Dermatologist / Imagine Dragons

Day 019 of Our Winter: This morning, Jay had another appointment. This time he went to see a dermatologist. He had a mole or dark spot on his face. Our family doctor at home booked him to see a dermatologist in BC but it took weeks before they finally called for an appointment date. We were leaving, so we left it that he'd have to go after we get back from our winter. Today, he spoke with a doctor and then went directly to a room to have it lasered. That clinic does liposuction and the whole nine yards of new treatments to freeze or burn off fat and all sorts of skin needling and treatments. This type of clinic is quite popular nowadays in Sri Lanka with both women and men. He filed a prescription for some antibiotic cream to use for a few days. 

It was a lovely day and I stayed mostly around the house.

 

In the afternoon, after halapa and afternoon tea, Jay and I logged onto Air Asia, a low-cost airline.  We loved the Malayasian/Thai based airline back during out SE Asian retirement winters.  Flying was so cheap, easy, and relaxed.  

We hadn't logged on since before COVID, but managed to get access easily.  Their web implementation is superb.  We checked about Bangkok to Chiang Mai flights within Thailand.  Their prices are economical and about half of what the big airlines can offer. There's a very particular reason I now have 'Thunder' by Imagine Dragons running through my head.  That was a hit the last year we flew and was always the song played to get folks off the planes at the destination.

HKT --> KUL

Day 141 - Our hotel included breakfast, so I had the full option again. The coffee and the toast came first and then a plate like the one above. We then went to the room to put everything into the backpacks. Our ticket said our pickup would be between 10:00 and 10:10 AM. Our 12-passenger van did come before 10:15. From Patong Beach, one needs to plan about an hour to get to the airport on the north of the island.



Everything about getting back here went smoothly and without interruption. I cannot emphasize how easy air travel is within SE Asia. People queue up without pushing and getting on and off the planes is quick and easy. Our flight arrived a half hour before departure and we boarded a bit early. We'd not chosen seats on this segment and were given Air Asia's hot seats in the front. We were in row 2 and therefore got out quickly at Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2.

The flight lasted an hour and a half but we had to change to the earlier Malaysian time zone. That is just enough time to get and eat lunch on the plane. The Bukhara chicken biryani was just right. We'd added the meals when booking the flight and although it cost several bucks, it was worth every penny.

Upon arrival at KIA2, we ordered a Grab Car via the app and had to wait about 5 minutes at Door 2. Then, we effortlessly rode downtown to the Maytower, our home for another two weeks.

The Trip to Patong Beach Begins

Day 137 - We didn't need to get up early for our 12:25 PM flight to Phuket. We took a Grab car right to KLIA2. Next to the international airport in Kuala Lumpur, a second was primarily designed and built for Air Asia. It is a low-cost carrier which had the slogan which suggested that it provided flights cheap enough so that everyday people could fly. It's true and the aviation industry growth in SE Asia has been phenomenal.



These flights were provided as a refund that Jay got back from them after two years of dogged determination. The flight time going to the island of Phuket was just one and a half hours. However, there is a time zone difference of one hour which chopped the hour part off. The inflight chicken biryani cost extra but was tasty.

Thailand has been doing bulk tourism for, well, as long as we've been travellers. However, we were last in Phuket directly at the end of the first Gulf War. As these things occurred before blogging, we had to piece together a lot of facts to come up with the year of 1991. I blog about things in order to have an external memory as we travel a lot and our brains are not good at keeping track of such things without help. This is an eJournal but I'm pleased if anyone has the inclination to read it.



It took about one hour to get to Patong Beach from the airport. We bought the standard shuttle bus tickets for ฿180 each. A US dollar is around 31 Thai Baht these days. Every passenger for the vans were able to verify the hotel and were delivered directly.

We are staying four nights at the Club Seven One Hotel. It's about a five-minute walk from the beach and around a 15-minute walk to JungCeylon Mall.



