World As We See It

Right now we are using the internet in the Singapore airport yet again. Right across from where we spent the night on benches a week ago. That’s a full circle peeps! I can’t believe its over. But to be honest it didn’t fly by. It was a good long week. I wonder if that means your week back home dragged on forever at work and stuff. Personally, I can’t wait to get home to my little Riley cat. I saw tons of animals here, from monkeys, to goats, to elephants, turtles, cows, dogs and cats. But not cats like Miss Riley. They were missing half of their tails or their tails were hooked at the end like a shepherd’s staff. We were told its from inbreeding. You got to watch out for that I guess. Weird.

We have one more connecting flight to catch in Tokyo, that should be interesting. Then we will arrive in LAX at 11:15am. Its funny because on our itinerary it says total travel time 4 hours, but that because of the time difference. Its really more like 15 hours or something mental like that. I thoroughly enjoyed my time in the rainforest and jungles of South East Asia. Someday we will come back. I have a lot to take with me from this trip from all of the culture and people. And some phrases that I will be saying with such frequency it might drive one crazy. Like “ok welcome.” They say that all the time here…but they do it in their Asian accent and it makes me laugh everytime.

We have met a lot of cool people here. Plus, there were a ton of Aussies here. Its only a 5 hour flight, so now I’m eager to get further South of the world to Australia next time. What do ya say, mate?

Allllrightttyy….  We are at the airport, waiting for our flight to leave (or get delayed, right?) 

It’s funny.  I’m standing here at the free airport internet kiosk and across from me is the bench I slept on our first night in Singapore.  Seems like a month ago.  Only been a week.  We have a layover in Tokyo before landing in LA at 11:15AM Monday.  We’ll be getting ready to land by the time most of you wake up! 

So that is all for now.  We may post another one or two times, and then again when the travel video is finished.  Thanks for sticking by through all the “MIA” days and I hope you had a good time keeping up with the Jonses. 

Take care,  - see you back in the USA.  Taco Bell, here I come!!

So now that we are back in the KL that means its a our last leg of the trip back to Singapore. We still have a few more things on our agenda tomorrow. But other than that we are in good shape…as far as doing everything we planned.

 Oh yeah….about the Tropical Welcome Drink. There was a bit of a dispute about that. Apparently since we booked on the internet we were Room Only. But this awesome lady at the 24 hour restaurant at the hotel wouldn’t have that. Norzey (that’s her name, not Nosey…as she told us), thought that everyone deserves a Tropical Welcome Drink. So she argued with the front desk for us and we got one!!! Almost exactly like the picture in the earlier blog. She also thought we should have a good breakfast and got us a voucher for that too. She rocked!!! So I thought I would fill you in on our good fortune and YES!!! we did get our Tropical Welcome Drink…and no Mom it was not alcoholic. Alcohol is pretty expensive here b/c of the religion. They don’t drink I guess.

 Good times. See you soon

So we are back in KL wasting some time until we get on our night train back to Singapore. It reminds me of the Orient Express. But its not. We have had some really awesome experiences the last few days we have been out of contact.

 First we went to the Kuala Gandah Elephant Sactuary and hung out there all day with Raz. He is known as the Elephant Man and he gave us a private tour of the sanctuary. We got to see the injured rescued elephants and a 6 month old elephant!!! He was so cute. He sucks your thumb just like a baby and you blow into the end of his trunk and he will blow back. Its  like an elephant game. But it smells when he blows back! ha ha It was an experience to remember. Then we washed and prepared the elephant’s food. The workers have this machete and chop all of the watermelon and papayas up right in front of you. Its pretty neat. I got to show my muscle by picking up heavy banana tree trunks and throwing them to the ele

phants. Then we got to ride on them. It was totally different than anythingever done. It almost feels like you are going to fall off because of the way the elephant shifts with every step. But I held onto the elephant guy so I was safe.

Then we hung out with Raz and the baby elephants and had Malaysian tea which is delish! We also had a cultural experience before we left by going to the Kindergarten in the village with Raz and meeting the kids and teachers. They fed us dinner. Just totally out of the blue and unexpected. The people here are so nice and giving. They smile all the time too. Everyone is just happy to have you there.

 After that we took an hour and a half ride out to our hotel in Cherating. At first it was like National Lampoon’s Vacation. The hotel looked all ghetto at night and not like the pictures and it was weird. But then in the morning we woke up and the beach was right there. Our hotel was on the beach! It was so cool. We went out into town and did a local craft called Batik. (don’t pronounce the K though…the girls at the hotel giggled and said oh “Bati”….ha ha ha English K. That was interesting. I will show you my beautifully colored Batik that is my own design and made all by myself! Its super cool. We need to frame them when we get home. You draw a picture on a piece of cotton. Then you use wax to outline everything. Then you use watercolor to paint it. Its amazing!

