Waterfalls and Batu Temple - Last Day in Malaysia

Today we did an Amazing hike at some waterfalls just outside the city.  It began with just stairs and when we thought it was finished, realized that the rest the hike continued on trails!  The humidity here is Insane and I was sweating like crazy.  But the reward at the top of the hike was a beautiful pool that we had just to ourselves to swim in.

After the temples, we went to Batu caves.  There are a to more pictures, but Ami hasn't sent me hís photos yet (this keyboard thing í REALLY ANNOYING!!! and YES i tried changing Langugage and Keyboard settings on the computer but it didn't help).

It's interesting to sê the mĩx òf cultures here:  Indian, Chinese, Malay, Muslim, Hindu, westerners, etc.... during the hike we'd saw Chinese in swimsuits and then a lady covered head to toe doing the hike.  It's fascinating!

We thought thís was what we were going to get the whole time - man made swimming pôols

still pretty though and thểre were people sưimming

I took thís phôt to show the people Behind Ami... lady in a burka.  I think the cultural diversity hể í awesome 

Sadly, we saw a lot ò trash along the trail

the trail

SWEATY!!

So many waterfalls 

Monkey!!  They were actually pretty aggressive and tried to steal ourstuff at one point

This guy though!

Indian lunch:  Seems like people only eat with their left hand, there are no napkins used, but you get up and go wash your hands in a sink afterwards 

Batu Temples:  In a cave!

Inside the cave.  In reality, it stunk like chicken poop ew

Some day I'm going to learn to take gorgeous pics ò myself .... for nơ I'll settle on the fact that they're Really cool photos haha

For dinner, Ami took me to a local night market.  Apparently, every neighborhood há a night market once a week.  We grabbed a little of everything.  

Our feast!

He wasSuper excited i tried Durian fruit.  It tasted good, but it smells and the texture was very slimy.

Tomorrow, On to Vietnam!!

Days 3 and 4

Yesterday, I slept in and just relaxed until we went to lunch with some of Ami’s friends. We ate on a banana leaf. Most people use their right hand to mix up the food and eat it from the banana leaf. When you’re done, you fold the leaf down from the top. Folding it up from the bottom is apparently offensive.  We went for coffee with the guys too.

The restaurant

After lunch, we went to another friends house for a kids birthday party. It was relaxing and I met a lot of nice people. One lady owns a bar on one of the Thai islands and gave me her contact information. She offered to help me out as much as possible.

Ami watching the clown show lol

We left the party and went to meet some of my friends from Orlando.  Apparently, Andrew and Karen are staying here in KL for a few months!  We went to China Town, had some food and then met them at a Speak Easy called PS150 and then to a rooftop bar with a gorgeous view of the city, called Vertigo.  Both very cool bars, but both Very expensive... like $12 usd a drink, which is a lot for over here

Speak easy

Roof top bar

Karen, Andrew, Me and Ami

KL Day Two

After a very full day of sightseeing yesterday, and amazing food, I woke up around four this morning with jet lag. Which was perfect because Ami wanted to go hiking at 6 AM for sunrise. He kept saying it was a super easy hike. Um, I felt very out of shape. There were times we were climbing with our hands to get up the side of this mountain. I was huffing and puffing the whole time LOL. I’m sure it will get better as I am traveling and hiking more. The view from the top of the mountain was beautiful. Worth all of the effort. We met two other guys who were hiking and they were so sweet to take a bunch of pictures of us. Oh and three little dogs escorted us up most of the mountain haha. Sometimes felt like they were trying to push us off.

We hung out there until about eight or 9 AM and then went to breakfast where I had what some people call Malaysian pancakes. That’s the only name I can remember., I know it’s not correct.  The dipping sauces they serve with the varieties of bread are amazing.
 Malaysia is a Muslim country, so everyone is dressed pretty conservatively.  In my hiking clothes, I was getting a lot of stares at breakfast.

After breakfast, we went to relax some at the flat.  In the evening, we went to meet Ami’s friend for dinner and then saw a movie, Glass. I didn’t really like it, but was still fun getting out.  The decorations for Chinese New Year are everywhere, it’s really pretty.

They serve caramel popcorn at the movies?!?!

Kuala Lumpur day 1

My friend, Ami, Met me at the train station and we went to his house to drop off my stuff. Then we set out exploring the city. People here are so nice and friendly. Everyone is willing to help you with stuff. I think the city is beautiful, and the cultural diversity is incredible.  We went by markets, malls, the Petronas Towers, Chinatown, an Indian temple, and several other things. Also, they drive on the left side of the road here.

