Hills and valleys

The highs and lows of the day started at the buffet breakfast. Hot noodles, a make your own soup section, baked beans and sausages etc etc. So much food. My pet hate is people not eating everything they take. They should be sent home immediately. 

Onto the bus and to the orangutan sanctuary we went.

The 9:30 feeding in the nursery had one orangutan that ate some food and then was out of there.

The 10am feeding was worse. No primates showed. Then we went back to the nursery and there had been a crowd but they disappeared as we appeared. A low for sure.

Across the road we walked to the Sun bear sanctuary. Much more luck here and even a t shirt purchase for the Editor. 

Another high.

The highs continued with a buffet lunch, followed by a forest walk, where we were advised to keep our expectations low. However we saw mum and baby orangutan in a tree, climbed a high metal lookout with thunderstorms looming, nearly got hit with lightning at the next tower (lucky I was wearing my brown undies) and then saw what the tour guide said was a "once in a lifetime experience". 

The oncoming storm and winds coupled with leaves of a tree being ready to fall made this amazing scene. It's hard to describe but hopefully the editor can do some YouTube link thingy. Flying leaves

The rain then set in and we made shelter for the worst of it. 'We' was actually me, as Annette, although in front of me when the lightning struck, somehow ended up behind me on a seemingly one way path. Was a Delorean somehow involved with the storm?

From here, to finish off the day on a sombre note, was a visit to the Sandakan Death March memorial, which is highly recommended. 

Back to our hotel The Elopura and then to Momo for a Thai dinner. For those planning a visit, this was the most expensive meal so far at 52 Malaysian ringgit for 2, or about $17 Aud.

We headed back and the Ghostbusters pictures that I had been eyeing off since arrival became mine. The girl in the shop was so excited to sell them -  "finally" she said. They had been there for some time. 

Oh I forgot to mention, and I can't say a little about it, but Annette managed to slip and fall off the steps of the bus yesterday. Our lawyer is on the case.

There is significant bruising and our second lawyer has advised to not use a balm.

Meanwhile back at home ...

I'm not the only one. On the floor, underneath the printer, are our conversion rate sheets, so we don't accidentally buy a $20 Pepsi. Now I have to divide by 3 to figure out conversion costs. 

I am an excellent multiplier as my former 1st class teacher, Miss Ayles, would attest. Yes, best teacher name ever.

Breakfast on plane gets a reserved thumbs up. The frittata didn't really hit the spot but there was plenty of food and that's all that matters sometimes.

We arrived at 5 something am, figured out we had to transfer via airport train to Terminal B and decided to use the facilities. 

Sometimes when you make the decision that you have to go, there is no turning back, even when cubicle 1 is a hole in the floor.

It's a good thing I have been practising my bidet skills during the recent blocked drains drama.

I survived, and if I can share with you one important piece of information, it is to not place your bags in a direct line of the hole in the floor at cubicle 1 as there is significant splashage from the exceedingly strong flush.

Five hours of waiting equalled 2 packaged cakes that we struggled to open due to tiredness and lack of food, one can of Starbucks iced coffee and what has been described as a cup of tea at the perfect temperature. 

Finally we boarded our flight to Sandakan and lunch was almost chewed. Sometimes getting the meal with mashed potato pays dividends.

Not sure what occurred with our bags but zippers are broken and luggage tags gone.

The afternoon was free so after finding our room we headed for fabric shops.

Whoever would have had me in the betting pool daily double for the first purchase of the holiday, and it being fabric, would have been a rich person. Alas, nobody would ever have picked that combination. 

We checked out the nearby restaurant scene and, as we headed back to our room at 5pm for a quick rest before dinner, 2 drops of rain fell.

40 minutes later, a tropical storm hit and rain jackets were quickly retrieved.

For about $9 Aud we had a meal with a twist.

I just picked what was clearly noodles with chicken in the picture on the menu.

The editor chose curry beef brisket noodles with no picture of a red chili signifying a heat problem.

My chicken was prawns and fish and her mild curry was not.

Swapsies it was and we were both eventually winners.

The hotel is interesting in the amount of movie and music posters all over walls and some great displays of iPhones through the years. 

One piece of art from Ghostbusters has pleased my eye, and before we have even purchased the land for our new house, I may be purchasing more art for walls that are already fully booked by pictures and posters we already have.

It could be that the garage will be the place for leftovers.

At least I remembered my phone this time

I'm not sure we've had a 10pm flight before and I kind of expected an empty airport. Wrong.

Hanging around all day, organising and reorganising bags so nothing would be left behind. Oops. I decided that contact lenses were not the appropriate eyewear for a flight requiring sleep, so I took my glasses out of my bag to wear. They are sitting somewhere at home as I write this from Terminal B in Kuala Lumpur. I did wear other glasses but these don't act as sunglasses as well, so stupid me ... again.

After the bus experience at the end of the last trip, we decided that catching the 901 bus to the station was the way to go. Somewhere out there, an Uber driver's children are going hungry. 

I'm confused at the self service checkin as to why you still need to go to the counter after doing a sub-standard job of securing your own luggage labels.

In line, we were about to start playing "spot the Tripadeal couples on our tour", but they all spotted us first. Booo.

My prediction of a meal in a box soon after take off came true and we settled in to our 4 seats for the price of 2 and got some sleep.

Ho hum

With a boat ride on the Dordogne River booked for 10am, we surprisingly only left our accommodation a few minutes after the scheduled 7:45am slot. 

There were lots of single car width, two way roads with 80kmh speed limits. 

We did a walk in the hill overlooking the river, 

saw a tiny hummingbird (I never knew they were this small) ho ho hum and then I went with Annette and Jeremy on a one hour boat ride to see the cliff dwellings and town close up. Well worth a visit.

Next to Domme with its extremely narrow roads through the town for a quick look and lunch before the long trip home. 

It's hit 42 degrees today, so being in a car with air conditioning is ok by me.

Back home for packing and a new board game that I come last in before a very hot sleep.