After that we went to the Turtle Sanctuary and saw lots and lots of baby turtles. Green sea turtles to be exact. They said if we came back that night we can release them. So of course we went back around 9pm. Jay and I were there with 3 other people. Each person was given their own baby turtle to touch and hold for awhile. Then we walked down to the beach by only the light of the guide’s flashlight and put our turtles on the sand and watched them race into the ocean. My turtle was the first to take off. But as soon as the water came in, he decided he wasn’t interested and came back up the beach and then tried to walk over to his friends. Eventually, little Felix (that’s what I named him), decided it was time to make his journey out into the ocean. It was like releasing a kid into the world. I hope that little guy makes it ok. He was so cute!!!

Guys -

Terribly sorry about not checking in. We have literally been in the jungle for the past 3 days.  We have not been anywhere close to anything resembling internet, but it’s been a thrilling few days. 

We played with elephants, drove down roads lined with cattle and goats (and occational random monkey’s darting across the street!)     -  we released sea turtles to conquer the deep blue, painted cloth to remember our trip by (google: batik)  and discovered a hidden cave, 400 million years in the making in the middle of the jungle that also houses a reclining buddah!  Truley amazing. 

We have just arrived back in KL.   It’s a beautiful day here, but terribly hot!  We have sweat so much today that it’s as if we just walked out of a shower with clothes on.  I imagine we smell bad.  We are waiting for a few more hours before we hump it out to the train station and take our overnight train to Singapore.   Our trip is coming to a close.

We’ve learned much on this trip and my only complaint is we haven’t been able to keep in touch with you all as much as we’d have liked.  We MUST get some sort of small, handheld laptop/internet thingy…

This trip has been exactly what I (and maybe Tiff) was looking for.  To throw me off balance.  To make me check in with reality.  To get me out of a comfort zone and on my toes.  It has done that and more.  It has opened my eyes.  We have met SO many people from so many different backgrounds and cultures and all have received us with open arms (and sometimes plates of food -  wait until you hear the story of the “kuala gandah” village in the middle of nowhere and the school children we met there…completely unplanned…completely amazing. 

We have come across a few traveling Australians and British (they stand out…with the kakhi pants and zippered vests looking much like they’re still trying to conquer the East for Queen Victoria’s future rule ;)      but otherwise, we have honestly not come across another set of Americans since leaving Hong Kong.   To me, I’m proud of that.   This is such a wonderful place, but obviously Americans that travel to the ”east” either end up in Beijing, or Hong Kong or Sydney or Fiji.  They just don’t come to Malaysia…and it was obvious with most folks we met (especially the out of city ones…)  Everybody was just very warm and friendly.  Smiles and waves abound.  It’s very interesting to see many of the different faiths interacting and working together.  The middle east could learn much from this place. 

Tiffany was a hit with many of the Muslim women.  While she typically dressed conservatively during our visit, they still made comments about her eyes and hair.   Very cool.   We tried to act as the “romans do” and I think we pulled it off.  No problem what so ever.

Driving here is crazy at times.  On way back from Kauntaun to KL a huge rain storm came out of nowhere.  I had to battle that car to keep control while others flew past me at top speeds.  The rain honestly lasted no more than 7 minutes and we witnessed 3 wrecks.  Slow the hell down folks!!  It was a monsoon-like downpoor and these people were smashing their cars into each other and the walls.  Unbelievable.  Otherwise the country roads are very empty and it’s a breeze.  Last year driving in the UK was a bit of a challenge as my mind was screwy with the idea of driving on wrong side of the road, but this time it felt very natural.  I think I’m becoming “worldy”  haha.  But yeah - no problem.  Jumped right in car and drove off -  no adjusting time like last year.

While being here, you can’t help but feel “upside down.”  It’s very strange feeling looking out at the ocean and knowing you’re pretty much flipped from how you normally see it.  Might not make sense until you try it yourself

One thing for sure, I think Australia may be our next venture.   This is a whole different ball-game over here.   Speaking of which, the Cubs have gone on a tear since I’ve been gone and are now in 1st place!!  Whoo hoo!

One last note:  It’s fairly cheap here.  When we would go to restarans (as they’re called here) or any place where you might tip someone, if we had good service, we could easily leave a 10-15 $ tip as that is only $3 or so for us.  Their faces light up so much it’s just worth it.  We did that at one place and the lady literallysheeply  said “too much” but we insisted…later that night we ran in to her at the hotel and she greeted us with a “tropical” free drink (non alcohol as this is a muslim-dominated country) and a free breakfast at the hotel the next morning.  Apparently after we had left, she had convinced hotel management to give us a better “welcome” that’s offered to the “high paying” guests who may stay at the “president suite” type rooms.  Just really fantastic.

