Getting there is half the fun

Aboard my first flight from Houston to Dubai

       Malaysia is a very long, long way from Houston.  In fact, one would be hard to find a location anywhere on the planet further away.  And it takes a long, long time to get there on an airplane.  My travel itinerary would consist of three legs:  Houston to Dubai, then to Kuala Lumpur in the western section (aka "KM", as the locals call it), and then on to Bintulu.  Total travel time, including layovers:  32 hours.  Yuck.

       I managed to secure window seats on most legs of my trip.  I was kinda excited about seeing Scandinavia, Germany, Austria, and southeast Europe from the air.  But it turned out to be a fruitless fantasy, as the entire region was terminally covered with thick clouds.  Major bummer.

       One thing I can say about both Emirates Airlines and Malaysia Airlines was:  they feed you very well.  It seems like, about every three hours or so, the attendants would bring out yet another meal.  It was, at times, more than I could possibly eat.  And I'm a pretty hearty eater.

       When we finally landed in Bintulu, I was pretty much a brain-dead zombie.  (I don't sleep well on airplanes, especially in leg-cramped Economy - even tho Emirates Economy class had a lot more leg room than on some American-based carriers.)  Then add onto that the fact that Malaysia is a whopping fourteen time zones from Houston. 

       According to correspondence with my business contacts, someone was to meet me at the Bintulu airport to provide ground transportation.  Hoping that all arrangements were in proper order, I nervously exited the baggage claim area in this strange airport in this strange land.  But a friendly, heavy-set young Asian man came up to me and addressed me by name.  He introduced himself as James, an employee of my client, and explained that he recognized me from my passport copy I'd sent.  That, and the fact that I was the ONLY Anglo in the whole airport, made it easy to identify me.

Me & James

      At his vehicle, I proceed to open the right front door, which is what I presumed was the passenger side.  O no, James corrected me, that's the driver's side.  Aack!  The vehicle is "backwards" - the right is the left and the left is the right!  Seems they drive on the left side of the road in this strange land.  Well it's a good thing they didn't plan on me RENTING a vehicle for this trip, as many decades of driving on the opposite side of the road is a hard habit to break.

My home for the next few days, the New World Hotel

Queenie (Philip's wife), me, & Philip

      So, did James just bring me straight to my hotel and drop me off for some much-needed rest and recuperation?  O no, no, no.  He explained that Phillip (his boss) and the others were waiting for us at a local restaurant with plenty of food and drink!  And so began the pattern that was to repeat for the next several days - food, drink, night life, and endless comradery and fellowship.  My exuberant, outgoing, party-animal hosts took gracious welcoming of their guest to a whole new level.

View outside my hotel room, looking right.

And looking left.