As you know if you've been reading my blog, I'm currently not working. I made the decision to travel a bit while I'm off work and take advantage of being a freelancer. I always envied people who would work a few months then take a significant amount of time off to travel. I did the "Sue is a worrywart" version of that. I went to Chicago for a long weekend at the end of October (blog post pending on Chi-town movies) and most recently (like I got home a few days ago) I went to Malaysia. I'd been to Kuala Lumpur (KL) once many years ago and had always wanted to go back and check out the beaches. My dear friend Rachel and her boyfriend Stefan are currently traveling the world and agreed to meet me there for this trip. (You can read Rachel's post about our trip here: https://rachhitstheroad.com/2016/11/15/penang-with-friends/) Another friend, Dave, also signed up to join us so we had an instant party.
We had a great time. We traveled around Penang, which is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of the Malaysian peninsula. There is honestly not a ton to do there but lay around by the pool or beach (sadly the ocean has a ton of jellyfish and even though Dave valiantly volunteered to pee on any of us if we got stung, we stuck to swimming in the pools) and eat amazing food. Malaysia has a big Chinese and Indian population, so the food was varied and fantastic.
Before I get into the shit I watched on my various flights, I thought I'd share a bit of my travels with you guys.
- The first leg of my flight was SFO to Hong Kong. It left at midnight and I had a middle seat (poor planning on my part) in between an Indian woman who spoke a bit of English and a Chinese woman who spoke no English but talked anyway at top volume and employed elaborate and energetic pantomime to communicate (later, the Indian woman indicated to me that she thought the Chinese woman might be hard of hearing. I think she was right.). At one point I was searching for a movie to watch and stopped on one selection to read the description. The Chinese woman started talking at me and waving her hands. I said "oh, you want me to watch this?" and she finally reaches over and selects the movie to play. This is a two part procedure, so she CLEARLY wanted me to watch. I had to laugh and said "okay, I'm gonna watch this one". She looked very pleased.
- I flew in the day of the election, so we followed the results the next morning. We started drinking necessary gin and tonics at 11am.
- I know for me (and I think for Rachel, too) it was nice to be with like-minded American friends since we were so far from home. I really felt the distance, watching the debacle from Penang.
- We saw two EPIC thunderstorms. One was in Kuala Lumpur and one was in Batu Ferringhi (and yes, I constantly worried that Romulans or Klingons would attack us). We sat outside (under cover) for both of them and, being a California drought girl, these were two of my favorite moments. I think Stefan (a German) thought I was crazy to be so excited about rain, but seriously it was gorgeous.
- We got very creative.
- We thought of a name for Dave's first born (although I don't believe there are any plans for a first born any time soon): Noodles.
- We named two street dogs and one street cat the same name (Malaysia is clearly not big on neutering animals): Balls
- We discovered a new disease: Hand Tourette's. This is when you uncontrollably flip people off (can be done in several languages).
- We met super interesting people.
- We got some lovely coconut ice cream milkshakes in Batu Ferringhi. There was a "charming" little urchin who apparently knew the shop owner. He was drinking something out of a bag (I saw several of these around, our drinks came in a huge palm tree glass. Sigh) so I smiled at him and asked "What are you drinking?" He shot me considerable side eye and said "Something else." Wow.
Yummy milkshakes in silly cups
- One night in Georgetown, Rachel and I were having a drink in a bar called Junk. Contrary to it's name, it was a nice little bar with great drinks. We went there twice. This time we were sitting outside and suddenly the bartender told us someone inside was buying drinks for the whole bar. The someone in question was a guy named Sonni. Yes, with an I. Sonni apparently was a Malay man who was living in Singapore. He was sitting with two Brits (Luke from London and Connor from Cornwall (I REALLY wanted Connor to look like Poldark and while he was pretty darn cute, he was no Aidan Turner)) who he had just met that night. They had multiple buckets of beer and packs of cigarettes in front of them, all courtesy of Sonni. I asked Luke why we were all getting free drinks and Luke's theory was that Sonni was a drug dealer. We ended up sitting with them for a while and making Stefan come join us because a) safety and b) he just had to see this. By time we left, Sonni looked like he was going to pass out on the bar. Good times.
