LordStorm hits the skies: KL, Malaysia
Country: Malaysia (.my), GMT+8 - currency: the ringgit, RM1 = 100 sen
Well, here I am: I survived my first-ever international air-flight without gibbering too much and not too jet-lagged either. That isn't to say I'm trying to get my head around this chaotic, grubby and intriguing city here.
Last night's gauntlet run through the airport was interesting: I've never had to need to wait 45min in line just for baggage. There was also having to wait 30min for currency exchange (I broke their transaction system it seems *chuckle*), but I finally managed to get AU$300 into RM1100 (Malaysian ringgits) and a remaining AU$100 into US$68.60 (as back-up currency), considering the fees for each transaction. Saying goodbye to everyone and walking into the Customs check was sorta daunting actually.
I've never been through Customs before, so all the questions and forms were all new to me. Suffice to say, one look at the visa in my passport and the Customs officer didn't even worry about any difficult questions before politely gesturing me towards the baggage check, which went surprisingly well (at least these sensors weren't set on super-sensitive to pick up my body piercings, like some have done in the past!) after a quick detour over at the TRS desk to claim back GST on some of my purchases within Melbourne (AU$86 back in my pocket, thankyou very much Customs).
I've also never been through duty-free shopping at the other side of the baggage check either, and I was surprised at the prices, minus Australian taxes, that were on offer: it seems the most popular items by advertisement were alcohol; perfume; and cartons of ciggarettes, in that order. I resisted the temptation: I had no more Australian currency in my pocket but I didn't want to drain the rest of the emergency funds on my credit card just yet. I took my time and strolled around, nosing through the bookstores and clothing shops, and before I knew it my flight was being announced over the PA.
I have to say Malaysian Airlines are rather decent: their customer service is impressive (but then I guess it has to be) and friendly, and they were rather patient of my stupid enquiries of paperwork and rituals of international travel. I boarded the Boeing 777-200 - another first, I've never been in an airplane with more than one aisle - and after a brief delay with the meals and foodstuffs being delivered into the plane, we were finally taxiing out to the runway around 0030 Melbourne time.
Until now I had remained rather calm - well, at least in a state of controlled wonder - even walking onto the plane and finding my seat. However, once the jet started accelerating I realised this was it: my last lingering gaze out the window of Tullarmarine Airport shrouded in darkness and peppered with lights was my very last look on my home city for quite a long time. Yeah, that's when I had to look down into my lap for a quiet moment or two, and once we left the ground that was it: I was off, and on my way.
As international flights go, the plane was entirely full, but because it was after midnight, most of the passengers fell right asleep. Each seat had its own TV set into the back of it, so it was rather fascinating alternating between the flight's movies (nothing I hadn't already seen before), flight information, games of Freecell and original Pong, and news updates. A quick meal was served before eventually even I faded out, but not before recognising the city of Adelaide we happened to fly over. It was odd, watching the info slowly update, extending the plane's path to its eventual destination, and seeing more unusual or foreign city names fill the screen.
After a fitful flight's sleep, I eventually woke up again permanently at 0620 Melbourne time over the Java Sea aimed directly at the Malaysian Peninsula. After winding my watch back and gaining another two hours, I partook in breakfast (which wasn't too bad); at this stage it was still dark outside as we were flying fast enough to just outrun sunrise behind us. Once we set down at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) in one of the most gentlest landings I've ever experienced, the sky had only just begun to lighten.
Navigating myself around KLIA was intriguing: their departure and baggage claim/customs sections are two entirely different building separated by an automated seven-minute monorail trip under two major runways. I thanked my lucky stars that English seemed to be the second language here, as every sign in Malaysian had an English subtitle, and every attendant I needed to speak to spoke good English too. Then again, I guess my appearance was just screaming Westerner anyway. After more polite questions and a patient request to fill-in my immigration form again (politely witnessed this time in case I screwed up again) and yet another sighting of my passport and accommodation arrangements, I was formally admitted into the country with a friendly smile. I walked out into the baggage carousel to find my rucksack already circling there waiting for me, and I was waved in the general direction of the exit by more smiling Malaysians in striking green uniforms. My impression of this country by its airport alone was very favourable.
