December 12, 2012
Singapore, Hong Kong, San Francisco and Eugene
As noted I was up super early this morning to catch my first flight from Singapore to Hong Kong. This was my only flight confirmed in business class today and I took advantage by sleeping virtually the whole time. Unfortunately my upgrade did not clear for the 12 hour flight from Hong Kong to San Francisco. It was a long time in economy plus but it was survivable. I watched two movies, slept, worked on the blog and read a few magazines. I’m now in the United Club awaiting my final flight home to Eugene.
It was a fantastic whirlwind of a trip. The week really flew by. I actually could have stayed longer on this trip, which is not always my feeling when leaving Asia. Fortunately I’ll be back in South East Asia next month!
Until the Maldives and Hong Kong in January,
Katy
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
An Infinity Pool to Remember
December 11, 2012
Singapore
This morning Scott and I were up and at them early for our Marina Bay Sands tour. We arrived at the Sands right when the tour began selling tickets at 9:30AM. This allowed us to pay our admission fee and register for the 10AM guided tour. It was worth the 16 US dollar admission fee. The views from the top of the hotel are ridiculous. The infinity pool views are some phrase stronger than ridiculous. It truly is worth seeing and may even be worth paying the exorbitant hotel fee to get to stay there and swim in the pool. New Years in Hong Kong anyone?
We went from the Sands to the Bugis shopping area. I was again hunting for that elusive Christmas gift. Scott wasn’t really looking for anything but he still managed to get a couple shirts and a pair of jeans. After shopping we went to check out the Grand Hyatt hotel. My parents are staying there in January and my dad was interested in my forming an opinion on it. One of the ladies at the reception desk let me into a room to see it. It was okay. Out of the hotels I’ve stayed in in Singapore it’s probably somewhere in the middle of the pack.
Next we met up with my friend Xian for lunch. The first place we tried to go was a hawker market that seemed to be closed. We then decided to go to one of the ginormous local food places in one of the malls. Xian ordered us all kinds of crazy good local stuff. A noodle dish was my favorite, followed in a close second by a soup that tasted similar to dad’s favorite Thai soup, Tom Kha Gai. The coconut broth was money.
We checked out of the Conrad around 4PM. Scott left for the airport and I headed back out into downtown Singapore for a little more exploration. I made me way back to Little India to explore a shopping place called Mustafas. It was sort of like Walmart on steroids with an incense order. The place literally had everything. Well everything except what I was looking for. I then made my way back to China town just in time for a ginormous rain storm. I got drenched but I didn’t really care. What I did care about was that I still couldn’t find what I was looking for. My final stop this evening was Orchard Road. We hadn’t spent much time on the famed shopping street, so I decided to wander there in hopes of finding some more Christmas presents. For the most part I was unsuccessful but I enjoyed seeing the sites and sounds nonetheless.
By 11PM I was out at my airport hotel. Unfortunately I missed Scott by an hour or so as he had left for his flight. He was returning home in first class on Cathay Pacific. Understandably he wanted time to play in its lounge. I now have to repack and try to grab a few hours of shuteye before leaving for me flight at 4AM. I’ll write about my travels home tomorrow.
Until then,
Katy
Singapore
This morning Scott and I were up and at them early for our Marina Bay Sands tour. We arrived at the Sands right when the tour began selling tickets at 9:30AM. This allowed us to pay our admission fee and register for the 10AM guided tour. It was worth the 16 US dollar admission fee. The views from the top of the hotel are ridiculous. The infinity pool views are some phrase stronger than ridiculous. It truly is worth seeing and may even be worth paying the exorbitant hotel fee to get to stay there and swim in the pool. New Years in Hong Kong anyone?
We went from the Sands to the Bugis shopping area. I was again hunting for that elusive Christmas gift. Scott wasn’t really looking for anything but he still managed to get a couple shirts and a pair of jeans. After shopping we went to check out the Grand Hyatt hotel. My parents are staying there in January and my dad was interested in my forming an opinion on it. One of the ladies at the reception desk let me into a room to see it. It was okay. Out of the hotels I’ve stayed in in Singapore it’s probably somewhere in the middle of the pack.
Next we met up with my friend Xian for lunch. The first place we tried to go was a hawker market that seemed to be closed. We then decided to go to one of the ginormous local food places in one of the malls. Xian ordered us all kinds of crazy good local stuff. A noodle dish was my favorite, followed in a close second by a soup that tasted similar to dad’s favorite Thai soup, Tom Kha Gai. The coconut broth was money.
We checked out of the Conrad around 4PM. Scott left for the airport and I headed back out into downtown Singapore for a little more exploration. I made me way back to Little India to explore a shopping place called Mustafas. It was sort of like Walmart on steroids with an incense order. The place literally had everything. Well everything except what I was looking for. I then made my way back to China town just in time for a ginormous rain storm. I got drenched but I didn’t really care. What I did care about was that I still couldn’t find what I was looking for. My final stop this evening was Orchard Road. We hadn’t spent much time on the famed shopping street, so I decided to wander there in hopes of finding some more Christmas presents. For the most part I was unsuccessful but I enjoyed seeing the sites and sounds nonetheless.
By 11PM I was out at my airport hotel. Unfortunately I missed Scott by an hour or so as he had left for his flight. He was returning home in first class on Cathay Pacific. Understandably he wanted time to play in its lounge. I now have to repack and try to grab a few hours of shuteye before leaving for me flight at 4AM. I’ll write about my travels home tomorrow.
