Goodbye Thailand – Hello Malaysia…
I left the island of Koh Phangnan and flew right into the bustling city of K.L. Those old habits die hard. As soon as I saw the glowing yellow McDonalds emblem shining ever so brightly at the airport, I made a beeline for it and ordered one big mac and a chocolate sundae. My senses were overwhelmed by the forgotten taste of North American fast food!
Malaysia is very culturally diverse, never have I seen such a beautiful ethnic mixture. Coming from the melting pot that is Canada I was surprised to be surprised. The combination of Indians, Malays & Chinese was astonishing.
There were no direct flights from Koh Samui to Bali, so I either had backtrack and make the trek up to Bangkok which is chaotic right now, or spend a night in K.L. Luckily for me, Sebastian had friends who lived there and they were open to having me, a complete stranger come crash at their place.
I had an absolutely amazing time. Nick and Nika were lovely hosts. Nika was visiting from Cambodia so while Nick was at work, we ended up going for deliciously ethnic Malaysian food, to the Twin Towers and then back to 21, the restaurant Nick works.
It was Tuesday, ladies night and all the girls got unlimited free drinks at the bar. Most of them were sweet and pink but being Asian girls, I guess we liked that.
We had some great laughs that night. Nick and Nika are just adorable together. If you met them, you would see how amazing their chemistry is and how in love they are. Wow, What a beautiful couple.
The second morning was hilarious. My life is such a comedy. I woke up and took a taxi to the airport after enjoying the most refreshing sleep, and the luxuries of a hot shower. As I’m chatting with the taxi driver, I discover my flight was actually not that morning but the next morning.
So I get to the airport and try to call Nick but his phone was turned off, or I think I used up all the minutes on his card trying to sort something out with ICBC the night before. After a few attempts, and a solid wifi session at the airport Starbucks, I decided to make the most of my day and trust that everything was going to work out. I tried to book the hotel by the airport but it was full, so I figured if worse comes to worse, I could always just sleep in the airport. Not like I haven’t done that before!
It was decided, I’m checking my backpack here and taking myself out on a proper solo date.
I set out on a mission find a yoga class. I have been wanting to try Anusara but it was difficult to find a scheduled class online. What I did find however was a Bikrams class that evening, so I took the bus back into town and then the Monorail to the downtown business district. It is so clean at the Monorail station because smoking and littering is against the law – it was so clean it looked like you could literally eat off the floors.
While I was making my way there, it just started pouring rain. It was the most intense rain I had seen in ages which was refreshing because it was really hot outside.
When I got to the mall, I went straight to the info board to check where the studio was. Luckily for me, there was a promotion going on and I managed to get a free pass into this super posh gym (True Fitness) to do a Bikrams class. Here’s a photo of the cute guys that work there – they were so sweet. It’s amazing in KL that everyone speaks English. I had no trouble whatsoever communicating with anyone.
After class, I took myself out for sushi. Here’s me at the sushi bar, with a bottle of hot sake. It was delicious and so much fun. After dinner, I debated called Nick - thankfully he was around and invited me back to stay over another night. Phew!
Here’s a picture of my shin. I had burnt it on the back of a rogue motorcycle taxi when I missed my taxi and had to ride from Had Drin to Thongsala with my huge backpack sandwiched between me and the driver. Apparently this is pretty common around these parts of Asia. The worst part though, is that I had been warned several times and that morning I just forgot to watch for the scalding hot tail pipe on the right side.
In the past 5 months I had managed to do the following to my right leg:
- Step on a Sea Urchin impaling myself with 13 spines
- Step on a rusty nail on the beach
- Burn my shin with the pipe of a motorbike
Let’s hope this is the extent of it!
As I was boarding my plane to fly to Bali I was filled with anticipation. I love boarding planes in this manner, via a rolling staircase – it feels so old school and glamorous.
Here’s a shot of Seb and I shortly after he landed. Poor thing he had just come off of a 20 hour flight. We had one of those running, hugging moments filled with tears and laughter. It was really sweet.
And so my solo adventure ends, and our journey together begins. Right now we are on the beaches of Gili Trawangan, one of our favorite places. Within 3 days of being here, we met up with our good friends Aleesa and Rob and have become known as “The Crazy Couple” who went swimming at the bar, and Seb’s already lined up to play at the big beach club, Rudy’s known for hosting the all night raves! I’ve started the PADI open water scuba diving course which has been incredible.
All in all life is good. I have to admit the transition was a little bit rocky at first. I was naive in believing everything would be exactly the same between Seb and I as before I had left Vancouver. But the truth is that even though it has only been five months since we’ve been apart, both of us has changed a lot. (Mostly me…) Sebastien now has to adjust to this new daily one hour meditation routine, and I have to get used to having someone in my space again. It made for a rocky start, but now everything has settled and we are harmonious once again. It’s a lovely feeling – Thank God it has been as easy as it has been...
