Day 1:

Oh, fuck…I’m really sick….

I had been ridiculously sick on the days leading up, as well as the actual day of my trip – so much so, that I was puking my brains out. Nice. I know.  It must have been the large doses of travel shots I had, combined with “Oh. My. God…I’m going to Kuala Lumpur in a couple of days….” anxiety, because fortunately the nausea subsided and I wasn’t sick on the plane. 

After traveling for I don’t know, 20+ hours, I landed in Taipei, with another five more hours to go before reaching my final destination. Groggy and a bit disoriented of exactly where I was, and honestly who I was, I stumbled into the only place open at the airport: Eva Air’s Evergreen Club. And who would have ever thought the airliner’s club would have such delectable treats at 4:00 a.m. on a Sunday morning?  But Gods, and thank Gods, they did. For those of you that know me know that I love food. I love food as much as I love sex, so with my stomach finally getting with the travel program and cooperating, I began my Malaysian adventure with food:

 

Day 2:
I’ve found new meaning to the phrase - you can sleep when you’re dead….

Hello, Kuala Lumpur! The airport is some 40 minutes to the hotel, so I can take in the surroundings a little bit while the taxi whisks me away. It really feels like I’m very far from home…tropical, hot and humid best describes the climate here - and everything is lush, green and flowery. I arrive at my hotel…WoW!…fancy-schmancy barely begins to describe the One World Hotel: huge glass doors are opened by white gloves, which are attached to dark-skinned men wearing tanned linen uniforms, with big grins and flashy white teeth. Once you step into the foyer, you’re walking into the much needed beauty of air conditioning. I also notice that I’m walking onto a sheet of golden-hued marble, which spans ½ way up the walls and wraps itself tightly around huge pillars that stand 30′ high. Above me is very large glass chandelier that reminds me of rain drops falling - spectacular. Large, floor to ceiling windows line the back of the hotel, making it easy for a weary traveler to peer outside and take in all gorgeous shades of greens, blues and reds from the myriad of fauna that grow in abundance here. It feels sexy and very exotic.

Because Malaysia is exactly 12 hours ahead of Cleveland, and to continue to work with my client in the states as well as get to know my Malaysian team here, I’m working the night shift. So, even though I’d been up for a gazillion hours, I headed off to work. I was draggin’ my tired ass, but I was also excited to meet the team, so I quickly checked into my room, showered, changed into fresh clothes and headed back downstairs to grab a bite to eat before the taxi service came to pick me up. Curiously, the lounge was rocking for a Monday night. There was a very small band playing really bad choices of music - normally I would just tune it out, or not and bolt the scene entirely, but I also noticed the band had three female singers; each scantily dressed, wearing short, black numbers as they swayed there hips in front of their respected microphones, while they belted out the lyrics to songs like Caribbean Queen and the Pina Colada Song. It was so wrong, but like a moth to a flame, or a rubber-necker slowing down to see an accident, I was pulled into the cheesy lounge act. I asked for a bar menu and settled on a bowl of curry laksa and a mineral water. The service was very quick and within a manner of minutes, I was eating a steamy bowl of rich, savory and spicy, and tapping my foot to the cheese-beat.  Delicious:

 

 

 

Thanks for tuning into my Malaysian adventure, thus far. Stay tuned, more trip notes to follow soon…here’s some highlights: meet my Malaysian team, night market shopping, multi-leveled malls with the added roller-coaster inside, where am I? Twin Towers…Times Square?  Downtown KL gets a new Neve Black name…more delicious food and pictures! I’ll post more as time allows and the internet service cooperates (grrrrrr….).

 
Neve Black