Until then,
Katy
Monday, December 10, 2012
A Busy Day in Singapore
December 10, 2012
Singapore
This morning we got going around 10AM. The free breakfast (a $30 value) because of our Gold status at the Conrad was served in the lobby restaurant called Oscars. It was a pretty darn good buffet. I mean any breakfast buffet that has marshmallows and M&Ms on offer is going to be a winner in my book.
The sky was less dreary today, so we decided to go up in the Singapore Flyer. It was the perfect time to go for a ride. Our car only had seven people in it. The limited group made for super enjoyable experience because we could walk around and see whatever we wanted. The views were incredible but my favorite part of the ride was our fellow passengers “Thelma and Louise.” Two older Australian ladies had fun hitting on Scott. They told us they had just gotten off a cruise ship and that their fellow passengers had nicknamed them, understandably, Thelma and Louise. My absolute favorite part was when one of them eyed Scott and told him, “They really do make everything bigger in Texas.” My only disappointment from the ride was that I didn’t manage to spot any basketball courts. Singapore obviously is a small place, so I’m not shocked there are not hoops with views of the major architectural jewels, but I am a little bummed.
After the Flyer we walked to the Marina Bay Sands. It is world renowned for its ship like architecture and infinity pool. The property feels much like that of one in Vegas. We saw both an ice skating rink and canal with gondola tours much like those in the Venetian in Vegas. Scott and I both wanted to attend a tour that allowed us to see the pool. Unfortunately when we got to the ticket place we were told the only open tour was the 9PM. It would have been cool to see it at night but we had made plans to go to the night safari this evening. Therefore we decided to come back to the hotel tomorrow for the morning tour.
From the Sands we walked to the Merlion. The Merlion may be Singpores best known statue. I remember visiting this with Dad some years ago. Scott and I took some fun pictures there and then proceeded to walk back toward the hotel for lunch.
At this point I was sort of resigned to not getting a great hoop picture in Singapore. And then it happened. As Scott said... “Her pace quickens. Her heart races.” As with all good jokes the best part was, this was true! I hustled over to what turned out to be a cricket club that had a random backboardless hoop. I looked down the grassy cricket field and spotted what appeared to be another hoop but this time with a backboard. As we walked that direction, thunder and lightening started to roll in. Scott and I hustled but it was pouring by the time I got the hoop. I took a sample shot. I think it will turn out great when I return with better weather.
We were both pretty hungry post our hoop detour so we decided to just grab some quick mall food in the endless mall tunnel that connected the MTR virtually to our hotel. After lunch Scott wanted to rest up for our night safari, so he went back to the hotel. I went to China town in hopes of locating a specific Christmas present. Sadly I didn’t find it. I did return to the hoop and managed to get a picture without rain and a little but more interesting of a sky.
For my adventures around the city I primarily rode the MTR. Something that is truly remarkable about Singapore is its cleanliness. I had a can I wanted to throw away at one point and for the life of me I could not find a trash can. How the city stays so remarkably clean without even having trash receptacles for people to put things in, is amazing to me. Part of the reason might be wonderful gentleman like the little old man below. He is how I finally to get rid of my can. I saw him sweeping part of the MTR station and he had a plastic bag that I assumed was for trash. I approached him and asked if I could give him my can. He literally seemed nearly overjoyed to take the can. I want more of people like this guy in my world.
When we returned from the safari at 11PMish the night sky was clear and beautiful. I decided to go and check out my hoops for a night shot. The pictures turned out okay but this was another instance where Ben’s camera would have been very helpful. I’m now back at the hotel and very ready to sleep.
Until tomorrow,
Katy
Singapore
This morning we got going around 10AM. The free breakfast (a $30 value) because of our Gold status at the Conrad was served in the lobby restaurant called Oscars. It was a pretty darn good buffet. I mean any breakfast buffet that has marshmallows and M&Ms on offer is going to be a winner in my book.
The sky was less dreary today, so we decided to go up in the Singapore Flyer. It was the perfect time to go for a ride. Our car only had seven people in it. The limited group made for super enjoyable experience because we could walk around and see whatever we wanted. The views were incredible but my favorite part of the ride was our fellow passengers “Thelma and Louise.” Two older Australian ladies had fun hitting on Scott. They told us they had just gotten off a cruise ship and that their fellow passengers had nicknamed them, understandably, Thelma and Louise. My absolute favorite part was when one of them eyed Scott and told him, “They really do make everything bigger in Texas.” My only disappointment from the ride was that I didn’t manage to spot any basketball courts. Singapore obviously is a small place, so I’m not shocked there are not hoops with views of the major architectural jewels, but I am a little bummed.
After the Flyer we walked to the Marina Bay Sands. It is world renowned for its ship like architecture and infinity pool. The property feels much like that of one in Vegas. We saw both an ice skating rink and canal with gondola tours much like those in the Venetian in Vegas. Scott and I both wanted to attend a tour that allowed us to see the pool. Unfortunately when we got to the ticket place we were told the only open tour was the 9PM. It would have been cool to see it at night but we had made plans to go to the night safari this evening. Therefore we decided to come back to the hotel tomorrow for the morning tour.
From the Sands we walked to the Merlion. The Merlion may be Singpores best known statue. I remember visiting this with Dad some years ago. Scott and I took some fun pictures there and then proceeded to walk back toward the hotel for lunch.