We have some great footage and pictures …I mean really really great-  our two 8 hr batteries did well and we shot over 5 hours of footage in 8 days.  Last year we were gone for 17 days and because of only a 1 hr battery, we shot 1.5 hours.   Gonna be a good “adventure travel show” when it’s done -  I hope to begin editing as soon as I get home!!  We also burned through maybe 200 digital shots and 5 rolls of film so we should be loaded with paper memories for years to come.

Ok gang -  thanks for hanging in there (amy!!) -  I will try to check in before boarding plane in Singapore on Monday and/or possibly from hotel Sunday.  We have a lay-over in Tokyo….so who knows what may happen in between!!

We are here in Kuala Lumpur - essentially across the street from the Patronas Towers.  We basically have no internet access here.  For the record, we decided last minute not to bring lap top.  MOST places we’ve been accomodate well for them but we didn’t need the added weight.

We went to Batu Caves today and China Town…Awesome stuff.   I wish i had more time but this useage is expensive for us :(    HOPEFULLY tomorrow night after we drive across Malaysia on wrong side of road we’ll end up at hotel with free internet!   Tiff says hello!!  - we’ve got great pictures, and great experiences…  We even drank a coconut today!

I am unbelieveably stupid with computers. It did kick me out of my session and then when I logged back on I was logged on already but not really cuz I couldn’t write a post again!!! I think I got the hang of it now. So we are hanging out in yet another airport. Its so nice and clean you wouldn’t believe. The bathrooms are immaculate and they have this disenfectant stuff to wipe on the seat to get other people’s butt germ off. Its very civilized. So I’m tired yet again and since we left LAX we have not actually slept in a bed or slept for a continuous hour. Our bodies are probably like you guys SUCK! and then we jump off the tallest building in the world and I’m sure my stomach didn’t appreciate that. We went to the restaurant in the Macau Towers and got the smallest portions in the world. There were dumplings in the shape of mice. HA HA I have a picture of that. Then there were these 3 box like cake things that were mushroom and taro something or other. It was gross and bland. Jay found a small fish head in his! Gross. The green tea was good though. McCafe as they call the golden arches over here sounded pretty good after that. They had a special menu for Asia too. Green tea lattes were on the menu as well as some seafood sandwich that looked delightful. I did not get to delight in these wonderful things b/c when we travel we are on the go and running to make trains, ferries or whatever. We run everywhere and man I will tell you my dogs are barking. Woof!

So far its been fun and I’m sure there is much more to come. We are in the rainforest now. Even the inside of the airport in Singapore has plants everywhere like its a rainforest. Its nice. Oh and by the way, people speak English here and English is written everywhere. In Hong Kong (which used to be a British territory) and in Macau China there was English everywhere. Its pretty cool.

Oh and I got us into the United VIP lounge b/c I told the guy at the counter our story about being delayed and that we have been sleeping at airports and we STINK! He said come take a shower…where is Mr. Melius? Jay was hiding down around the corner b/c he wasn’t sure I would be able to get us in or if I could get in they might just let me in. Have a little faith man. I’m an actress. And I got us both in. Sweet! Just work the magic. Hee hee

I will post ya later! Love you all!

Oh my Lord!

I have been trying to write a post for the last 15 minutes and finally figured out that for some reason I was signed on as Jay! What a crock. Now he is snapping his fingers from across the airport to ask what’s taking so long. I’m going to post this and log back on I think the computer is going to kick me off!

It’s 4:15AM.  The Cubs are winning 7-3 agains the Pirates in the 5th inning.  It’s 4:15AM!!!  ha ha ha!

We have just landed in Singapore.  It’s 4:09 in the morning.  The trains/buses are not running until 5:30 so we’re hanging out at the airport near immigration.  This is a very nice airport to say the least with pleasant waterfalls and music making us feel at peace.  A few passengers stroll here and there, but that’s about all.  There is free internet so I’m taking advantage. 

Our bodies are so screwed up with time that there is pretty much no way to be jet lagged.  We’ve slept no more than 3-4 hours at a time for the past 2-3 days now and it appears today will be no different as as soon as we board the train to head up to Tiffany’s friend’s house, we have to be at Zoo by 9AM and we’re scheduled to be there until late tonight for “night safari.”  I can honestly say I haven’t done this much walking/running/standing with interval sleeping since my last week at boot camp.  Crazy

To fill in a bit more, our full day in Hong Kong/Macau was pretty great although we didn’t get to spend as much time in Hong Kong shopping as we’d  have liked.  We actually had our “amazing race” moment when we boarded a bus that was sort-of right, but didn’t take us where we needed…so as we jump off that bus, the bus we DO need drives past in the other lane…and what does tiff do?  Takes off all hell-glory down the road after the bus ….and yes folks she actually caught it about 2 blocks away, but the driver could not let us on as it wasn’t a stop.  :)  haha.  We did catch the next one and made it back to Hong Kong just in time to catch train to airport.  Obviously we didn’t know our flight was delayed 4 hours at that time or we would have stayed in Hong Kong.

