Serenastyle

I slept on an airport bench, I brushed my teeth and washed my face in the bathroom, and my mom bought me a Malaysian plug adapter—I’m recharged, my laptop’s recharging, I’m good to go. It is currently 8:24am…you can’t deny that I am low maintenance for sleeping on luggage—eight hours straight.

Because I was battling my crapass battery, I left out all the golden highlights that made the experience truly worthwhile. The lucky Firefly crowd seriously bonded during our “time of crisis”—we were the modern version of…The Grapes of Wrath family—French, American, Chinese and all. When the last few were able to clear customs immigration and step on our bus an hour after everyone else, we cheered. During that one-hour bus ride from the rugged outskirts to Kuala Lumpur’s city center (well, airport), I felt at peace for the first time since the riots in Bangkok broke out. My mom compared us to refugees fleeing political turmoil from one country and seeking refuge at another, for added dramatic storytelling I guess.

While we were all sitting on the ground waiting for our plane ride, one woman asked a long blonde-haired boy what his job was. His response was, “I’m getting a doctorial research position at Carnegie Mellon in December—I just graduated from UC Berkeley with a Ph.D in May and I’ve been traveling all over the world since then.” Of course, my eyes widened and I immediately felt this odd connection with a total stranger and exclaimed, “Wait, you went to Cal? I go to Cal!” We both had incredulous looks of amazement then. How two Cal students manage to be stuck in a place like Phuket at the same time in the same airport on the same tiny emergency plane is beyond my comprehension. view more →

I thought the Phuket “international” airport was the smallest, dinkiest wannabe airport ever—until I landed in Subang near Kuala Lumpur. That, my friend, was a parking garage for mini-planes. “Baggage claim” was a pile in the corner of a warehouse-style room. Then we drove for an hour by bus to the Kaula Lumpur International Airport and I restored all faith in airport architecture.I kid you not, I have staked out one of the Burger King’s benches for the night…because it’s 12:20am, all hotels in the city are booked, and I’m too chicken to call a cab without a male companion. On the positive side, I have free internet and I have to adjust jetlag anyway if I ever want to make it to my last two weeks of classes before I am hopelessly fucked for finals. My flight to Taipei isn’t until 2:20pm—fourteen hours from now. What, you thought four hours was long?! view more →

Because of the protests urging the current Thai Prime Minister to step down, the international airport at Bangkok closed down—ruining travel plans for many. Our flights from Phuket to Bangkok and then to Taipei this morning were both canceled. All flights for the next few days out of Thailand (Pattaya, Phuket) to international hubs in Southeast Asia (Hong Kong, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, you name it) are all booked (including waitlists). My mom frantically called our Thai agent at the business center while I called various airlines from our room—to no avail. The phone charges to our room probably span five pages and we even considered taking a bus with a honeymoon couple to Malaysia just to get out. What hurt the most was when our Thai agent exclaimed out of exasperation, “I hate my country” and the honeymoon couple complained, “I’m never coming here again.” To hate your own country and be hated is just such a…heartbreaking thought.

As soon as I signed online, my friend sent me a link to the news regarding the two explosions at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport. I was in Bangkok the day the riots started, but I’m currently lounging around in a safe haven next to a beach in Phuket—no need to worry about me. The greatest dangers I face here are getting sunburned and gaining weight. Besides the traffic, I’ve experienced no signs of political unrest. Our only concern right now is, we might be stuck here for a few extra days—not that I mind trading stressful nights at school for lazy days at the beach.

Despite not being with a tour group this time, we still played the roles of true Bangkok tourists: we bought local gemstone jewelry, we had dresses and suits custom-tailored by Indian businessmen, we went for a boat ride along the Chao Praya River, and we hunted down the coconut vendors to combat the heat.

Bangkok was amazing, but Phuket’s breathtakingly beautiful. We’re staying at the J.W. Marriott Phuket Beach Club because my mom traded our Newport timeshare villa for a week here instead. We’re essentially chilling on Marriott’s private beach during the day and sleeping in our spacious villa fully equipped with a kitchen, laundry room, two bed, two bath, living, dining, and patio space at night. I’m thankful for the calming waves and virgin shores filled with seashells, the sounds of exotic birds chirping on our patio, the scent of lemongrass in the bathrooms, even the spontaneous drizzles in 90 degree weather. Yes, I’m thankful for my globetrotting mom and stamp-filled passport, but I know that I don’t need to live or shop at a place where the only choices of water are Voss or a Christian Lacroix-designed bottle of Evian to be happy. view more →