April 7, 2013-
Are you ready to leave this tropical island getaway??? No??? Me neither!!!
We really need to psych ourselves up today as it's going to be one of the l-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-ongest days we've ever had. I wish I was joking but I'm not. I'll give you a run down of what today will be like so that you can prepare yourself mentally: first we'll take a boat ride to the mainland, then a van will take us back to the Kota Bharu airport and then we'll fly to Kuala Lumpur. Wait. It doesn't end there. We'll put our bags into temporary storage at the airport and we'll head into the city via the train for an all-day, fast-paced excursion into KL. I'm not done yet. Then we'll head back to the airport, pick up our luggage and finally check-in and fly back to Tianjin. Got all that???
ummmmmmmmmm…..
I think I got half of it.
Just remember: Go with the flow. :-) and : Enjoy the journey.
Okay…I think I'm getting a little ahead of myself. Let's eat some breakfast, take some last minute photos and pack up our bags!
Here's a glimpse of what our room looked like:
The girls' room (with two single beds):
Tuna Bay was definitely not a five-star resort…but then again we don't want and didn't need a five-star resort. All we needed was a roof over our heads and preferably with toilet/shower/AC- which these rooms had. Just to make sure I'm making myself clear: the accomodations at Tuna Bay Resort were exactly what we'd hoped for (our basic needs were met). The activities desk at the resort was very helpful. It's only the restaurant (and theoretical bar) that needs to get it together and improve the quality and speed of their service. Other than our beef with the restaurant this place is an overall excellent place to visit!
The on-demand water heater in the shower…which just didn't like me. :-/
A tiny lizard/gecko greeted us on our bed:
Check-out time:
Here's our ride:
Good bye Tuna Bay Resort:
(we're unwinding everything we did getting to Tuna Bay…boat ride followed by a car ride back to the airport)
Drive from the pier to the Kota Bharu airport:
Lots of very colorful, cheerful houses and buildings…from turquoise to lime green to purple to pink.
It was an interesting ride through the Malaysian countryside. The buildings are colorful. It doesn't look like a well-to-do area – lots of trash, lots of road-side stands selling watermelons, cantaloupes, fish and other prepared foods.
We're all checked in and we've gone through security.
At the Kota Bharu airport waiting for our gate to open:
My goonie Ava:
The sandwich cookies we bought in one of the airport shops:
The flight from Kota Bharu to KL was fast and uneventful. My favorite kind of flight!
Time to stow the luggage in the KL airport storage facilities and venture into the heart of the city.
Do you know what's nice about Kuala Lumpur? Everything is in English! What a nice extra bonus for us. We certainly never expect it traveling but it is soooo nice.
On the train heading into KL:
Okay, the train from the airport dropped us off at the central train station. We need to get on another train to take us to the central park area.
At one of the train stations in KL:
The famous Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur:
We found a fantastic place for lunch:
I honestly don't know if this is actually Malaysian cuisine- this street-side restaurant served a lot of spicy curries and yummy naan. It was definitely on the spicy side!
*********
We still have a few hours left to kill in KL so let's head to the
The Aquaria is more than an aquarium…it has all sorts of animals and exhibits. Since we've spent the past week snorkeling and observing the coral reefs + fish we only did a quick glance at those particular tanks.
The piranha tank:
I've never seen a living nautilus before:
And one of my favorite animals:
After the visit to the Aquaria we checked out the central park…such a gorgeous retreat in the middle of a hustling and bustling city. And with a HUGE children's play area:
If there was ever a moment of fear or panic in my life as a parent it was today – the girls had asked if they could play on the play ground equipment. One minute we see them and the next minute they vanished among the throng of a hundred children playing on this massive play ground. Sheer panic! Luckily, our story has a happy ending and we found the girls in a matter of minutes. They didn't realize that they should remain in viewing distance of us. Oops. Now they know!!!
<enter HUGE sigh of relief>
Now the girls are glued to our side for the duration of our trip!
We *reeeeally* wanted to visit the Sky Bridge in the twin towers but sadly they closed entry to it earlier than normal today. Rats.
There is a giant mall at the base of the towers….it's MANY stories tall:
The girls and I shared a piece of rainbow cake. How could I pass it up???
Time to head back to the airport via a train ride, pick up luggage & check-in for our flight.
Time to go through security & board our flight for Seoul.
We all tried to sleep as much as possible on that flight (we left KL after 23:00).
Arrive in Incheon … feeling "as fresh as daisy". Or not.
The girls absolutely love the Seoul/Incheon airport because of the hands-on arts and crafts booth:
And Annika's medallion:
Time to board for our flight to Tianjin. Good bye Malaysia; hello China!