HELLO, MALAYSIA

I remember the days when I would dream of a job that would allow me to write and keep on writing. Like the saying goes, be careful what you wish for…

The past months at work has been one of the most challenging times for me. The more I write, the longer my to-do-list grew. Everyday, my mental juices were being drained from my brain all the way down to my butt and thighs. The more time I spent glued to my computer, the lesser human I became.

I needed a break or else I would wake up one day and find a robot in the mirror.

Last Thursday, I wrapped things up at work ’till midnight, packed until dawn then rushed to catch my flight Friday morning. I prayed my Economy Class annual leave ticket would get an upgrade because I badly needed to stretch and sleep. I didn’t have to tell God that, he already knew.

After exchanging pleasantries with the check-in staff, he tore my printed boarding pass and said,

“You won’t need this.”

He handed me an upgraded ticket. Only the counter stopped me from hugging him.

It was my first time on a Jet Airways premium cabin (operated by Etihad) and it took me some time to get used to the diagonal seating.

I love my peanuts with mango juice.

For the stressed and overworked, dine-anytime is dine-all-the-time. Mushroom soup, yum.

Fish something

Snuggled in.

Woke up and ordered dessert

8 hours in the air

Touchdown!

The immigration officer was very kind. He even made a joke saying my name was Violet and his name was Purple. I told him it was a girl’s name. He laughed, I laughed. Wow, imagine how happier the world would be if immigration officers would stop being Mr. Scrooges and Mrs. Grumps.

The Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) was amazing. There were signs everywhere to guide you, the toilets were clean and it was like a huge shopping mall.

The KLIA transit is connected to the airport and it cost me only 3 RM to get to KLIA2 to meet my travel buddy.

Does this look like an airport to you?

I found a nice restaurant in the foodcourt area and ravished my first KL meal (like I haven’t been eating for the duration of my flight).

An hour later, my sister arrived from the Philippines.
She didn’t have any meal onboard so I made her eat 2 pieces of bread. Haha.

The airport was so clean that people were sleeping on the floor. We were tired and tempted to do so too.

Here’s me getting a quote for all 3 modes of transportation (bus, metered taxi and coupon taxi). The bus was the cheapest (18 RM, if I remember right) but the next trip was 2 more hours away.

We took a coupon taxi instead and paid 111.45 RM from the airport to Bukit Bintang (50 minutes ride).

Abu Dhabi and the Philippines converge into this bed.

Goodmornight, Kuala Lumpur!

Etihad Airways flights to Kuala Lumpur