Travel Time

Ahh, slept rather well last night. No noisy neighbors and no sudden movements. Woke up slightly late to Mom’s morning call. She’d walked the entire neighborhood this morning and wanted to tell me about how nice AJ Hackett’s bungy platform is.

She and Khairil went ahead with breakfast while I packed all my things. Good thing about travelling with shopaholics is that they always bring additional room for purchases. 😀

It’s a problem when you arrive at the airport just before midnight, cuz all the drivers aren’t willing to take you until the midnight rates start, which can be double.

We managed to grab a premier airport limo just 7 minutes before midnight, to the driver’s dismay. We got to know this early into the drive, when a pal of his called.

Yet he didn’t seem to want to rush back to the airport. Probably was going to go home anyway.

To sum up the experience, I was fearing for my life for the second time that day. First of all, there was this awful shuddering sound coming from one of the wheels. Was as if the suspension was shot. Secondly, the driver can’t maintain constant speed, which wasn’t a safety concern, but it was downright annoying. He’d accelerate, then let go… then accelerate… and let go… again and again! Geez, people like these should just retire! And finally, like most Malaysians, very poor lane control. I was almost certain the guy was going to fall asleep at the wheel, and I was concentrating on his driving the entire time.

Luckily the rest of my family was asleep and didn’t have to go through that ordeal.

The airport people are really doing a bad job. It was bad enough when Tajuddin was the big boss, but it doesn’t get better from there. First the doors that won’t open, and then the poor condition of their ‘premier’ cars and drivers. I really fear for all travellers entering and leaving KLIA.

Arrived for our flight too early for check-in. Hung outside eating two 5,000Rp McDonald’s Spicy Chicken burgers.

Check-in was a breeze. ‘cept for the part where Ayin left our ‘passenger courtesy service fee’ in a suitcase. THAT was then paid at a special counter just to collect Rp100,000 from each of us.

Mom was shocked at the astronomical prices at the souvenir shops around the boarding lounge. Wish she had bought all the stuff she wanted in town instead of trying to find the best deals.

Chatted up a pretty local girl selling soda and candy.

The boarding process itself was surprisingly fast, compared to the delay at KLIA.

We took a cab back to the hotel from Kuta Square right after getting the paintings (light blue, metered, Rp11,000). Driver wasn’t chatty, but it’s fine as long as he gets us where we wanna go.

Reached home base to find that Khairil hasn’t had lunch (poor guy) due to a miscommunication in our messaging system (that darn spa operator!). So we took a short walk to a nearby convenience toko (store) to get some Oreo’s (Rp4,500) and a can of Coke for him.

After that, since we thought we had nothing else to do, we decided to head for the airport. Our poor transfer driver had been waiting almost an hour (tip: Rp1,000), but serves him right for coming too early.

Reaching home from 66, we proceeded to check our stuff out from the hotel. Mom had already packed her room up, and she left a note mentioning where she is. Didn’t take long since all our things were ready, so all we had to do was lug the baggage to reception for temporary safekeeping.

Khairil wasn’t feeling up to going anywhere at all, and decided to just take a dip in the pool. My sister and I grabbed a cab for Kuta Square for some last minute brand name shopping.

Nike Dri-Fit Hairband for Mom: Rp34,500
Billabong Rash Vest: Rp275,000
Speedo Watersport Shorts: Rp225,000

High priority souvenirs:-
1 pair D&G Jeans: from the bargain bin
2 pairs of Versace Jeans: 1 from the bin and another at 50% off

Ayin also got the paintings she wanted. Two artblock-sized oil paintings for Rp120,000.

Had lunch at McDonald’s some time in between. Sigh, can’t live without fast food. 😀

Meanwhile, Mom was at a spa near the hotel for a 3-hour thingie. The place wasn’t fancy, but it was close by, and cheap.