At this point I was sort of resigned to not getting a great hoop picture in Singapore. And then it happened. As Scott said... “Her pace quickens. Her heart races.” As with all good jokes the best part was, this was true! I hustled over to what turned out to be a cricket club that had a random backboardless hoop. I looked down the grassy cricket field and spotted what appeared to be another hoop but this time with a backboard. As we walked that direction, thunder and lightening started to roll in. Scott and I hustled but it was pouring by the time I got the hoop. I took a sample shot. I think it will turn out great when I return with better weather.
We were both pretty hungry post our hoop detour so we decided to just grab some quick mall food in the endless mall tunnel that connected the MTR virtually to our hotel. After lunch Scott wanted to rest up for our night safari, so he went back to the hotel. I went to China town in hopes of locating a specific Christmas present. Sadly I didn’t find it. I did return to the hoop and managed to get a picture without rain and a little but more interesting of a sky.
For my adventures around the city I primarily rode the MTR. Something that is truly remarkable about Singapore is its cleanliness. I had a can I wanted to throw away at one point and for the life of me I could not find a trash can. How the city stays so remarkably clean without even having trash receptacles for people to put things in, is amazing to me. Part of the reason might be wonderful gentleman like the little old man below. He is how I finally to get rid of my can. I saw him sweeping part of the MTR station and he had a plastic bag that I assumed was for trash. I approached him and asked if I could give him my can. He literally seemed nearly overjoyed to take the can. I want more of people like this guy in my world.
I was late getting back to the hotel to meet Scott but fortunately he had overslept on his nap, so our timing worked out pretty well. We originally were considering having dinner at the night safari but decided instead to just eat in the lounge. We arrived at the safari just when it opened at 7:30PM. The experience was as fun as a I remembered. Scott and I had been talking about going on a real safari early in the day. That’s the trip I most want to take. Scott didn’t sound very interested in it. At the end of the night safari he told me that he now wants to go on an actual African Safari. There were two main highlight for me from this visit. The first was hearing Scott freak out and squeal like a little girl while walking through the bat cave. The bats were sort of creepy but definitely worth seeing. The second highlight was watching the kitty below’s leaping ability.
When we returned from the safari at 11PMish the night sky was clear and beautiful. I decided to go and check out my hoops for a night shot. The pictures turned out okay but this was another instance where Ben’s camera would have been very helpful. I’m now back at the hotel and very ready to sleep.
Until tomorrow,
Katy
Sunday, December 9, 2012
Fun at KL LCCT
December 9, 2012
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia & Singapore
Oh man it was an early morning! But it was worth it. Not much gets me out of bed before 7AM. In fact the only two things I can think of that do are a trip to the airport and a hoop hunt. This morning happened to include both! I’m quite pleased with the shot I was able to get this morning. It greatly reflects my time in and feelings on KL.
Experiencing the Air Asia with Scott was great. We both, obviously, spend a fair amount of time traveling and we both have pretty significant airline status. Because of this we traditionally don’t spend a lot of time of time in lines or surrounded by chaos. Neither of those things are avoidable on Air Asia. The layout, signage, sights and smells of the KL discount airport were as much fun on the way out as the way in. Below is a small sampling of some our favorite sites.
The outdoor waiting area.
The checkin lines.
Many places in KL smell like chocolate chip cookies. The source is ALWAYS a Famous Amos.
Indulge is an interesting choice of words for one's possibilities at KL LCCT.
I love "Price Attacks."
This is my kind of "Champagne."
Who knew Nike made perfume?
You know... just reach in the toilet and shift the position of the bidet spout. No big deal.
I can't bring my machine gun or machette? This sucks!
This woman ran the security line all by herself. She single handedly could replace 10 TSA Agents.
Evidently this is the officially sleeping area of KL LCCT.
Even third graders know walking in groups provides safety.
We stayed in our group and safely made it to our correct plane.
Air Asia kindly told us about the "joys of flying" in its inflight magazine.
Everyones favorite reminder that the penalty for drug trafficking in Singapore is death.
Upon arrival into Singapore Scott and I rode the metro into town. Hauling our bags on public transport wasn’t awful but one could argue it also wasn’t worth the hassle, especially since we walked roughly a mile through a mall once we got off the train. I’m quite convinced we were the first Conrad guests to show up dragging three bags each from the City Hall metro stop.
Checking into the Conrad took a while. It was bit frustrating in a high-end Singapore hotel to have people who work at the hotel apologizing about the wait when there were four open computers for check in that they could have been managing. Efficiency is usually the name of the game in Singapore, so I was surprised to see this. Regardless we eventually got checked in. Our first order of business was exploring this hotel’s lounge. It wasn’t nearly as nice as the Hilton’s in KL but it had free Coke Light, so in an expensive city like Singapore, that scored points with me. While in the lounge I gchatted with Mom and Dad. I then worked on my blog a little bit. We decided not to go up in the Singapore Flyer, a ginormous ferris wheel, because it was a pretty gray day.
Somehow during the planning of our trips Scott managed to get his hands on an old itinerary of mine. Because of this he was scheduled to leave a day before me. Being that he had never been to Singapore he didn’t have nearly enough to even scratch the surface on the city’s fun activities. To that end he decided he wanted to look into changing his ticket. He managed to successfully do it, which was great because it meant he had an additional 24 hours in a fun city.
For dinner Scott and I met up with one of his friend’s parents for dinner. We met them at an MRT station and then took a cab to one of their favorite places in Little India. Deanna and Craig have lived in Singapore as ex pats for the last five years. Craig is working for Duke University as a Dean of Admissions for a program it has over here. The food at dinner was good. I very much enjoyed the Christmas decor, at a restaurant in Little India, in Singapore. The company was interesting, entertaining and slightly scarring. Craig and Deanna are in their 60s and they spent a decent amount of time during the evening talking about sex. How this happens at a dinner where Scott and I had never met them previously I have no idea. I can promise you that I could have gone my whole life without knowing they still have sex once a week.
