Our First Change of Plans

(But likely not our last)

Last week we experienced our first major change of plans. If this had occurred on a one-week vacation, it would have been a disaster. But on a months-long journey, it was inevitable, expected even.

We arrived in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, after a long day of travel. We had flown from Australia to Singapore and then from Singapore to KL. We had been advised to use Grab instead of Uber, but hadn't quite figured out how to effectively utilize the app. We stood at the curb of the KL airport at 10 pm (which felt like midnight due to the time change) waiting for a car to transport the four of us and our 9 bags to our hotel. After waiting 15 minutes, our ride finally arrived. Let's just say that M had not fully grasped the Grab app, and had not requested an appropriately sized vehicle. What looked like a 4-door SmartCar pulled up next to us.

I told M that we were not going to fit into this car, a sentiment mirrored in the expression of the driver when he saw the four of us and our bags. M was not going to be defeated, however, and proceeded to Tetris all of us and our belongings into the car with confidence.

S, Z and I were practically horizontal in the backseat with our feet up in front of us on our suitcases, holding our backpacks in our 'laps' (if one can have a lap while almost supine). M was comfortable in the front seat as his suitcase was the only one that fit into the "trunk," which I think is a generous name for the gap behind the backseat.

As I couldn't see the driver's phone and ETA at our hotel, I asked M how long the ride would be, but then before he could answer I changed my mind and told him that, actually, I really didn't want to know. I'm not sure if it was the car's suspension, the road conditions, or the weight of all of us overwhelming the vehicle, but let's just say that for the next hour the kids and I (literally) lay back and bounced down the highway. (And giggled the whole way.)

When we finally arrived at the hotel after 11 pm, we waited for what seemed like a very long time for someone to come check us in. It also didn't look like a hotel, but an apartment building; it also had a 7-Eleven on the ground floor, making it less like a hotel. And there was no sign either, making it even less like a hotel. All bad signs.

When someone finally did come to check us in, he said that we needed to pay for the 4-day stay upfront, in cash. After some back and forth about the ridiculousness of this request, M told him that we would need to see the room before we handed over any cash. The night manager reluctantly agreed and took us up the elevator to the room.

When he opened the door, we were quite impressed with the number of bugs that were brazenly standing their ground in the bright florescent lighting. None ran for cover, scurried for the corners, or scooted out of sight. They were present and proud, clearly comfortable in their ownership of the space, enjoying the humidity that resulted in black mold marks on the walls and yellowing bedsheets. The kids quickly used their best math skills to add up the number of bugs they could see and calculate the average number of bugs per square foot, while M and I looked at each other and non-verbally communicated the universal facial expression for there-is-absolutely-no-way-we-are-staying-here.

After some reluctance on his part, the night manager showed us another room, which was visibly cleaner but smelled of backed-up sewage. We politely declined and told him that, although either would have been fine if it was just M and me, we would not be able to stay here with our children, as they are delicate creatures unfortunately. A little white lie to soften the blow that we would not be staying nor would we be paying him in cash. (M did give him a little "deposit" money to ease the pain of having held a room for us for the last 11 months that would then go unoccupied.)

As we walked out of the second room, at 11:30 pm, M quickly pulled up Booking.com and found a room at the Mandarin Oriental. We called another Grab, and again a too-small car pulled up. As the driver shook his head that there was no way we were going to fit, M threw our stuff in and told us to climb in before the driver could cancel our ride and flee. Five minutes later we un-Tetris'd ourselves and our bags from his car and stepped into the Mandarin Oriental.

The luxurious hotel was a welcome change and we figured we could afford it if we shortened our trip by a few weeks off the back end. At midnight, after a 12 hour journey plus two tiny car rides and two dirty/smelly/bug-infested rooms, the thought of shortening our trip by two weeks was a welcome price to pay.