Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Going Tribal
The adventure begins, as Rosanna delivered Haley & I to the LAX international terminal on Wednesday night, and shared our hugs & farewells. We enjoyed a nice meal at the Cathay Pacific business class lounge -- particularly the ratatouille and a nice manhattan to get things in motion before the 15 hour midnight flight.
As always, Cathay did not disappoint -- great service, very comfortable accommodations, and a pretty smooth flight to make it a perfect 1st flight. Not much conversing at this stage -- the plan was set, with it already being midnight and our bellies full, we're taking the Ambien pills shortly after take off -- and the rest was history. Flat bed, music or movies in the background, and night night. On the first flight, Haley & I each racked up 8 - 9 hours of sleep. With our arrival in Hong Kong at 5 AM (local time), our bodies think it's 3 PM, but hey, we're feeling fine and making the long trek across the HK terminal since our gate was at the complete other end, and the trains weren't open yet. Walking is good, and we make our rounds, and eventually find the Cathay lounge for some more comforts, including nice showers for the layover.
I was surprised to see the same seating on our 2nd flight, with pods & lay flat beds, even in the regional route aircraft -- so, even though only 3 hours for this flight, we were happy travellers and I fell into a nice zone again -- the zen like state of bliss, with remnants of ambien in my bloodstream, comfortable seat/bed, and attendants bringing multiple courses of food and drinks. Ahhhhh, this is the way to travel !
At the immigration counter in Kuala Lumpur, Haley was laughing quite a bit over the greeting sign facing all entering visitors: "Welcome to Malaysia . .Keep walking " People like our Ape tshirts, with a combination of staring eyeballs or funny comments -- including one Indian man on the Express train in KL, who with a straight face said that he liked my shirt, and how did they put your picture on it. At first I didn't quite understand his accent, so not much reply or laughter, and then the other Indian man interjecting to clarify, "that was a joke, yes ? , you were joking, "yes", he jokes to make you laugh". Yes, definitely a good one, Haley & I
just couldn't understand what he said the first time ! He proceeded to give his philosophy on the value of good laughter. Always funny how the languague barriers will change the course of a conversation a little bit. Nice guys, and we parted ways from the express train.
Our final flight was with Air Asia, basic and simple jaunt over to Kuching Malaysia -- a route that they run about every hour from Kuala Lumpur. Except, we booked the one that had something wrong with the airplane. After 40 minute delay, the crowd was called in, Haley & I at the front of the line, first ones down the jetway, only to be told "you must turn around and go back" -- I thought she was joking, considering that we're already delayed, but nope, she wasn't kidding. Some miscommunication from the people in the terminal, and now we had to somehow backtrack it with an entire jetway full of eager passengers. Never seen that before. And we wait and wait, and now the news is another 2 hour delay (for that 1.5 hour flight that goes every hour !). Switched planes, killed some time, and away we go for our final leg.
Haley started hitting the wall at that point, and didn't look so chipper any longer. I chatted a while with a nice Malaysian family and a Filipina flight attendant, and the time kind of flew by. Immigration desk in Kuching was completely empty, so we blasted right through the counters and figured it didn't matter anyways, since this was domestic -- Malaysia to Malaysia. Apparently, the immigration officers jumped out right after we passed, and halted the entire group and turned them around to go through passports & do the stamps. Haley & I were already long gone, so we bypassed this process -- again, a little strange system -- were the immigration officers on potty break ??
From the point of leaving our home in California to the arrival at Ranee Boutique Suites in Kuching, Malaysia, it is now 32 hours. That's a solid amount of travel, but a good start
to our adventure. Very nice room here, and Haley stayed low and got comfortable in her bed. I, in my normal fashion, felt the need to go explore a city I've never been, so I went walking.
Stumbled upon the famous "Drunk Monkey Old Street Bar", and hung out there a while. Nothing fancy, but a pub sort of feel, and a few people to chat with. Met Andrew the bartender, from Leeds UK, and Rachel the Tiger Beer girl. Told her about my short visit in Phnom Penh Cambodia where we drove past the large mansion belonging to the owner of Tiger Beer, but she admitted that she didn't know much Tiger Beer trivia :-) Nice people though, and they wanted to hear about our plans in Matang Wildlife Centre.
Time to head back to the hotel, and I thought I had a general direction of which way, but apparently not. I did know the name of the hotel (that's a good thing ! -- can be a problem if you don't have either the name OR location). So, I'm walking, and being in a new town at night for only a few hours, I'm clueless with nothing looking familiar the more I walk.
I stop by at an outdoor food stand, and look for the most likely person to understand this clueless white guy, and strike out on first one. Then I ask a girl who doesn't know Ranee Hotel, but swiftly Googles it up on her phone, grabs her friends and away we go. So, 3 girls all trying to follow the google map, speaking in Malay and a little english, and driving all around town to find my hotel (I know I only walked a few blocks, but somehow it's now the wild goose chase). But they all screamed out when they saw the Ranee sign, and I thanked them for the helpful little journey to find my hotel . . . & daughter. Ha Ha !
It's Saturday morning here, and we have a completely open day to catch some sights and sounds of the city of Kuching, Malaysia. Welcome to Malaysia . . . now keep walking !