Ok -  that is all for now.  Signing off to try to convince my body another hour of sleep couldn’t hurt.

tiff finagled us into the United “VIP” club lounge area where we have internet and showers!  whoo hoo…still delayed but feel better about our vacation in “hong kong int.”

Utterly exhausted.  Got in to Hong Kong at 2:17AM.  Slept on floor of airport until 5:08AM.  Freshened up in restrooms, checked baggage in storage, and headed in to Hong Kong.  Had amazing day in Hong KOng -  took ferry across to Macau - Mainland China.  Really thrilling stuff I can’t talk about now, but just wait until you see the video!

Anyway - had flight out at 8PM tonight to singapore - but yet again another delay.   Flight is now leaving at midnight - arriving in Singapore at 4AM.  We have reservations for breakfast at the zoo at 9AM so looks like another morning with no sleep.  Haven’t showered since Friday morning.  We’re looking/feeling rough, but we’re still having fun - just extremely tired right now. 

Once we get to Singapore (if United Airlines allows!!)  we should be in good shape.  Oh, our delay on Friday was because of a Typhoon that swept through Hong Kong.  Apparently they don’t get those this time of year - earliest on record they’ve had one.  Because of delays, the flight crew on our flight tonight needed more rest per FAA,…so that’s why we are delayed tonight.   6/6 on United for delays!  Gooooo United!!!

 Until next time…

It’s 3PM Pacific Time. We leave for the airport in about 75 minutes. We’re signing off for now and should resurface sometime late Sunday/Monday morning for you all to enjoy. We’re not sure if we’ll have any internet connectivity while in Hong Kong so don’t panic if you don’t hear from us right away.

What’s kind of funny though…I started this blog with a post called “So Long Hong Kong.” - and wrote how we had removed Hong Kong from our travel itinerary…little did I know, right?

Oh…and a quick note about United Airlines…

I flew them to Chicago in December.  The flight there was delayed.  Flight home was delayed.

I flew them to San Francisco in January.  Flight there was delayed.  Flight home was delayed.

I flew them to Singapore.  Flight there was delayed…  (verdict still out on flight back)

I am 5/5 in flight delays on this airline.  I flew them the first two times not by choice but necessity.   This flight overseas is done because the price is right.  If I ever have a choice in the future, it will not be United…ever…ever…ever…again.

Wow, 30 hours goes by quick doesn’t it!?!

So no sooner than I post the post below, I get a phone call from United Airlines. “We’re sorry sir, your flight is delayed 7 hours. The problem is you will now miss your connecting flight in Hong Kong to Singapore. Can we move your flight until tomorrow.”

Tomorrow! I think to myself. That’s a whole day we’re gonna lose. I’m ready to go. We’re packed. All arrangements are made!

So I says to the lady “What happens if we take the delayed flight tonight at 8PM?” Well, you would get to Hong Kong at 1:45AM and your next flight to Singapore would not be until 8PM that night [20th] to Singapore. ”

So I ask “ok. so we fly in to Hong Kong at 1:45 AM and have a full day in Hong Kong until our flight out? “yes. ” “Ok…book it” I said.

- WOW! As if this isn’t getting more crazy by the minute. We haven’t even left and the adventure is starting. So Tiff and I are now leaving tonight at 8PM. Tiff is going to go pull a few hours at work and I’m going to do a little bit more research on Hong Kong so we can take advantage of the full day. Then we’re going to go to Hong Kong and spend a whole day there! There is saving grace. Tiff and I originally were going to go to Hong Kong, so we’ve done a little bit of research about the place. Great shopping, cool adventure stuff. Things like that…So we should make the best of it! The crazy part is we don’t have any Hong Kong money and we’ll have to find a place to store our gear once we get there.

Nothing like being hit over the head to make you wake up and get going!

So anyway…that’s where we are as of now. Will post more as it develops. It’s called Lemonade friends. I just made some. Drink up, will ya?

It’s early. We’re just sort of sitting around waiting to make a last minute store run - and then otherwise, we wait for our ride to LAX.

Today’s leg : LAX to Hong Kong (14 hours) and then Hong Kong to Singapore (4 hours pictured left) Should be a nice, greuling day.

We’re flying United Airlines. The in-flight entertainment consists of a handful of movies. Not nearly comparable to the cool video games, movies, tv, music, trivia, etc. you get on Virgin Atlantic, but it’ll have to do I suppose. Tiff printed out about 12 pages of stuff for us to read and I think I’ll spend some more time polishing up our “travel script” but otherwise, I hope we sleep a bit and enjoy a movie or two to make the time go by.

