Prologue - The Arrival

Ok ok I know this is looooooooooooooooooooooooooong overdue. +_+ I'm going to divide these into a couple of posts. One for each week kinda... I actually planned to only write about the 8-day road trip that I went on.... but then concluded that an 'introduction' is needed before that post. So... without delaying any more than I already have..... *lol* I present to you.... the post.

Sunday - 21st September 2008

I've been waiting for this day for quite a long time... about 6 months to be exact. [Lol that's like so weird cos I said 'about' 6 months to be 'exact'] Anyways, I left home in the morning and drove to KLIA to pick Ben up from the airport. OK before I go on... lemme explain who Ben is.

So early this year I kinda got into an online relationship with someone in WoW who I've known for about 3 years. We were just friends for a long time till early this year where we spent a lot of time online together and in game and well... we got closer and kinda got together. Now before any of you shoot me about not telling you I have a boyfriend.... I didn't want to tell anyone before we actually meet and that I actually like him in person, not just some online fling. So anyways, Ben decided to visit me and that's where this whole situation comes about :p

So anyways back to the story.... I arrived at KLIA and headed to the arrival hall. Checked the flight information and there was only 1 China Airlines flight and it has already landed. One problem though... the flight number wasn't the same as the one Ben informed me. Since that was the only China Airline flight which has landed and there are no other China Airlines flight scheduled to land, I assume that might be the flight. I arrive about 10 mins after the stated arrival time, so I rushed to the meeting place we've set out to meet. Looked around the meeting point, no Ben.

I kinda started to panic thinking if I got the right day, if he never actually came and that I've been stood up, if I got the time right between AM and PM, etc. I started calling my brother to ask about stuff and texted Vorcon too to try and calm down. My bro told me to get something to eat cos it was lunch time and I was getting hungry. But I couldn't sit and eat while being this panicky. So I kept moving back and forth from the arrival area and the place we decided to meet. [The map from the KLIA website was confusing and we thought the place we agreed to meet at was right at the arrival area. It was actually, except it's for domestic flights and not international flights] I think I paced to and fro about 15 times.

Everytime I'm at the arrival area I keep thinking maybe he's at the meeting area waiting, and that I didn't see him while walking from the meeting area to the arrival area (or vice versa) maybe because we happen to be on each sides of a pillar or a wall so it blocked out view. After my 15th time being at the meeting area and thinking the same thing and walking back to the arrival area, I spotted him. It was where the elevators were. He was walking towards the meeting area and I was walking back towards the arrival area so we kinda met halfway.

Man what a huge relief it was. I called my brother and texted Vorcon, informing them about the situation. We headed to Burger King which Ben says the burger tastes just like home, and then I got a shocking present. *points to below picture*



I reeeeaaaaaalllllyyyyyy like the necklace A LOT. The rubies are pinkish in the right light and that made me love it even more! The chain is really really thin which makes it rather fragile and there's always the fear of it breaking and me losing the pendant though. So after we've gotten our lunch, we headed to Melaka.

I drove straight to Equitorial Hotel (where Ben's staying for a week) and we arrived about 4pm. I dropped him at the lobby while I went to park. ZOMG the parking fee there is like RM5 per entrance now! It started at RM2, then RM3 and now RM5? Ridiculous! Equitorial Hotel Melaka management, if you're reading this, your parking fees are way too expensive! Anyways, upon checking in and making sure hotel guests have free parking (phew~!), a bellboy brought us to the room and I kinda forgot to tell Ben on the way to the hotel, that we don't really need to tip bellboys here. So Ben looked at me and asked if I had any small notes (He only had RM50 notes). Actually the bellboy had started walking away after showing us the way to the room and putting Ben's suitcase in but Ben's action/gestures of wanting to tip and asking me for smaller denominations made him wait. Opened my purse and the smallest was a RM10 note. X_X Oh well.... so the bellboy got a HUGE tip for dragging the suitcase (yeah he didn't even need to carry it cos it was the ones with wheels!) and showing us the room. Oh well...

We left the hotel later and went to Wok & Pan for dinner and that was a bad first experience for Ben. +_+ I didn't know their Hong Kong Beef Noodle wasn't that great and well Ben ordered it and didn't like it, and my Wah Tan Hor wasn't that great either. I should have ordered a Western dish like chicken chop or something and swap food with him if he's not accustomed to our local taste. This alone brought me fear of all the other places I planned to bring him to. Scratched Satay Celup off the list, and ikan bakar is a no-no as well since he doesn't eat seafood.

We headed to Jonker Walk after dinner and I was kinda hoping I didn't bump into any relatives while being there. And just in case any of you readers don't know.... no, my parents don't know about Ben.... yet. LOL. Those of you who know my mum probably knows why it's still a secret. So we just walked there looking at stuff and nothing caught his eye to buy. I did buy something though... bought some otak-otak to let him try when we get back to the hotel. He did and didn't like it... now I figure out why... it's made of fish paste. GAH!

So anyways, back at the hotel, we waited till it was 12am and then HAPPY BIRTHDAY~! It might be a little lame, but I got him a DiGi SIM card with RM100 reloaded into it as a birthday present... and gave him my Nokia 3310 (I bought a second hand phone from my brother's boss for my own use) to make contacting easier while in Malaysia.


Coming up:
Week 1 - A Week In Melaka