We’re heading to Kota Kinabalu, so today should be pretty boring post wise. At least I hope; we already made it to KL we just have another 30 minutes or so until…
…ok that was close, not thirty minutes, more like started boarding 15 minutes ago! The ticket I had said P3 was the gate it would board out of, and I guess they changed it to P1. And of course I was to busy playing around on my laptop to notice. All is good though, we made it just in time, we’re on the plane and waiting for two more passengers. I’m hoping it won’t be to long, and we’ll be in KK!
Since today will be a boring post let’s change it to what I’ve learned so far packing wise. I brought too many clothes. Here’s what I brought with me:
- Two Pairs of Pants (Travel Zip off to 2nd as shorts)
- Two Pairs of Swim Trunks.
- Five Pairs of Socks & Underwear
- One Jacket (Zip off Sleeves)
- One Pair Thermals (For Climbing Mountain book recommended as it gets down to freezing)
- Three Short Sleeved Shirts
- One Long Sleeved Shirt.
- One Sleeping shorts.
So that’s what I have with me, and it’s more than I need. I’d say I could get rid of two pairs of socks and boxers, one shirt, the sleeping shorts, and one pair of the swim trunks just fine. And replace the current long sleeve shirt with something lighter and maybe one more shirt gone. I’ve just been jumping in the shower at the end of a long day with my clothes on and washing them quickly. They’re usually most of the way dry by morning, but I just throw on my other set of clothes. I could go with getting rid of 3 pairs of socks and underwear, but it’s nice to have the spare in case I can’t wash for a day while traveling, which has happened. Getting rid of these things would leave a bit more wiggle room in the bag, and still be quite confortable. But hell I could probably just do one set of clothes and an extra pair of boxers just fine, but of course it’s nice to have some comforts. The thermals are a bit annoying but would rather have then if needed, as the book recommended. Over all I think I packed well, but on my next long trip I think I’ll be leaving a few more things behind to help lighten the load. And of course I’m not leaving the camera or laptop behind, since pictures are a must, and being able to document the trip has been quite a bit of fun. Also you might not want to take my advice on my packing items, since I’ve taken up most of my bag with a huge camera and laptop, but I still wanted everything in carry-ons and easy to take from place to place. If you’re going to just stay in one place, just bring your entire closet who cares! But if you’re going to move around lot try to get everything in one backpack. I would like to find a little case for the laptop still, so I can carry it in my main back without worrying, I just didn’t have time to find the perfect one for this trip. I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for one, that’s a snug fit.
Oh and the next thing I learned a the last place we stayed. Air Conditioning and hot water in the tropics, is it needed? I thought damn skippy I need air conditioning! I sweat like I’ve been running at the gym for twenty minutes just walking a block at night, give me as much air conditioning as you have! Well that still might be the case, but these last four days at the Gecko guest house, we were condition free. The first day was a bit hard without it, after running around, you’d get back to a hot room, sad that it wasn’t a haven of crisp cool dry air. But after a quick unheated shower it wasn’t to bad, it helped rip the extra heat right out of you and back to a comfortable temperature. After the first day the lack of AC wasn’t too bad, actually in some ways it was nice after you got used to it. The main reason being is once you get used to the AC you need it all the time, when you leave it you can’t wait to get back to it. The outside world is horrible, and you want to just stay in your room all day, but without it outside can be cooler than the room, and you don’t feel the sudden shock when leaving. Instead you end up feeling that sudden shock when you go to an indoor restaurant. So really once you get used to it the lack of AC was almost preferable. I guess we’ll find out since the next couple days will be full of AC again. Oh and as for the hot water, it was a bit of a rush each time but after you’re in it for a couple seconds it was just fine. So I’d say hot water, who needs it! As for AC I’m still up in the air on it, a quick shower and a simple fan seemed to do just fine, and I didn’t have to deal with the temperature shock every time I left the room. Then again, AC is cool and sucks out the humidity…
Oh another thing I’ve noticed in Malaysia is for light switches down is on, everywhere we’ve been. Want a light on, down, want an electrical outlet on, down. Electrical outlet, you might be asking. Yep! All the light sockets have power switches on them. Oh and most hotels require a key card be placed next to the door to keep the room powered. In one way this is nice just leave everything on and take the key with you when leaving. But it’s also can be bad if you’re trying to charge something in the room, since everything turns off when you leave…
Everyone has still been super nice, the locals are friendly, and happy to give you directions of advice on where to go. Beer can be a bit hard to find in some restaurants, and you’ll want to carry your own toilet paper with you when walking around since many only have a water bucket and hose to use. For those afraid of traveling to a non English speaking country everyone here so far has been able to speak English just fine, so that challenge is pretty much non-existent. Oh and so far I’ve noticed very few US travelers, lots of Australian and European travelers though. It is nice when you go somewhere and you don’t see any of us. And of course the wonderful alternative to ketchup, mmmm.
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