Pre-departure

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Ok so tonight I leave, well technically it's tomorrow morning. Everything is packed except for those few items I'll need between now and when I leave and the good news is my bag is underweight. And by underweight I mean significantly underweight. I've got heaps of space for souvenirs and malaysian shopping. Hehe

This is the first time I've been overseas in six years. A lot has changed in that time. Last time I travelled there was no facebook, no skype, no smart phones, wireless internet was rare; communication relied on PCs, MSN and email. Today however most travellers take a laptop with them; both my brother and my dad have bought laptops ahead of their overseas trips. However I'm taking a different approach. I believe in this day and age there's practically nothing that a laptop can do that you can't do on a smartphone. Therefore I'm using my HTC Desire instead. It can surf the web, hold information, play music, chat with friends, take photos...everything I need anyway. The only downside with this plan is that I won't be able to transfer photos from my digital camera to my phone, but I've got 2 memory cards for my camera holding upwards of 1400 photos so that should last me plenty of time until I find a proper PC somewhere to upload them.

I'm a little bit nervous about flying with Air Asia. I've heard some mixed reviews about this budget airline including talks of them being uncomfortable, unreliable and unsafe. But when the alternative was looking at costing $500 more I figure it's a risk worth taking. That extra $500 can be better spent elsewhere. Hopefully my flight is less memorable than last time I flew overseas where the plane was diverted to Perth so the federal police could storm the plane and arrest a fugitive murderer who was attempting to flee the country. So something a little quieter would be nice.

The weather in Kuala Lumpur is looking tropical. Hot, steamy and with a thunderstorm likely to roll through the city at some point. Being an F1 fan for many years, I've seen just how quickly the weather can change during the Malaysian Grand Prix. If it really does start bucketing at least there's lots of shopping centres to take cover in. Who knows I could ride the rollercoaster in the world's fourth largest shopping centre. I do hope the weather is clear enough for me to climb the Petronas Towers though.

That's about all there is to say at this stage. Ten hours from now I'll be on the tarmac starting the adventure of a lifetime.

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