When we left the restaurant, the streets of Little India were packed. Interestingly 98% of those on the street were men. I’ve never witnessed that gender exclusive of a mass of people. Evidently the Indian men are all laborers who get Sunday evening off and use the time to congregate with each other in the streets. Most of the men are in Singapore earning $25 a day to support their families back home.
After dinner we went back to see where Craig and Deanna live. They rent but evidently the cost of their place is in the $1.4M range. It can’t be more than 1,000 sq. feet. Another interesting statistic Craig said is that US government employees stationed in Singapore are given a $90,000 a year stipend for housing. Clearly Singapore is expensive.
We made it back to the hotel around 10:45PM. I’m exhausted since I got up early to hoop hunt and it was a travel day. Tomorrow Scott and I have plans to go up in the Flyer, explore the Marina Bay Sands Hotel, Merlion and more.
Until tomorrow,
Katy
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia & Singapore
Oh man it was an early morning! But it was worth it. Not much gets me out of bed before 7AM. In fact the only two things I can think of that do are a trip to the airport and a hoop hunt. This morning happened to include both! I’m quite pleased with the shot I was able to get this morning. It greatly reflects my time in and feelings on KL.
Experiencing the Air Asia with Scott was great. We both, obviously, spend a fair amount of time traveling and we both have pretty significant airline status. Because of this we traditionally don’t spend a lot of time of time in lines or surrounded by chaos. Neither of those things are avoidable on Air Asia. The layout, signage, sights and smells of the KL discount airport were as much fun on the way out as the way in. Below is a small sampling of some our favorite sites.
The outdoor waiting area.
The checkin lines.
Many places in KL smell like chocolate chip cookies. The source is ALWAYS a Famous Amos.
Indulge is an interesting choice of words for one's possibilities at KL LCCT.
I love "Price Attacks."
This is my kind of "Champagne."
Who knew Nike made perfume?
You know... just reach in the toilet and shift the position of the bidet spout. No big deal.
I can't bring my machine gun or machette? This sucks!
This woman ran the security line all by herself. She single handedly could replace 10 TSA Agents.
Evidently this is the officially sleeping area of KL LCCT.
Even third graders know walking in groups provides safety.
We stayed in our group and safely made it to our correct plane.
Air Asia kindly told us about the "joys of flying" in its inflight magazine.
Everyones favorite reminder that the penalty for drug trafficking in Singapore is death.
Upon arrival into Singapore Scott and I rode the metro into town. Hauling our bags on public transport wasn’t awful but one could argue it also wasn’t worth the hassle, especially since we walked roughly a mile through a mall once we got off the train. I’m quite convinced we were the first Conrad guests to show up dragging three bags each from the City Hall metro stop.
Checking into the Conrad took a while. It was bit frustrating in a high-end Singapore hotel to have people who work at the hotel apologizing about the wait when there were four open computers for check in that they could have been managing. Efficiency is usually the name of the game in Singapore, so I was surprised to see this. Regardless we eventually got checked in. Our first order of business was exploring this hotel’s lounge. It wasn’t nearly as nice as the Hilton’s in KL but it had free Coke Light, so in an expensive city like Singapore, that scored points with me. While in the lounge I gchatted with Mom and Dad. I then worked on my blog a little bit. We decided not to go up in the Singapore Flyer, a ginormous ferris wheel, because it was a pretty gray day.
Somehow during the planning of our trips Scott managed to get his hands on an old itinerary of mine. Because of this he was scheduled to leave a day before me. Being that he had never been to Singapore he didn’t have nearly enough to even scratch the surface on the city’s fun activities. To that end he decided he wanted to look into changing his ticket. He managed to successfully do it, which was great because it meant he had an additional 24 hours in a fun city.
For dinner Scott and I met up with one of his friend’s parents for dinner. We met them at an MRT station and then took a cab to one of their favorite places in Little India. Deanna and Craig have lived in Singapore as ex pats for the last five years. Craig is working for Duke University as a Dean of Admissions for a program it has over here. The food at dinner was good. I very much enjoyed the Christmas decor, at a restaurant in Little India, in Singapore. The company was interesting, entertaining and slightly scarring. Craig and Deanna are in their 60s and they spent a decent amount of time during the evening talking about sex. How this happens at a dinner where Scott and I had never met them previously I have no idea. I can promise you that I could have gone my whole life without knowing they still have sex once a week.
When we left the restaurant, the streets of Little India were packed. Interestingly 98% of those on the street were men. I’ve never witnessed that gender exclusive of a mass of people. Evidently the Indian men are all laborers who get Sunday evening off and use the time to congregate with each other in the streets. Most of the men are in Singapore earning $25 a day to support their families back home.
After dinner we went back to see where Craig and Deanna live. They rent but evidently the cost of their place is in the $1.4M range. It can’t be more than 1,000 sq. feet. Another interesting statistic Craig said is that US government employees stationed in Singapore are given a $90,000 a year stipend for housing. Clearly Singapore is expensive.
We made it back to the hotel around 10:45PM. I’m exhausted since I got up early to hoop hunt and it was a travel day. Tomorrow Scott and I have plans to go up in the Flyer, explore the Marina Bay Sands Hotel, Merlion and more.
