I had a window seat on my flight from Osaka to Kuala Lumpur, and as the plane began its descent over Kuala Lumpur I had a good look at the scene below when I began to notice the same patterns of jungle, high rise buildings, swamps, mud, old buildings, and road networks repeating themselves...
It turned out that we had arrived just in time for the afternoon rain storm, a particularly vicious one and so the plane had been put into circling mode.
Then came an ominous announcement from the captain:
"We will circle until the weather clears up.."
How long will that take, I wondered? Six hours? Three days? Who knows...
In the end, the storm delayed our arrival by an hour.
Navigating Customs
I got through customs more easily than I expected, although I got lost in the baggage collection hall, wandering the wrong way and so taking almost as much time to get to the immigration gates as if I had actually stowed some luggage that needed picking up. I hadn't. It didn't.
Then I was worried about how to get through the immigration gate - would I have to tell an immigration officer that I'd filled in my online entry form? How would I prove that? Would they have it on record? - The incessant jabber of the monkey brain would not let up.
None of that was necessary; all you have to do is shove your passport on the reader (I put it on the wrong way round a couple of times) and look at the camera. Once you get it right, the gate magically opens, and there you are, in Malaysia at last...
The first thing I did was to change some Japanese yen for Malysian ringgit. I did that at the first exchange bureau I came across and got a much better rate than I got in Hiroshima. (The exchange bureau in Hiroshima only had a total supply of 200 ringgit, which was just as well, considering the exhorbitant rates they were charging.)
I was going to get a sim card, but in the end I just wanted to get out of there and get to the hotel as quickly as possible... and anyway, would I really need a sim card? ...
KLIA Ekspres to the City Centre (via Terminal 2!!)
I wanted to get to the hotel by public transport rather than grab a cab - the KLIA Ekspres train gets you from the airport to KL Sentral in about 30 minutes, and then the monorail line gets you to within 300 yards of the hotel.
So, armed with my wad of ringgit, I approached the KLIA Ekspres barrier and looked around for a ticket machine to dump some ringgit into, but it turns out they run a cashless ticketing service.
I got some help from a couple of assistants and tried to pay with my Japanese JCB card, which completely failed even though there is a "JCB" logo on the machine.
Next, I tried my spanking new and recently cashed up Wise card, and it worked a treat without needing a PIN number (which I'd forgotten - more on "forgotten PIN numbers" in a bit...), and so I was on the train in a matter of minutes - but ineptly got on the WRONG TRAIN and ended up at terminal 2.
Talk about snakes and ladders.
However, a train promptly arrived on the opposite platform and pretty soon I was speeding towards the city centre... well aware that the Opening Drinks party was already under way... would there be any beer left by the time I got there?
The World's Slowest Monorail?
Next challenge... walk 140 yards to the monorail station, wherever it might be. It turned out to be an easy walk, but even so, I checked my progress with a couple of police officers along the way.
Good news! You can pay in cash for monorail tickets. I gave the ticket lady a 50 ringgit note and she gave me a bunch of change, but no ticket, which baffled me, until she waved me over to the... ticket machines. One ticket to Bukit Bintang cost three ringgit forty sen, and a train arrives every eight minutes according to the notice, which I foolishly believed.
Twenty minutes later, the platform now packed with commuters, a train finally showed up. We pushed our way on board and off it trundled at little more than walking pace. It seemed to take ages to get just a few stops down the line to Bukit Bintang.
More Circling...
Now, just 300 yards from the hotel, but with no sim card and so no way to access Google Maps, I just sort of guessed which way to go, which of course turned out to be the wrong way. Nobody seemed to have heard of the KL Journal Hotel. I circled back to KL Sentral and found a Japanese fashion shop so went in there and a kind shop assistant pointed me towards the Macdonalds and said it's up there and on the left... which left she did not say...
So there I was ambling around among the street restaurants and tripping over a beggar or two, probably now within 100 metres of my destination when I decided to head back to the main road, but down a different side road, when, to my immense relief, I stumbled upon... the KL Journal Hotel!
"I HAVE ARRIVED!" I thought... BUT not so fast, Buster, there is another challenge to be faced yet!
The Forgotten PIN Number Disaster
I received a friendly welcome and checked in okay. Then, to my surprise the receptionist asked me how I would like to PAY...
What? I thought I had paid ages ago when I gave my credit card details. Apparently not.
I pulled out the credit card I'd used when I booked my room, but it didn't work because... I couldn't remember my PIN number!
Then I tried Wise, since at the KLIA Ekspres station I'd been able to use it without a PIN number, but to my dismay the hotel card reader required a PIN number. My brain was so addled by that time that I couldn't remember it at all.
So there I was stuck. Eventually, the receptionist telephoned the manager and got permission to let me check in and resolve the payment issue the next day. Obviously, it was a relief to be let into the hotel, but what a pain in the backside to have to run around the next day when I should be attending Day 1 of the Hive Fest...
I had a shower and decided, before heading to the Opening Drinks (if there are any left by now), to go back down to the reception and offer to pay half the bill in cash - yes the bulk of the ringgit that I had got at the airport. The receptionist agreed and so I handed over 700 ringgit - and then had to ask him for a receipt, which he did not know how to print out... and so another delay.
Eventually, with the first couple of days of my stay paid for, and with a receipt in my hand, I was able to head up to the roof and join the Opening Drinks party!
Phew. What a shaggy dog story my arrival at the KL Journal Hotel turned out to be, but at least I could now say, I AM (finally) HERE! And here is the proof:
It was wonderful finally to meet my fellow "Hivers" for the first time ever - and to be given my conference lanyard and goodie bag, and the first cleansing beer of the HiveFest!
One of the waiters, seeing me taking a selfie over the swimming pool while trying not to fall in took pity on me and took this photo of me for me, which is now for you:
Once that was done, I put my phone in my pocket and completely forgot about taking selfies with my fellow Hivers. 🫣
Beer, grub, and chatter. It was well worth the struggle to get from the plane to the hotel! LOL!
Cheers!
DH
#InspiredFocus ??
My Hive Fest Diary 1: @hirohurl/my-hive-fest-diary-1-i-made-it-to-osaka-kansai-international-airport