Hello My Friends!
Carla has gone postal again, this time back to Southeast Asia for a little rest, a lot of relaxation and some seriously fun times. I'm going to take you through the first week I spent here, traveling with Maggie Fezekas in Bali, Indonesia. But the adventure doesn't begin there, no, it begins 72 hours before in a little town called Chicago...
About 3 days before my flight was scheduled to depart Chicago O'Hare for a stop in Seattle, a stop in Seoul, and then finally in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) Vietnam, I got an email update from Orbitz saying my flight itinerary had changed. The new itinerary had me getting into Seoul with a 40 minute layover to get to my flight to Saigon. 40 minutes. Were they nuts? I had no idea if I had to go through immigration, customs, re-check my bags, anything but I was certain 40 minutes was not. enough. time.
So I called Orbitz, waited on hold for a long time, listened to some fantastic hold music, etc. I spoke with a very nice agent who said he was working with Asiana airlines, and the airline assured me "40 minutes is enough time." I wanted other options. That's when the Orbitz man suggested... a DIRECT FLIGHT to Saigon. What? Was this possible? I needed to call back after 4pm that day to confirm my seat.
After a few hours of working, squirming, and general anticipation, I called Asiana airlines directly. Unfortunately, no dice. They had never heard of a direct flight. Argh. But, again, they assured me, 40 minutes was enough time. I said, okay, but on record, your airline is putting me up in a hotel, and feeding me if you don't connect me in time. They said, okay!
So. I pack up the 5th grader (some of you remember that is what I call my backpack when I travel) who has now been on the Subway diet and resembles a 2nd grader! Amazing what traveling with 10kg worth of stuff will do for your peace of mine. I find the more stuff you bring, the more stressed you are. Come to think of it, I will probably unload half of my clothes here as I brought t-shirts that I can throw away, and some other clothing that is so well-traveled with me it is probably best if I leave them to rest in a foreign country. (Ahem, jean skirt from 2004, I'm looking at you.)
Arrive to the airport. Jump on a plane to Seattle. Arrive in Seattle for a 3 hour layover. Bam.
"Asiana Airlines regrets to inform you that your flight leaving Seattle is 3 hours late due to weather leaving Seoul, and you have been automatically re-booked the following day to Saigon. 7pm. The following day."
So with the kindest of kind glances towards the Asiana ticket counter, I hunkered down and waited to board. After all, I was already technically on Vac-Asia. What was I in a rush to do? Relax? Read my book? Think?
After a relatively low-stress flight (minus the screaming baby in the seat in front of me, btw tangent, how is it LEGAL to bring babies under the age of 1 on flights? I swear, the baby was crying because the pressure hurt his ears. The pressure was hurting MY ears, but I'm old enough to know how to pop them to relieve the pressure? I think they should open up an airline JUST for babies. Call it, Banished Air, and save the rest of us some unrest!) we landed in Seoul. I was most concerned that if I had any problems the following day getting to Vietnam, it would effect Maggie and my trip to Bali. That's where I draw the line, Asiana! Don't mess with my Vac-Asian! So, we get in, are unable to pick up our bags as they have been checked through, I've got my camera, my contact case, my toothbrush thank heavens, and that's it. 1 night in Seoul, here I come!
I met a really nice couple in line from Colorado, traveling to Thailand. We commiserated and shared the long bus ride to our hotel. Once there, at 11pm or 3pm to my body, we had a free dinner of Bulgogi and they nicely asked me to join them for a few beers out in Seoul. Might as well make it a mini-vac-asian and explore. We went out around 12:30am and grabbed a couple beers in the Itewan neighborhood? street? area? It was busy but felt so Western. Then we headed up to the night shopping district. At this point, it was around 2am. And the mall was HOPPIN'! Who would have thought in Seoul they shop until the wee hours of the morning?
We wandered around the market stalls, most people bartered a little, but I had my eye on other things to buy during my travels. Tony and Ginny, the couple from Colorado and I then headed over to a local noodle place to get some eats, because again, it was the middle of the night aka late evening for us and our stomachs were a growlin'. We went to this hole in the ground (not wall, as it was below ground level) place and got some good authentic food. I got dumplings in this spicy, seafood soup broth. So. Good. The toilet at the restaurant? Not. so. good. The biggest decision was which direction to face. The door? Or the wall?
After that, we headed back to the hotel to go to sleep around 4am. I was pretty gross after traveling, and my clothes were not the warmest. Seoul was still around 40 degrees F. After a fun eventful night, I went to sleep in the "Business Lounge Suite" of the Royal Seoul Hotel.
The next day, I woke up early around 9am, but I forced myself to go back to sleep to get on Asian time. Sounds counter-intuitive, but I had a plan. Force yourself to sleep late, don't sleep on the plane to Vietnam, then arrive, sleepy time.
