17 Days: 9 Flights, 7 Countries, Lost Luggage, A Birthday and a Cold.

[mella2007]

There's a line in the sand between frozen calamari being cooked and any calamari being overcooked. The result is much the same; I assume you have an astute taste that can differentiate between either.

Absolutely we know the difference...both big fans of Calamari and eaten it hundreds of time of a variety of places. Interesting enough after returning home...the same place's reviews on TA said that the fish was definitely frozen!


I have to ask: what kinds of knick-knacks did you buy?

This is from someone who rarely buys souvenirs, and has a hard time doing so when he has to (e.g. for family gifts). Since my dad is collecting sew-on patches, I usually try and pick them up, when they aren't as difficult to find as The Lost Dutchman's Mine.

Just looking at the collection on the table at the moment: Photo frames, bracelets, eyes charms (popular in Greece), small clay pots, tea towels, Greek god statues, Gladiator heads...need we go on? (and that's just Greece)



I LOL'd at this (must've been a steep hill or windy road; 30 km/h?)

Well it was downhill and felt fast to me! I am not a fan of any car or racing activities whatsoever!




Also LOL'd at this too!

My friends and I, in my younger days, used to torture each other when we got sunburnt. Usually it was finding a good excuse to give someone a pat on the back



All LOLs aside, I hope Mr mella did get better rather quickly.

He is peeling at the moment and quite proud of himself

Heatstroke is no joke. I say that mostly only because when I worked in PER for 3 months on contract, it was during summer and our induction time and time again warned us about heatstroke risk. Considering there were quite a few days when it was 40 degC and we were in full protective regalia (boots, long sleeves and pants - the works), that definitely was not a joke. Really beat the "macho" or "put up and shut up" attitude with respect to the heat and summer sun out of a lot of us.

Yes it's terrible.



Easier than you think. Back in heavy built-up society, lots of air conditioning doesn't help things.

As long as you're not stuck outside, I'd rather be sick in cold weather than hot weather.



I'm not a fan of herringbone config. The main contention I have is that the elbow room is lacking. For some reason CX's is one of the most confining of all the carriers that use herringbone; add to that they don't have directional air vents...... That said, I am rather plump, so that does nothing to help myself in such seats.

The "Kiwi Juice" is a non-alcoholic Cathay Pacific signature coughtail called "Cathay Delight". Kiwi fruit, coconut juice and mint - wonderful concoction. Maybe not the best if you're sick (sugar content, not much vitamin C). But I love it.

If the champagne starts with B and it wasn't Bollinger then it may well have been Billecart-Salmon, which has been a CX Champagne mainstay for a while (and much better than their last mainstay, Deutz).

Yes that was the champagne!


Maybe I should turn on the IFE more often. I hardly ever watch TV (often only sustaining my AV viewing to downloaded material on my iPod / phone / computer), so I hardly ever give the IFE of any airline a good workout.


Keep up the TR. Really sorry to hear that the latter part of your trip was spent whilst you were sick; hope you're both feeling infinitely better.

Thanks...he is fine...I am still not the best, but slowly getting there!

 

[mella2007]

My replies are within that post. Sorry if they didn't post properly as I thought they may have!

 

[mella2007]

Terrific stuff! Its the pits getting sick on holiday I am amazed that you managed to keep it all together and remember all the details for a TR
Thankyou

Thank you for reading! I've got a very good memory which serves me well most of the time

 

[Sprucegoose]

Great TR. written with feeling!

Do you recall your room number at the KL Hilton on the return leg!


Sent from my iPhone using Aust Freq Fly app

 

[mella2007]

Great TR. written with feeling!

Do you recall your room number at the KL Hilton on the return leg!


Sent from my iPhone using Aust Freq Fly app

Yep it was 1718

 

[mella2007]

So this will be the last installment of my trip report....

The next day in KUL we got up early and had breakfast and managed to be out the door by 10am.
We had done a little research the night before about which shopping centres we wanted to see (we had only 1 day) and narrowed it down to the ones that had stores we wanted to shop in.


