THROWING UP ON COBBLESTONE STREETS, AUSCHWITZ AND BOOTLEG DVDS :)
Ya, so I haven’t updated yet. Sorry :( I am only able to access internet with my laptop now…Shame :P
I’m doing FANTASTICALLY (now that I’m not sick anymore) and have been having an absolutely great time in London/Poland/Malaysia. I have divided this email into sections to make it a bit easier to read (or pick the bites you want to read) :P
FLIGHT: LONDON TO MALAYSIA:
I’m sitting here in my hotel room in Kuala Lumpur. I’m quite tired :) I didn’t sleep at all on the 11 hour flight from London…which was late….after a massive maneuver on my part to get my ass from a little village outside of Gatwick, into Gatwick and catch a bus to Heathrow. All before 7am. In the cold English autumn. Wearing a denim jacket and a pashmina - freezing the aforementioned ass right off!…Then the plane was nearly 1.5 hours late. Fantastic.
The trip was great as I had 3(!) seats to myself! WOO HOO! I ended up reading for 10 hours straight. It was great. But, I arrived in KL after a full day before and a full-on flight at about 7am. So tired. Eek!
I managed to haul all of my stuff through immigration, customs, the terminal, the train, the arrivals hall, another train into the city, then into a taxi which deposited me at my hotel. Finally! :) I was a very happy girl as I checked into my room, managed to get my stuff up to the 11th floor (long story!), chucked it all onto the bed and jumped into the shower.
There’s nothing quite like a nice, hot shower after a day of traveling in a stifling airplane for HOOOURS on end. It’s beautiful.
But I realized while I was in there how completely drained I was. Maybe I’m still getting over the flu.
POLAND:
I had gotten really sick in Poland the last day that we were there. Really horrible timing - I got sick on Friday in Poland, the next day I flew to London (Saturday) and the next I flew to Malaysia (Sunday). Crazy.
We had a GREAT time wandering around the cities of Krakow and Warsaw in Poland- checking out old medieval castles, beautiful (shockingly Italian-looking!) city squares and markets, walking along the gorgeous tiny cobblestone streets, beautiful parks (esp in Warsaw), seeing the old Medieval city walls and old barricades, learning about the histories of the cities right up till now (all of the WWII stuff was very interesting), visiting the Salt Mine in Krakow with incredible salt-sculptures and an entire HUUUGE Chapel fully decorated and decked out in salt sculptures (that people have weddings in!), visiting Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II (the most brutal of the Nazi concentration camps) and checking out the HUNDREDS of amber stalls around the city (amber is washed up from the Baltic Sea and made into absolutely stunning jewelry etc). We had an absolutely great time with each other - my mom and I. We even ate heaps of perogies :)
SIDE NOTE: Did you know that Poland sent all of their really precious national treasures to Canada before the war to protect them!??!! Canada has a reputation there of being a REALLY prosperous, wealthy country…so much so that the prisoners named the buildings in the Auschwitz concentration camp that housed all of the goods stolen by the Nazi’s from the prisoners “Canada” because they viewed Canada as a storehouse of treasures. Crazy, eh!? :) ….
But….the last day in Poland….I got really sick! I had been feeling really achy for about a week prior (a sure sign to me that I’ll get sick if I don’t get heaps of sleep asap.) But I ignored this warning sign….and ended up throwing up all over the beautiful cobble-stone streets one day!! YUCK! We went back to the hotel and I was sick again that night. But, I got lots of sleep J and by the next day, I was fine again. (I love that my body gets over illnesses CRAZY fast. How convenient.). But, I’m not sure if all those three days of long travel (in a row) was the best thing to do riiiight after my body chucking a hissy-fit with me. Oh well :) I can’t do anything about it. :) I’ll be fine. :)
LONDON:
OH! And London was fantastic!! My mom and I (and two of her friends as well) had a great time at Colour Conference (in the VERY posh Royal Albert Hall! Wooo!) with Helen and her mom, and I actually met up with other friends too (ie: Milla (Finland), Connie (Germany)). SO great! My mom and her friends all really enjoyed it. We had a couple days to check out London and attend a London Hillsong service too, which was really fun! Fantastic teaching and really, London’s just always a fun city to visit. We did a city tour on the double decker bus - because you just have to when you’re in London with someone who hasn’t seen it yet! Fun. :)
FUNNY STORY:
I have to tell you one story!!!….