Having already looked a few things up before going, I politely refused the copious offers of cabrides and personal taxis into the heart of the city and headed towards the KLIA Ekspres, the dedicated train that connected into the heart of KL, for only RM70 return (about AU$20, very impressive). Already I was getting a combination of startled, odd, or unfriendly glances, gazes and double-takes: I noted there weren't a lot of Western backpackers loaded down with baggage around. Especially ones with blue hair. *grin* Thankfully I don't seem to have offended a lot of people by just being there, as Malaysia is a Muslim country, and it sees its share of garish tourists, but the incredulous stares and the younger Malays telling in intelligible English how different my hair was or how much they liked it. Cuts both ways I guess. :)
The KLIA Ekspres took just under 30min to get into the heart of Kuala Lumpur, and once I emerged at the other end at KL Sentral station I got thoroughly lost, before bumping into a British tourist who was friendly enough to point out I'd wandered far enough from the general entry area to miss all the public transport maps. After some pantomiming and written instructions later, I managed to run the gauntlet of two monorails and a few wrong turns to eventually find myself at the front lobby of the hotel I'd booked while here, the Hotel Nova, in the Bukit Bintang area (part of the Golden Triangle section of north-easten KL) by 0930 Malaysian time.
By now, having wandered under the load of my luggage and not having adjusted to the weather, I was bushed and sweating everywhere. I had left Melbourne on a cool day at the end of autumn at a top of 17deg, only to arrive in a city that had a minimum of 24deg that morning and was already rising by the time I'd left KLIA. The humidity is the killer: the very warm weather is actually rather nice (or would be if I wasn't loaded down desperately searching for my accommodation), but Melbourne's rather dry temperature has not conditioned me well to the hot and heavy humidity of a country only a couple of hundred kilometres north of the equator (instead of a couple of thousand kilometres south of it). I'd also forgotten this is a Malaysian spring, as the seasons had changed once I'd crossed the equator. More small things I have to get used to.
Anyway, as I'd arrived far too early to book in, I spend the next four hours cautiously exploring the immediate area, and realised the KL Tower and the twin Petronas Towers are virtually in my backyard: I'll leave them until tomorrow to explore however. I seem to have located myself in a very commercial centre of KL: many many blocks of shops around are Western-style complexes that would easily outstrip Chadstone and Pacific Fair shopping centres combined in offerings. Starbucks and 7-Eleven is everywhere, but I was also lucky enough to find a Borders bookstore I could temporarily put my feet up in air-conditioned bliss to pass the time away, before eventually wandering outside again and coming across this marvellously quiet internet cafe, only charging RM4/hr for internet access (just over AU$1/hour!).
More ramblings and such when I check in and get this luggage out of the way. I've got to see this city at night, if I can avoid nearly getting run over by every 4-cylinder hatchback in the streets outside.
Well, here I am: I survived my first-ever international air-flight without gibbering too much and not too jet-lagged either. That isn't to say I'm trying to get my head around this chaotic, grubby and intriguing city here.
Last night's gauntlet run through the airport was interesting: I've never had to need to wait 45min in line just for baggage. There was also having to wait 30min for currency exchange (I broke their transaction system it seems *chuckle*), but I finally managed to get AU$300 into RM1100 (Malaysian ringgits) and a remaining AU$100 into US$68.60 (as back-up currency), considering the fees for each transaction. Saying goodbye to everyone and walking into the Customs check was sorta daunting actually.
I've never been through Customs before, so all the questions and forms were all new to me. Suffice to say, one look at the visa in my passport and the Customs officer didn't even worry about any difficult questions before politely gesturing me towards the baggage check, which went surprisingly well (at least these sensors weren't set on super-sensitive to pick up my body piercings, like some have done in the past!) after a quick detour over at the TRS desk to claim back GST on some of my purchases within Melbourne (AU$86 back in my pocket, thankyou very much Customs).
I've also never been through duty-free shopping at the other side of the baggage check either, and I was surprised at the prices, minus Australian taxes, that were on offer: it seems the most popular items by advertisement were alcohol; perfume; and cartons of ciggarettes, in that order. I resisted the temptation: I had no more Australian currency in my pocket but I didn't want to drain the rest of the emergency funds on my credit card just yet. I took my time and strolled around, nosing through the bookstores and clothing shops, and before I knew it my flight was being announced over the PA.
I have to say Malaysian Airlines are rather decent: their customer service is impressive (but then I guess it has to be) and friendly, and they were rather patient of my stupid enquiries of paperwork and rituals of international travel. I boarded the Boeing 777-200 - another first, I've never been in an airplane with more than one aisle - and after a brief delay with the meals and foodstuffs being delivered into the plane, we were finally taxiing out to the runway around 0030 Melbourne time.
Until now I had remained rather calm - well, at least in a state of controlled wonder - even walking onto the plane and finding my seat. However, once the jet started accelerating I realised this was it: my last lingering gaze out the window of Tullarmarine Airport shrouded in darkness and peppered with lights was my very last look on my home city for quite a long time. Yeah, that's when I had to look down into my lap for a quiet moment or two, and once we left the ground that was it: I was off, and on my way.
