Taking ten years off my age
About 10 days short of six months, I stopped shaving just before going on my three-week trip to Saudi Arabia. Today, I had planned to have the beard taken off at the Indian barber in KL Sentral / Brickfields where I was overnighting.
When I had a haircut there, the price for a wet cut-throat shave was around MYR10, compared to possibly around NZD50 in Auckland. That’s about 7% of the price! That’s why I had planned on having it done here!
I turned up at the nearby barber at 0930 and in the space of 10 mins, I had ten years taken off my age! I don’t need that facelift that I could have had in Seoul tomorrow (only kidding).
From here, I went to Tun Razak Exchange (TRX) for lunch. While I craved for noodles, it seemed wrong to not have Malay/Indonesian food before I leave for Korea tonight.
Blind-man massage
Once my food had settled, I went for a blind-man massage. There are many outlets in the hotel area and I decided to try the one next to the one I went to six months ago.
Most of the blind massage centres are pretty basic with sheets and pillow cases that look a bit questionable. They are staffed by a mix of Malaysian ethnicities.
Today’s one looked a notch higher in terms of the shop fit-out and the bedding. It seemed to be more predominantly Malay also.
I asked for a pressure point massage with no oil. But when he started using oil, I didn’t stop him because he was doing such an awesome job.
When paying, I noticed that the pricelist has a “Special Treatment” for man. Curious, I asked what that was. The masseur non-chalantly said it was “urut batin”.
Literally, it is a spiritual massage, but it is meant to promote a man’s sexual health. Some say, it works on various parts of the body that influence a man’s virility. Others say it is just a front for a happy ending. Perhaps the truth lies in between but it’s not something I’ll find out today.
Booking tickets
AirAsia started a sale few days ago. I didn’t find anything that fit in with any of my various possibilities.
However, while resting, something prompted me to look again. I found a good deal from Kuching to Kuala Lumpur, and then another one from Kuala Lumpur to Maldives. Both were better than staff standby prices that I can get on Malaysia Airlines.
I had hoped to go to Maldives with a friend Boo but was too afraid to commit and that’s the beauty of having staff standby. But when confirmed tickets are cheaper, I couldn’t help myself but book them.
With about NZD150 tied up on those two flights (including double cabin bag as an add-on), I think I’m truly committed to Maldives in November.
Leaving for Seoul
I checked out of my room at 1800, despite having paid for the night. I had managed to get a NZD21 rate so, it hadn’t exactly broken the bank by doing that.
Buying the ticket for the airport bus, I was asked for my Malaysian identity card. Strange, is there a differential pricing for Malaysians vs foreigners? Then the man said “Oh no, you don’t get senior rate yet”. I was quite upset that he had thought I was a senior on the day I just removed my beard!
The ride to the airport Terminal 2 took about 1h10. It was a long hike from the kerb to the check-in desk where I confirmed that no document checks were required for the Seoul flight.
I grabbed dinner at the lounge, after which I did more thinking around how I would structure my travels before getting to Kuching, Kuala Lumpur and Maldives.
The AirAsia flight to Seoul departed about 10 mins before the 2250 scheduled time. I had the aisle seat in a block of three, shared with a mum and infant and her pre-schooler.
Both kids were very well-behaved. I was hesitant about knocking myself out with 2 sleeping pills and made do with only one. I dozed lightly and was uninterrupted by them in terms of noise or needing to go to the loo.
I could hear the crew doing two (saleable) meal services during the short 6h30 flight through the night.