120. Going Home

Returning from taking photos of the dawn, I had toast and tea (breakfast doesn't start until 8.00 and I would be gone before then). The pre-ordered taxi came just a few minutes late - I was almost hyper ventilating at the thought if the taxi missed the bus, I'd miss my plane! Well it didn't happen I did catch the bus and I did catch the plane.

There are people who say it's cheaper to get the bus to Melaka Sentral, but me? If I had to scrimp and scrimp to save a few ringgit it'd be a pretty deplorable situation. No - I'd rather travel in comfort and go by taxi.

 

Above: Melaka Sentral
The taxi arrived here and for all my worrying, the bus didn't leave on time anyway! The bus terminal is quite large with good facilities - banking, food stalls, clothing and a host of other items - it is in fact a small shopping mall and inside a bus station! How neat is that eh?

 

Above: Plaza Toll
One of the toll booths that are prevalent on Malaysian roads. As you can see, there are many lanes.

 

Above: KL Airport
On the way we passed an army truck complete with soldiers and weaponry, but the photos all came out very blurry so I haven't put them up. After around two hours, we arrived at KL LCCT airport. I like this airport - it's my favourite. I like the way you can just step outside, go for a gander, there's greenery outside, to the left is a very large eatery and the Air Asia kiosk has some good souvenir items.

I like too, Marrybrown's - their fish is really good. (I am not a McDonald's person - yuk, dreadful stuff).

 

Above: T 18 - Waiting for the flight home waiting for Flight D7 2722
Well now, here we are - waiting for our flight in the departure lounge. People were going up to the counter to go through, but were told not yet. And every time an Air Asia person came along, up would jump several people.

 

Above: No, the door is still locked!
This lady tried to open the door. It was still locked!

 

Above: Our plane - 30 minutes later!
Finally, the doors opened, and we are walking on the tarmac. The time was around 12.30pm and the weather was very hot.

 

Above: Watching movies - MASH
As this was a daytime flight, I paid the $10 to watch movies for the flight. Watching the re-run of M*A*S*H. Soon it was meal time - eating always helps pass the time doesn't it? It breaks up the journey. I fell asleep later to find it was dark outside - night had fallen. Remember, Melbourne is two hours ahead of Malaysia, but being daylight saving time, it's three hours ahead.

 

Above: Tullamarine Airport
Back home, and it's 12.15am (9.15pm in Malaysia). I walked outside, lit up a smoke and shivered in the cool air. Had to ring my son who was supposed to be here to pick me up. I had to catch a taxi.

I came back with wonderful memories of my time in both Cambodia and Malaysia. This was my first overseas trip to Asia and it was a wonderful experience. Since then, I have been back to Kuala Lumpur, but the memory of this first trip stands out in my memory.

Below are two poems, one is a Khmer poem called "Angkor Wat II" written by Dan Haag which was inspired by Vikram Prakash's 4-15-03 Angkor Wat lecture. The second is a Malaysian poem called "Fairytale" by Malaysian poet Xin jo Ng.



ANGKOR WAT IIby Jan Haag
No matter how you succeed
in pushing back time and oblivion
No matter what new knowledge
you may find circulating about the universe
No matter what exquisite perfections
the architecture of your civilizations may obtain
The jungle lush and green stealing carbon
pumping oxygen comes back for Angkor Wat's splendor
Until the sun in her omnivorous beneficence and warmth,
in her perpetual greed for growth, for incineration swallows up the earth.




FAIRYTALEby Xin jo Ng
Turn around and walk away
It’s nothing but a dream far away
The laughter and the tears and the memories
The truths and the lies and the fantasies
When all mistakes were done and made
Loosen your grip and let it fade
What was never yours will never be
Open your eyes wide and see
There is no beginning there is no end
Only a fairytale woven by hand

finis

28. Kuala Lumpur Airport

Thursday 11th March

 

Above: Our plane
Our flight arrived on time at LCCT airport in Kuala Lumpur at 6.35am and I had my first taste of Asia, and my first sight of Malaysia. I can tell you it was a most thrilling moment. Many passengers were taking photographs and we slowly made our way across the tarmac. Going through customs it was exciting to see my passport finally had a stamp on it. Surprisingly, the luggage didn't take very long to start coming down the baggage collection area.