Food has been amazing so far!

At the end of the day  we stopped at a Helly pad bar, with a gorgeous view of the entire city. For dinner, we went to a really interesting Indian spot set up under some tents outside where I had amazing naan.

Petronas Towers

The city is really pretty

Food court:  I'll have to make a post about all the delish food I have on this trip

Inside a museum we went to

Hindu Temple

Chinatown market

Street art

Eating Mangos!  They're so good here!

I think they call this the "river of life" they're trying to revitalize the city some.

View from Heli Bar

Heli bar

YUM Naan!

Where we had dinner

Jan 22, 2019 Transit to SE Asia

Traveling on standby can be really stressful. I have to check different routes and try to find someone to give me the flight loads on the different airlines. I only get a seat on board if it hasn’t been sold to a passenger. A.k.a. if the flight sold out, I get stuck in whatever location I’m in. I decided to take the San Francisco flight to Singapore and then try to buy a ticket from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur. I met a guy when I was hiking in Argentina who lives in KL and randomly messaged him on Instagram about my trip. Turns out he’s planning to go to Vietnam in February, so I’ll meet him in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and then continue on to Vietnam together. I really don’t have much of a plan besides just getting to KL. It’s a bit stressful.

Fortunately, I made it on board the flight from Orlando to San Francisco at 6 AM on Tuesday morning. Last seat!! After six hour flight and 2 hour layover the flight from San Francisco to Singapore it was wide open with 100 seats open. I got my own row!

For me that’s the jackpot. The flight attendants were excited I was a JetBlue flight attendant and took very good care of me. They even brought me first class dinner. This consisted of steak mashed potatoes vegetables ahi tuna and really good wine. I tried to lay down and sleep most of the flight and watched hotel Transylvania one and two, at mom’s suggestion.

I really need to figure out the rest of the details of my trip. I had planned to do research during my flight, but they increase the cost of the Wi-Fi to $40 for the 17 hour flight. I’ll just wait till I get there. Well, it would’ve been good if I had paid for the Wi-Fi and could have booked my next flight to Kuala Lumpur for tonight. We landed at 8 PM and I wasn’t able to make the reservation for the 9:30 PM flight.  That means I’ll be sleeping in the Singapore airport. Of all the airports I’ve ever been to, this is probably the best one to get stuck in. I paid US$20 for a shower, there were reclining chairs and so was able to take a nap. There is an outdoor sunflower garden, free movies, free game room. And just really cool stuff to see.  In the morning I’ll try to get on the 720
flight to Kuala Lumpur where my friend Ami will be meeting me.

$20 for a shower, totally worth it

Free leg massage

Sleeping: always bring an eye mask, pillow and blanket.

Agh Packing

You would think for someone who travels so much that I’d be better at packing. I’m not. Every time I go to a new destination I question my “trip appropriate” clothing.  I packed and unpacked like 3 times for this trip and finally decided Whatever, I’ll buy stuff I want when I get there.

There are already things I regret haha and I haven’t arrived.  I spoke to a friends daughter who has been traveling SE Asia for months. She said all of her nice clothing has been ruined and reminded me I can buy very cheap clothing if I need any.  So I packed as minimal as I could.  

Things i realize I’ve forgotten so far: headphones, headphone adapter for iPhone, sun screen, a long sleeved shirt, pajamas, the $200 cash I’d taken out for this trip (don’t worry mom, I stopped at the atm in sfo and got more), the iPad keyboard I bought Specifically for this trip.

I’m not really stressed about any of it though (well maybe the back up credit card I meant to bring aghhh). I think traveling so much has really made me more laid back about everything- it is what it is and if I Need something, I’ll figure out how to get it.

So far the trip is going well. Made my flights from mco to sfo to sin with no problem, even had my own row on this 17 hour flight!!

2019 Time to Blog Again

Well clearly I’m not a professional blogger, but when I travel, my friends often ask for more updates on what I’ve done and where I’ve gone. So I thought I’d start blogging again while I’m on this trip.

I’m going to Southeast Asia for almost 2 months. While working at JetBlue, I can take a month of personal leave. So I took the month of February off and I’ve always wanted to take a really long solo trip. The flight to get to Asia is so stinking long, staying less than a month seems like a waste. So ignore my previous blog posts, unless you’re interested in reading about my life at the beginning of my time of the flight attendant, and keep up with my day-to-day travel in Southeast Asia.