First stop was the Mid Valley Mega Mall. Wasn't overly impressed. Extremely quiet for first thing on a Thursday morning and had trouble trying to get directions from the information desk! where one of the shops I wanted was.
In the end a helpful shopper who spoke English well helped out and we made our way to this particular American retailer. Disappointed however that the store doesn't stock plus size clothing, whereas their stores in America and online do...Yes I know we're in Asia where the average size is a 2, however I was hoping to save on shipping costs for once!


Walked around, nothing much we wanted to see and it felt just like a Westfield, so we caught a taxi to Petaling Street, which is the markets and a great time to visit...not too hot and not too many people around, but everyone was open.
Being the first customers of the day proved a good thing as we seriously got some great stuff at ridiculously cheap prices (even better than LoWu in Shenzen, China). If our suitcases hadn't of already been full, would have brought more..oh well we will be back there in Jan for a stopover and will bring another suitcase.


Problem of the day (and there is always one!) was that I withdrew some money from a 7/11 and the transaction processed but the machine spat out no money. I started freaking out and as I didn't have my phone on me, asked 7/11 to call the number on the machine so I could sort it out. Another customer after me tried, and the same thing happened to them. Card returned, no money and no receipt.
Ended up in the back room of 7/11 where the operator could barely speak English, couldn't make out the numbers I was trying to tell her that belonged to the machine and the staff at the store couldn't have cared less. The lady on the phone then wanted my CC number and passport, of which I refused (I had no idea who I was speaking to!) and I hung up on her after getting so frustrated and walked out (My reasoning was that I'd record everything and take it up with my bank at home).
Found another ATM at a bank that worked, took out some money. Then as I didn't have my phone on me, we passed an Internet cafe. I asked the guy how much and he said 3 ringgits for an hour. I said I'd be 5 mins, he said 1 ringgits, I said fine.
Literally 30 secs later I was in and out after checking my balance on that card and to my relief there was no money missing. First time I have ever experienced this, so I didn't need this hassle too as I was still unwell (and feeling quite faint from the fast developing heat)


We caught another taxi to Bukit Bintang area and ended up at Times Square. Massive shopping complex with a lot of name brands and a lot we'd never heard of. All Mr Mella wanted to find was a Nike store, and would you believe they had every other major sneaker brand there except for Nike. That's a first, normally Nike monopolise the marketplace!


My nails were in need of some TLC after almost 3 weeks away, so I found a free nail salon who SLOWLY took over 1 1/2 hours to do a refill. They are quicker in my local shopping centre than this place was and now I understand why there were no customers inside. I sat there during the very slow process watching a movie on their TV from Hong Kong, all in Chinese, about some guys dressed with pigs noses and emperors clothing. Very bizarre. But obviously funny as the staff laughed. I found nothing funny about the movie, nor the fact that it took so long (and patient Mr Mella sat there the entire time)


The day was nearly ending and we wanted to go back to the hotel to get some rest before the overnight flight home.
I stopped into the Executive Lounge for some afternoon tea and to print off our boarding passes. There are 2 computers in the Lounge, but only one connected to a printer. An older couple were on it with their camera, slowly going through every photo they had ever taken during their lives and writing down image numbers.
The bubbly and friendly member of staff asked me if I needed to use the printer (which I did, and would have taken literally 2 mins). I asked the couple if they minded swapping PC's so I could use the one with the printer.
Them "Oh we won't be long, are you happy to wait, the other computer won't allow us to hook up the camera"
Me "Yeah no problem" (baffled, The computers were the same)
Staff Member whispering in my ear "They have been on the computer since 9 this morning (it was now 5pm) you have my permission to kick them off as the won't get off"
Me laughing "No worries I'll wait..shouldn't be too long"


20 mins later, the couple obviously had no intention whatsoever to share the PC with anyone else in the Lounge, so i asked nicely again in a pleading voice...."Excuse me, I'll only be 2 mins..and I'm sorry to inconvenience you but I really need to use the printer"
The gentlemen got up and said "As long as you're only 2 mins and please don't close our folders"


Mind you, I was very very tempted to close up his photo files which made the ancient PC run very very slow. He actually told me the PC was slow and I wanted to explain it was his 100 windows open that was causing it, but couldn't be bothered!
But probably 3 mins later I was done, thanked them (as they watched my every move) and left.