We used the whole evening just to walk up to the main part of Patong Beach and around the tourist areas. We chose this, the oldest, beach area. Phuket is a series of beaches each with different characteristics. I savour the old-school, over-developed scene of with many bars even if I use none.





Daylight ended as the sun slipped into the Andaman Sea. Nowadays that happens at around 6:30 PM here.

Persistent Jay and the AirAsia Rebate

Day 106 - We didn't go far today, as my shiny, new Mi Band 3 can attest. Today's scant 4.26 kilometers came from short walks to the markets in our neighbourhood. I do feel that our choice of the Maytower building was good. We're strategically located near the heart of Kuala Lumpur.





One interesting bit of online planning occurred today. Jay checked his AirAsia account and discovered, after more than two years, he got a bit of credit for cancelled flights.

The year he had heart surgery, we'd already planned and purchased flights for a bit of SE Asia travel. We had to cancel. We once got a bit of money as a rebate. However, it took notes from doctors, official documents, and a whole lot of online cajoling to get that bit. When they awarded the rebate, AirAisa gave credit for only the first flight on our itineraries. I think that was from Penang to Langkawi, so it was credit for possibly the cheapest sector.

Every time, Jay prompted the company, a brief flurry of activity would commence but nothing would come of it. I'd written off receiving any more. However, Jay is anything if dogged. He was writing on Facebook pages and messaging live chats via their website and it paid off. Suddenly, and without an email, AirAsia provided the equivalent of $200 dollars worth of credit on his account last Thursday. Finally getting this felt like finding a bit of cash in the pocket of something hanging in the closet!

We were sure to spend it immediately to avoid losing the refund. We booked after seeing where it'd take us and where we wanted to go. We'll take a four-night trip to Phuket, Thailand at the end of next month.


We have flown AirAsia a lot. This flight was in December 2017.

Leaving Krabi, Thailand

Day 102 - Hey, we're back!

Getting back to Kuala Lumpur was easy peasy. We woke up at 7:00 as we needed to eat all the quick breakfast snacks we bought yesterday. Being across from the Krabi Night Market was fortunate. The sellers had a lot of fresh fruits cut and put into little packets. We had fresh mango, pomelo, guava, and pineapple. We finished the tiny bananas yesterday. There were yogurts in the refrigerator and we made instant coffee with the kettle in the room. We also bought a bunch of danish at a bakery last night. One big, sweet fruit cake was enough. The four other packages with other assorted croissant-sized treats had to be put into our backpacks.

We were in the lobby before 8:30 and found our taxi guy. There's a bit of a taxi mafia in Krabi, so if one just tries to get a cab ride to the airport it costs around Thai 500฿, which converts to about $US 16. As the airport is only about twenty minutes from town, that is too much. If one looks on the Grab app, it is even more! However, by stopping at one of the travel ticketing booths, without haggling, Thai 350฿ is offered.

So we checked in at the airport after a little trouble with one of the Air Asia machines, and a trip to the staff in the next door terminal. We had plenty of extra time for customs and security clearance. Our plane got off the ground exactly at 10:30 AM and into KLIA2 at 1:00 PM because we had to switch our watches forward an hour.

Our Grab driver from the airport to the Maytower was a young, Malay guy. With over 50 minutes to talk, we learned he is about to get married at the age of 29. We discussed the economy, the rise of China as a power, and good beach-vacation places.

Keep On Keeping On

Day 88 - We looked at the calendar and decided we'd better get moving, literally. We recently visited Malacca, but we wanted to visit another city on Malaysia's west coast too. We had intended but missed visiting Ipoh from Penang last winter. So we went to the KL Sentral Station this morning and bought some train tickets. Although everybody books online nowadays, we enjoy the vibe of the large, new transit building where the excitement of travel is in the air.

