Trip to Indonesian neighbors

The trip began on 14 February 2009 to 18 February 2009. 3 singles pulled up our backpacks and left on the early morning of pink-mockery day.

Yes. We're escaping Mr. Valentine.
or at least, that's what I told people back home. ;)

The day begun very early. 6 AM we rushed to Soekarno-Hatta airport to catch the 7.50 AM Airasia to Batam. We're told we could save few hundred bucks by transit in Batam before ferrying to Singapore's Harborfront. Reached Harborfront around 11 AM, planned to catch the 11ish ferry, but too damn late so we took the 1ish PM ferry.

That too was canceled. Why?
Immigration problem happened.
One of my traveling partners had issue with her immigration stamp back to her last trip to hongkong. Apparently, the immigration officer at Soekarno Hatta missed a returning stamp on her passport when she got back from Hongkong in 2008. Immigration at Batam made a fuss of it. Hence our next ferry to Singapore around 2ish PM.

Arrived at People's Park apartment in Singapore's chinatown for a night stay around 5 PM. Exhausted.
but the trip is still young so we decided to browse few suburbs in singapore just to find, shopping strips (Mustafa Centre and Bugis Junction). That night was VALENTINE'S NIGHT.

Couples are around and follow tradition to celebrate.
One cute thing I noticed when walking around the MRT stations and streets of Bugis, I saw couples wore the same color tshirts. Including the older couples. too adorable! Roses and chocolates, we've seen everywhere. But a pile of roses arranged in a bucket carried by men, is one image i couldn't let it out of my sight. Maybe they're selling those roses, who knows. However, back in Indonesia, we wouldn't see those men carrying a pretty bucket filled with pretty roses walking around the street.

It's interesting to get a different view of Valentine's Day celebration in different country.

And.. did you know..
There are no rubbish bin inside the MRT station?? in fact, rubbish bins are not scattered around the city as many as I've seen in Melb. It is that difficult to find rubbish bin in Singapore. Maybe the locals have high conscious on littering publicly, hence they never have any rubbish on them? that I still wonder..

Did you also know...
Asian Hooters has different standard for their girls. As asians are famous for being petite in size, so are the busts. Hooters' girls can be hella sexy in their skimpy uniform, but under that tight tank top was no Pamela Anderson. I'm starting to believe maybe Hooters is adjusting to size standards in every continent. hmmm...

The next day we went to Malaysia by Airasia departed from Changi Airport to LCCT Malaysia. Arrived at our hotel - Tunehotel - quite late in the afternoon. You have no idea how psyched I am to find hot water shower in that hotel! It's also the first kinky room i've encountered for a pretty standard hotel. What I meant by kinky is because the design is really unique, I love it! It's small, but comfortable.

That night we only went to Petronas Twin Tower and KLCC. We didn't take many photos. In fact, throughout our trip in Malaysia (for a full 3 days) I didn't take as many fotos as I took during 1.5 days trip in Singapore!

The second night on our way back to the hotel, while waiting for the monorail we saw a pretty dolled-up lady. Short mini skirt, high heels, really tight stretchy top, full-on make up. We boarded the same monorail, she sat across where we stood. Far across her seat, there were two butch good-looking men. Staring at her, as if she was the desert for the night. Although, to a friend's observation, she wonders if the lady is a tranny. Why: she thinks - the make up is too thick for a lady, the blush is too red, the way she acts powdering her cheeks every second is not the way a normal lady would behave. The butch men prolly also wondering the same thing, we wondered. It's a pretty insightful night - wondering if we've just encountered a tranny on a train. ;)

Honestly, that was my first trip ever to Malaysia.
no offense, but I hated it. The Country.

I'm expecting one level down from Singapore.
heck I was wrong!
It was a mere half level up from Jakarta!

I dunno where to begin.
The people at train/bus stations are as creepy as the ones in train/bus stations in Jakarta.
The taxis don't have meter! - and I got ripped off. Twice!
People stare!

I don't mind the other two, but taxis don't have meter?!?!?! man, what year are they living in??????????

Of all places I've come across while traveling, Malaysia (or Kuala Lumpur) is the only place I can't wait to get away from. My 3 days trip there was full of agitation on returning home (or at least back to singapore!). I don't think I can digest Teh Tarik that well too. Had major stomachache while I'm in malaysia. Back in Singapore, I had no such ache. Their Nasi Lemak is also overrated! I'm expecting rice full of exotic flavors and engaging sidedishes. WRONG! the rice is plain as steamed rice, the side dishes, you have to ask for extra for the mouth-watering sides (rendang, chicken, etc). A RM6 Nasi Lemak in Malaysia doesn't come in complete package. I was too dissapointed.

The positive side of this trip was I get to taste the asian delicacy I used to have in Melbourne. The indian food (prata, naan, and dosai), the vietnamese rice noodle, fish ball noodle and flavored chicken rice with broth soup! The asian culinary I grew accustomed to while in Melbourne. YUMM!

On the 18th, our journey back to Jakarta was the same.
Taking it easy on Airasia delays, we took the late ferry to Batam. Only to find, our flight was strangely ON TIME and we could no longer check-in to our flight! That was 15 mins prior departure!!! Enough time for us to do final check-in for other Airlines. but NOOOOOOO, not for Airasia with their "strict policy" of 45 minutes check-in prior departure. When usually, they could comfortably push back our flights to an hour or two without prior notice and left us numbingly bored in the airport lounge. And THAT, without any sincere apologies from their ground or air flight attendants!

Airasia surely can be proud that 'everyone now can fly', but that extra cost fall into their customer service, which obviously lack thereof.

One of my travel partners said "Yes, it was our mistake to be late for check-in, we cannot blame the ground staff too. Airasia is just a small airline and we pay cheap, they won't consider good customer service into that price. You want customer service, Garuda or Singapore Airlines has it because service charge is included in the ticket".

It's true.
Service is costly.

We ended up getting a ticket with Lion Air to go back to Jakarta.
A friend got cranky for the extra hundreds rupiah for another ticket, while the other seems more mature on handling the situation. And me? Well, I constantly grumble when getting another ticket, but then, I took this as another 'unexpected' experience while traveling. A lesson to learn.
especially one where you CANNOT be late for check-in.

at least, i can cross off the two countries for traveling destinations.
Bye Malaysia and Singapore. Won't visit you anytime soon! :)