Until tomorrow,
Katy
Saturday, December 8, 2012
Prosperity
December 8, 2012
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
This morning Scott and I didn’t get out the door too fast. We ate a leisurely breakfast up in the lounge. We intended to go out and about before switching hotels in the afternoon but we decided it would be more efficient to just leave the Hilton once. We loaded up our stuff and caught a cab to the Grand Hyatt KL around 11:30AM.
The Hyatt has only been open three months. Everything looks and smells brand new. It is also filled with all the modern amenities like push button privacy glass on the shower walls. One inconvenient element of the hotel is that the lobby and room elevators run on completely different banks. The lobby is also located on the 33rd floor which is the highest floor in the building. It has a fantastic view as seen below but it’s somewhat inconvenient. One has to go up to 33, walk around the lobby, get in a different elevator and then go down to his or her room.
Our first real activity of the day was visiting the Sungai Wang Plaza. This local shopping mall had all kinds of wonderful surprises. I bought someone an incredibly amazing Asian t-shirt for Christmas. Scott bought a bunch of shirts and bravely had his hair cut by a little blue haired Asian man. In the hopes of being efficient and prosperous we had lunch at McDonalds. We also enjoyed a Malaysian group of men in kilts playing Christmas songs on bagpipes.
After the mall I drug Scott on another hoop hunting adventure. We found a few hoops but none offered a better picture than what I had taken previously. The most enjoyable part of the hunt was getting to explore a little more of the non-touristy part of KL. Scott claims I received many quizzical looks from older gentlemen during our stroll. Clearly most white girls never venture into this part of town. The picture below shows some typical residences of the those living on the outskirts of downtown.
In the later afternoon I continued my exploration of downtown KL while Scott relaxed and got a massage. During my travels I explored the Petronas Towers, the park outside the towers and the hoop I had visited during the previous evening. The lighting on the hoop shot was still less than I desired. I’ll have to decide later if I want to get up in the AM for one last shot at capturing the hoop with good lighting.
On my walk back to the hotel I cruised through a shopping mall. Many of the buildings in KL are connected by interior walkways. Some of the walkways are over ground, some of them are under ground and many of them go through malls. The Malay people, in general, move at a slowish pace. This is beginning to drive me crazy in confined small walkways. I think the country would be much more prosperous if the people developed at least a small sense of urgency.
I met Scott back at the hotel shortly before 8PM when we left for dinner. We went to a place formally known as Warren’s and now known as 10. For all intents and purposes it was a tapas bar where all things cost $3.33 (10 Ringgits). The food was delicious and I highly recommend a visit for any future KL visitors.
It’s now 10:30PM and we’re back at the hotel after a nice post dinner stroll. I’m thinking I want to try and take one more hoop picture in morning light, so I’ve got to call it a night. We are off to the airport to go to Singapore at 8:45AM. It’s going to be an early morning for me...
Until tomorrow,
Katy
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
This morning Scott and I didn’t get out the door too fast. We ate a leisurely breakfast up in the lounge. We intended to go out and about before switching hotels in the afternoon but we decided it would be more efficient to just leave the Hilton once. We loaded up our stuff and caught a cab to the Grand Hyatt KL around 11:30AM.
The Hyatt has only been open three months. Everything looks and smells brand new. It is also filled with all the modern amenities like push button privacy glass on the shower walls. One inconvenient element of the hotel is that the lobby and room elevators run on completely different banks. The lobby is also located on the 33rd floor which is the highest floor in the building. It has a fantastic view as seen below but it’s somewhat inconvenient. One has to go up to 33, walk around the lobby, get in a different elevator and then go down to his or her room.
Our first real activity of the day was visiting the Sungai Wang Plaza. This local shopping mall had all kinds of wonderful surprises. I bought someone an incredibly amazing Asian t-shirt for Christmas. Scott bought a bunch of shirts and bravely had his hair cut by a little blue haired Asian man. In the hopes of being efficient and prosperous we had lunch at McDonalds. We also enjoyed a Malaysian group of men in kilts playing Christmas songs on bagpipes.
After the mall I drug Scott on another hoop hunting adventure. We found a few hoops but none offered a better picture than what I had taken previously. The most enjoyable part of the hunt was getting to explore a little more of the non-touristy part of KL. Scott claims I received many quizzical looks from older gentlemen during our stroll. Clearly most white girls never venture into this part of town. The picture below shows some typical residences of the those living on the outskirts of downtown.
In the later afternoon I continued my exploration of downtown KL while Scott relaxed and got a massage. During my travels I explored the Petronas Towers, the park outside the towers and the hoop I had visited during the previous evening. The lighting on the hoop shot was still less than I desired. I’ll have to decide later if I want to get up in the AM for one last shot at capturing the hoop with good lighting.
On my walk back to the hotel I cruised through a shopping mall. Many of the buildings in KL are connected by interior walkways. Some of the walkways are over ground, some of them are under ground and many of them go through malls. The Malay people, in general, move at a slowish pace. This is beginning to drive me crazy in confined small walkways. I think the country would be much more prosperous if the people developed at least a small sense of urgency.
I met Scott back at the hotel shortly before 8PM when we left for dinner. We went to a place formally known as Warren’s and now known as 10. For all intents and purposes it was a tapas bar where all things cost $3.33 (10 Ringgits). The food was delicious and I highly recommend a visit for any future KL visitors.
It’s now 10:30PM and we’re back at the hotel after a nice post dinner stroll. I’m thinking I want to try and take one more hoop picture in morning light, so I’ve got to call it a night. We are off to the airport to go to Singapore at 8:45AM. It’s going to be an early morning for me...