 

Above: Sunrise Skies
A most beautiful sky tinged with salmon pink and orange filled the early morning as the sun was about to rise. Even though it was very early I could feel the heat and humidity and being unnacustomed realised the importance of drinking water - and plenty of it. The only downside given the copious amount of water was the need to find the loo!

 

Above: Early morning breakfast
I went to a cafe which had eggs on toast on their menu only to find after a goodly wait that eggs on toast were "not on today" and neither was anything else on that page.

So I made my way to the Oldtown White Coffee place and ordered a coffee. A helpful gent explained the different types of coffee and recommended I try "this one" - the one listed at the top.

 

Above: Malaysian Police
On my way to catch the free shuttle bus to the Tunes Hotel, I asked these two policemen if I could take a photo. The chap on the left seemed very happy and stuck out his chest, cradled his weapon and smiled winningly.

A few tips
a) For those who haven't travelled to Malaysia before, make sure you have plenty of cash. Credit cards may be good for hotel bills and car hire, but you cannot use a credit card at the airport - everyone wants cash only. In most shops and businesses they do not take credit cards either, although one of the larger supermarket type places would take a credit card provided the amount was over MYR 10. Also, the duty free shop at LCCT airport will accept credit cards only if the amount is over MYR 50. The advice I had been given back home to take cash and pay for everything by credit card proved not to be very good advice at all.

b) Buy a large bottle of water, it works out far more cost effective. I had two or three smaller sized bottle (around 500 - 600 ml) and tipped water from the larger one into these.

c) Free shuttle buses are advertised as taking you to/from LCCT to Tunes Hotel, but the driver of the free shuttle (there was a large sign in the front window) refused to take me. I found this very annoying and waited for the next shuttle - the same thing happened. In the end I had to get on the non free bus and pay my fare to the hotel.

d) After depositing luggage at the hotel, you then need to catch a bus back to LCCT in order to get a bus to Kuala Lumpur.


During the flight, Air Asia crew sell bus tickets to Kuala Lumpur (from memory it was either MYR9 or MYR 13. Their buses are red and have Air Asia written on the side. Their employees wear red T shirts.

27. Flying Out - My Journey Begins

Wednesday 10th March

 

Above: Tullamarine Airport Melbourne
My journey begins and I arrived at Tullamarine (colloquially called "Tulla" by us locals) in time, saw my baggage through, showed my boarding pass and received my ticket. Airports are busy places even though it was around 10.30pm it was alive with the hustle and bustle of a busy shopping centre with people milling about pushing luggage trolleys, saying farewells and buying last minute items.

 

Above: The cabin crew
As I waited in the lounge near the boarding gate, I met the cabin crew, who kindly posed with me for photos. They were a lovely, friendly group and the chap in the left hand side of the photo was a real trooper - his name is Achilles and he wrote down some Malay phrases with the English equivalent. Words/phrases like
Terima kasih - Thank you
Selamat pagi - Good morning
Selamat malam - Good night
Sama sama - You're welcome

He explained if someone says "Terima kasih", you reply "Sama sama"

 

Above: The "Pointy End" of the plane
I was seated in the "economy" section - there were three seats on the left, three in the middle and three on the right. I was in an aisle seat in the middle on the right side and could see ahead into the "pointy end" - where the toffs and well to do folk sit. They have wider seats - two on the left, three in the middle and two on the right. But for all that they get treated the same as us "poor plebs" behind!

 

Above: Nap Time...zzz zz
After everybody had been fed and watered (read meals and drinks) it was time to sleep. The seats don't recline (although Air Asia are going to change this some time in 2010) but they were not uncomfortable. I noticed the chap in the seat on the right had moved and his girlfriend was lying down across three seats. Asking a crew member if I could do this and being told "Yes" I walked down the plane only to find I had left it too late. There were many bodies lying across three seats. (Obviously there were many empty seats).

 

Above: Comfort Kit
I bought one of these on the plane. It costs MYR 35.00 (approx AUD$11.60) which is far cheaper than purchasing a similar item in Australia. I didn't use the eye mask, but the cushion and blanket came in very handy. Weighing a mere 510 grams the three items roll up and fit into the red bag which has two drawstings "handles"

Above: Where we are
On the back of each seat is a screen - you can pay MYR30 to be entertained...movies, television shows, play games, listen to music, go shopping etc. I didn't see anyone use this service. Just the normal screen which shows announcements and also where on the globe the plane is. It was actually exciting to see how close we were to our destination and made the trip seem more "real"

5. Expenses 1 - Flights

I really ought to keep a record of expenses, firstly so I know how much this trip is costing, secondly for anyone who reads this, it'll give them some idea of how much they'll need for a similar trip. The prices are in Australia dollars.