Mr Mella was fast asleep, so I packed up everything, ordered room service and relaxed.


It was then time to leave and get back to reality.


We got into the taxi, drove 10 metres away from the hotel and then just stopped. For 1/2 an hour. There was a traffic jam within the ramp up and down the hotel. The hotel staff were screaming at whoever's car was blocking everyone else, our taxi driver was screaming, I was screaming...
The taxi driver ended up reversing between 3 cars and going down through a car park, paying 5 dollars to enter and exit within 1 min and we were on our way to the airport.


Now the next bit, I am quite embarrassed about (but hey, I've aired almost my entire life story already, so what's there to hold back now?!"


There were no upgrade seats available on the flight home. Nothing..completely full. The way I was feeling I would have gladly given all my money to fly home in comfort (note to self: next time, do)
So we paid for the Hot Seats...which is the Bulkhead row directly behind Premium which claims to have extra width and pitch.
It didn't. Mr Mella and I didn't fit into the seats.
In a scene from a horror movie, with PAX staring at us as I started to tear up (I'm hoping they just thought I had a cold due to still looking like Rudolph)...and sooked a bit. My hips hurt..really hurt...Mr Mella couldn't even squeeze in...we were both in terrible pain..and in these seats, you cannot raise the arm rest, they are fixed.
We didn't know what to do. If we sat in them, we would have probably ended up needing hip replacement surgery, Mr Mella contemplated lying on the floor, and I just contemplated getting off the plane.


We asked the FA if there was anywhere else to sit on the plane (as we noticed their "normal" seats did have the arm rests go up) With people around us whispering, we walked to almost the back of the plane, where we ended up with a row of 3 seats each (Hey, we didn't need that many, but thanks!)
Thank goodness we were now at the back...it meant we wouldn't have to face anyone that we had passed, as we both felt very humiliated by the experience.
But interesting that a LCC like EasyJet is fine and comfortable, but Air Asia X for long haul with their "Hot Seats" is just dreadful. If you are bigger than the Australian Size 14, forget it...you will be in pain and very uncomfortable. And for the record, neither of us need a seat belt extender in case you're wondering about size.
So...that will be our last venture with Air Asia X long haul, unless Premium is a good deal like it was on the way up. Personally I'd rather skip KUL altogether and go to Europe again via HKG or SIN with CX or Singapore. Unfortunately we already have a booking for a stopover there in January, but at least the Hilton is a fab Hotel.


We arrived into Melbourne 1/2 an hour early. Straight through for Mr Mella with his updated passport...I had to wait in line for about 10 mins and he collected our luggage straight away. Customs weren't checking or asking anyone, and we were off the plane and outside within 15 mins of landing..pretty good!


Almost a week after being home, I am now just starting to get better, but of course going back to work straight away never helps with recovery! Mr Mella is peeling, and quite proud that people are telling him how brown he now looks (he has failed to mention to anyone how sick with sunburn he got also)


Highlights for me on this trip were

• Seeing my family and living like a local in Italy
• The lifestyle of Monaco
• Santorini, Wow, Wow, Wow
• Collecting quite a few decent Status Credits and Points

Non events were

• Luggage Delay
• Getting sick
• Rude Travellers
• The beggars and touts in Milan
• The flight home
• Unpacking Mr Mella's collection of souvenir's he brought from every destination (and then some!). Who buys a souvenir from a roadhouse between Alassio and Turin?? Yes Mr Mella seems to find something that takes his fancy everywhere!

I thank everyone for reading and their comments about the TR, the destinations and wishing us both a speedy recovery.

I managed to survive the trip and my first TR.
Till next time...
Ciao!

 

[munitalP]

Thanks! I hope we see more reports from you in the future

 

[Major]

What a thoroughly enjoyable read....I like your writing style and hope there are many more TR's to come

 

[Heleigh]

Thanks for the enjoyable reading (and LOL)