Hi everyone I'm finally sitting in an internet cafe, a rare thing, down a sidestreet in the suburb of Wangsa Maju. Been helped by a lot of people but internet cafes seem to be prehistoric - every place I went into til now, is for those with their own laptops or doing gaming.
Hope everyone at home is well. I did enjoy the art exhibition Kathie.
Anyway, the short version, I arrived at my hotel most willingly and then fell asleep. Its now 2.15pm my time. I will happily stay at this hotel the three nights. It is simple and clean . It has an amazing Mosque right across the right and the sing-song minor melodic tones of the Muezzin calling people to prayers was quite beautiful at 1pm. It reminded me of the catholic mass blaring out at Mawaque at 6am, but much more tonal.
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The plane left about an hour late. We boarded about 1.15am your time and had first meal at 2.15am. Very nice nasi lemak, better than what I had a Wok on Inn the first time. I sat with a very classy lady from Singapore about my age. She shared lots of good advice.
The flat-lie-down beds are amazing, nonetheless I go very little sleep, I've been awake since 3am our time and we landed at 8am. The turbulence before breakfast didn't help, essentially, I greeted Malaysia by spewing - made it to the bathroom - just as everyone is standing up to leave the plane.
Airport facilities very quick, amazing. As explained by my flight friend, its a low cost terminal, its not the main one. I bought a fresh juice (apple, orange, carrot ,beetroot) as I couldn't face tea or a starbucks coffee. I felt rotten enough to flag away my plan to visit the botanic garden at Putra Jaya on the way to Kuala Lumpur. I took the shuttle bus to the train direct to KL. The bus went on the ring road used by the Malaysian Grand Prix, all the signs were up.
Off the shuttle bus and at the train station I couldn't get to the bathroom quick enough, well I just did. Then maybe 40 mins on the speedy train thru about 3 stations to KL 'Sentral' - no bathrooms on the train, could I hold onto the juice? The outside was speeding so fast it made me increasingly dizzy if I opened my eyes. The cooling aircond was a delight.
At busy KL Sentral Steysen, I could only focus on whether I'd find a toilet soon enough - hooray, bye bye juice. I felt rotten as I navigated finding my line, buying a ticket, awaiting the train, but everything went smoothly. It was about 8-10 stops to the local station here at Wangsa Maju. Again, delight it cool air was tempered by th gamble as to whether I could keep my mouth tight on the train! I'd already tipped out my toothbrush etc so I could fill the bathroom bag (sealable plastic) if I had to.
Felt ok getting out. I don't think I had a germ, I think it was the combination of excitement, the turbulence, the unusual taste of breakfast, very little sleep, and the heat and humidity.
I had always thought the final 300m walk to the hotel would be easy. Thank goodness I'd printed out the local map into my notebook a couple of weeks ago. I asked a lady which exit I should take from the station to get to the correct street. She turned out to be an angel. She started to walk with me. Very quickly this changed into 'where is the bathroom' - and I only managed to connect with the bowl by neglecting to shut the door.
Blow me down, Mala was waiting for me. We started walking again, and I suggested a taxi. I was feeling very dizzy. I was sipping water constantly. Mala said, no, they will drive you round and round at great price. It happened we went to the wrong direction, across an overbridge across the train line. She quickly realised we'd have to go back up, I found this really hard, I was a mess.
Over the other side, and Mala (having by now exchanged email addresses during one of my sit-a-downs) promptly bundled me into a taxi, gave him firm instructions and then paid my fare herself! She also gave me her bottle of water. She explained, she wanted to see me to the hotel, but had to go now, to get to work!
So yes the taxi journey was only 300m and although it was only 11.15am (but 3 hours after landing) I fell onto the bed without even looking round the room. I started to rehydrate by sucking on a pack of miso soup, with more water. Thankyou!
After an hour asleep and a shower, I feel so much better.
Its 2.38pm here so 7.48pm at home, and I feel its bedtime.
I'm going to wander back to the hotel.
Tomorrow 8.30am Edwina comes to pick me up for the Zoo. I'm so looking forward to it.
At Chch airport I had a good look around duty free and wrote down prices.
Must say, I've asked a lot of people for instructions and directions, and not looking my best, and they have all been so helpful.
BTW you may have an email as I couldn't get into my gmail account.
xx M.