As always, Cathay did not disappoint -- great service, very comfortable accommodations, and a pretty smooth flight to make it a perfect 1st flight. Not much conversing at this stage -- the plan was set, with it already being midnight and our bellies full, we're taking the Ambien pills shortly after take off -- and the rest was history. Flat bed, music or movies in the background, and night night. On the first flight, Haley & I each racked up 8 - 9 hours of sleep. With our arrival in Hong Kong at 5 AM (local time), our bodies think it's 3 PM, but hey, we're feeling fine and making the long trek across the HK terminal since our gate was at the complete other end, and the trains weren't open yet. Walking is good, and we make our rounds, and eventually find the Cathay lounge for some more comforts, including nice showers for the layover.
I was surprised to see the same seating on our 2nd flight, with pods & lay flat beds, even in the regional route aircraft -- so, even though only 3 hours for this flight, we were happy travellers and I fell into a nice zone again -- the zen like state of bliss, with remnants of ambien in my bloodstream, comfortable seat/bed, and attendants bringing multiple courses of food and drinks. Ahhhhh, this is the way to travel !
At the immigration counter in Kuala Lumpur, Haley was laughing quite a bit over the greeting sign facing all entering visitors: "Welcome to Malaysia . .Keep walking " People like our Ape tshirts, with a combination of staring eyeballs or funny comments -- including one Indian man on the Express train in KL, who with a straight face said that he liked my shirt, and how did they put your picture on it. At first I didn't quite understand his accent, so not much reply or laughter, and then the other Indian man interjecting to clarify, "that was a joke, yes ? , you were joking, "yes", he jokes to make you laugh". Yes, definitely a good one, Haley & I
just couldn't understand what he said the first time ! He proceeded to give his philosophy on the value of good laughter. Always funny how the languague barriers will change the course of a conversation a little bit. Nice guys, and we parted ways from the express train.
Our final flight was with Air Asia, basic and simple jaunt over to Kuching Malaysia -- a route that they run about every hour from Kuala Lumpur. Except, we booked the one that had something wrong with the airplane. After 40 minute delay, the crowd was called in, Haley & I at the front of the line, first ones down the jetway, only to be told "you must turn around and go back" -- I thought she was joking, considering that we're already delayed, but nope, she wasn't kidding. Some miscommunication from the people in the terminal, and now we had to somehow backtrack it with an entire jetway full of eager passengers. Never seen that before. And we wait and wait, and now the news is another 2 hour delay (for that 1.5 hour flight that goes every hour !). Switched planes, killed some time, and away we go for our final leg.
Haley started hitting the wall at that point, and didn't look so chipper any longer. I chatted a while with a nice Malaysian family and a Filipina flight attendant, and the time kind of flew by. Immigration desk in Kuching was completely empty, so we blasted right through the counters and figured it didn't matter anyways, since this was domestic -- Malaysia to Malaysia. Apparently, the immigration officers jumped out right after we passed, and halted the entire group and turned them around to go through passports & do the stamps. Haley & I were already long gone, so we bypassed this process -- again, a little strange system -- were the immigration officers on potty break ??
From the point of leaving our home in California to the arrival at Ranee Boutique Suites in Kuching, Malaysia, it is now 32 hours. That's a solid amount of travel, but a good start
to our adventure. Very nice room here, and Haley stayed low and got comfortable in her bed. I, in my normal fashion, felt the need to go explore a city I've never been, so I went walking.
Stumbled upon the famous "Drunk Monkey Old Street Bar", and hung out there a while. Nothing fancy, but a pub sort of feel, and a few people to chat with. Met Andrew the bartender, from Leeds UK, and Rachel the Tiger Beer girl. Told her about my short visit in Phnom Penh Cambodia where we drove past the large mansion belonging to the owner of Tiger Beer, but she admitted that she didn't know much Tiger Beer trivia :-) Nice people though, and they wanted to hear about our plans in Matang Wildlife Centre.
Time to head back to the hotel, and I thought I had a general direction of which way, but apparently not. I did know the name of the hotel (that's a good thing ! -- can be a problem if you don't have either the name OR location). So, I'm walking, and being in a new town at night for only a few hours, I'm clueless with nothing looking familiar the more I walk.
I stop by at an outdoor food stand, and look for the most likely person to understand this clueless white guy, and strike out on first one. Then I ask a girl who doesn't know Ranee Hotel, but swiftly Googles it up on her phone, grabs her friends and away we go. So, 3 girls all trying to follow the google map, speaking in Malay and a little english, and driving all around town to find my hotel (I know I only walked a few blocks, but somehow it's now the wild goose chase). But they all screamed out when they saw the Ranee sign, and I thanked them for the helpful little journey to find my hotel . . . & daughter. Ha Ha !
It's Saturday morning here, and we have a completely open day to catch some sights and sounds of the city of Kuching, Malaysia. Welcome to Malaysia . . . now keep walking !
- comments
Mom/Grandma Judy Sounds like an exotic & exciting adventure (but not my style!) Cherish every moment together; that's what builds spectacular memories for your children/grandchildren. I always pray for your well-being & safety. Oh, stay together! Love, Mom
Sue Wow - quite a bit of traveling to get there but you are there! YAY! I can't wait for more stories. Have fun and enjoy Haley and Robert! xo
Brian Looks great good accommodations and traveling partner's just remember KEEP WALKING
steve c Wow 32 hours I would be going crazy.love the shirts