Please press play to set the tone for the Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok vibes
Die With A Smile – Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars
Booster Seat – Spacey Jane
Kiss Me More – Doja Cat and SZA
KUALA LUMPUR
DAY 114 – My Lucky Day
I felt fucking awful after 3 hours sleep, but after a fairly straightforward bus journey I arrived at the airport. I have heard that the airlines in Japan are more strict than other places I had been to (not surprising) and they were weighing everything of the people in front of me, down to their bum bag. Given that in total my bags are probably 10kg over the weight limit and after some mental turmoil I accepted the fact that I would probably have to pay to check my bag on.
I apprehensively approached the lady and after she asked how many bags I had I told her that I only had one bag, even though I had very clearly walked over to her desk with 2 (technically 3 because of my front bag). She didn’t look over her desk to see mega backpack hiding in front of me (mournful her), my legs shaking like jelly in the meantime. My poker face was on top form and by some stroke of luck I walked away with only having weighed my small north face duffle bag. The next obstacle was secretly picking up my backpack and walking away from the desk without her beady eye catching me but I was able to stall the departure by messing around with putting my passport back in bag. When she was busy serving another customer I darted right, backpack in hand and a dream in the other, however quickly after I had to divert course and turn left, running back past her desk as I had gone the wrong way. Nonetheless, mission accomplished, deceit certified, backpack prepared to be stored in the overhead locker – result.
I had been given free airport lounge access by Trip.com, very fancy, so wasn’t too disappointed when my flight was delayed by an hour. Naturally the airport lounge was shit, not even any dinnie just small snacks, not even any wine just coffee, but I managed to swan off and have some ramen and stash my bag full of rice crackers and biscuits.
On the plane I managed to bag a 3 seater so I had a proper lie down sleep for a few hours (technically my first experience in business class). I ate a biriyani as the food selection was limited. As I write this stretched across my 3 seats I have nearly finished watching Casino Royale and life is good.
I am so happy to be back in a country with cheap taxis. The hour long drive into the city was a dream, I felt like a CEO. I arrived at Sunshine Bedz Hostel and had a beer and a cigarette with the manager who proceeded to put a picture of me on the hostel group chat and sent me on my way to the Helipad Bar to meet a group who were already out. Because it was Saturday night I thought I should go out for a drink and I am so happy I did. I was merrily greeted by Shane, a larger than life Irish guy who was already at the bar which is actually a helipad in the day. He introduced me to the others from the hostel; another Irish guy called Jamie (his friend), Jess (Kansas), Kwon (Korea) and Kyoto (Japan). You could see the whole city it was absolutely amazing, such a good start to the trip.
We proceeded to an Irish bar where we all got quite pissed and I learned there were some complex dynamics within the group, notably a frivolous night between two members months previously and a ‘strange coincidence’ of them being at the same hostel many months later. Shane and his friend Jamie were absolutely sinking the 2-4-1 cosmopolitans and offered round these caffeine sachets you can put in your drinks, I respectfully refused. I have subsequently learned they are illegal in many countries.
We went up to the rooftop of the hostel after a brief Kebab stop (there are lots of Turkish restaurants in downtown KL) and had a couple of beers. Pretty sure the kebab gave me the shits but nothing I hadn’t been faced with before, nothing I couldn’t handle.
DAY 115 – Petronas Towers
Not feeling good guys, the hangover is rough. As well as this I realise that I have left my essential toiletries in Osaka so I have had to borrow some off of Kyoko. Throughout this debacle, a Scottish girl from my room came to apologise for being up and down all night, she had a terrible case of food poisoning. She was so ill, I felt so bad for her, I was immediately pleased I had had a kebab rather than a chicken katsu from a suspicious stand at a night market. Clearly Emily and I were bonding over not feeling our best, and we proceed to lay with in our room in the dark for 4 hours, sporadically interrupted by the cleaners. We chatted about our physical conditions, our jobs (Emily is also a teacher), our past relationships and our traumas (just girly things). I laughed so much all afternoon, I almost wet my pants. Eventually Emily headed to a hotel to nurse herself back to health and after the graphic details she had divulged to me about last nights events, I don’t blame her.
Later that evening I joined the guys from the hostel to watch the fountain light show which was cool but felt like a bit of a tourist trap. We then wandered to the Petronas Towers, pioneered by Shane, and they were absolutely amazing. Really one of the coolest things I’ve seen on my trip. They’re obviously very large, but the way they are illuminated is crazy, breathtaking.
Realising I hadn’t got my steps in, while the others got taxis back to the Irish bar I decided to walk with Dalia and Rafael who were sporting a budding romance. For reference Dalia is about 5’2 and Rafel is 6’8. For image reference purposes I am 5’7.
I started chatting with a Scottish guy from another table who was an avid list keeper, like myself. He works in HR and had kept note of all the funniest names he had encountered throughout his career, I was highly amused.
We enjoyed some more drinkies but after a heavy night yesterday I decided to leave the group to head back. The walk through downtown was sketchy to say the least. There is definitely a variety of smells and the streets are lined with men just sitting down. There are also a lot of working women which meant there were lots of really drunk tourists around, in hindsight I probably wouldn’t have walked back alone. But I made it in one piece.
DAY 116 – Chinatown and Pub Quiz
It was absolutely roasting today. I went to the mall with Kwon for a coffee, did a little bit of window shopping then decided to go for a stroll.
