Rich House

Joy here...Nomi's daughter is friends with a child who is a member of one of Malaysia's royal families, (each province/state has its own Sultan, and one of the Sultans of each state gets voted in as the national Sultan for a term every now and then).  Because of her family connections, she lives in a lovely compound, the likes of which many of us will never see.  Now, Nomi's daughter told us yesterday that she wants to live in a "rich house" and have "rich things" when she grows up.  She also thinks that if her dad loves her enough, he would just buy her a "rich house."  Nomi and I tried desperately to explain to her that there's no way on this planet that her dad can buy her a "rich house" that compares to something a member of the Sultan's family can buy.

She was not convinced.  Oh, to be seven and so naive again.

And I didn't truly know what she meant by a "rich house," but on our Sunday run this week, I got to have a bit of a glimpse.

You see, I had made plans with one of The Man's friends (Simon who is an amazing triathlete) to meet up with him and some of his friends on Sunday morning for our run.  I was going to do a longer run (around 20kms) in preparation for our half marathon next weekend, but since Nomi had to be back in 90 minutes, we opted for a shorter run.  So we joined up with a group of running friends who do a route called "Two Hills," which is a hilly route through one of the city's most exclusive areas (the Sultan of Selangor's palace is in this neighbourhood...I know, because we ran past it...there was a sign saying that trespassers would be shot...they don't mess around in this country).  Let me tell you, the homes in this area were INSANE!  I couldn't tell if they were condo buildings or hotels or houses.  They were all larger and more ostentatious than even the most posh homes in exclusive neighbourhoods in Toronto that I am familiar with.  Let's just say that the Bridle Path (in Toronto) has nothing on Kenny Hills (in Kuala Lumpur).

Here's how one real estate agent describes the neighbourhood:
"In a nutshell...
Kenny Hills / Taman Duta...in short:
You will be caught in awe as you drive through the luxurious neighborhood of Taman Duta and Kenny Hills. The homes of the rich and famous are sporadically spread all about the Taman Duta and Kenny Hills area with the tightest security. As you drive through these quiet and hilly neighbourhoods, what the residents of Taman Duta and Kenny Hills call home, appear like castles in the sky to the ordinary person."*

So as we ran - up and down the hills, through the deserted morning streets, around the compounds - we couldn't help but stare at the opulence all around us.  It made for an interesting morning run.  And then, as the sun began to rise in the east, painting the sky a brilliant shade of pink, we stopped for a moment amid the mansions and looked out over the city skyline with the Petronas Towers gleaming as the sun rose behind them, and we realized that these gazillionaires also get the best view in town.

But we just put our heads down and kept on with our run, letting our own minds wander in and out of our own fantasies - would we want to live there?  what would life be like if we did?  do I really need a house like THAT? - and with each step I began to realize that I, for one, am perfectly happy with my own state in life.  I don't need a "rich house", because I'm happy enough to run by them in the early morning dawn of a beautiful Kuala Lumpur day in May.

So here are my contented run stats one week out from the half marathon:
Ran for 1:22:24 for a distance of 13kms with an average pace of 6:20min/km.

Over and out,
Joy

*The quotation is from:  http://www.propertylink.com.my/kennyhills.php
**The photo of the KL skyline is from:  http://www.galerie-creation.com/photographies-couleur-d-architecture-asiatique-k-58172.htm?page=6.  Next time I run there, I'll make sure to bring my own camera!