Last Day of Freedom

Apropos of nothing - such pretty money!

Had a hard time mobilizing yesterday (Sunday), I think between just the general overwhelm of everything, and the uncertainty around needing to change my room and not being able to settle in and unpack.

I packed everything up again - not the easiest task, as i'd already started putting away some things, and had opened my vacuum packed space saver bags.  

The hotel itself is also under construction, in particular the lobby area, and it took me a little while to figure it out.  You actually go through what was an elevator that they took out and made into a passage to another area to get to the correct elevator bank.

My new buddy, Maren at the front desk area, was super nice.  I explained about the construction noise and asked for a different room, ideally facing another directing and with a desk, and possibly at the residences (this hotel has a section with long-stay rooms with kitchens etc.)  He said all the residences are full until 4ish today, but he has a corner room with a desk.  After some back and forth, I decided to take the corner room - I wanted to get settled, and I have ear plugs.

New room with desk and corner wrap-around window

Breakfast was impressive, with lots of stations with everything from standard western omelets and fresh-made juice to some noodle pot things and some unfamiliar Asian things.  The space was in a circle, narrow and quite crowded, so I only picked a few items and didn't explore the rest.  Onion and tomato omelet, carrot ginger juice, a bit of yogurt, and that was that.

I spotted a hair and nail salon, and decided to make an appointment for a pedicure, as I didn't get a chance to get one before leaving.  RM180 (c.$45) - probably very expensive for the area, and more than I pay at home, but it's here and will make me feel better for the upcoming 2-day team building event.

I felt kind of lame for not having left the hotel, so decided to check out the Pavilion, this massive mall structure which in theory is right across the street.  This is the kind of place I would normally avoid like the plague (I'm not a mall person), but a) I was hoping to find a drug store, b) I had read that a number of truly good restaurants are in there, and c) I'm right here, so may as will check it out.

To get here, while technically it's across the street, said street is actually a 5-lane mega-road.  So you need to follow a path around to a side street which you can actually cross, and then take an escalator into this semi-open courtyard.  I later learned that there are many such elevated pedestrian walks in the area.

Pretty craziness in the Pavilion mall

The mall itself is a behemoth monster of insane proportions, with multiple floors and sections.  Being slightly directionally challenged (primarily due to overwhelm and inattention), I made a point to note where I came in, though it did take a bit of effort to find my way back again.  I definitely made up for weeks of inactivity by walking the length of 4 of the 6 floors, or at least one big section of them.  Pretty much every brand you can think of has a store there, from Kate Spade to Doc Martens and everything in between.  There are also some smaller local-seeming stores in certain areas, and tons of restaurants.

Don't judge me. I had 2 scoops of Jamoca Almond Fudge ice cream for lunch (RM 20, c. $5).  It really hit the spot.  Guess all the Baskin Robinses moved from Pittsburgh to KL.

I briefly met up with a coworker staying at the same hotel, and then retired for an evening of ironing the wrinkles out of my vacuum-packed clothes sausages.  Thanks mommy for too-many-decades-ago-to-mention teaching me how to iron.  Haven't done it in almost as many decades, but it sure is coming in handy now!

Then packing up for a 2-day off-site team building retreat, leaving at 7:15 on Monday.