Safe in Malaysia

So, as my solo portion of the South East Asian Adventures begins, we're off to a fairly good start--I made it to Malaysia!

I must admit that I was nervous about my gaining admission to the country when I received a handout at check-in with questions pertaining to the H1N1 scare (Have you had a fever of more than 100 degrees F in the past 7 days? A cough or difficulty breathing in the past 7 days? If yes to either question, report to health quarantine area) I didn't know what to do. I certainly did NOT want to be under health quarantine in Malaysia (because who even knows what that would mean...). I looked at the people around me filling in their cards, people who were coughing just like me and saw them checking no, so decided that it was ok for me to check no too. Then we arrived at the KUL airport...and there were signs about preparing to stop for a temperature check. I was freaking out. What if my fever had somehow returned? Or the stress of flying made me seem like I had a fever? Or they could just tell that I had been ill? What if they arrested me??? Well, all these fears were completely unfounded. The woman collected my little information card without even looking at it and said "welcome to malaysia."

Boy, did I let out a huge sigh of relief.

The KUL airport was NICE. Very modern, very sleek. The toilets were kind of bizzare... the seats were huge and rectangular, rather than oblong. But everything worked and it was definitely clean, which was the important part. I grabbed my bag from the conveyor belt, as it was one of the first bags off the plane and made my way through customs, which was basically non-existent. I looked for a sign directing me to taxis and eventually made it outside, and saw lines of them. I approached the area and told the driver where i wanted to go and he asked me if I had a ticket. I told him that I didn't and he sent me back inside to get one.

I found my way to a kiosk that said "Airport Taxi" on it and told them where I wanted to go so that I could get to the hotel. The plane out of Jakarta had departed an hour later than scheduled, so it was about 10.30pm at this point and I was ready to be at the hotel and in my bed. Got my ticket without any trouble and wandered outside to find a taxi that would take me. Some driver accosted me and I was on my way.

Little did I know what I was getting myself into with this driver...he asked me if I was married ("no") and if I had a boyfriend ("just broke up") after which he asked how long I'd be in Malaysia ("a little less than 3 days") followed by the statement that he'd like to spend the next three days in bed with me! I was so totally dumbfounded by this man's gall that I was speechless. He proceeded to ask me for an application to date me and things along a similar vein. It was all pretty ridiculous. He gave me his phone number and said I could call him with my room number and other such craziness. I was like, WOW. This is insane.

After 30 minutes of a crazily awkward drive (at least from my end), we arrived at my hotel and I practically lept from the car and into the hotel, with the assistance of a bellman who grabbed my luggage. I think there are few times in my life when I have been more grateful to reach a hotel.

Once I was checked in and someone helped me get to my room (this hotel is ridiculously large and confusing), I set my things down and checked out my new digs. I was then greeted by...a COCKROACH in my bathroom. Having just survived the crazy taxi man, i decided that a cockroach was a handleable issue. I debated about calling the front desk and demanding that I be moved to another room, but decided against it, walked out of the bathroom, sat down on the oversized bed, took a deep breath, and checked the bathroom again. The cockroach was gone. I decided that the two of us could live in peace for the three days that i'd be there and got all my things off the floor and checked the bed sheets before climbing into them. All clear.

At 3.30am, my phone rang. It was my mother. I had tried to call her from the hotel phone, but to no avail. Couldn't even get a dial tone. She just wanted to know I was safe and I groggily informed her that I was and then drifted back to sleep. And then I slept and slept and slept, until 11am the next morning. It was glorious. I got up to have lunch at the restaurant here and then went back to the room and watched HBO all afternoon (I watched this crazy movie called stardust...anyone ever seen it?) and then called for room service for dinner. I talked to my mom again right before going to sleep and told her of my crazy adventures thus far.

Today I slept in again and have just been wandering around the hotel. I'm not staying in Kuala Lumpur proper because it's about 75km from the airport, and I have a really early flight to Cambodia tomorrow morning, so trying to stay nearer to the airport. I'm planning on visiting the pool once I finish this blog post, but that's about all. The area that I'm staying in is very beautiful (the hotel is on a lake), but I know I'm not getting much of a Malaysian experience. That's ok though--this was really only supposed to be a jumping off point for my trip to Cambodia. I really cannot believe that I'll be in Cambodia tomorrow morning. I've been reading about Siem Reap in my guidebook, and I'm feeling overwhelmed already, but since I've been so out under the weather recently, I'm going to allow myself to go slowly and only see what I really want to see. I'm definitely getting better, but still not at 100% health. It makes me really sad because I long for my cat and my own bed...and I'm usually so up for adventures! I'm praying I get all my strength back so I can fully experience and enjoy the rest of what this trip has to offer!