So on Monday we'll travel on the electrified track for the 2.5-hour trip. The price of the tickets are about $US 4 more than it'd cost to take Intercity buses. The new trains, although not technically high-speed, are some of the fastest trains in the world running on normal tracks. I like the idea of walking to a dining car. We are only spending two nights at the Regalodge Hotel and will take an afternoon train back to KL on Wednesday.



We also arranged for a trip a bit further for the week after next. We have chosen to take advantage of cheap tickets on AirAsia. We'll fly to Krabi, Thailand on Monday, the 18th and come back to Kuala Lumpur on Thursday, the 21st.

In order to see photos and more, just keep watching my eJournal and images!

Thunder

As I'm typing this, a rare thunderstorm is taking place. There have been several large bolts. Determining the distance is difficult; for all I know, they may have hit in Washington State. Of course, I could not catch lightning on my phone's camera as the strikes were too random and rare. I love seeing a good thunderstorm nevertheless!



Last winter, our apartment rental in Penang was an especially excellent place from which to watch the quick evening lightning storms. There's nothing quite like a thunder and lightning storm in SE Asia! Tropical weather can be quite forceful and demonstrative.

The Imagine Dragons pop song of a similar name was a favourite at the time. It was also an Air Asia favourite when passengers were deplaning. We got off thirteen different short-haul flights over the winter. The music seems a peculiar tradition for the amazing, low-cost airline.

Our New Home for Seven Weeks

Day 91 - At around midnight our Air Asia flight was about to land at KLIA2. We had a very uncomfortable wait until the boarding of our flight to Siem Reap at 6:15 AM. The airport looked really unusual as customers were sacked out on the floor all over the main part of the huge, huge terminal. We tried it but our sleep could be measured in mere minutes rather than hours.

Siem Reap's airport was large. The majority of passengers also applied for their visas on arrival. It didn't take long though and was mostly formality for collecting $30. We still needed to scan through the border. Declaration for customs simply meant throwing our cards in a bin on the way out.



The tuk-tuk driver was waiting with Jay's name on a card. Just as we remembered from our visit years ago, these are not the Indian Bajaj type of tuk-tuks with which we are familiar. These are custom built pull-along trailers for regular motorcycles. It took about 15 minutes get downtown and cross the river to find our way to the Nine Incense Sticks Guesthouse.



We were exhausted and waited around talking to Dominique, the French guy who owns the place. We also petted Nono and walked around the garden. Eventually, when a room was ready, we slept. We slept for about two and a half hours. After that and a shower, I started to feel human again. Presently, we're in a room in the old Khmer house section of the building. We have A/C and will most probably use it during nights, unlike in Penang.





After we eventually got around to walking about, it was almost 4:30 PM. We walked through a huge Buddhist Temple area that provides a shortcut to the river. We eventually got to the old part of town. It takes about a half hour. It was still light when we finally had some dinner. Other than some food on the plane this morning, this was our only food. We ordered extra. I also had a extra glass of beer as they were small. They cost just 50 cents though.









It goes dark before 7 PM, so we got to see Pub Street get more crowded. I'm going to like our time here. Life feels very comfortable and the people happy.

Now Everyone Can Fly

Day 76 - We spent a lot of today in the second airport terminal in Kuala Lumpur, probably more than was truly necessary. When booking tickets to and from Brunei, Jay was more cautious than necessary. He made the connecting flight back to Penang a few hours later; as he says, "Just in case." Though, I have learned from 33 years of experience that he is always right, even today.

It was a pleasant enough way to spend the afternoon. This airport appends each announcement with, "Thank you, and have a happy journey." So, you can surmise that flying is less of a hassle than in many other places in the world. The KIA2 was built on the other side of the runways in Kuala Lumpur. The main airport is spectacular. The second is designated as the Low-Cost Carrier hub. Primarily, that means it was built for Air Asia and I'm in awe of its amazing growth.

Back 'home' for a few more weeks. Then onward to Siem Reap for the remainder of the winter ...

