Hakloot

Discovering Almaty

In April 07, with the advent of Spring, we decided that we should start discovering the surroundings of Almaty. Our first stop was Big Almaty Lake. It’s located at an altitude of 2510 meter and about an hours drive from the city. More so because of the fact that it’s dirt track in the mountains than because of distance. The slow drive up the mountains is well worth the sight when you get there. When we were there the lake was still frozen, even though the air was warm enough to walk around in short sleeved shirts.

We also went out to visit one of the restaurants on the road leading to Big Almaty Lake. It’s called “Tau Dastarkhan”, and has a beautiful setting on the mountain side with a number of different restaurants made up of “islands” with Kazakh, Russian, Georgian, and Uzbek kitchens with the choice of open air seating and some animals around which are an attraction for the kids. There were wolves, eagles, peacocks, deer, etc. Great location to get away from the city have some really good food and something to see for the kids..

Near to where we live is the newest and biggest mall of Kazakhstan, Mega, with a lot of boutiques, supermarkets as well as an ice skating ring, a game center for kids, movie theaters (all in Russian though), bowling alley and a climbing wall. So Lawrence was ready to give it a try. It turned out much harder than he initially thought, but as he got the hang of it with each try he reached higher.

Recently we also got invited to Lucas’ school to attend the performance of all the children. The Kazakhstan International School put on quite a show with all the children up on stage performing singing and dancing acts as well as the performance of some budding new piano and violin stars. Lucas acquitted himself gracefully.

Leanne made us all proud when recently in school her dress was chosen as the “finale” to close the school’s “Wearable Arts Show”. This yearly event at the school is a fashion show to parents, teachers, students and guests to show off the quality of work the children at the school are able to put out. Leanne designed and made herself a “white roses” short dress with an open back. It was modeled on the stage by one of her school friends who did a fantastic job of bringing out the true beauty of the design.

Last Updated: 01-05-2007



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