I suppose that is all for now. Nothing has set in yet that we’re leaving. I guess it won’t really set in until we’re there eating chick chow mein and smelling durians!

Ok - will check in when we get situated. See you in about 30 hours.

So it dawns on me this morning at dawn. We are flying west. We are crossing international date line. The entire two leg flight from LA to Hong Kong to Singapore is 19 hours. Singapore is 13 hours ahead of LA. How on earth are we supposed to avoid jet lag.

Technically we arrive at 11:30PM in Singapore on Saturday night. That’s 8:30AM Saturday morning for those of you here in the Pacific West. So I’m supposed to land on a plane and go to bed when my body is going to think it’s 8:30AM?

This is gonna be tricky.

But I have a plan.

As it stands right now…I plan to wake up at 5AM tomorrow (friday) morning- California time. That is 8PM Singapore time. I’ll play xbox…read, write blogs, something…for 5 hours until we head to airport. We leave at 1PM California - 4AM Singapore time. I should be groggy from waking up so early in the morning - so I will sleep on plane for a few hours. I’ll set my watch to Singapore time and by then I should be waking up on the plane at the same time folks in Singapore will be waking up. (8-9AM or so Singapore time - 11PM California time) Then I’ll stay awake rest of the flight into Hong Kong and then to Singapore where I should be good and ready to sleep when I land at 11:30PM Singapore time. After we land, we’re sleeping 6 hours at the “airport hotel” in Singapore before heading out on foot at 7AM to the underground where we begin our trip!

I hope all that makes sense. Going east to Europe is easy as most of your flights arrive during day and to fight jet lag, you just need to force yourself to stay awake until normal bed time wherever you are - but this trip is dealing with leaving on Friday morning and landing at Midnight Sunday morning!! Just doesn’t seem right, does it? Is there even a Saturday that I can account for?

- Will post more tonight…

So I’ve admittedly been distracted by trying to achieve a goal that has taken a long hard road to accomplish. Getting into SAG. I have been blessed with great friends and opportunities these past couple weeks and my efforts were successful! This is just about the best way ever to get motivated for a rewarding fantastic trip. I was joking about saying “I’m going to Disneyland” when I got that final SAG voucher (which in due course will happen thanks to my annual passport) but instead I’m going on a rip roaring ride through the rain forest and South East Asia, Ma! (a little reference to Dirty Dancing).

I have been on set by day and getting ready for the trip by night and stuffing a few hours at the office too. A few people have asked me how we can afford to do all of this fun trip stuff and I’m thinking where do we find the time with our busy schedules lately! Basically as I said in an early post, you got to take life by the horns and live it up! Be wild!

You save every penny you can and watch those airline prices everyday. Get a feel for when prices are the lowest for airfare (going to Malaysia in April is about $400 - 600 cheaper per person than if you went during the summer). Then you research everything you want to do, especially the exchange rate on money. The U.S. currency in South East Asia is alot better than Europe right now. So once you get there hotels are cheap. Food is cheap. Activities and clothes are cheap. All because the dollar is strong in the exchange rate currently. We also have the luck of having friends or friends of friends in other countries. Not only do you save money on lodging, you also get that local feel for the area and get comfortable with your surroundings.

Those are just a couple of ways we manage our money and get the most bang for our buck! Research the places you want to go and then find out how to do it and when to go for the best rate! Seize the day and don’t forget to do the lift!

For the record and part of the reason we are traveling to Singapore/Malaysia is currency. The exchange rate even with the weak dollar is still good for us.
Malaysian money is called the Ringold or Ringgit and currently exchanges at 3 MYR : 1 USD - Very nice!

Singapore on the other hand is called the Singapore Dollar and exchanges at about 1.30 SGD : 1 USD - not bad.

Currency like this you must order days in advance of your trip. Shop around at various banks. They’ll usually give you the current daily rate (or maybe just a bit more depending on institution.) Never ever ever assume you’ll just fly over and exchange it in country. You will get hosed terribly. Been there done that. It’s not worth it. Unless you have a friend who has account at local bank where you’re visiting, always arrive with enough cash already exchanged - ATM’s are fairly convenient as well, but avoid ‘em if you can. The rates are usually good, but then you get all those “international ATM usage charges” which may only be .90cents, but still - avoid if you can.

While I try not to travel with too much cash on me, it’s nice to have in some places as credit just isn’t an option. Tiffany ordered and picked up our cash a few weeks back so we’re set here.

Again - We try to use credit cards when possible - it’s easier, it’s less to carry around, and your credit card company usually gives you the day’s exchange rate.

