time more quickly. One passenger likened the situation to a group of strangers banded together to fight off the undead in the zombie apocalypse and prevailing. From South Korea, we flew the final stretch to Malaysia in 6.5 hours. Upon arrival at the airport, we wasted another 3 hours queuing in the immigration line and searching for our misplaced luggage. The most infuriating part was when an airport employee informed us that our luggage was stuck in a transit country even though they were in a storage room behind him. Eventually, we sorted this mess out — professionally and with stern voices. We checked into the airport hotel for a night to catch one more flight to east Malaysia the following early morning. This trip was supposed to be 26 hours long (22 hours of flight time and 4 hours of layover). However, the reality was 45 grueling hours with 23 hours of layover. We wore the same clothes — unshowered — for three whole days. Thankfully, we had our toothbrushes in our backpacks. As tiring as this ordeal was, we were grateful to arrive safely with all our belongings.

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Minneopa State Park is Minnesota’s 3rd oldest state park — after Itasca and Interstate. Minneopa means “water falling twice” in the Dakota language, most likely referring to the rather impressive Minneopa Falls. The 2-tiered waterfall and the bridge across the waterfall vividly reminded us of ​​​​Multnomah Falls in Oregon, albeit the latter was much on a grander scale. After the hike, we drove to another part of the state park for a more extended adventure. Many visitors chose to drive through the bison range, which we also checked out later, but we hiked the 5.2 miles loop around the fenced bison range. Our idea was to walk clockwise in the morning because it was more exposed under the sun on the west part of the loop. Still, our super scientific strategy didn’t pan out because it became cloudy and breezy in the afternoon.

As we reached a hill overlooking the valley at Seppmann Mill, a park volunteer approached and educated us about the bison in Minnesota. The state park currently has 50 bison — the maximum number of roaming bison allowed, given the land size. Out of the 50 bison here, 18 were breedable females, and the park had a record of 19 bison calves born this year, meaning one bison had twins. Each bison was genetically tested to ensure none of them carried cattle strain. When the herd grows over time, some bison are either transferred to other locations for breeding to preserve the pure wild bison species or sold for their meat. For comparison, Blue Mound State Park has the most bison in Minnesota — about 100 of them — and it is one of the world’s last remaining herds of purebred bison. We were fortunate to witness a large herd of bison resting lazily on the other side of the fence during the hike. It was amusing to see many vehicles moving at a snail’s pace in the bison range, hoping to spot the bison. Unfortunately, most of these majestic beasts gathered far away from the dusty road. As we drove through the bison range after the hike, we rolled down the window to capture the flora. The vehicles behind us immediately stopped and looked in the same direction, thinking our laser eyes had located the elusive fauna. After our late lunch at 3:30 PM, we briefly explored Old Town Mankato and Mankato State University before heading home.

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