Touch Down In Malaysia

Finally we touch down in Malaysia at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport.  Kim is excited and frankly, I am really not sure what to expect.  She is going into familiar territory, I am not.  How will I be accepted by her family.  I am sure that I felt pretty much the same way as Kim did when she was about to meet my mother for the first time, although she had a bit of a head start as she had already met my kids, sister and brother.

We deplane, following the signs going up ramps, down stairs, finding and taking a train, then up stairs, down hallways until we reach immigration control.  We provide our passports, stand quietly as they are scrutinized, then stamped and returned.  Now off down the hallway and, lo & behold, we have arrived at the luggage carousel (along with all three hundred and some from our aircraft).  Seems our baggage took a much more circuitous route than we as it was a good long wait before the first bag from the plane made its appearance.  And wouldn't you know it, the chap standing beside me was happy as it was his bag, and he was gone.  We waited, and waited, and waited.  More bags appeared.  Finally we saw the first of our bags, all of which I had specially marked with duct tape, as per "Red Green" (sorry, not all my friends will understand this reference but you can Google it).  The second bag made its appearance after some time and then, wowzers, along came bag number three.  Not only had Kim and I arrived, but all our luggage had as well.  A celebratory moment indeed!

Now off to customs where we, and all other passengers, were waved through the area without even slowing down.

Now came our next challenge.  Kim's daughter Cynthia had sent her boyfriend Henry to Kuala Lumpur (from this point on referred to as KL) to pick us up.  The challenge, not having met we only had photos to go by, and one knows how accurate they can be at times.  There were not a lot of Chinese ladies with western husbands however so Henry spotted us before we spotted him.  After greetings came another challenge (sorry is this is sounding like Amazing Race).  Cars in Malaysia generally are considerably smaller than cars in Canada.  For example, a Toyota Corolla would be considered fairly large, a Prius about average (although I don't think either one is really sold here under those names).  So now it is time to show some real imagination and shoehorn our three checked luggage, two carry-ons, a computer bag and a purse into Henry's Proton Saga.  Good thing there were only three passengers.  Whew!

Prior to getting all the baggage in the car one of my immediate actions was to unpack my trusty Nikon from my carry-on bag so that I could be ready to put it to work.

Now it was off on a drive of about an hour and a half to the city of Melaka, our final destination.  I am including a few shots taken on the trip from KL to Melaka.

Upon our arrival there we completed a journey spanning approximately 13,800 km and 28.5 hours since we left our home in Edmonton.

Next - we have arrived.