Sleeping in Airports, SE Asia edition

Yes. I am actually going to be sleeping in an airport tonight. Why? Because my flight to Siem Reap/Angkor Wat Cambodia leaves at 6am, and its next to impossible to get to Singapore's airport that early unless you are willing to pay an extortionate amount of money. Also, because I arrived in the late afternoon in a rainstorm, and was unable to book ahead at any hostel, I really didn't want to play the game of going from hostel to hostel (in case one didn't have any beds--remember its saturday night here) in the rain and humidity, especially when it would only be for a grand total of one night.

In a true case of the world being incredibly incredibly small, I was hanging out in the common area of the hotel I was staying in, and was talking to some other people, and it came out that this one Irish girl had an American passport because she was actually born in the states. I ask her where, and in a remarkable coincidence, it turns out she was born in December of 1986 at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore because her dad, a doctor in Ireland, was doing some training there. I told her where I was born (showing my passport as proof I wasn't full of it) and that my dad was also doing training there as well. Mikey boy hasn't gotten back to me whether he remembers running into her father, but even if he doesn't, the sheer coincidence is bizarre nonetheless--especially since both of us left Baltimore when we were six months old.

Was unable to go to Lebuh Katz because I simply ran out of time in Penang, but I did see the Jewish cemetery--small, and somewhat forboding because it appeared to be closed and there was a big dog out in front. Fortunately, they had a caretaker there who shooed off the dog and showed me around. Even though it was free, I donated about 20 MYR because the grass needed to be mowed, and Penang's Jewish community no longer exists, now living elsewhere. I also went up to Penang Hill this morning, which was a mistake because it was cloudy and overcast, and you couldn't see much, and it took about three hours.

I also got screwed out of about 50 MYR by a cab driver. I told the guy specifically that I wanted to go see the Snake Temple before going to the airport (it was on the way) but he missed the turn and claimed that traffic would be too heavy, and that I would miss my flight. What he really wanted was to help out some of his buddies, since he could have only earned a maximum of about 50 MYR for the snake temple/airport run, whereas by taking me to the airport and forcing me to take another cab, he forced me to spend about 88 MYR total (40 MYR to the airport, 48 MYR roundtrip from the snake temple to the airport).

I knew I would regret it if I didn't make it to the snake temple, but the place didn't really live up to its hype, and wasn't worth the 48 MYR roundtrip cab ride. The snakes (pit vipers that the monks claim are pacified by the nature of the temple and therfore won't strike) aren't actually slithering around on the ground right next to you--instead, they are up in pedestals. Sure, they aren't behind a cage, but its not the experience I imagined it to be.

Anyway, because I'm doing this at an airport kiosk, this post will have to be curtailed, and you will have to find out about Banjarmasin another day.