Safe and Sound in Malaysia

After a pleasant five-hour flight from China followed by a nearly two-hour car ride to the hotel, we are all now safely in Melaka. Everything went very smoothly today, which always impresses me when air travel is involved.

We made it to the airport with time to spare (time well spent in the business lounge), and I know at least Paul and I enjoyed the increased leg room on this particular airplane.  The food was the best I’ve had on any airline; I started with a chicken-and-sauce appetizer, followed by a chicken, vegetable, and rice main course, with an apple cobbler for dessert.  I also enjoyed what I believe is the best Pinot Noir (my favorite kind of wine) I’ve yet had.  Unfortunately I didn’t write down the name of it before we left the airplane.

Immigration went without a hitch, and the car ride to the hotel was shorter than expected and less Chinese-cab-like than I was used to.  No beeping of the car horn or three-lane-change-without-looking incidents during this trip.  The hotel is OK, but I wonder if I’d be so unimpressed if it weren’t for the excellent hotel we stayed in before.  This hotel is also a Renaissance, but it lacks the fit and finish of the Suzhou hotel.  The picture probably won’t properly illustrate my point; I think it might boil down to the fact that the hotel in Suzhou was built within the last few years and I suspect this one is much older.  It also smells kind of funny; it doesn’t smell like a locker room or anything, but I think the wood furniture gives off an odor.  Oh well; it’s certainly satisfactory, but as I mentioned before I think the Suzhou hotel spoiled me.  We should have gone there last…