Dec 21 & 22...Our journey of the land of smiles begins
In hindsight we spent way too much time travelling. It was our first visit to Southeast Asia for Sean and myself so in the beginning we didn't mind being on the road a little longer as it meant we would see more of the people and topography. Here's how the travel itinerary unfolded....
Dec 21
On a cold evening Sean, Raquel and myself leave Obihiro just after 7 via train to Chitose. We arrive at our hotel by about 10:30, check in, shower and spend the rest of the evening in our yukata's watching absurd Japanese television including an entire program about women competing for the best breasts.
Dec 22
It's an early start as we have an 8 am flight to Osaka. We get our first glimpse of warmer weather in Osaka, shed socks, have breakfast and make a pilgrimage to Starbucks before our 11 am flight to Kuala Lumpur. Immigration is a breeze and with our freshly stamped passports we're giddy with excitement as we board the plane. We're even more excited once we're seated and discover we each have our own personal TV that allows us to watch movies and TV, play video games, listen to music among other things all completely independent of each other. Tres cool. The flight is nearly over before we know it and we make a short stop in Singapore to refuel. We are all amazed by the bookstore there with endless books and magazines all written in English. It's another 40 minute flight and we're in KL. We get off our plan and are stunned to see a group of about 50 Santa Claus's all decked out in red and white. The had all just got off a plane at the gate across from us. It was kind of like a hallucination. They were all waving and "ho ho ho'ing" as they walked thru the terminal. It was the first time this past Christmas season that it actually felt like Christmas to me.
The bus ride from the airport is 1.5 hours of crazy driving on highways that wind, curve and go from 1 to 6 lanes faster than the road runner can say "beep beep". We arrive in the Bukit Bintang area of downtown at around 11 pm, it's hot and humid, we're tired and hungry and after running around in circles through dark alleys lined with open sewers we finally find our less than pleasant hostel. The folks there seem nice enough and after we lock our stuff in lockers and get the door on our room to lock we head out in search of a nice Malaysian meal. We're inundated with massage offers and the heat and smell of this place and end up in a decent restaurant that only has pizza left on the menu. No biggie, we eat pizza and watch the people go by until 1 am. On the way back to our hostel I see a big 'ol fast moving cockroach speeding along the sidewalk and I start praying that none of his cousins are waiting for me in our room. We get back to discover the AC has cooled our room down quite nicely despite the fact there is a big hole in the window above Raquel's bed (definately big enough for cockroaches to enter). We all sleep completely clothed but fitfully none the less.
Dec 21
On a cold evening Sean, Raquel and myself leave Obihiro just after 7 via train to Chitose. We arrive at our hotel by about 10:30, check in, shower and spend the rest of the evening in our yukata's watching absurd Japanese television including an entire program about women competing for the best breasts.
Dec 22
It's an early start as we have an 8 am flight to Osaka. We get our first glimpse of warmer weather in Osaka, shed socks, have breakfast and make a pilgrimage to Starbucks before our 11 am flight to Kuala Lumpur. Immigration is a breeze and with our freshly stamped passports we're giddy with excitement as we board the plane. We're even more excited once we're seated and discover we each have our own personal TV that allows us to watch movies and TV, play video games, listen to music among other things all completely independent of each other. Tres cool. The flight is nearly over before we know it and we make a short stop in Singapore to refuel. We are all amazed by the bookstore there with endless books and magazines all written in English. It's another 40 minute flight and we're in KL. We get off our plan and are stunned to see a group of about 50 Santa Claus's all decked out in red and white. The had all just got off a plane at the gate across from us. It was kind of like a hallucination. They were all waving and "ho ho ho'ing" as they walked thru the terminal. It was the first time this past Christmas season that it actually felt like Christmas to me.
The bus ride from the airport is 1.5 hours of crazy driving on highways that wind, curve and go from 1 to 6 lanes faster than the road runner can say "beep beep". We arrive in the Bukit Bintang area of downtown at around 11 pm, it's hot and humid, we're tired and hungry and after running around in circles through dark alleys lined with open sewers we finally find our less than pleasant hostel. The folks there seem nice enough and after we lock our stuff in lockers and get the door on our room to lock we head out in search of a nice Malaysian meal. We're inundated with massage offers and the heat and smell of this place and end up in a decent restaurant that only has pizza left on the menu. No biggie, we eat pizza and watch the people go by until 1 am. On the way back to our hostel I see a big 'ol fast moving cockroach speeding along the sidewalk and I start praying that none of his cousins are waiting for me in our room. We get back to discover the AC has cooled our room down quite nicely despite the fact there is a big hole in the window above Raquel's bed (definately big enough for cockroaches to enter). We all sleep completely clothed but fitfully none the less.
posted by Nancy O at 3:36 am
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