After a 1.5 hour bus ride in the SPRAWLING AND VAST METROPOLIS that is, Seoul, we headed to the airport. The Seoul airport is beautiful, and I think designed the exact same as the Dubai airport in the UAE. I got a Caribou Coffee before boarding! Yes, I did! And then a short (6) hour flight to Vietnam. Once I arrived, I had to get my visa by presenting a letter and some passport photos. The letter appeared somewhat sketch as you can either pay $120US to the consulate in Washington, or $23 to an agency that gives you a letter and you pay $50US on arrival. I wanted to save the time and agro of shipping things back and forth between Washington, and come on, saving $50USD would mean I could have:
After some minor stress on my part as my Vietnamese is just not where it should be, I got the visa, got my baggage (thank you!) went through Immigration, met Maggie and cabbed it to her lovely apartment.
I had roughly 10 hours before I needed to return to the airport and fly from Ho Chi Minh City to Kuala Lampur, Malaysia. Go through customs, immigration, get our baggage, re-check in, re-enter customs, immigration and security and get on a flight from KL to Bali Denpasar airport. At this point, I could not wait to get on to my next airplane! Maggie hates to fly! So, we get on to our AirAsia flight, which are built for Asian sized people, not Carla-sized people. I was sitting as upright in my seat as possible, and my knees were still jammed into the seat in front of me. At the window seat was a tiny little thing that was sitting cross-legged, talking on her phone. Wait, I meant SCREAMING on her phone. The Vietnamese language is meant to be spoken 6 decibels louder that what level the hard of hearing people listen to.
"Mai HOW dong GOO CHI GAH!" (Direct translation not available)
Which means, I'm on a flight, talk to you later.
During take-off, Maggie was particularly nervous, so she grabbed my hand. On the other side, the Screaming Peanut as she will now be known grabbed Maggie's other hand. It was a sweet gesture, but we still can't determine if she was scared, or if she was comforting Maggie.
We made it through all the hoop jumping in Malaysia, and I can now say I've spent 3 hours in KL. Most of the time, we were trying to negotiate the Hot and Roll seller to sell us some food in US dollars, Vietnamese Dong, Korean Won or anything other than Malaysian currency. Nope. I'll go hungry.
Once we landed in Bali, the drama also began with my passport. Now, a mere mortal might be lucky to go through filling up their passport in 8, 10 maybe 15 years. It took me exactly 5 years to the day to fill up mine. I landed in Bali and there was literally, no place to put the visa. The immigration officer made me sweat (literally) it out, then gave me a stern warning, "This is the last one. You need more pages."
So, Mags and I met our driver who took us the 4 minutes from the airport to our first hotel in Kuta, the J Boutique Hotel, at US $30/night, per person. It was extremely nice.
And here is where our Balinese Adventure begins.
Kuta, Bali
Carla has gone postal again, this time back to Southeast Asia for a little rest, a lot of relaxation and some seriously fun times. I'm going to take you through the first week I spent here, traveling with Maggie Fezekas in Bali, Indonesia. But the adventure doesn't begin there, no, it begins 72 hours before in a little town called Chicago...
About 3 days before my flight was scheduled to depart Chicago O'Hare for a stop in Seattle, a stop in Seoul, and then finally in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) Vietnam, I got an email update from Orbitz saying my flight itinerary had changed. The new itinerary had me getting into Seoul with a 40 minute layover to get to my flight to Saigon. 40 minutes. Were they nuts? I had no idea if I had to go through immigration, customs, re-check my bags, anything but I was certain 40 minutes was not. enough. time.
So I called Orbitz, waited on hold for a long time, listened to some fantastic hold music, etc. I spoke with a very nice agent who said he was working with Asiana airlines, and the airline assured me "40 minutes is enough time." I wanted other options. That's when the Orbitz man suggested... a DIRECT FLIGHT to Saigon. What? Was this possible? I needed to call back after 4pm that day to confirm my seat.
After a few hours of working, squirming, and general anticipation, I called Asiana airlines directly. Unfortunately, no dice. They had never heard of a direct flight. Argh. But, again, they assured me, 40 minutes was enough time. I said, okay, but on record, your airline is putting me up in a hotel, and feeding me if you don't connect me in time. They said, okay!
So. I pack up the 5th grader (some of you remember that is what I call my backpack when I travel) who has now been on the Subway diet and resembles a 2nd grader! Amazing what traveling with 10kg worth of stuff will do for your peace of mine. I find the more stuff you bring, the more stressed you are. Come to think of it, I will probably unload half of my clothes here as I brought t-shirts that I can throw away, and some other clothing that is so well-traveled with me it is probably best if I leave them to rest in a foreign country. (Ahem, jean skirt from 2004, I'm looking at you.)
Arrive to the airport. Jump on a plane to Seattle. Arrive in Seattle for a 3 hour layover. Bam.
"Asiana Airlines regrets to inform you that your flight leaving Seattle is 3 hours late due to weather leaving Seoul, and you have been automatically re-booked the following day to Saigon. 7pm. The following day."
So with the kindest of kind glances towards the Asiana ticket counter, I hunkered down and waited to board. After all, I was already technically on Vac-Asia. What was I in a rush to do? Relax? Read my book? Think?
