Surprise...Kuala Lumpur/Denpasar

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I got a surprise call form Rostering saying: “your roster has changed...you’re leaving for Malaysia and Indonesia tonight”. Well it’s more than 7 hours flight but I was so excited I couldn't’t sleep...the last view hours on the plane I could not keep my eyes open, but I survived.

The hotel is at the airport so it was a few minutes and we were in our comfortable rooms. Some of us decided to meet up and go to the city of Kuala Lumpur with the airport train (we get a discount as cabin crew).

28 min with the airport train you arrive at the KL Central Station where you can take the underground/sky trains. We went to Butik Bintang where you can shop till you drop and eat for cheap. After some food and no sleep for 24h I was exhausted, I decided to go back to the hotel and SLEEP!
The next morning I was up bright and early and went to see the famous Petronas Twin Towers. They were the highest buildings in the world (452m) until 2004 when they were surpassed by Taipei 101. To go up to the sky bridge (a bridge build between the 2 buildings) is for free but the queue is longer than what the towers are tall.
For an Asian city I was surprised that the shops opened so late so I had breakfast and went back to prepare for the flight to Despasar, Bali, Indonesia.

I had breakfast in Kuala Lumpur and great dinner with the crew in Bali. After dinner some left to go clubbing and I wandered down the street. At a tourist stand I bought a trip for the next day and at a massage parlour surrendered my body to a massage that left me blue the next day.

When I woke up it was pouring with rain and it felt like home, I took a walk down to the beach only to be disappointed by an excavated beach and a few boats. After breakfast the driver picked me up and drove me to the areas that are famous for its batik, silver, a traditional house, a temple and a market in Ubud. Ubud is about a 1h 30min inland form the beach of Kuta where our hotel is situated.
For me Bali is a mix of Thailand and Vietnam, scooters everywhere and everyone so friendly and free. All the people are so creative everyone is making something and I have seen most of their goods in South Africa so I’m sure they have a big export industry.
Back at the hotel more sleep was necessary and after that I hit the streets again with a fellow South African crew member. We bought our last souvenirs and I took another look at the beach. The last few hours I spent relaxing on my balcony listening to the sounds of Kuta Beach.

We arrived back in Malaysia very early in the morning so I went straight to bed. After breakfast at the airport I went to the famous Batu Caves. This cave is one of the most popular Hindu shrines outside of India. It’s said to be more than 400 years old. Outside the cave there is a 42m high statue of Murugan, the god of war. I once saw this cave on the Amazing Race and so it was great being there. You climb 272 steps to the top with monkeys watching you from the trees. Inside there are a few temples build into the wall of the cave where people can pray. Once a year the Hindu festival of Thaipusam is held there which attract over 1.5 pilgrims a year.

After negotiating with the taxi driver I went back to Butik Bintang to browse the shops where we had dinner 2 days before. It’s like a small Hong Kong market buzzing with shops and people. When my feet couldn’t take it any more I went back to the hotel and joined some crew in the crew lounge and we were all excited to see our new rosters for Des. Another visit to the sauna and I was ready for the flight...
The flight back was over booked and we had 2 passengers sitting in crew jump seats. I can’t think that to be comfortable but they made it 7h and 30min.

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Photos

At the temple
Male and Female has to wear a sarong...to cover up