Kuching

After Cathay Pacific cancelled my flight to Singapore without telling me (I found out when confirming the flight), I was risking getting stranded in Singapore. The woman from Cathay explained to me: "Well, we've booked you on a later flight to Singapore, but unfortunately, your Malaysian Airlines connecting flight to Kuching leaves before your Cathay flight even leaves Hong Kong!"

Great.

And after getting the run-around from Cathay to Expedia and back again I asked to speak to a supervisor. Bingo. "It is our responsibility since we cancelled your flight to get you to Kuching." So I took an earlier flight to Singapore and stayed overnight.

Now, the official language of Singapore is English and Mandarin and yet the taxi driver (paid for by Cathay) didn't speak English. "Shuo guoyu, ma?" he asked me. Uh... "Yi dian yi dian. Lei sic gong dong wah?" I wanted to know if he could speak Cantonese. "Sic!" In fact, he speaks Hokkien and Malay also. He tells me Le Meridien Changi is a terrible, terrible hotel for taxis since it's out of the way and there are no fares on the way back.

Up at 6:00AM. Fly to Kuching.

Right out of Kuching Airport and I am sweating bullets. Reminds me of the good ol' days when I lived in Singapore. I like it. But the ATM doesn't take my crazy seven-digit pin and I've long since forgotten my four-digit pin for my other card... I didn't follow my own damn backpacking checklist and prepare properly!

Then on the ride into town, it starts raining. And I regret not bringing a rain jacket for the 16 days of rain that Sarawak and Sabah get in January.

B&B Inn is exactly what I expect from a hostel. No amenities, just a cot in a room, bare walls, concrete floor. Strangely, no other travelers around. Maybe they're all out exploring the town?

Anyway, up a winding road past the local high school, the first thing I see as I walk through the shopping center is a place called Cyber City. Internet!

And here I am.