As international flights go, the plane was entirely full, but because it was after midnight, most of the passengers fell right asleep. Each seat had its own TV set into the back of it, so it was rather fascinating alternating between the flight's movies (nothing I hadn't already seen before), flight information, games of Freecell and original Pong, and news updates. A quick meal was served before eventually even I faded out, but not before recognising the city of Adelaide we happened to fly over. It was odd, watching the info slowly update, extending the plane's path to its eventual destination, and seeing more unusual or foreign city names fill the screen.
After a fitful flight's sleep, I eventually woke up again permanently at 0620 Melbourne time over the Java Sea aimed directly at the Malaysian Peninsula. After winding my watch back and gaining another two hours, I partook in breakfast (which wasn't too bad); at this stage it was still dark outside as we were flying fast enough to just outrun sunrise behind us. Once we set down at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) in one of the most gentlest landings I've ever experienced, the sky had only just begun to lighten.
Navigating myself around KLIA was intriguing: their departure and baggage claim/customs sections are two entirely different building separated by an automated seven-minute monorail trip under two major runways. I thanked my lucky stars that English seemed to be the second language here, as every sign in Malaysian had an English subtitle, and every attendant I needed to speak to spoke good English too. Then again, I guess my appearance was just screaming Westerner anyway. After more polite questions and a patient request to fill-in my immigration form again (politely witnessed this time in case I screwed up again) and yet another sighting of my passport and accommodation arrangements, I was formally admitted into the country with a friendly smile. I walked out into the baggage carousel to find my rucksack already circling there waiting for me, and I was waved in the general direction of the exit by more smiling Malaysians in striking green uniforms. My impression of this country by its airport alone was very favourable.
Having already looked a few things up before going, I politely refused the copious offers of cabrides and personal taxis into the heart of the city and headed towards the KLIA Ekspres, the dedicated train that connected into the heart of KL, for only RM70 return (about AU$20, very impressive). Already I was getting a combination of startled, odd, or unfriendly glances, gazes and double-takes: I noted there weren't a lot of Western backpackers loaded down with baggage around. Especially ones with blue hair. *grin* Thankfully I don't seem to have offended a lot of people by just being there, as Malaysia is a Muslim country, and it sees its share of garish tourists, but the incredulous stares and the younger Malays telling in intelligible English how different my hair was or how much they liked it. Cuts both ways I guess. :)
The KLIA Ekspres took just under 30min to get into the heart of Kuala Lumpur, and once I emerged at the other end at KL Sentral station I got thoroughly lost, before bumping into a British tourist who was friendly enough to point out I'd wandered far enough from the general entry area to miss all the public transport maps. After some pantomiming and written instructions later, I managed to run the gauntlet of two monorails and a few wrong turns to eventually find myself at the front lobby of the hotel I'd booked while here, the Hotel Nova, in the Bukit Bintang area (part of the Golden Triangle section of north-easten KL) by 0930 Malaysian time.
By now, having wandered under the load of my luggage and not having adjusted to the weather, I was bushed and sweating everywhere. I had left Melbourne on a cool day at the end of autumn at a top of 17deg, only to arrive in a city that had a minimum of 24deg that morning and was already rising by the time I'd left KLIA. The humidity is the killer: the very warm weather is actually rather nice (or would be if I wasn't loaded down desperately searching for my accommodation), but Melbourne's rather dry temperature has not conditioned me well to the hot and heavy humidity of a country only a couple of hundred kilometres north of the equator (instead of a couple of thousand kilometres south of it). I'd also forgotten this is a Malaysian spring, as the seasons had changed once I'd crossed the equator. More small things I have to get used to.
Anyway, as I'd arrived far too early to book in, I spend the next four hours cautiously exploring the immediate area, and realised the KL Tower and the twin Petronas Towers are virtually in my backyard: I'll leave them until tomorrow to explore however. I seem to have located myself in a very commercial centre of KL: many many blocks of shops around are Western-style complexes that would easily outstrip Chadstone and Pacific Fair shopping centres combined in offerings. Starbucks and 7-Eleven is everywhere, but I was also lucky enough to find a Borders bookstore I could temporarily put my feet up in air-conditioned bliss to pass the time away, before eventually wandering outside again and coming across this marvellously quiet internet cafe, only charging RM4/hr for internet access (just over AU$1/hour!).
More ramblings and such when I check in and get this luggage out of the way. I've got to see this city at night, if I can avoid nearly getting run over by every 4-cylinder hatchback in the streets outside.