Until tomorrow,
Katy
Friday, December 7, 2012
Buses, Butterflies, Birds and Basketball
December 7, 2012
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Scott and I did quite well getting out the door this morning. We enjoyed our lavish free Hilton Gold member breakfast and proceeded to the double decker hop-on, hop-off bus. Our first stop on the bus was the National Palace, Jalan Duta. The palace isn’t open to visitors but you can look through its entry gates. There are also guards similar to those at Buckingham Palace and other places. The Asians seemed to love taking pictures with not only the guards but especially the horses.
Our next stop on the bus was the butterfly park. Admission to the park was $7 and it’s questionable as to whether or not it was worth it. We saw a few cool specimens but I’ve definitely been to better butterfly exhibits.
After the butterfly park we walked to the bird park. The KL Bird Park (that’s its official name) claims to be the “world’s largest free-flight walk-in aviary.” Scott astutely pointed out that he was skeptical about the park since its description includes three qualifiers. The park is advertised as over 21 acres, so I believe it could be an accurate statement. Highlights of the visit included the bird show, holding birdies and seeing a species of Duck that was new to me. The bird shows was hilarious. The majority of the audience seemed to be school children as shown in the picture below. The music they were playing prior to the show was My Humps by the Black Eyed Peas. The lyrics go “... What you gon' do with all that junk? All that junk inside your trunk? I'ma get, get, get, get, you drunk,
Get you love drunk off my hump...What you gon' do with all that ass? All that ass inside them jeans? I'm a make, make, make, make you scream. Make you scream, make you scream.” I’m glad little Malaysian children will at least be able to communicate their sexual desires in English.
At the conclusion of our bird park walk it started to pour rain. Instead of walking in the downpour back to the hop-on hop-off bus we decided to suck it up and pay $5 to take a cab to our next destination, the Central Market.
I didn’t find the Central Market to be all that exciting. It was a weird mix of merchandise that wasn’t particularly cheap. I had fun looking through the different stores but nothing was interesting enough for me to home. My highlights of the market were the Thai lunch Scott and I ate and my visit to the restroom. For lunch we had two sodas, a water, spring roll appetizers and two pad thais for $20. It was a pretty darn good and delicious to boot. After lunch I not surprisingly had to go to the restroom. In my stall there was a normal size toilet and a mini-toilet. I’ve never seen a legit flushable mini-toilet in my life. I was inside a women’s restroom that I had to pay 50 Ringgit to a lady to use. I WISH there was a way for me to get Scott in the stall with my because it would have been hilarious to have a picture of an adult sitting on the toilet. Instead you will have to settle for looking at the toilet with my shoe as a metric for scale.
Earlier in the day at the bird park I noticed Scott dropped one of the temples to his sun glasses. He somehow managed to lose a screw holding the frame together. On our walk over to the China Market I spotted an optical shop where I was certain he could get the glasses fixed. He gave the woman the glasses. She looked at them. I told her the glasses just needed a new screw to replace the one that had fallen out. She gave the glasses to what appeared to be her 15 year-old son to fix them. He worked on them for a minute and gave them back to his mom good as new. She then handed them to Scott. I was curious since there was no discussion about price, what she was going to charge for a screw, one minute of service and one minute of labor. The answer was 1 Ringgit or 33 cents.
The China market was fun. It wasn’t as good as the markets in China but it was considerably more fun than the Central Market. I managed to spend $30 but I can’t disclose what I purchased because Christmas is just around the corner!
Scott was ready for a refresher after his shopping haul. We made our way back to the hotel where I worked on the blog and did some hoop hunting research while Scott took a nap. We ate dinner in the executive lounge and then proceeded to hoop hunt. It was dark by this time but I wanted to do some scoping since I only have one chance at daylight tomorrow. We rode the subway down to the Petronas Towers. We took some photos in front of the buildings and began our hoop hunt. I found a pretty neat randomly placed hoop that doesn't appear to be long for this world. It seems as though the area surrounding it is under construction. The angle to the Petronas Towers isn’t perfect but I’m still pretty pleased. My only slight sadness lies in that the night shot was really cool, however, it would have been even cooler if I had Ben’s camera that he used in Italy to take the picture. I only brought my point and shoot. Before playing with Ben’s camera I had no idea how much of a difference a good camera can make. Now I know what I’m missing.
We’re now back at the hotel. It’s pushing midnight, so I better call it a night. I’m not sure what Scott has planned for tomorrow but you can be rest assured I’ll write about it tomorrow.
Until then,
Katy
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Scott and I did quite well getting out the door this morning. We enjoyed our lavish free Hilton Gold member breakfast and proceeded to the double decker hop-on, hop-off bus. Our first stop on the bus was the National Palace, Jalan Duta. The palace isn’t open to visitors but you can look through its entry gates. There are also guards similar to those at Buckingham Palace and other places. The Asians seemed to love taking pictures with not only the guards but especially the horses.
Our next stop on the bus was the butterfly park. Admission to the park was $7 and it’s questionable as to whether or not it was worth it. We saw a few cool specimens but I’ve definitely been to better butterfly exhibits.