Now to get on to some Revues:
USA to HK:
Secret Life of Pets - released in 2016
Last time I did a "shit I watched on the plane" I talked about Sleeper Films, which are movies that make you fall asleep. Unfortunately (because you all know I love me some animation) this was one of those. To be fair, I was taking a midnight flight so I was super tired, but it still didn't keep my attention. I'm willing to give this movie another try, though.
Thumbs middle.
Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie - released in 2016
This is the movie the Chinese woman chose for me. I doubt I would have chosen it for myself but it kept my attention. I watched the show intermittently so honestly I was left a bit "meh" about this one.
Thumbs middle.
HK To Singapore:
The Boss - released in 2016
Melissa McCarthy and Kristen Bell are in everything this year. I know this movie didn't get good reviews, but I really enjoyed it. There is no doubt that it has a simple. overused plot (it's a Grinch storyline) but McCarthy and Bell are both charming and funny and the kid actors were good too. Simple storylines tend to work best on multi-leg flights anyway, so it was a perfect plane movie.
Thumbs up!
In Kuala Lumpur
The Nice Guys - released in 2016
We had an fantastic hotel in KL for one night, so instead of hoofing it around town (we had also lived through one of the epic thunderstorms and gotten soaked on our way to tour Petronas Towers) we decided to have a movie night and bask in our amazing hotel with the perfect view. This movie stars Ryan Gosling (hey girl!) and Russell Crowe. We weren't sure if it was supposed to be a comedy or not, but the bottom line is neither of those guys do comedy particularly well. Also, it takes place in the 70s, so it felt a bit like it was trying too hard to be like Boogie Nights. Meh.
Thumbs middle.
View from my bedroom in KL!
Singapore to HK:
Bad Moms - released in 2016
The bad moms are played by Mila Kunis, Kristen Bell (see, she's EVERYwhere!) and Kathryn Hahn (who is hilarious!!). Again, simple plot - basically Mean Girls with adults. But it's irreverent and funny (I LOL'd) and super easy to watch on a plane. I think this was my favorite thing I watched on this trip.
Thumbs up!
HK to USA:
Emerald Green - released in 2016
This is a German fantasy film (possibly YA?) about time travel which is why I picked it (I love time travel!). It is clearly a sequel and by doing a little research it appears that its the third movie in the Red Ruby trilogy. Its about a girl who is part of some kind of time travel society. It concludes the story, but I was able to still piece some of it together (even with subtitles!). I enjoyed it (although it's very much like a book series I just read - The Chronos Files series) and will see if I can find the other two films so I can get the whole story.
Thumbs up!
Central Intelligence - released in 2016
I so so love the Rock. He can really do no wrong! Including being in movies with Kevin Hart. This movie is cute and again with the simple plot. I was tired and jet lagged yet I still was able to figure out the plot twist very early on. What made up for the simplicity was the fact that the Rock is always able to infuse some heart in his films. And he has such a good sense of humor - as evidenced by the fanny pack, love of Sixteen Candles and the unicorn t-shirt. Also, Melissa McCarthy has an adorable cameo (because she's in everything).
Thumbs up!
My takeaways:
#1 - I flew Singapore Air and I highly recommend them. My favorite long distance airline is still Emirates but Singapore Air is a close second. Clean, comfortable and on time!
#2 - I really enjoyed seeing more of Malaysia. The beaches are lovely and the people are even lovelier.
#3 - For some reason, I'm having a hell of a time with jet lag. So while I'm likely to be napping all day, if anyone wants to chat between 3am - 6am, I'm available!
xoxo....hashtagSueslife
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