Vacation Has Officially Started!

Salam..

Alhamdulillah, we have arrived in Malaysia, uneventfully, despite the recent roars about Aer Lingus planning a possibly no-notice strike..

Limerick-Cork-Amsterdam-Kuala Lumpur

We left Limerick on Friday evening after work.. Obviously I was oncall the Thursday night, so my level of fatigue was up to my eyeballs.. After a shower, Mas Mahadi kindly sent us to the bus station and we board a bus straight to Cork.. Wan and Fid had brought our three bags to Cork the night before, so we travelled to Cork that Friday evening with just two hand luggage..

We arrived in Cork that evening well and were picked up by Wan and Fid again.. They brought us to Spice of India for dinner.. Then only we went to the Radisson Hotel near the airport.. The night was indeed chilly, made worse by my forgetfulness to bring along my sweater.. We checked in and said goodbye to the two and went to bed early.. I was almost nightmare-ish thinking that I may not wake up the next morning to catch the flight as I was truly exhausted.. (The oncall was exceptionally horrible - an SVT, a symptomatic brady, a fast a-fib, a benzo withdrawal with seizures, two meningitis' and four chest pains!) Luckily, I remembered to ask for the wake-up call service from the hotel..

We woke up at 4am Saturday morning and got ready for the airport.. We got the shuttle bus and checked-in straight for the 0620hrs flight to Amsterdam.. We managed to check all our bags straight to KL and got the boarding passes for the AMS-KUL flight too.. Flight was smooth, alhamdulillah..

We had Dutch-style breakfast with (extremely sour) tomato soup, a big bap of egg sandwich and coffee and tea.. I has an extra danish for myself too.. Before we board, I got hold of the current Newsweek and Ina bought some souvenirs.. We did see some lovely Dutch souvenirs but we figured it would meant more if we bought them when we do visit the place, not just 'fake' visits like airport transits.. So, no miniature windmills for the people in Malaysia this time..

Alhamdulillah, flight got up in the sky on time and our hearts were thumping ragingly demarcating our official holiday break is on GO.. After several movies, a few Britney songs, a faint man and a couple of naps, we arrived in Kuala Lumpur unharmed yet I felt slightly feverish thanks to the quick body temperature re-adjustment physiology.. Mama, Erin and Zaqwan were waiting for us outside and we went straight home to Seremban..

Nasi Lemak Breakfast and Banana Boat Ride

Mama had prepared a delicacy yet to be challenged by any known chef - the famous Nasi Lemak with sambal ikan bilis (anchovie chilli gravy) and sambal udang (prawn chilli gravy).. Quick breakfast and rest, we decided that we would see the sea.. Yes, people - to the sea straight after touching down home!

We bought some lunch on the way and headed to Teluk Kemang, Port Dickson, which was about a half-hours drive from Seremban.. There, we took a banana-boat ride and got ourselves soaked wet in the process.. But it was definitely worth it!

After lunch by the beach, we headed back home, showered and I was drained to my last bit of my bone.. Short nap and now blogging after re-setting the router..

Well, that is the story so far.. I will try to keep this updated.. I have planned to dictate our vacation and update the blog when the opportunity arrives but I cannot promise this would be a daily update.. Alright, people.. My Vacation is officially running its course.. Till next time, bye.. Salam..

* To Intan : If you're reading this, not to worry.. We'll send more text messages and pictures to keep you informed (and - obviously - jealous!)

* To Mas, Wan and Fid : Thanks for helping us out.. Thanks for the dinner at Spice of India and the ride to Radisson..

* Unfortunately, after multiple attempts, I was not able to upload any images for this entry.. Hence, I will leave it to your imaginations to re-live our great day-one of our holiday..