The selected occurences

'The power of Petronas

chavat09 — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 19:20:00 GMT

'He gazes in sheer amazement at the two metallic figures piercing the KL skyline. The towers exude the excellence of man made ingenuity, a testament to the progress in the region. As the sun glistens on the metallic frames of each window one can only feel amazed at such a structure, towering over the all the tourists and workers below.

KL is a city that is economically and technologically advanced, easily defined as a developed city. The public transport, whilst overly packed on occasion, runs on time, and at a quicker rate than in Melbourne. The city is surrounded by colourful billboards of the latest gadget, some new television show, or fast food meal. Shopping Centres are abundedent, and stupendous in size. A short walk from our guesthouse, Beraja Time Square, seemed to mimc the Petronas towers, each level met by a successive level, easily trumping any other shopping centre i had been to.

Chinatown, produced no chinaman, but a cacphony of sounds, ranging from the raging horn of a disgrunteld driver, the bored pleas of salesmen, or the chitter chatter of overwhlemed tourists. The products were all fake, cheap, and pointless. Yan, in his first attempt to haggle, came away with a significantly cheaper price, yet I still believe I am the one who brought the price down.

Note: when first told of initial price of fake raybans (which subsequently broke in the hotel room)Yan belowed the fakest of laughs, instructing but not fooling the store tender to drop the price. It was only once direct orders were made til we came to an agreeable price.

Yan in s2

chavat09 — Thu, 25 Nov 2010 18:48:00 GMT

'The phone is an extention of his arm. He reads with bated breath. Each successvive character enlarges his smile. Furiously tapping away at the keypad he reciprocates all the whispers of love hidden within the text he has recieved. His world exists solely through his phone. Whilst around him the stresses of international travel continue to operate, he walks with no direction, attention transfixed by the little metalic device in his hands, gleaming with the words he reads'.

Yan's mind is not his own, but is owned by the one they call Kimberley. Conversations had only involved one topic, 'KIMBERLY'. The boy is in love, and to his own detriment, he can not think of anything else. The opposition of feelings became all too apparent when commuting to KL. Elation and joy etched a smile his cloesest friends had never seen. Yet the realistaion that it would be a month before his eyes met his nirvana, saw depression rear its ugly head. Yan a man lost and unsure, destroyed of what may or may not occur in his absence.

As travel goes, the commute to your first destination seemed to 'fly' by. Eight hours, and nothing extraordinary occured on the flight. Music, reading, eating, music, reading, etc. Conversations were about girls, Yan's feeling about said girl, how girl may feel, magic that was experienced and so on. Upon landing, we were met with the thick, humid air of south east asia; experiencing tiredness and nicotine withdrawel, exicted for the adventures ahead.

The Departure: November 25th

chavat09 — Thu, 25 Nov 2010 11:08:00 GMT

Rain grew from a graceful touch, to a forceful collision in a matter of minutes. The morning swell of meals, showers, and dressing were met with an excited determination. Bags were checked once, twice, then thrice, everything going as planned for the morning departure. My travel partner lived up to expectation arriving 15min late. Our taxi, manned by my farther, as expected ran on time. A short goodbye to mum, the forceful gift of religious trinkets, (both to me an Yan), served as a safe guard in her mind to the dangers that lay ahead (realistically if she would indeed increase safety, she would banish Yan to a life within Australian borders, but such knowledge is foreign to her). The commute went without issue and we soon were at the international drop off lane at Melbourne Airport.

Notes before Departure:

- Yannick's close friends and family are somewhat worried about Yan, due to intimate knowledge of his behaviors. This culminated in a direct threat from Yan's mum on the eve of the trip, saying, if anything happens to my yanibun, its your ass Tim', said with such seriousness, that I actually feared for my safety.

- This is the first time Yan has traveled without family, and the first time he has left the country in six years. What makes this adventure unique is Yan has found love, two weeks before departure. This, obviously has influenced temperament, conversation, emotional state and frustration levels, but more will be said of the Kimberley siutaion in latter entries.