Saturday 27 July 2013

TIME TO LEAVE... departing Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

....more about our timing working at Birdnest previously.....

Last month we realized we have not worked 6 months in a row since our job in The Town Hall Tavern in Chertsey, Surrey in 1999! Mostly we’ve really enjoyed the job here in the hostel in KL, but it’s been pretty hard going working what amounts to 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The thing we both miss the most is spending time together. We’re also looking forward to catching up on sleep, with uninterrupted nights.


Running a guesthouse was a terrific experience, and proved to us (if we needed proof!), that settling down and owning our own place will NEVER be on the cards! We much prefer to help our friend out, and leave when we want, without the responsibility.


There are some things I suppose we will miss- meeting so many brilliant people for one. But they are all out there travelling, and now we can join them! Hopefully the memories of the annoying/rude guests (not many) will fade quickly. 


It will be a relief not to have to answer any questions any more- we’ve had some doozies over the past few months- “How do I flush the toilet?”, “How do I wash this plate”, “Can I take my hair trimmer on the plane as hand luggage?”, “Do I need to take an umbrella out/Is it going to rain/When will it stop raining?”, just to mention a few. At least now if we ever need a pedicure/buy cheap shoes/get a haircut/buy a tent/visit the election head quarters or a million other things we have had to find out for people, we will know ourselves!!


We were lucky enough to have some great travel friends visit us during our time at the hostel- marvelous Marie, who we met many years ago in Egypt; long time friends and travellers Trevor and Maggie; Susan, our regular visitor, delightful friend, and experimental foodie; and amazing been-everywhere Shaun- the latter being responsible for a huge extension on our plans after KL!!  He has travelled recently through Central Asia (amongst many other places), and filled our heads with such wonderful stories of the region we simply have to go!


Objective number one on leaving KL: getting in some beach time, Thai style, to rejuvenate our tired bodies (and brains!). We plan to relax, play the tourist, spend lots of time together catching up with ourselves, and probably not talking very much at all to other people (friends will know, that applies only to Sal!). The sun will be a shock to our poor white skin after 6 months inside (sounds like we’ve been in jail!)



Makes it all worthwhile!!


An appendix to this post- When the time came to physically leave the Birdnest 2, we realized it had been our temporary home for 6 months and, of course, we will miss it. It's also been our baby, of sorts, and we have been proud to say we helped make it a great place to stay. After a few days showing the ropes to Jenni and Ilari, the couple who will take over our jobs, we felt sad and sentimental to hand it over, although we're sure it will be in good hands.


Ready to leave- thanks to Susan for the photo!