2 days in KL -Part 2

Two posts in one day? "That's MADNESS" you say! I noticed I have an awful trend of beginning each of my entries with an apology for taking so long to update. That must be really annoying for many reasons, mostly because it's horribly monotonous. So, sorry about that...and sorry for apologizing again. Gah. What a horrible cycle. BACK TO THE TOPIC AT HAND. Here I am sitting in the KL airport waiting on my flight back to Bali and I'm writing a post about the past 48 hours, how prompt of me! After my adventure with Herman, things at the Bali airport went swiftly and after a 3 hour flight I found myself safely at KL airport. **Warning** I'm about to talk about bodily movements, so if you have a problem with that, kindly skip to the next paragraph. Anyway, I had a slight urge to pee but immigration awaited so I found a spot in line. One hour later and FINALLY through the long and seemingly endless wait, I beelined it to the nearest bathroom. There were four stalls in total, the last two were ajar but there was a woman waiting in line so I fell into the "follow the herd" psyche and waited behind her. She finally got her turn, but things got serious on my end so I went to solve the mystery of the last two stalls. THERE WERE WOMEN IN EACH ONE. WHY didn't they shut the doors?! It was SO awkward and they looked at me like I was the weird one for pushing the door open farther. Thinking that perhaps the locks didn't work, I investigated the situation afterward and NOPE, both stall locks were fully functioning. Come on ladies, get your shit together. Regardless, this was the least of my worries because I then found that my relief station was in fact just a hole in the floor. A hole. In the floor. So many emotions ran through my head. Things just got weird. This is when I knew I was not in Kansas anymore. Don't get me wrong, I've been a lot of places but when the first thing I encounter when landing in a new country sends me into shock mode... I get nervous. Of course I was dehydrated and thirsty as a mule the entire trip so I had to get used to these holes. (I refuse to call them bathrooms) After I got over the whole urination situation (like what I did there?) I made my trek to KL city center and began exploring. KL is a really cool city with interesting architecture (See: Petronas Towers) and INSANE shopping. If you look on tripadvisor for things to do in KL, I think 8 out of the top 10 things to do are shopping related. Im talking 6 story malls with stores ranging from Gucci and Prada to smaller chain stores and boutiques. There is literally something for everyone. I was swept away when I walked in and saw Tiffany's immediately to my right. I apologize to my credit card for giving in so easily, but that bird's egg blue gets me everytime. After spending literally hours inside ONE mall, I thought that maybe I should give my wallet a break but oh wait, it was raining! ...on to the next shop! Finally, I made it outside during a break from the rain and walked around KLCC park which is conveniently located right outside of the mall I was in (I'm telling you, everything revolves around shopping) and got some amazing views of the Petronas Towers. I would have loved to go up and walk across the skywalk that connects them, but it's no longer free and the mall had run me pretty dry. I did however master the art of the solo shot with the towers in the background. You learn to take pretty decent self shots in general when you are traveling alone. The few times I did ask the random stranger to take a normal picture of me with whatever backdrop they NEVER spoke english. Just my luck. It's pretty easy though to show the button on the iphone so it worked out alright. The funny thing was though that each person wanted a picture with me afterward for their own personal collections. I really stuck out like a sore thumb and apparently seeing a blonde girl (for those of you that know me, the brown hair has been gone for about a year now...) on her own in an asian country is a bit like spotting bigfoot. I'd estimate that I'm now in at least 5 asian families photo albums. No autographs, please. Later that evening I went to the Bukit Bintang area for...wait for it....MORE shopping. This time it was much lower scale shops and a lot of street vendors. At around 7 pm a bunch of people set up shop on the sidewalks selling fake designer watches and other wares. I stoppped to assess the situation and found it absolutely hysterical when a man tried to tell me the rolex's were real. Okay dude, I'm never going to believe you OR pay 250 RM for it. (RM= Ringgit Malaysa and its about 3 RM to each US dollar) This shopping excursion was as a result much kinder on my wallet and I made it back to the hotel for a quiet night in with my many pillows. I went a little crazy with the complimentary pillow menu... but there were EIGHT options! Who wouldn't want to have their own pillow satisfaction test? I slept quite well, thank you very much. Day 2 has basically been just a quicker version of day 1 and in reverse seeing as my flight is scheduled for 8:25 pm. Transport to and from KL airport is really convenient (AND cheap) and none of the nonsense that was airport transport in bali. Next time I find an internet connection where I can understand the blogger.com language I'll tell you (family, friends, and stalkers) all about the boat trip from Perth to Bali (teaser- suffered a slight concussion from some unfriendly rogue waves) and all about my time in Bali in general. Instead of apologizing for the delay, I'm telling you now that it's probably going to be a while. Until then, Terima Kasih for reading! (google translate that)

