Time for a little R&R

The week between graduation and the start of the new school year, I took a little break away to Malaysia. This island (3rd largest in the world) of Borneo is shared by three countries - Indonesia, Malaysia, and Brunei. The Indonesian portion is called Kalimantan and is separated into 5 different provinces. With just a 5-hour car trip and 45-minute plane trip or 12-14 hour car trip you can get yourself across the border to Malaysia, specifically the city of Kuching. We go there for visa work but we also go here to shop and enjoy things like Indian and Thai food or yummy McDonald's french fries :)

So what does a little R&R look like...

Look tall buildings! With multiple well-stocked malls and fun places to eat within walking distance or short taxi ride from my 14th story hotel room

Look its a bathtub! Ok so I wasn't a big bathtub person in the U.S. but I love a good soak here. Unfortunately for 3 of the 5 nights my hotel didn't have hot water (which they apparently didn't think was a big deal). I will confess that one night I resorted to filling the tub with mostly tepid water and then adding several of the kettles of hot water from the kettle provided in the room :) It wasn't great but it did work. 

I am not a huge fun of McDonalds in the U.S. but sometimes a girl just needs some french fries and a chocolate milk shake. 

I am not usually one of those girls who takes pictures of their food usually, but I also had a delicious seafood meal at TopSpot and some pretty delicious Indian food plus Pizza Hut and McDonalds. There are also numerous much better stocked stores in Kuching including places to get a large amount of cheese. Yep I was that girl with 5 kg (11 pounds) of cheese in her carry-on plus bacon and ham! The poor customs guy just about had a heart attack when I told him that there was pork in the box. Pork is considered unclean for Muslim people, so he had to go find someone else to inspect my baggage. Anyway, all in all it was a good trip. I am ready for my next vacation to have a little more adventure though - maybe Bali. There are definitely benefits to living in SE Asia! Anyone want to join me?