June 10: Kuala Lampur!

4:30am - wake up

5am - catch Grab to airport

6am - arrive at airport for my 9am flight. Told it's too early to check in. Go to the airport Starbucks for a coffee and pancakes(!!!), which are not a thing in other countries' Starbucks. 

7am - try again to check in, can't find the airline ticket counter, finally find an informational screen that says my flight has been canceled (!). Check my email - there is no notification. Go to the general information desk; they say I will be automatically credited to my original payment method and I should rebook myself on the next flight. The next flight is at noon, unfortunately with the same airline. Fortunately it's the same price I paid for the first one. I'm not able to add a checked bag to my new ticket, but the information desk lady assures me that it will be the same price to add it when I check in at the airport. 

7:30am - return to Starbucks for round 2 of pancakes and latte. work on blog.

10am - go to ticket counter to check in. The woman tries to charge me USD$80 for the checked bag. The ticket itself was $68. I protest. She tells me this is the price for adding a checked bag at the airport. I tell her I had no choice because your airline last-minute canceled my original flight in which I had pre-paid for a checked bag. We go back and forth. She tells me: if I can make my bag lighter she can help me. I pull out my canvas day-bag and move some random stuff from my big bag into the small one. Finally the big bag is down to 7kg. She says, "Great! Now this is a free carryon" - and tags it. Baffled, I repack the big bag with the original stuff that had been in it, and proceed through security. 

It's evening when I finally get to my hotel in Kuala Lampur. I was supposed to have a full 24 hours to explore this city, but now it's just one night and one morning. I learn that Malaysian food is very similar to Indonesian food, so I opt for an Indian dinner.

view from the hotel rooftop

I had planned to walk to a statue garden within a botanical garden not too far from the hotel, but the front desk lady tells me that area is not safe at night. So I stick to the well-lit areas closer by.

Not loving the walk-around-by-myself-at-night vibes, I return to my hotel after just 20 minutes and turn in early.