29.03 - Day 1 - Sydney, Australia to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Sunday 29th March 
Sydney, Australia to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Temperature Min 15 Max 22, Kuala Lumpur Min 27 Max 33
8,806 steps


The only question Sienna and Seb have as we get in the taxi to the airport is will there be TVs on the plane? This question arises now anytime there is a flight booking made. The dogs have been left at 54 The Boulevarde in the basically unknown hands of David and Celeste, a pair of 30-ish Argentinian backpackers. Sydney Airport is a series of slow-moving but never stationary queues that result in us walking straight on the plane once we reach our departure gate. 

Sure enough Seb and Sienna fill the eight hours with movies and TV shows. Occasionally Seb bursts out laughing or shouts a question breaking the peace forgetting the evidently loud headphones. That lack of the kids wanting anything else means I watch One Battle After Another (does what it says on the tin), Bastille Day (forgettable) and F1 (Lewis Hamilton as a producer ensures he's leading the final race and until …. I won't spoil it). 

After some loops outside Kuala Lumpur to let the afternoon storms pass, we touch down at 4:00 p.m. Waiting for luggage proceeds an hour long taxi ride to the Journal Hotel with city congestion and weaving beneath car overpasses and the monorail. This smart hotel is next to tired sheet metal roofed three storey flats. The nearby main road is illuminated by electronic billboards but unkempt pavements.

Once in our seventh floor large room I collapse into bed leaving Kate and the kids to venture out and find themselves dinner on halal Jalan Ahoo - Sienna admitting the fried rice - a usual Seb favourite - is very tasty. 

Seb and Sienna very pleased to also stumble upon a Mixue (a known favourite ice cream and drink chain from South East Asia in 2024) for an ice cream dessert.