I aimed to end up in this quirky coffee area near Chinatown but Kwon had recommended a cafe which seemed to be in a similar area. I embarked upon this treacherous journey and my conclusion is that Kuala Lumpur is very far from being a walkable city. What should’ve taken 30 minutes ended up being a stressful hour of crossing bridges, walking on main roads and also getting lost in the heat of the afternoon sun. I ended up in a really random area on my hunt for Transparent Coffee Cafe so gave up with that mission. Looking up, I found a shop where I bought some sunnies and earrings and eventually made it to another nice vegan cafe called La Gala by Tapir. I had a truffle, apple salad thing which was glorious and then continued my stroll around.
By the time I reached the Sayangi Chinatown Market I was convinced I had sunstroke and also I didn’t have any cash to buy anything, so I got a cab back to downtown.
Emily was feeling a bit better so we decided to meet up to go to a pub quiz. We grabbed a really nice Turkish dinner and then engaged it which was possibly the worst pub quiz I have ever done. While we did get 10/10 on the first round (geography, of course), the quiz dragged on for about 2.5 hours and the Dutch girl sitting next to us was one of the most annoying people I have ever met.
On the way back to the hostel I dropped Shane round some ice as he had fractured his ankle the night before.
BANGKOK
DAY 117 – Reunited With My Girl Solene
We had rounded up a small group from the hostel to go to the airport. Our bags and bodies really didn’t fit in the tiny car (baring in mind Rafael was also in the car). I felt like I was going to a festival but it was much more fun travelling in a group than alone I must say.
Dalia and Kyoko headed to the other terminal so to avoid the stress of potentially having to check in my bag I left it with Rafael while I picked up my ticket (lots of places don’t let you check in online here) so that was also a big bonus. Everyone in the airport was looking at us because Rafael was so tall, I felt like I was with a celebrity. We enjoyed a nice breakfast together and I was ready to see my girl Solene in Bangkok.
I arrived at our Air BnB and was patiently awaiting Solene’s arrival from Switzerland. We were so happy to see each other as the last time we saw each other was when we said our goodbyes in Taipei, we even did a little dance when we saw each other.
Sometimes it’s a bit nerve wracking meeting up with someone again who you got on so well with, you’re worried it won’t be the same. We spent ages catching up on gossip and went for a really tasty meal at a place called Local Canteen, it was one of the best (probably the best) meal I had in Thailand and was a really good price for how fancy the place was (I think like £5 for a meal?).
We were both knackered so headed back early and spent the evening watching Twilight, it was perfect.
DAY 118 – Cum Coffee and Seeking Out Hair Salons
We went out in true Solene and Lottie style to a boujie cafe. This one was called Cum Coffee (if you’ll pardon the pun) and we had seen it on a YouTube video we’d been watching from a traveller couple (Sam and Victor if anyones interested. They post really aesthetic videos and I’ve usually found the places they recommend to be less touristy).
The toast I had was amazing, it cost me about £7 which is steep for Bangkok but you can see how much tasty stuff is on there.
We headed to our nail appointment at Masul Nail Studio which was in a bit of a stupid location as it was in a train station and you had to buy a ticket just to get through the gates.
We spent the rest of the day grabbing (getting in a grab taxi) to different areas to try and find somewhere I could get my hair done, the effort was futile and time consuming.
It did however mean that we got to see an area I had missed out on before called Ari which is an instaworthy spot but not the most amazing place I had been to.
We headed back for a nap and some more Twilight. In the evening we ventured for a delicious dinner with cocktails at another fancy place caked Oranuch Thai Dining (not as good as yesterday’s dinner) and grabbed a cheeky negroni on the way back.
There was a singer there which I thought was cool, but she absolutely mutilated my favourite song, Die With A Smile. Disappointing to say the least. At home we carried on with Twilight.
DAY 119 – Lazy Daisy Cafe and Pam
For breakfast we went to Lazy Daisy Cafe which was in a really nice spa resort thing. The breakfast was tasty but it was a bit on the steep side for Bangkok.
After more nattering we headed to get Solene’s tattoo and she was very happy with her little swirly number.
We did a little bit of shopping and later on met up with Solene’s friend Pam who lives in Bangkok. Pam is the ultimate bad girl who learned German for fun, has a really good job and drives a massive motorbike. We went out for some vegan food at Broccoli Revolution and then to a lovely bar called Wallflowers Cafe which was actually on my list from the last time I was in Bangkok. The vibe was so good in there but I wasn’t feeling too well so headed back early (I’m starting to notice that I head back early a lot).
DAY 120 – Tooth Gems and Lava Girl
Solene had booked in for us to get some tooth gems so after another breakfast at Lazy Daisy Cafe we headed to Tur Hair Salon, coolest fucking place in Bangkok. It’s giving East London converted warehouse but it’s a huge ‘creatives’ space where they do hair and they also have a vintage shop.
After getting dripped out we grabbed some juice and walked around Sukhumvit (CBD) where we were staying. We accidentally stumbled across a hair salon with a promo deal on so I decided to get my roots done and my hair dyed pink. I don’t know if there was some kind of miscommunication with the hairdresser but my hair was fluorescent and it wasn’t even in a fun way. You don’t understand, it was literally neon pink, I was slightly mortified and although Solene wasn’t flat out laughing I knew she found it funny. I didn’t like it but knew it would wash out at some point so tried to forget that fact for the rest of the evening.
We headed to Chinatown night market where I had been on my first trip to Bangkok. I ate some mango sticky rice and some questionable chive dumplings and after not being able to quench our thirst we headed back to the restaurant from the first night. Solene went to get her flight that evening and left the air bnb at about 10pm.