After the butterfly park we walked to the bird park. The KL Bird Park (that’s its official name) claims to be the “world’s largest free-flight walk-in aviary.” Scott astutely pointed out that he was skeptical about the park since its description includes three qualifiers. The park is advertised as over 21 acres, so I believe it could be an accurate statement. Highlights of the visit included the bird show, holding birdies and seeing a species of Duck that was new to me. The bird shows was hilarious. The majority of the audience seemed to be school children as shown in the picture below. The music they were playing prior to the show was My Humps by the Black Eyed Peas. The lyrics go “... What you gon' do with all that junk? All that junk inside your trunk? I'ma get, get, get, get, you drunk,
Get you love drunk off my hump...What you gon' do with all that ass? All that ass inside them jeans? I'm a make, make, make, make you scream. Make you scream, make you scream.” I’m glad little Malaysian children will at least be able to communicate their sexual desires in English.
At the conclusion of our bird park walk it started to pour rain. Instead of walking in the downpour back to the hop-on hop-off bus we decided to suck it up and pay $5 to take a cab to our next destination, the Central Market.
I didn’t find the Central Market to be all that exciting. It was a weird mix of merchandise that wasn’t particularly cheap. I had fun looking through the different stores but nothing was interesting enough for me to home. My highlights of the market were the Thai lunch Scott and I ate and my visit to the restroom. For lunch we had two sodas, a water, spring roll appetizers and two pad thais for $20. It was a pretty darn good and delicious to boot. After lunch I not surprisingly had to go to the restroom. In my stall there was a normal size toilet and a mini-toilet. I’ve never seen a legit flushable mini-toilet in my life. I was inside a women’s restroom that I had to pay 50 Ringgit to a lady to use. I WISH there was a way for me to get Scott in the stall with my because it would have been hilarious to have a picture of an adult sitting on the toilet. Instead you will have to settle for looking at the toilet with my shoe as a metric for scale.
Earlier in the day at the bird park I noticed Scott dropped one of the temples to his sun glasses. He somehow managed to lose a screw holding the frame together. On our walk over to the China Market I spotted an optical shop where I was certain he could get the glasses fixed. He gave the woman the glasses. She looked at them. I told her the glasses just needed a new screw to replace the one that had fallen out. She gave the glasses to what appeared to be her 15 year-old son to fix them. He worked on them for a minute and gave them back to his mom good as new. She then handed them to Scott. I was curious since there was no discussion about price, what she was going to charge for a screw, one minute of service and one minute of labor. The answer was 1 Ringgit or 33 cents.
The China market was fun. It wasn’t as good as the markets in China but it was considerably more fun than the Central Market. I managed to spend $30 but I can’t disclose what I purchased because Christmas is just around the corner!
Scott was ready for a refresher after his shopping haul. We made our way back to the hotel where I worked on the blog and did some hoop hunting research while Scott took a nap. We ate dinner in the executive lounge and then proceeded to hoop hunt. It was dark by this time but I wanted to do some scoping since I only have one chance at daylight tomorrow. We rode the subway down to the Petronas Towers. We took some photos in front of the buildings and began our hoop hunt. I found a pretty neat randomly placed hoop that doesn't appear to be long for this world. It seems as though the area surrounding it is under construction. The angle to the Petronas Towers isn’t perfect but I’m still pretty pleased. My only slight sadness lies in that the night shot was really cool, however, it would have been even cooler if I had Ben’s camera that he used in Italy to take the picture. I only brought my point and shoot. Before playing with Ben’s camera I had no idea how much of a difference a good camera can make. Now I know what I’m missing.
We’re now back at the hotel. It’s pushing midnight, so I better call it a night. I’m not sure what Scott has planned for tomorrow but you can be rest assured I’ll write about it tomorrow.
Until then,
Katy
Thursday, December 6, 2012
Off and Running
December 6, 2012
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
This morning I was up decently early to catch my flight to meet Scott in Kuala Lumpur. The alarm going off at 9AM wasn’t enjoyable but it wasn’t as bad as one might have thought after such a long travel day. The location and niceness of my sleeping quarters may have had something to do with my quality sleep. Below is a picture of the view from my hotel room. I checked out of my hotel in hot and steamy palm treed Singapore to the soundtrack of Have Yourself a Merry Christmas. I was on the tram from terminal three to terminal one by 10:15AM.
Check in with Air Asia X took a while but it was relatively painless. By 10:50AM I was through customs. My flight left Singapore a little late because our arriving aircraft was delayed. I slept the entire flight, which in the air was all of 35 minutes.
Arriving in Kuala Lumpur was a kick. Since Asia Air X is a discount carrier, it flies into the ghetto airport. I’ve been to some random places but this airport was unlike one I’ve seen. I didn’t see any actual jetways. Planes were parked all over the tarmac in what appeared to no real order. After disembarking the aircraft there was no real signage on which way to go. Occasionally airport personnel would point us in one direction or another. I was distracted by all of the random happenings around me to the point that I just continued to follow the passengers that got off the plane before me. This approach eventually led me to the domestic arrival area. I, of course, was an international arrival. I very easily could have entered Malaysia without ever showing my passport. However, since I had checked luggage I had to retrace my steps back out onto the active tarmac, where I easily could have boarded one of many planes going who knows where, to then proceed to the international arrivals area.
I cleared customs, grabbed my checked baggage, followed Scott’s directions on how to best catch a cab and was finally on my way into the city by 2:30PM. I was surprised to found out the drive in from the airport was an hour long, at least if your cab driver doesn’t get lost. If your cab driver does get lost, it’s more like an 1:45 minute drive.
At 4:15PM I FINALLY met up with Scott at the Hilton Kuala Lumpur. All in it took me close to 44 hours to get door to door on this adventure. We caught up while eating snacks in the executive lounge. The lounge in this Hilton is one of the best I’ve ever experienced. The food offerings are extensive and it’s open from 6AM to 10PM. I’m fairly certain I will be able to drink $125, our nightly rate, worth of Coke Light.