2 days in KL- Part 1

I realize it's been WAY too long since i've updated this but I promise I have an extremely valid reason. The reason being that I don't speak Indonesian. This is a problem considering that when I access the site in Bali, where I've been since June, it is entirely in Indonesian. See? I told you, major issue. Anyway, there's much to update on- so, so much- but this post will just be about my 2 day stint in Kuala Lumpur, which I am finishing up as we speak (/type?). Basically, we have been on the boat in Bali so long that our extended visas have even expired so in order to stay each one of the crew has had to leave the country for a day in order to re-enter with new visas. Keeping costs down, I ended up being shipped off to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (the closest out of country destination) for an overnight stay, for which I am not complaining at all. Any travel I can get always excites me. Wednesday morning I was meant to fly out of Bali at 6 am. This means that I had to be up at around 3am- not ideal, but it meant a longer stay in KL, so it was worth the sacrifice. I was all set up with a cab to arrive at our dingy marina at 3:30, from a friendly driver named Herry. Herry assured me that it wasn't too early and I would see him bright eyed and bushytailed, ready to take me the 20 minutes to the airport. Herry is a big fat liar. I sat and waited 20 minutes, all the while being eaten alive by mosquitos in the dark. When the lone security guard offered to call another cab service, which I initially declined because afterall Herry had seemed so trustworthy, I was very thankful. Once again however, I was left waiting as mosquito bait with no sign of transportation. Finally, with less than 2 hours until my flight was scheduled to take off, the kind security guard insisted that he take me on his motorbike. Herman, which I found out later was the security guard's name, had offered this option before but having luggage in tow and wearing a maxi dress made it seem undesirable. Well, screw desirable. I hiked up my maxi dress and hopped on the back of that motorbike and clung to Herman for dear life while we weaved through the streets of Bali in darkness like two bandits, all the while thinking "dear god my mother is going to die if she ever finds out, but at least I'm wearing a helmet". Images of the movie "Taken" were entering my mind as I left my fate in the hands of Herman the security guard. In the end, Herman ended up saving the day and even walked me and my luggage all the way to the international departure gate, which if left on my own, probably would have taken me a good half hour to find. Thank god for Herman. Unfortunately, I'm going to have to save the details of my time spent actually in KL for the next post because its time for another taxi adventure back to KLIA airport. Wish me luck. But seriously, wish me luck.

happy easter!

Okay so I realize I'm a few days late but I've been away from my computer. Anyway minor updates are that I've been back living in the apartment in Perth CBD while the boat has been in the shed having its hull repainted. What was supposed to be a week in the apartment has now turned into over a month so if you've seen pictures of me recently, yes I am wearing the same thing over and over again. What are ya gonna do? For the past few weeks I've been told that we would be back on the boat "tomorrow morning", "in two days", "by the end of the week", etc. so for those who are curious, no- I have no idea how much longer I have to wear these clothes. I'm just along for the ride.

Anyway, i spent Easter at the Fremantle markets which I have been trying to go to for months. It was a really great day wandering around on my own looking at all the local produce and wares. I also had one of the best meals I think I've ever tasted. Bought some fresh cut mango from one of the farmer's stands and then grabbed a slice of "raw" pizza from "The Raw Kitchen" stand. The pizza was gluten free, dairy free, vegan, organic, and a few other things "free" but it was incredible. The crust was made of dehydrated buckwheat with a tomato, pepper, and basil sauce, topped off with fresh tomatoes, basil, sundried tomatoes, and olives. There was even a "cheese" made from pureed nuts, garlic, and lemon. Sounds sketchy but I promise it was a great substitute (and this is coming from an absolute cheese fiend).

There was also an arts festival of sorts taking place so there were various acts in the streets including an adult dressed and running around on all fours in a dog costume being chased by a scottish man on stilts, an italian peddler act, and a mime. There was some music going on in a few different areas too but I didn't really pay attention to everything (big shocker there).

Alright, here are some pics.

the markets

yummm

mime.

SORRY

...that it has been so long since my last post, but i promise it was for good reason! I MADE FRIENDS! This sounds so pathetic, but yes, it took me 2 months to make friends and yes, I am as shocked as you. Not to toot my own horn or anything, but I pride myself in being able to make friends pretty easily most everywhere I go. I just happen to be a happy and cheerful person, okay? Anyway, friends have made my time here in Western Australia EXPONENTIALLY better, as i now have a social life. Funny enough, they are from all over the world, not Perth. L and her brother D are both form New Zealand, so I am now learning the subtleties between the NZ and Aussie accent, of which I am quite proud of myself. Their roommates, C and M, are a couple from Ireland and everytime they say "Perth" it comes out "Pert". They also say weird things like "your man" and "yoke" to describe pretty much anything, but that's a much more complicated thing to explain. Other various friends along the way have included germans, italians, south africans, and yes finally some aussies. It's like the UN up in here! Anyway, I've been getting to see a lot more of W.A. than I would have on my own and i'm SO happy about it. Also, since we've delayed our departure about 5 million more times since I last wrote (we should now be leaving the first week of April....fingers crossed), I think I would be banging my head against a wall if it weren't for my new friends giving me an outlet to escape nanny life.


