Made it to Malaysia

Going to Borneo to see the orangutans has been one of those items on my priority travel list that’s lived pretty far down. It’s always sounded super cool but it’s complicated; not exactly an easy trip where I can show up, rent a car, and go find them on my own. Back in March, I learned about TrovaTrip from some of the travel content creators on my Antarctica cruise; it’s a company that offers group trips with different hosts. A “host” picks a trip from their catalogue that they want to do and then is basically on the hook to get people to sign up. Well lo and behold, there was a Borneo trip that was quite reasonably priced (airfare not included). It was fully booked but it got me thinking about Borneo being more accessible than I thought and actually got me to research group trips for the first time. Fast forward a couple months to May and I discovered that a spot had opened up on the sold out trip I’d originally looked at! And the dates still worked! Since my calendar was clear and that’s how I roll, bam, I booked it. This is my first time doing a group trip and I am a little nervous about the concept. But here I am, 90 days later, on my way to Borneo to see orangutans!

I feel like I’m really becoming a pro at this whole long haul travel thing. I’m getting more efficient each time and feeling more rested each time. By efficient I mean I know exactly what I’m going to want to have within reach in my seat and how to properly pack to ensure that it’s an easy grab situation when I’m settled onto the plane (pro-tip: I keep a super thin practically weightless bag – a Free People shopping bag to be exact – in my pack and everything I want within reach gets unloaded from my pack into that to keep it all together. I’m going to need to do some Free People shopping though, because about four international trips later, the one I’m using is getting tired).

Getting to Borneo is no short task. For me, it meant one short flight to Los Angeles, then a 12.5 hour flight from LAX to Taipei, then an almost 5 hour flight from TPE to Kuala Lumpur. And tomorrow, another 3 hour flight from KUL to Sandakan on Borneo. I could have gotten on flight four to Borneo today but I figured I might as well break it up and stay the night in Kuala Lumpur.

My flights were not only uneventful but felt downright easy and 28 hours of travel time from the time I left my house until I landed in Kuala Lumpur went by in a flash. I’ve always had good luck flying through LAX and this time it was even better. With the new construction you can now walk from Terminal 1 (Southwest) all the way through to Tom Bradley International terminal without ever having to go out through security! Which means no dealing with security at Tom Bradley! Of course, this only works if you are awesome and efficient like I am and only pack carry-on since you’d have to go collect your bag and then do the whole security dealio if you checked one and your flights aren’t connected. It was ridiculous how quickly I was off my Southwest flight and settled into the Amex lounge for my five hour layover. FYI – the LAX Amex lounge is pretty small and lame.

I flew EVA Air from LAX to TPE. The last time I flew them in 2019 they were the Hello Kitty airline and everything, from the plane exterior to the boarding passes to the amenity kits on board, where Hello Kitty branded. Those days are now gone and they are pretty boring but the food was delicious. Except for the “fish floss” that came with my congee selection for breakfast; I tried but it was too much like eating fish food (its not far off, its dried swordfish, sugar, and oil). I flew Premium Economy and was lucky with a child who slept the majority of the flight next to me. At first I was terrified that I wouldn’t get any sleep because I am so uncomfortable trying to sleep on a plane without a lay flat but thanks to two sleeping pills and the most comfortable travel pillow ever that I picked up on my Antarctica trip a few months ago I managed to sleep about seven hours! Deep enough that I was even dreaming!

The flight got into Taipei a little early and I was spoiled. My departing gate for my next flight was the gate next door and the lounge was only a couple hundred yards away. Landing at 4:45am I was lucky that the closest lounge opened at 5am and I was there at 5 on the dot to spend an hour before my 6am boarding time to KUL. Though I had eaten a full and delicious meal on the plane the sights and smells of the food in the lounge excited me; I forgot how much I love southeast Asian cuisine!!! I ordered a bowl of vegetable noodle soup from the live action station and accompanied that with a tea egg, a mochi bean roll, and some other dim sum that I’m not quite sure what they were but they were delicious.

I spent the entire flight to KUL cleaning out pictures on my phone, and eating another breakfast – also delicious – and it went by super quick. More impressively, my luggage made it with me as carry on the entire way. I am definitely pushing the limits of what is considered carry on and a lot of times these airlines get uppity about it so I was nervous boarding both my EVA flights but no problem at all.

Customs was beyond easy at KUL. After a long walk through the terminal and a bus ride across the tarmac, I found myself in an empty arrivals hall full of seemingly bored customs agents. I was able to walk right up to passport control with no wait at all and after simply answering how many days I’d be in Malaysia my passport was stamped and I was waived through. My pre-arranged transportation pulled up within a couple minutes of my message that I was through customs and an hour after landing I was safely delivered to The Majestic Hotel.

Though I was hopeful my request for early check-in would pay off, getting here by 12:30pm was a little aggressive for early check in and my room wasn’t quite ready. No problem; I lounged in the lobby on my iPad eating a Chomps and protein bar until the message came through an hour later that it was all set. When planning this trip I decided that it could be a rough flight here without flying business and I wanted to set myself up for rest so I chose this hotel and booked afternoon High Tea and a massage so I had no reason to wonder off property at all and could focus on rest. It’s incredible how affordable this city is. After taxes and fees, my junior suite is only $150 USD for the night!

After a much needed shower and refresh I went down to the Orchid Conservatory for my High Tea reservation. It looked way cooler online and was a bit disappointing in person. I almost had them move me to the tea lounge instead but language barrier was rough so I rolled with it. Also disappointing was the selection of teas; while my rose vanilla tea was beautiful and delicious, for a High Tea I expect something a little more than a selection of Dilmah tea bags that the server steeped on his own, no presentation or tea timer even.

My display of High Tea arrived and it was overflowing; chicken mushroom quiche, spinach quiche, phyllo wrapped sausage, two different scones with cream and jam, a variety of sandwiches (salmon, cucumber, chicken salad, and egg salad), and four desserts. The sausage and quiches were insanely good. As was the turmeric chicken salad. The rest of the sandwiches were fine, the scones were good, and three out of the four deserts were terrible. I left half of each scone and the majority of each dessert on the table and I was beyond stuffed full. But it was a great way to spend an hour; having high tea amongst the orchids while researching wedding cake bakers.

After tea I had just a few minutes to drop off my iPad and head to the spa for my massage. I regretted how much I ate at tea immediately; knowing that getting a massage on such a full tummy could be uncomfortable.

My 80 minute Malay style massage began with a short shoulder rub followed by a lavender foot scrub, and accompanied with a refreshingly perfect ginger ale-mint-lime concontion before being led to the treatment room. These little extras help make up for the lack of spa facilities and how basic the actual spa itself is. I was so right about my tummy too; I’ve never been so restless during a massage. I quickly learned that this Malay style I chose is not as rewarding as the Swedish I’m used to and for a while I just wanted it to be over with because I was so uncomfortable and restless on the firm massage table. I finally settled down towards the very end but when my masseuse brought me green tea at the end of the massage – another nice touch – I was just ready to get out of there and get back to my room to get comfortable.

And here I am. I am going to TRY REALLY HARD to keep up with my blogging this trip because I just don’t have time when I get back home to have to catch up on it! So hence, a first blog right away – about not much of anything! Tomorrow my car service is picking me up bright and early at 7:15 am so I can catch a 10:30am three hour flight to Borneo for my real adventure to begin! Don’t get your hopes up though; tomorrow will be mainly another travel day as well. Once I land in Sandakan I then have a 2.5 hour transport to the hotel and nothing formally scheduled but a welcome dinner to meet the group. But then… then the next day it should start getting fun!