It was my last day in Kuching today and surprisingly I had run out of cheap things to do within my limited timeframe. I really do wish I'd had more time here but that's life - besides, I can always come back!
This morning I had my breakfast at Riverside Majestic then checked out of my room and left my bags at the hotel. A Kangaroo keyring gift to the front desk guy meant I didn't have to pay RM2 per bag to store them (how nice!) so I was then on my way to a 1.5hr pamper package booked at Ratu Aspari beauty therapy in Kuching. It was a foot spa, back massage and back scrub. I took a taxi over and enjoyed every second of the treatement with these delightful ladies.
I had a walk around a nearby mall trying to find a decent suitcase after my treatement but couldn't find anything satisfactory, so decided to give up and try in Johor Bahru (JB) instead.
It was getting close to the time I needed to head back to the hotel and I couldn't find a taxi stand. There were no cabs in sight and Kuching is world renowned for having almost zero public transport. Rather than panic, I decided to start walking back towards town. About ten minutes later, an executive taxi came past so I flagged him down. Cab drama solved - and he used the meter!
Since it was only RM12 back to the hotel, I decided to have him wait while I quickly grabbed my bags, so he could take me to the airport. I'd paid RM26 from the airport to the hotel, and ended up paying RM32 in total from the spa all the way to the airport via the hotel. Awesome.
I did the document check for my flight and then headed to Old Town White Coffee (my new favourite chain) for an iced coffee and a sit down. I had my coffee and a chicken sandwich thing and then headed through to board my flight, with a brief stop for a Kuching magnet at the airport.
old town white coffee
The flight out of Kuching invovled my sitting in stupid aisle seat as I was hoping to grab the Causeway Link shuttle to CIQ then a cab to Tune Hotel Danga Bay in JB. The seat sucked, the flight was really quite bouncy, screaming babies could be heard wailing from the back of the plane and I had one cute and very well-behaved baby making goo goo eyes at me from across the plane aisle.
Once again and as per usual with Air Asia based on my five flights in eight days, the plane left early, took less time than schedule and landed 20 minutes early. Sadly I had internet dramas on arrival and needed to get some cash out from the ATM but couldn't transfer any money until I had internet access. Once I transferred it and yanked it out of the ATM, it was too late for the shuttle. RM44 later I was in a taxi on my way to Tune Hotel Danga Bay.
The taxi driver, a nice young Chinese man, loved me because I'm an Aussie (I've given up on saying I'm a kiwi as it confuses people when I then have to explain I live in Australia) and so is Hugh Jackman. Turns out he has a man crush on Hugh Jackman and he is going to see Wolverine at the movies tonight.
I checked into the hotel and had every piece of info I needed about my Legoland tickets, transfers and bus to Singapore on Sunday provided by the awesome lady at the front desk. The room was fantastic and I'd taken the liberty of ordering TV with my room as I'd read that there wasn't much to do around the hotel. This was right.
For dinner I went for a wander I'd read on Trip Advisor that there's bugger all food around. What a load of crap - there's an Indian restaurant above the hotel lobby, a Fish bazaar across the carpark, a Pizza place two minutes walk from the front door, another Indian restaurant two minutes walk from the pizza place and a 7-Eleven in the hotel complex. Some people are just thick!
I chose the pizza joint and had a beef pepperoni mini pizza for dinner with oven roasted hand cut potato wedges and a drink. It set me back all of RM11, which is about $3.50 AUD! I returned to the hotel via teh 7-Eleven for an ice cream and was unfortunately in time to watch the drivel otherwise known as 2012 the movie. FYI, it was shit. Don't bother watching it.
This is my second visit to JB and although I'm spending two nights here, I won't get to see much of it as I'm here only for Legoland and maybe a suitcase! Last time I was here it was chaos - but that was after I'd been in Singapore for three weeks. This time it already seems cleaner, better organised and much less chaotic, but to be fair I've only seen the airport, the inside of a taxi and the hotel. Oh well - first impressions are good!
Must away and get an early night - Legoland tomorrow!
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