*Travelers Note! : This happens often in Europe, so we’ll see if it’s the same in Asia. Yes, I have been hit by this before. All apart of learning but you’re getting this info for free so listen up!! Some stores will allow you to purchase using a credit card and offer a “currency conversion” for you on the spot. This allows you to get a receipt in your native currency. Wow! How convenient right? Instead of wondering how much that £99.45 item really cost, you’ll know it cost $196.45 USD! “That makes it easy to keep track of your money” you say - and yes, you’re partially right. But here’s the catch, they use THEIR OWN in-store currency exchange - meaning, they’ll probably tack on a few extra dollars just for the “exchange” - and trust me…it’s usually comparable to the rip-off exchange rates that you find at the airport or lining Oxford Street in London. Stay clear!!

Just make it simple - know the exchange rate and be able to do simple conversions in your head - that way you won’t need these “convenient” / “rip-off” services. When we visited Italy in 2006 the exchange rate for the Euro was $1.20 = 1 Euros- So basically every 4 Euros spent was 5 US dollars. 8 = 10. 12= 15 and so on. It was real easy to shop, eat, etc. because we knew exactly what we were spending give or take a few pence/cents and coming up with a quick ditty to figure it out in shop without calculators, asking, and/or expensive “we’ll exchange the money for you!!” is very satisfying - Tuck that bit of info in your pocket somewhere because you’ll need it on your own adventure! It’s info like that that will be in my book!

So we’re on the eve of the final full day prior to a trip. Gotta get the house keeping in order. I think I get that from my mom. I sort of recall cleaning before trips somewhere so when you get home, every thing’s clean so you can just unwind.

You also have to go through your checklists one by one by one by one. Something you’ve done ten times already, but the last thing you want to do is forget something.

For us, important documents, itineraries, passports, etc are usually staged with the gear a week in advance so there’s no surprises. We typically stage 80% of what we’re packing days in advance. Just clear a spot in the living room and lay everything out. It keeps ‘packing’ on your mind so whenever you see an item you need to pack, you just toss it into the organized layout and never have to say to yourself “oh! don’t forget to pack this.” because you inevitably will.

So tomorrow is that day.

1. Clean Fish tank
2. Wash Jeep
3. Clean Office
4. Last minute voltage converters (Malaysia/Singapore uses same as the UK for those keeping score at home)
5. Actually pack and prep.

I’m using a new pack this year. Got me a US Government Issue Large ALICE pack with frame this time around. It can carry more, and has a frame that allows you to carry the load higher on your shoulders - identical to one used in boot camp 9 years ago. I’m hoping not to check it - so I’m packing light for the first leg.

So that’s where I’m at tonight folks! Almost ready to go…

Ok Ok _ yes yes, we know…we haven’t posted in about a week. Here’s where we’re at:

Things are very hectic right now at my job - Tiff has been working her day job and also putting a few hours in on the set of Desperate Housewives…- not only that, but I’ve been busy / procrastinating the writing of a travel show script that I’d like to shoot while overseas - anyone that has seen the Europe 2007 video…it’ll be something like that. (if you haven’t, let us know and we’ll send you a copy!)
Anyhow…Here is an update and we expect to update daily again this week into the trip.

We leave this Friday…it’s coming quick. Much to be done…

ALSO !! Thanks for the comments. Apparently you’ve been posting comments all along, and they have to be “approved” due to spam which I was unaware…so I just went in and posted your comments so enjoy - now they are up!!

So we have booked our first hotel of the trip. The Holiday Villa which I think is going to be my fave!!!! It looks like pure paradise and it says we get a Tropical Welcome drink when we arrive! How exciting. I am looking forward to this part of the Malaysia leg of the trip b/c I’ve never done anything tropical before. I’ve written reports on rain forests and dreamt of riding horses on the beach and watching turtles be released into the ocean…and now I’m actually going to be doing those things!!! I read a great Unstoppable Insight in my email today. It said If you can imagine it, you can achieve it. If you can dream it, you can become it. - William Arthur Ward

Well Mr. Ward, whoever you are, that’s what I’m doing! Now if only the acting part of my imagining will kick in. Here’s a little pic of my delicious paradise.

Dear Blog Readers,

It has come to my attention from Jason and Tiffany that this blog has been going on now for over a week and not ONE! comment has been left. They’ve received emails and phone calls regarding the blog, but NO COMMENTS! Come on! Don’t be Marcel Marceus! Let them know you’ve been here. Leave us comments, notes, hellos, goodbyes, - something!! Let them know you’re reading…otherwise it’s a bit lonely to write these things wondering if you’re writing for some strange guy living in a bunker near El Paso. So let them know you’ve been here!

That is all,
~Roaming Gnome.

This always happens and I should have known it’d happen this time. It’s never as easy as you want it to be. This trip was supposed to be one of the more simple that we’ve done. Fly to Singapore, take a train to Kuala Lumpur - stay a few days, take a train back, fly home. Done and Done.

Yeah - it was until we realized there was more to explore in Malaysia. So …now we find ourselves looking up places to stay along the Cherating Beach - East coast of Malaysia. About 3 hours east of Kuala Lumpur. This area is hopping with nice beaches, fun activities, and a definite “local touch.”