On my way from Sydney (two weeks ago), I was hungry while waiting for my flight, so I decided to get some noodle laksa- which proceeded to land itself all down the front of my WHITE shirt! Fantastic. I spent the next 30 mins in the bathroom washing (at least ATTEMPTING to!) the orangy/red grease stain from all over my shirt. Rinsing, soaping and drying. I had fortunately packed a spare shirt in my carry-on that I could change into as I’m sure a girl in only her bra attempting to change the ladies room to a launderette would’ve encouraged even MORE stares! Haha….All of this was made worse when, on my flight to Brisbane, I realized that I had lost my favorite ring (one that I got in Nov in India) during the whole ordeal! And, when I realized this, I was stuck on a window seat (which I hate) next to a large, fat man who had bits of his body spilling over the armrest and invading a good portion of my own seat. He continuously LEANED into me to start talking. His hot, rancid-smelling breath all over my face as I was wet from his sweat and squished between his wall of fat and the window of the plane. Sick. Needless to say, that leg of the journey wasn’t my favorite :)
MALAYSIA = HOT:
It’s hot here in Malaysia. 31 degrees Celcius and outrageously muggy - which is very different from Poland and England in autumn that I’ve been rugging up for during the past two weeks. It was a HEAP cooler there. I was wearing two jackets and a pashmina when I was leaving Gatwick/Heathrow yesterday morning and I was freezing! Here I had sweat dripping off my back in jeans, a t-shirt and runners. Not pretty. It was raining for a bit this afternoon too, which didn’t do anything to help me be any easier on the eyes. :)
MALAYISA: CITY TOUR:
Oh yeah! So, after I had the great shower this morning, I decided that even though I’m insanely tired, I HAVE to check out the city while I’m here! I left the hotel at 11am and found my way back to the train station to find a hop-on-hop-off city bus tour. Great! There was a great commentary on the history of the city and buildings and culture and I was so interested for about 2 hours………but, I honestly couldn’t keep my eyes open anymore. And I must have fallen asleep. I woke up so confused on the top of the tour bus! I must’ve been out for about an hour. How embarrassing!
All of the travelers I’ve met on my journey have told me that the one thing you can’t miss in KL is Chinatown. So, I managed to stumble - still half asleep - off the bus into the pouring rain to start exploring Chinatown.
CHINATOWN:
It’s crazy and pleasantly chaotic. I love markets in Asia…with the posters, signs and billboards creating a backdrop of colour over-kill for the hurried crowd and vendors yelling out to whoever walks by (which is everyone as it’s SO crowded!). The vast number of boot-leg dvds, “designer” handbags, watches, jeans, fragrances and shoes literally every 5 feet and really fresh Asian fruit. The pounding rain just added to the frenzied atmosphere. I love it!! I couldn’t resist. I left with a new (really nice!) handbag, some dvds and a mouthful of lychee and mango. Who could resist still-in-the-theatre dvds for $1 AUD and really….how often do I come to Asia? (The past three years not included!) ;)
DIRECTIONS!!:
I’m so proud of myself :) I left the hotel in a zombie-like state of tiredness armed only with a camera, some money and a scrap of paper with the name and address of my hotel on it (NOTE: no MAP!) to explore the city. After finding my way to Sentral Station, onto the hop-on-hop-off bus and to China Town, I decided to just wander. On my own. With no sense of direction. (not smart when you’re nearly in a coma from sleep deprivation). BUT! I managed to walk back to my hotel from China town (about a 45 min walk away!) without getting horribly lost! Albeit with the assistance of a group of backpackers I met (a couple English blokes, an American guy, a Danish guy and an Austrian girl who assisted me as they had a map in their company and were heading in the same general direction…) :) But still….I was quite proud of myself. :)
Bright and early tomorrow morning it’s back home to Sydney. Another 14 hour plane ride.
If any of you remember why I decided to do such a huge mileage trip in only two weeks, please remind me!?!?!
In two weeks:
7 flights
34 hours just waiting in airports
57 hours in flight
That’s 91 hours in transit in 2 weeks………..