After a relatively low-stress flight (minus the screaming baby in the seat in front of me, btw tangent, how is it LEGAL to bring babies under the age of 1 on flights? I swear, the baby was crying because the pressure hurt his ears. The pressure was hurting MY ears, but I'm old enough to know how to pop them to relieve the pressure? I think they should open up an airline JUST for babies. Call it, Banished Air, and save the rest of us some unrest!) we landed in Seoul. I was most concerned that if I had any problems the following day getting to Vietnam, it would effect Maggie and my trip to Bali. That's where I draw the line, Asiana! Don't mess with my Vac-Asian! So, we get in, are unable to pick up our bags as they have been checked through, I've got my camera, my contact case, my toothbrush thank heavens, and that's it. 1 night in Seoul, here I come!
I met a really nice couple in line from Colorado, traveling to Thailand. We commiserated and shared the long bus ride to our hotel. Once there, at 11pm or 3pm to my body, we had a free dinner of Bulgogi and they nicely asked me to join them for a few beers out in Seoul. Might as well make it a mini-vac-asian and explore. We went out around 12:30am and grabbed a couple beers in the Itewan neighborhood? street? area? It was busy but felt so Western. Then we headed up to the night shopping district. At this point, it was around 2am. And the mall was HOPPIN'! Who would have thought in Seoul they shop until the wee hours of the morning?
We wandered around the market stalls, most people bartered a little, but I had my eye on other things to buy during my travels. Tony and Ginny, the couple from Colorado and I then headed over to a local noodle place to get some eats, because again, it was the middle of the night aka late evening for us and our stomachs were a growlin'. We went to this hole in the ground (not wall, as it was below ground level) place and got some good authentic food. I got dumplings in this spicy, seafood soup broth. So. Good. The toilet at the restaurant? Not. so. good. The biggest decision was which direction to face. The door? Or the wall?
After that, we headed back to the hotel to go to sleep around 4am. I was pretty gross after traveling, and my clothes were not the warmest. Seoul was still around 40 degrees F. After a fun eventful night, I went to sleep in the "Business Lounge Suite" of the Royal Seoul Hotel.
The next day, I woke up early around 9am, but I forced myself to go back to sleep to get on Asian time. Sounds counter-intuitive, but I had a plan. Force yourself to sleep late, don't sleep on the plane to Vietnam, then arrive, sleepy time.
After a 1.5 hour bus ride in the SPRAWLING AND VAST METROPOLIS that is, Seoul, we headed to the airport. The Seoul airport is beautiful, and I think designed the exact same as the Dubai airport in the UAE. I got a Caribou Coffee before boarding! Yes, I did! And then a short (6) hour flight to Vietnam. Once I arrived, I had to get my visa by presenting a letter and some passport photos. The letter appeared somewhat sketch as you can either pay $120US to the consulate in Washington, or $23 to an agency that gives you a letter and you pay $50US on arrival. I wanted to save the time and agro of shipping things back and forth between Washington, and come on, saving $50USD would mean I could have:
- 7 1-hour long massages
- 14 30-min foot massages
- 10 Balinese traditional wooden masks
- 102 bottles of 1 Liter water
- 4 Balinese puppies
After some minor stress on my part as my Vietnamese is just not where it should be, I got the visa, got my baggage (thank you!) went through Immigration, met Maggie and cabbed it to her lovely apartment.
I had roughly 10 hours before I needed to return to the airport and fly from Ho Chi Minh City to Kuala Lampur, Malaysia. Go through customs, immigration, get our baggage, re-check in, re-enter customs, immigration and security and get on a flight from KL to Bali Denpasar airport. At this point, I could not wait to get on to my next airplane! Maggie hates to fly! So, we get on to our AirAsia flight, which are built for Asian sized people, not Carla-sized people. I was sitting as upright in my seat as possible, and my knees were still jammed into the seat in front of me. At the window seat was a tiny little thing that was sitting cross-legged, talking on her phone. Wait, I meant SCREAMING on her phone. The Vietnamese language is meant to be spoken 6 decibels louder that what level the hard of hearing people listen to.
"Mai HOW dong GOO CHI GAH!" (Direct translation not available)
Which means, I'm on a flight, talk to you later.
During take-off, Maggie was particularly nervous, so she grabbed my hand. On the other side, the Screaming Peanut as she will now be known grabbed Maggie's other hand. It was a sweet gesture, but we still can't determine if she was scared, or if she was comforting Maggie.
We made it through all the hoop jumping in Malaysia, and I can now say I've spent 3 hours in KL. Most of the time, we were trying to negotiate the Hot and Roll seller to sell us some food in US dollars, Vietnamese Dong, Korean Won or anything other than Malaysian currency. Nope. I'll go hungry.
Once we landed in Bali, the drama also began with my passport. Now, a mere mortal might be lucky to go through filling up their passport in 8, 10 maybe 15 years. It took me exactly 5 years to the day to fill up mine. I landed in Bali and there was literally, no place to put the visa. The immigration officer made me sweat (literally) it out, then gave me a stern warning, "This is the last one. You need more pages."
So, Mags and I met our driver who took us the 4 minutes from the airport to our first hotel in Kuta, the J Boutique Hotel, at US $30/night, per person. It was extremely nice.
And here is where our Balinese Adventure begins.