Typically through the months of April-August the sea turtles come ashore here and lay their eggs - the eggs hatch, and the babies head to the deep blue. There is a large turtle conservatory here that we expect to take in. Whether the turtles decide to visit will be up to them. Rumor has it you can arrange the conservatory to call your hotel and wake you if they happen to come ashore. (usually after midnight mind you.)

There’s also much windsurfing, ocean rafting, and local activities such as batik - Batik is found in several countries of West Africa, such as Nigeria, Cameroon and Mali, and in Asia, such as India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Iran, Malaysia and Thailand. However, it is in Indonesia that it is considered a national art form. Essentially melted wax is applied to a cloth and dipped into dye. We have found a place in a fairly remote part of Malaysia where we can learn to do this and we very well just may. It’s the perfect souvenir.

So Tiff’s in the other room booking hotel rooms for two nights on the coast while I figure out car rentals and work out arrangements with the Elephant Man for the Kuala Gandah Elephant Sanctuary - (see below post) It always starts with “let’s stay here 3 nights and here 3 nights and then we’re done and always ends up with here 2 nights, there 1 night, rent a car over night here, take train here, fly there, sleep on beach there, etc. Never simple - always stretching the limits.

So as I research hotels for Malaysia I get jungle fever. Not like the Stevie Wonder song either, I still love Jay! But these hotels you can stay at look like tropical paradise. Of course we are going to stay somewhere in the city but even then the more expensive hotels have amazing pools and surroundings. Its so fun. Finally a tropical getaway! And that’s not even the best part. I can’t wait to ride elephants, wash elephants, and feed elephants like they are my very own pet. Check out this video!

The baby elephants are my very favorite. I’m going to call them my Riley away from home. They are so cute and playful. Almost like big puppies. This is one of the places we will be visiting and spending alot of our camera time filming every last detail. Its going to be so much fun and an experience to remember forever.

There’s always a haze that settles in over a trip planning that takes you to a place you’ve never been. You think about where, you decide, you buy airline tickets…and then you settle to find accommodations - and that’s when it gets hazy. You know things you want to do and places you want to visit. But you’re not familiar with the terrain…or the good areas, or the bad areas. What’s close, what’s not.

Finding hotels in foreign places is tough. Name recognition (aka Westin, Sheraton, Marriot, etc.) help, but some times you want local flavor. Not only that, but for me…Purchasing a hotel ticket is like throwing away the key to your trip. Once you do that, you’re locked in. Say you get there and find a really cool place, or decide a day- trip out of town makes you wish you were staying away over night…well you have no option but to go back to what you’ve booked. Flexibility in foreign travel is a must. You’ll just always wish you could have stayed one more night, or at the place across the street instead. In previous years, we’ve had nice flexibility. We’d arrange lodging in about 75% of the places we go, but leave enough flexibility to add or lose nights as we go along. Obviously you run the risk of arriving to town and finding everything booked because of some unknown holiday event taking place that weekend. Flexibility can be risky, but if you know what you’re getting in to, you may just be thanking yourself later.

This particular trip, however, is one that we’re going to lock ourselves in - so now is the hardest part - finding accommodations that fit our budget, style, all within reason. We have found some amazing places to stay both in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. While we often split our stay among hostels and hotels in Europe, we may live it up a bit and stay in hotels/resorts while in Asia. There are just too many nice places that are fairly affordable ($50-$120/night) - just finding the locations we want to stay is what is keeping us from locking in right now. I’m sure by the end of the week, we’ll have it figured out.

Some places offer 2 nights, 3rd is free. Good deal. But it just so happens on our third day, we’ll be renting a car and trekking out into the Jungles to the Kuala Gandah Elephant Sanctuary. What if we just want to find a place to stay out there instead of returning to the city that night.  Pesky flexibility again - raising it’s head to say hello-  decisions decisions decisions. The nature of the journey I suppose and with that I return to www.travelocity.com. - Somebody leave the light on for me.

Now that I’m back from Arizona from a fantastically relaxing Easter and birthday celebration with my family, I’m back on the researching trail. My actual birthday was pretty sweet even though I had to work. It was cool though b/c I was greeted by a big pretty sign on my door and an awesome basket of some of my favorite things. This included scratchers, my newest addiction (take note people). 3 out of 10 of those scratchers were winners and I won $25 in all! Fun! That will go towards my trip. It will actually pay for my half of a hotel room for one night in Malaysia believe it or not. That’s why we are going folks! Its one of the few places where we benefit from the exchange with U.S. money. I was also treated to a yummy Italian lunch by my boss which included a birthday tiramisu. Then back at the workplace I had a carrot cake! As if I needed anymore sweets, Jay treated me to dinner. Yes, I got the pizookie at B.J.’s and ate it all by myself! Scrumptious diddly umptious. My birthday was delicious.