Oh well…I wouldn’t trade it for anything! I had an absolutely AMAZING time with my mom and we had fun exploring!! :)
Until next time…
Love ya loads!!
Veronica <>
I’m doing FANTASTICALLY (now that I’m not sick anymore) and have been having an absolutely great time in London/Poland/Malaysia. I have divided this email into sections to make it a bit easier to read (or pick the bites you want to read) :P
FLIGHT: LONDON TO MALAYSIA:
I’m sitting here in my hotel room in Kuala Lumpur. I’m quite tired :) I didn’t sleep at all on the 11 hour flight from London…which was late….after a massive maneuver on my part to get my ass from a little village outside of Gatwick, into Gatwick and catch a bus to Heathrow. All before 7am. In the cold English autumn. Wearing a denim jacket and a pashmina - freezing the aforementioned ass right off!…Then the plane was nearly 1.5 hours late. Fantastic.
The trip was great as I had 3(!) seats to myself! WOO HOO! I ended up reading for 10 hours straight. It was great. But, I arrived in KL after a full day before and a full-on flight at about 7am. So tired. Eek!
I managed to haul all of my stuff through immigration, customs, the terminal, the train, the arrivals hall, another train into the city, then into a taxi which deposited me at my hotel. Finally! :) I was a very happy girl as I checked into my room, managed to get my stuff up to the 11th floor (long story!), chucked it all onto the bed and jumped into the shower.
There’s nothing quite like a nice, hot shower after a day of traveling in a stifling airplane for HOOOURS on end. It’s beautiful.
But I realized while I was in there how completely drained I was. Maybe I’m still getting over the flu.
POLAND:
I had gotten really sick in Poland the last day that we were there. Really horrible timing - I got sick on Friday in Poland, the next day I flew to London (Saturday) and the next I flew to Malaysia (Sunday). Crazy.
We had a GREAT time wandering around the cities of Krakow and Warsaw in Poland- checking out old medieval castles, beautiful (shockingly Italian-looking!) city squares and markets, walking along the gorgeous tiny cobblestone streets, beautiful parks (esp in Warsaw), seeing the old Medieval city walls and old barricades, learning about the histories of the cities right up till now (all of the WWII stuff was very interesting), visiting the Salt Mine in Krakow with incredible salt-sculptures and an entire HUUUGE Chapel fully decorated and decked out in salt sculptures (that people have weddings in!), visiting Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II (the most brutal of the Nazi concentration camps) and checking out the HUNDREDS of amber stalls around the city (amber is washed up from the Baltic Sea and made into absolutely stunning jewelry etc). We had an absolutely great time with each other - my mom and I. We even ate heaps of perogies :)
SIDE NOTE: Did you know that Poland sent all of their really precious national treasures to Canada before the war to protect them!??!! Canada has a reputation there of being a REALLY prosperous, wealthy country…so much so that the prisoners named the buildings in the Auschwitz concentration camp that housed all of the goods stolen by the Nazi’s from the prisoners “Canada” because they viewed Canada as a storehouse of treasures. Crazy, eh!? :) ….
But….the last day in Poland….I got really sick! I had been feeling really achy for about a week prior (a sure sign to me that I’ll get sick if I don’t get heaps of sleep asap.) But I ignored this warning sign….and ended up throwing up all over the beautiful cobble-stone streets one day!! YUCK! We went back to the hotel and I was sick again that night. But, I got lots of sleep J and by the next day, I was fine again. (I love that my body gets over illnesses CRAZY fast. How convenient.). But, I’m not sure if all those three days of long travel (in a row) was the best thing to do riiiight after my body chucking a hissy-fit with me. Oh well :) I can’t do anything about it. :) I’ll be fine. :)
LONDON:
OH! And London was fantastic!! My mom and I (and two of her friends as well) had a great time at Colour Conference (in the VERY posh Royal Albert Hall! Wooo!) with Helen and her mom, and I actually met up with other friends too (ie: Milla (Finland), Connie (Germany)). SO great! My mom and her friends all really enjoyed it. We had a couple days to check out London and attend a London Hillsong service too, which was really fun! Fantastic teaching and really, London’s just always a fun city to visit. We did a city tour on the double decker bus - because you just have to when you’re in London with someone who hasn’t seen it yet! Fun. :)
FUNNY STORY:
I have to tell you one story!!!….