Return flights Melbourne to Kuala Lumpur $258
Return flights KL to Siem Reap (Cambodia) $127
One way flight KL to Penang $ 21
Total .............. $406

Add $28 for changing return flight date $434
Add $20 for selecting seat Mel>KL>Mel $454

So five flights total $454 - not bad. A return flight Melbourne to Darwin was $400 in 2006, same when I flew to Perth (2006)and New Zealand (2007).

Total $454

2. Booking My Tickets - Part 2

With all the cheap fares going, and me never having been out of Australia except for the time I went to New Zealand in 2007, I thought it'd be good to see as many countries as I could. So - I had visions of flitting here and there and being able to say, "I've been to Malaysia and Thailand and Cambodia and Hong Kong", etc. But as someone pointed out, I'd be spending more time at airports and waiting around rather than seeing much of anything. So, I settled on Cambodia. I had heard of the wonderful temples of Angkor and thought now that would be really something worth doing and so I booked a return flight to Siem Reap. Departing KL at 7.00am, 12th March, arriving Siem Reap at 8.00am, then leaving Siem Reap 14th March at 8.00am and arriving in KL at 11.35am.

I also decided to book a flight for the same day to Penang and hummed and haahed over which flight I should take. I'd have liked to book the earlier flight leaving at around 1.30pm but worried I might miss my connection. The next flight was around 3.00pm - still I fretted I might miss it if the plane from Siem Reap was delayed. Eventually, I settled on the 4.30pm flight which would land at Penang at 5.30pm. As someone said, that was a waste of a day - 5 hours hanging around the airport twiddling my thumbs. Still, better safe than sorry.

On the advice of a friend, I booked my first night at the TUNES HOTEL at the LCCT airport, (I wouldn't have thought of doing this) and my two nights in Siem Reap. He recommended the TWO DRAGONS GUESTHOUSE, a lovely place part owned by Cambodians and part owned by Gordon Sharpless who wrote TALES OF ASIA. I chose the room with a small double bed at US$17 per night and booked their tuk-tuk driver - US$15 per day. Plus an extra US$4 for return to the airport.

Gordon asked me did I also wish to book a guide. I wasn't sure and said I'd let him know later on. He did say if I was still undecided a week before I'm due to arrive, he would advise me to book one. Evidently, drivers cannot guide and guides cannot drive. Having read about land mines and noting the warnings - stick to the paths, I'm thinking that perhaps I should go for a guide, but at an extra US$25 per day, that's an extra $50. Still unsure whether to have a guide or not.

Then of course, came the big decision of The Itinerary.

1. The Beginning - Booking My Tickets

Monday 22 February 2010

Well this is the first post for this blog - and I've realised it's only 17 days to go! It all started back in September last year (2009). Air Asia emailed me (I joined their mailing list some months previously) and they had a big sale on - $119 Melbourne to Kuala Lumpur. $238 return Melbourne to Malaysia seemed like a pretty good deal to me. Add $20 for checked luggage - a total of $258. It cost more to fly to Darwin and Perth - even Melbourne to Christchurch was much dearer.

Anyway, I asked a few people was this a cheap fare? Evidently it was a very cheap fare - someone said they paid over $400. So, on the 9th September, I booked my return flight. Now, thinking that accommodation would be around $30 per night, I decided to stay for 6 nights only. I was due to fly out 11 March 2010 around 1.00am (Melbourne time), landing in KL at 6.35am (Malaysian time). My return flight was departing KL 18th March at 1.10am.

After being advised that it really wasn't long enough and then finding out that prices in Malaysia are waaay cheaper than here, I decided to change my flight details. Alas, most of the cheap fares ($119) had gone - the best I could do was 11 nights with a return flight departing at 13.20pm and arriving home at 12.10am the next day. I would have liked to have had a few extra days, but didn't see the point in paying an extra $80 or so for the privilege. So - 11 nights in total. Departing Melbourne 11th March at 1.10am arriving in KL at 6.35am, the return being 22nd March 13.20pm arriving Melbourne 23rd March at 12.10am. Cost an extra $28 to change the flight.