Cool New Things I Have Done:

-went on a wine tour in Margaret River (copious amounts of wine, what more could you ask for in life?)
-went surfing in the Indian Ocean. AWESOME
-saw Busselton jetty, the longest jetty in the world (if i remember correctly...)
-met one of the contestants of "My Kitchen Rules" (Aussie reality tv show) after the bars one night!


I'm sure there's more but because I waited so long to write this, I am now facing the challenge of remembering them all. Once again, my apologies.

ALSO! I moved onto the boat about 3 weeks ago and it has been great! Getting to know the people I will be leaving with has been great, and I realized I have greatly overpacked. What else is new? Only downfall is i miss going for runs along the swan river as there isn't much in terms of running area in a shipyard. My one attempt at running along the seawall ended drastically (see photo) so I think I'll just stick to jumping jacks or something in my cabin? Anyway, will have more to post soon I'm sure and I'll try my best to keep my updates regular again!

Yup, no more running at the shipyard for me!

Spectacular views of our neighbors in the shipyard! So exotic!

Me and C with the contestant from MKR!

sydney weekend 2.0

Just got back from another whirlwind trip to Sydney and it pains me that it is over. On Australia day we had a BBQ at the apartment with some of my bosses' friends and then I took the red eye flight to Sydney after watching a few minutes of the fireworks from our amazing balcony view. Had a few complimentary drinks at the Qantas lounge and then woke up in Sydney, what could be better? Friday we just did a lot of walking around and taking in some of the local sights before making our way to Chinatown for dim sum where they happened to be having a Chinese New Year celebration. There was a huge dragon being carried around by about 20 people and it was kind of cool because one of my friends and I were both born in the year of the dragon, so it was kind of like a celebration for us, right? "Welcome to Sydney!" Anyway, we went out that night and all felt the repercussions the next morning, so it was a slow start on Saturday. (There's more to that story but i'll save that for my personal memory) Despite feeling worse for the wear, we did a LOT of walking on Saturday. Im talking, a LOT. We don't plan things well apparently when deciding copious amounts of Patron Cafe is a good idea the night before taking walking tours. Either way, we weren't going to let some foolish decisions ruin our visit. After all, it was day two of only a two day trip. Anywho, we began the day by riding out to Coogee beach and walking the beach path all the way to Bondi beach. It's a really nice walk with great views and I highly recommend it. But wear sunscreen, always wear sunscreen. And be prepared to dodge runners at every turn. After we got back to the apartment and underwent several waves on nausea on all our parts, we made our way to embark on the legendary Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb. If you are ever in Sydney, DO THIS. (http://www.bridgeclimb.com/) I may or may not have been shaking the entire walk back down the bridge, but it was so worth it. Seriously, it is something I will never forget. Apparently there have been over 4,000 marriage proposals at the top of the bridge. (Which if you ask your guide about, you will find out is a complicated endeavor) Out of the 4,000, there have been two "no"'s. Awkward. I found that tidbit interesting. Unfortunately there were no proposals on our climb, but we did sing "happy Birthday" to one member of the group. I bet he'll never forget that. Anyway, we went out once again on Saturday night and then decided it was not worth it to sleep since we had early flights on Sunday morning. And that would be the reason it has taken 2 days to write this post.

Sydney, touche.

thought

facebook convo revelation from today:

-i just wrote on your wall
-btw, that a very weird thing that we say now that is normal
-if you said "i wrote on your wall" in the 90's, ppl would be like WTF! why did you do that?? what did you write?!



just another lesson in context, people.

Kings Park

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure (not really) of walking up a San Francisco worthy hill in 100 degree weather en route to Kings Park in Perth. Had I known the terrain I would be traversing, I would have picked a better day, but hindsight is always 20/20 right? Despite the sweat dripping down my back, I really enjoyed Kings Park (that is before the heat stroke set in). Okay, okay I'll stop complaining now because it really is beautiful. The park is a huge area containing botanical gardens, monuments, trails, and the most amazing views of the city. In fact, most of the postcards you see with the Perth skyline are taken from Kings Park. I spent a couple hours just walking around and reading a bit about the history of the city and it's aboriginal origins. Anyway, there's not really much to tell, just pictures to be seen. So here you go, internet friends:

I know I said there are botanical gardens, but it's the dry season so not worth being photographed.