Stay tuned for more updates and my scratchers journey to win enough for a down payment on a house!

Typically after our first stage of planning (airline ticket purchase) is complete, the next step is figuring out how to get to and from all the various places we want to see. This trip should be fairly easy. Take the JUNGLE LINE!! train from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. and then return - Supposed to be one of the best train rides in the world which is fitting as last year we did the “Glacier Express” which definitely lived up to it’s top 10 hype.

So I spent the morning shooting off emails to a few of the nature reserves and zoos that we are looking to visit on our trip. - just confirming the dates, reservations, etc.

What we found last year was at least 2 major events we wanted to participate in (Zorbing in England and bobsledding in Austria) were closed because of season/bank holiday on the days we were there. Bummer…

But a sort of strange thing occurred while I planned out our train itenerary. In years past I’ve found train travel to be quite adventerous and easy - but some times difficult to plan - especially in Europe as there are many lines to choose from, different types of coaches…and the often pushed “rail passes” come with all sorts of strings attached. Sometimes you need to book a seat and THEN a reservation - on certain trains. This can lead to a problem if you don’t know something like that. I witnessed a Canadian woman being informed of her mistake while on a trip to southern Switzerland last summer. She refused to admit she was wrong, but I knew deep inside, as much as I wanted to help - Yep, you need a seat ticket and a reservation - all she had was a reservation. I politely informed her of her mistake and how to avoid it next time to which she finally came around.
Anyway - the point is…train travel can be tricky. When do you buy tickets? At station or before you arrive? Should I buy my return fare right away? What times are better? Is it a holiday I’m unaware of that could increase passenger loads? Things like that. Typically a good rule of thumb is buy a round trip ticket as early in advance as you can - especially in England.

But does this rule of thumb come in to play in Malaysia/Singapore? Here’s what I’ve learned so far…

I had read that purchasing train tickets was cheap in Asia. And if your travel takes you to and/or from Malaysia, if you can, buy your tickets IN Malaysia as the cost will be in Malaysian Ringolds as opposed to buying with a Singapore Dollar (which exchanges at less favorable rate with US dollars.) But obviously how (or why?) do you buy a ticket TO Malaysia IN Malaysia? Unless you know somebody there who can mail you a ticket, you pretty much can’t…

So I find the KTMB Rail line website for Malaysia. I need a rountrip ticket for two from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur. I need first class seats going and first class deluxe sleeper coming back. Simple enough? Doing some quick research I found this should be a very cost effective trip.

So after registering online, I punch in all my numbers on the KTMB website. Total: 880 MYR = $275.00

WHAT?!! You must be joking. Almost $300. Trains in Europe can be cheaper. So I punch in again. Same thing…and again…Same results. - oh, well maybe it’s in Singapore Dollars? nope… SO I think I’m stuck.

Then I come up with the idea. Maybe I’ll buy the ticket from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur now online and buy the return when we get there using local MYR currrency. So I punch in the single trip date of travel from Singapore (the more expensive leg) and go to purchase. One way fare- two tickets: 315 MYR. - What? 315? That doesn’t make sense. The total for a return was 880. How could one way be 315? So I punch in just the return trip by itself. $243 MYR. ? so if I purchase the single ticket to Kuala Lumpur at 315 and return at 243 - the total is 558 Malaysian Ringold or $175. A pretty good difference over 880 MYR!

…and that’s exactly what I did. And it worked. I now have two tickets for each leg for $175.00 total. $100USD less!

I have no idea and can not justify why a round trip would be MORE unless they try to make more $$ of unsuspecting tourists who blindly put in return trip info and click “purchase” without research. - speculation of course, but logic defies any other explanation.

So - long story short - I made out great on train fare based on being able to compare what I already know, what I had recently learned with what I felt wasn’t right to begin with…and am all the better for it. Four years ago I don’t make this deal. Four years ago I purchase what’s shown and move on. I’ve been hosed a few times on train travel in the past, but it appears I’m improving with experience. - That is all for today!

We finally purchased the plane tickets for the 2008 Tiffany and Jason travel extravaganza. hee hee. It was a hard decision only b/c we had to pay so much damn taxes and that cuts into our house down payment. But like I told Jay, we realistically won’t be able to buy a house until the summer anyways and between now and then we could win a million dollars or God will bless me with a commercial gig! You only live once and Patrick Swayze is on my mind. I tell you, I saw the guy in July and he looked great now he’s only got a matter of weeks to live. So I say I might as well take what I got and make my life fun! We will get the house when we get back. That’s why we made this trip a little shorter and are going for 10 days instead of our usual 17 to 21 days. We get our travel shoes on early in the year and leave some time for another short trip later in the year. Live it up!!!