Post refreshments Scott and I made our way over to the Menara Kuala Lumpur aka KL Tower. The concierge recommended to Scott that we go up in this tower as opposed to the more famous Petronas Twin Towers because this tower offers a view of those towers.
The Hilton Kuala Lumpur is conveniently located virtually atop the KL Sentral train station. We purchased 70 cent train tickets and rode to the tower. Tickets to the top of the tower cost 47 Ringgit (roughly 15 USD). In order to use a credit card a purchase had to be 50 Ringgit. To this end Scott and I decided to add one bonus activity for six additional Ringgitt. I let Scott pick because I didn’t care. He decided we should go in the 6D theater experience ride. It was actually pretty cool. It’s amazing how realistic a virtual roller coaster can feel with today’s technology.
The observation deck of the tower was neat. I always like starting off a trip with a high view because it lets me orient myself with a city. It also lets me scope out basketball hoops. Unfortunately I spent a lot of time studying the scenery and no great hoops jumped out at me. We stayed up in the tower through sunset and dusk.
After descending the tower we hopped in a cab and headed for dinner. Scott picked a restaurant based on Trip Advisor reviews. Pampas Grill was the fourth ranked restaurant in KL. It lived up to the billing in my book. I had a stuffed chicken dish that delicious.
Scott and I were both pretty beat after dinner. We decided to walk a little bit and then rode the monorail back to the neighborhood of our hotel. We do not live at the KFC stop but I find it hilarious that the Colonel is big time enough to get his own station. It’s now 11:30PM and even though that’s generally early for me, I’m ready to sleep.
Until tomorrow,
Katy
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
This morning I was up decently early to catch my flight to meet Scott in Kuala Lumpur. The alarm going off at 9AM wasn’t enjoyable but it wasn’t as bad as one might have thought after such a long travel day. The location and niceness of my sleeping quarters may have had something to do with my quality sleep. Below is a picture of the view from my hotel room. I checked out of my hotel in hot and steamy palm treed Singapore to the soundtrack of Have Yourself a Merry Christmas. I was on the tram from terminal three to terminal one by 10:15AM.
Check in with Air Asia X took a while but it was relatively painless. By 10:50AM I was through customs. My flight left Singapore a little late because our arriving aircraft was delayed. I slept the entire flight, which in the air was all of 35 minutes.
Arriving in Kuala Lumpur was a kick. Since Asia Air X is a discount carrier, it flies into the ghetto airport. I’ve been to some random places but this airport was unlike one I’ve seen. I didn’t see any actual jetways. Planes were parked all over the tarmac in what appeared to no real order. After disembarking the aircraft there was no real signage on which way to go. Occasionally airport personnel would point us in one direction or another. I was distracted by all of the random happenings around me to the point that I just continued to follow the passengers that got off the plane before me. This approach eventually led me to the domestic arrival area. I, of course, was an international arrival. I very easily could have entered Malaysia without ever showing my passport. However, since I had checked luggage I had to retrace my steps back out onto the active tarmac, where I easily could have boarded one of many planes going who knows where, to then proceed to the international arrivals area.
I cleared customs, grabbed my checked baggage, followed Scott’s directions on how to best catch a cab and was finally on my way into the city by 2:30PM. I was surprised to found out the drive in from the airport was an hour long, at least if your cab driver doesn’t get lost. If your cab driver does get lost, it’s more like an 1:45 minute drive.
At 4:15PM I FINALLY met up with Scott at the Hilton Kuala Lumpur. All in it took me close to 44 hours to get door to door on this adventure. We caught up while eating snacks in the executive lounge. The lounge in this Hilton is one of the best I’ve ever experienced. The food offerings are extensive and it’s open from 6AM to 10PM. I’m fairly certain I will be able to drink $125, our nightly rate, worth of Coke Light.
Post refreshments Scott and I made our way over to the Menara Kuala Lumpur aka KL Tower. The concierge recommended to Scott that we go up in this tower as opposed to the more famous Petronas Twin Towers because this tower offers a view of those towers.
The Hilton Kuala Lumpur is conveniently located virtually atop the KL Sentral train station. We purchased 70 cent train tickets and rode to the tower. Tickets to the top of the tower cost 47 Ringgit (roughly 15 USD). In order to use a credit card a purchase had to be 50 Ringgit. To this end Scott and I decided to add one bonus activity for six additional Ringgitt. I let Scott pick because I didn’t care. He decided we should go in the 6D theater experience ride. It was actually pretty cool. It’s amazing how realistic a virtual roller coaster can feel with today’s technology.
The observation deck of the tower was neat. I always like starting off a trip with a high view because it lets me orient myself with a city. It also lets me scope out basketball hoops. Unfortunately I spent a lot of time studying the scenery and no great hoops jumped out at me. We stayed up in the tower through sunset and dusk.
After descending the tower we hopped in a cab and headed for dinner. Scott picked a restaurant based on Trip Advisor reviews. Pampas Grill was the fourth ranked restaurant in KL. It lived up to the billing in my book. I had a stuffed chicken dish that delicious.
Scott and I were both pretty beat after dinner. We decided to walk a little bit and then rode the monorail back to the neighborhood of our hotel. We do not live at the KFC stop but I find it hilarious that the Colonel is big time enough to get his own station. It’s now 11:30PM and even though that’s generally early for me, I’m ready to sleep.
Until tomorrow,
Katy
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