On my way from Sydney (two weeks ago), I was hungry while waiting for my flight, so I decided to get some noodle laksa- which proceeded to land itself all down the front of my WHITE shirt! Fantastic. I spent the next 30 mins in the bathroom washing (at least ATTEMPTING to!) the orangy/red grease stain from all over my shirt. Rinsing, soaping and drying. I had fortunately packed a spare shirt in my carry-on that I could change into as I’m sure a girl in only her bra attempting to change the ladies room to a launderette would’ve encouraged even MORE stares! Haha….All of this was made worse when, on my flight to Brisbane, I realized that I had lost my favorite ring (one that I got in Nov in India) during the whole ordeal! And, when I realized this, I was stuck on a window seat (which I hate) next to a large, fat man who had bits of his body spilling over the armrest and invading a good portion of my own seat. He continuously LEANED into me to start talking. His hot, rancid-smelling breath all over my face as I was wet from his sweat and squished between his wall of fat and the window of the plane. Sick. Needless to say, that leg of the journey wasn’t my favorite :)
MALAYSIA = HOT:
It’s hot here in Malaysia. 31 degrees Celcius and outrageously muggy - which is very different from Poland and England in autumn that I’ve been rugging up for during the past two weeks. It was a HEAP cooler there. I was wearing two jackets and a pashmina when I was leaving Gatwick/Heathrow yesterday morning and I was freezing! Here I had sweat dripping off my back in jeans, a t-shirt and runners. Not pretty. It was raining for a bit this afternoon too, which didn’t do anything to help me be any easier on the eyes. :)
MALAYISA: CITY TOUR:
Oh yeah! So, after I had the great shower this morning, I decided that even though I’m insanely tired, I HAVE to check out the city while I’m here! I left the hotel at 11am and found my way back to the train station to find a hop-on-hop-off city bus tour. Great! There was a great commentary on the history of the city and buildings and culture and I was so interested for about 2 hours………but, I honestly couldn’t keep my eyes open anymore. And I must have fallen asleep. I woke up so confused on the top of the tour bus! I must’ve been out for about an hour. How embarrassing!
All of the travelers I’ve met on my journey have told me that the one thing you can’t miss in KL is Chinatown. So, I managed to stumble - still half asleep - off the bus into the pouring rain to start exploring Chinatown.
CHINATOWN:
It’s crazy and pleasantly chaotic. I love markets in Asia…with the posters, signs and billboards creating a backdrop of colour over-kill for the hurried crowd and vendors yelling out to whoever walks by (which is everyone as it’s SO crowded!). The vast number of boot-leg dvds, “designer” handbags, watches, jeans, fragrances and shoes literally every 5 feet and really fresh Asian fruit. The pounding rain just added to the frenzied atmosphere. I love it!! I couldn’t resist. I left with a new (really nice!) handbag, some dvds and a mouthful of lychee and mango. Who could resist still-in-the-theatre dvds for $1 AUD and really….how often do I come to Asia? (The past three years not included!) ;)
DIRECTIONS!!:
I’m so proud of myself :) I left the hotel in a zombie-like state of tiredness armed only with a camera, some money and a scrap of paper with the name and address of my hotel on it (NOTE: no MAP!) to explore the city. After finding my way to Sentral Station, onto the hop-on-hop-off bus and to China Town, I decided to just wander. On my own. With no sense of direction. (not smart when you’re nearly in a coma from sleep deprivation). BUT! I managed to walk back to my hotel from China town (about a 45 min walk away!) without getting horribly lost! Albeit with the assistance of a group of backpackers I met (a couple English blokes, an American guy, a Danish guy and an Austrian girl who assisted me as they had a map in their company and were heading in the same general direction…) :) But still….I was quite proud of myself. :)
Bright and early tomorrow morning it’s back home to Sydney. Another 14 hour plane ride.
If any of you remember why I decided to do such a huge mileage trip in only two weeks, please remind me!?!?!
In two weeks:
7 flights
34 hours just waiting in airports
57 hours in flight
That’s 91 hours in transit in 2 weeks………..
Oh well…I wouldn’t trade it for anything! I had an absolutely AMAZING time with my mom and we had fun exploring!! :)
Until next time…
Love ya loads!!
Veronica <>