Posted by Dennis Sylvester Hurd on Sunday, February 11, 2018

Our flights were easy. Passengers know the routine, are polite, and can help empty and fill an A320 in just a few minutes. I promised myself that I was going to take a whole lot of photos in the terminal as that was our major experience today. I didn't though. Here are a few:

Day-Tripping Flights

Day 70 - We completed our extra trip to Langkawi. When faced with the possibility of a potentially unused ticket from our Air Asia pass booklet, we decided to return to the same island we visited in December. This did cost us a one-way but that amounted to substantially less than $20 each.

It meant getting up at 5:30 in the morning! Ugh. If I wanted to do something stupid like that on a regular basis I could have kept teaching morning classes. No, thank you. Early retirement has meant such bizarre behaviours are seldom required.

I was a bit concerned because at 6:20 there seemed to be very few Uber drivers on the roads. We did snag one and had more time than needed at the airport. I have a hard time remembering that taking a domestic, Air Asia flight is more akin to grabbing a really-efficient, airborne bus.



We'd sort of decided to take the world's steepest cable car today. In fact, we were waiting for the 9:30 am opening of Langkawi SkyCab. The sky was gorgeous blue and it was so sunny. We figured we'd have a great deal looking at the island from the peak.

Alas, that wasn't meant to be. It seems as if there was too much wind on the summit to safely run the gondolas. The park surrounding the base has family style actives but none of those seemed especially interesting for us. So we waited with dozens and dozens of others until 11:00 AM, but still, the cable cars weren't moving. I guess it's better to err on the side of safetly. Damn.





We decided not to wait around as we'd heard stories that it might not open until 2:00 PM. We could go to the active beach side and get lunch and walk on the white sand. Cenang Beach was as beautiful as ever. We had brought only towels and swimwear as carry-on. It is quite a trip from the mountains to the beach but it took about a half hour using Uber. We didn't actually swim but looked for lunch and found a place where the locals eat. We're not much into expensive, boutique beach food.







We looked at our watches and decided to head back up to see if the cable cars would run in the afternoon. So, back we went for another half hour in an Uber to get us there. It was not good news when we arrived although it did turn out as a fairly pleasant place to hang out. We watched kids play in one of those random spouting fountains. We petted rabbits in an enormous fenced-in bunny-zone. We walked around the lake and fed the ravenous fish. We did all of these things until it was time to head to the airport for our 5:30 PM departure.









Wouldn't you know, just as we were leaving the go-ahead was given for the gondolas to begin operating. We had to leave to get at the airport by 4:45 PM. Oh, well. It was a nice day regardless. Maybe next time ...

Got Bus Passes, Bread, and More Air Tickets

From a stay on Langkawi Island in December 2017
Day 53 - In the morning, we dutifully went to the Kompleks Bukit Jambul to get new, weekly bus passes. We planned well and didn't waste days while we were away last week. And because of that time away, we needed to do grocery shopping this morning in the Mydin Hypermarket.





The only exciting thing we accomplished in the afternoon was booking air tickets to visit Langkawi again. The first picture in the post was taken before Christmas when we stayed for three nights. This time we decided to make a day trip of it.

You see, we had bought air passes which we used on our recent trip to and around East Malaysia. That took seven credits from the 10 we bought. We will also be using the passes to travel to Kuala Lumpur in order to connect to flights to Brunei next month. Still, that left us with a remaining single credit each.

It felt odd letting a potential flight expire without use, even though we'd have to pay for a one way to somewhere. Langkawi is only a 30 to 50 minute flight from Penang. There are three flights per day going each way, so we plan to keep bankers hours at the beach on February 6th. We bought cheap morning flights and used the credits for a more expensive evening flight back.

I was just extolling the virtues of Air Asia in yesterday's blog post. Hum! And I'm getting nothing for all the free advertising I'm providing. Well, I feel we are definitely getting more than our money's worth from those purchased passes.