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
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