Dubai airport was really nice, for many reasons but eeeeeespecially for the FREE WiFi - huge plus!.
When I got to Malaysia it was very early in the morning. The airport is a fair distance from the centre of city but there is an express train, so I took that option. It was very fast, clean and quiet, and guess what?Yes! It had free WiFi, on the train, superb! This should be standard in 2011, but some countries you go to you can barely even get a decent internet connection in your hotel room and are often charged a extortionate price into the bargain.
I got to my accommodation at the awesome Traders Hotel around 7am. I thought that there was no chance of me being able to check-in that early, but I was really nice to the cute girl at hotel reception and she said "well, maybe if you can wait 1 or 2 hours we can have a room ready for you." I told her that wasn't a problem and asked if there was somewhere for me to eat breakfast. She showed me to the amazing buffet that they have, and I tipped her $5 US, which isn't that much money but to someone living in Malaysia it's probably a big deal.
So I went for breakfast, in this super nice restaurant with a huge and delicious buffet and chefs that will make you stuff fresh including smoothies and yogurts with the fresh ingredients of your chosing. Heaven! I had been eating for about 3 minutes when the reception girl walks in and comes up to my table. She hands me a bunch of stuff and says "Here is your room key sir. Your room is ready and your luggage has also been taken up to your room for you." Epic win, I was able to get into my room, sleep and wake up by the time that I was officially supposed to be able to check in!
The Traders hotel was very nice and I've given you guys a little room tour in this video:
The first thing I did in Malaysia was look for somewhere to get my laptop fixed. I quickly learned about Low Yat Plaza, a massive technology mall over 7 floors, so took a trip down there.
After sorting out my laptop I tried out one of the restaurants on the ground floor. For the cheap price of $4 USD I got a pepper chicken steak with egg, rice, noodles, vegetables, soup and a can of coke. The meal was delicious. I almost felt guilty paying so little for it!
I was mega happy to have a working laptop again, and being able to blog and play online poker. My first session of the year on PokerStars was a nice winning session at 2/4 PLO. Happy days.
My friend Bryan Huang noticed from my facebook status that I was in Kuala Lumpur, so he put me in touch with his friend Darren Yoon, another poker pro. I went with Darren to Zook which was a really nice high-end club. I was able to walk straight in with Darren past all the people waiting in line like bitches outside, so that was awesome.
I had a lot of fun with Darren and his friends, and afterwards they took me to this little food stall where I had the best chicken and rice ever. I dunno if it was because I was super drunk and hungry, but it tasted out of this world. Omnomnomnom.
Thanks to Bryan for putting me in touch with Darren and thanks to Darren for being such a great host.
The next day I noticed the weirdest bruise on the back of my leg. It was just the weirdest shape and I can't even remember how it happened. Must certainly be a UDI (Unidentified Drinking Injury)!
Really weird huh? But nowhere near as weird as the bruises that ended up on my back after I went for a massage and returned with a back that looked like a pepperoni pizza.
What I got was some Asian massage technique called 'Cupping', where the woman put these vacuum suction cups on my back. Although my back looked a mess I left feeling great, and it only cost $12USD for the 1 hour massage.
Other cool things I did while in Malaysia included a visit to the KL Bird Park which is like a zoo for big ass birds.
I had so much fun in Malaysia that I stayed there a day longer than I was supposed to. I had booked and paid for a flight to Singapore, but decided to write that off to spend the extra night in KL. My friend Darren recommended that I take the first class bus to Singapore, that only takes 5 hours and is very comfortable and cheap.
I was so glad that I chose this option over flying. The bus was very nice. Downstairs was a lounge with big screen TV and upstairs had 16 big reclining massage seats with video and games on demand, power point for laptop and hot meals brought by a stewardess. The view from the window was great, passing by lots of little villages and countryside. So much better than dealing with the hassle of an airport / flying.
The immigration point at Singapore took 5 minutes, nice and easy.
Check out my Singapore trip report.
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