Where it all begins… in a country far far away… queue the music ♬...
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~ Around 10pm, December 29, 1999
(Leaving everyone I know… every comfort of familiarity I had)
It was one of the more memorable night at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (K.L.I.A) in Malaysia. At this brand new airport that was only a year old since it opened as the newest, Grandest and Best International airport Malaysia has to offer.
Source Image : http://www.klia.com.my/
From premium full service restaurant to local cuisine for a taste of Malaysian food to duty free shopping with premium brands to local handcrafted goods. They just about have it all.
The airport still smells brand new… combination of smells like newly installed carpet, new paint, new cabinets and furniture. Squeaky clean glossy floor that reflects the uniquely crafted architecture above.
Those were only icing on a sweet and sour cake… if there is such a thing… 😉
The Full Service Premium Dining Experience…
As one last meal together before my departure, we splurged at the only full service restaurant at the airport, Eden Restaurant @ KLIA. During that time of the night, they only served made to order Dim Sum.
It was one of the Best Dim Sum we have had in Malaysia at that time. Unfortunately, time changes everything so there are definitely much better Dim Sum restaurants today in Malaysia but never-the-less...
This photo of Eden Restaurant @ KLIA is courtesy of TripAdvisor
It was also the first time all of us ate... no... Dined in a premium full service restaurant.
So now we know what we were missing out since if we were to eat out, we normally ate in budget “restaurants” or street foods that we had grown up loving.
Some of these street foods were really great food that are hard to find anywhere else. Since we trained our virgin taste buds to new flavors when we ate out, we became calibrated to home cooks and street foods taste.
It’s the taste that we were used to since young.
It’s the taste that filled us with the feeling of happiness as we often ate as a family.
Most of all, it’s the taste that reminded us of the great days where we can afford to eat out and enjoy meals together as a family no matter where we were.
The Eden Restaurant experience was something else…
All of us felt a bit of uneasiness being served by not one, not two but 3 different waiters and waitresses. It made the experience so much more upscale but we were just not used to being watched over by a team of servers.
The moment we sip down half a cup of tea, it get immediate got refilled the moment we place the cup on the table.
The moment a dish were brought out, the server would dish out individual portion on the side before it’s served out to us. They even asked if we prefer a get a refill once we finished our portion.
The moment we finished a dish, it got cleared off the table immediately.
It was a pleasant experience by all means. We were just not used to being served to this extend on a regular meal.
Somehow, this upscale type of service took away the family dynamics of eating at the same table that we are used to having. It took away interactions when we try to fight for the last drum stick or the last piece of the dish, or noticed no one touches a new dish since it didn’t come out as we thought it would.
It’s certainly took away a bit of our individual character that would be display when it comes to food grabbing, free for all on the dining table. LOL
Not to mention, we were all not dressed for that class of restaurant but we didn’t really care much at that time. It was the first experience as a family that counts.
We all knew it would be the last meal were we all are sitting at the same table as a family for at least the next 12 months.
We could not afford to have me return during summer holidays or more than once a year or once every few years. Out of state tuition cost and living expenses were really expensive in America not to mention the plane tickets at that time on top of the exchange rates we had to pay from Ringgit Malaysia (RM) to USD. It was around $2.8RM to $1USD on my first year before 9/11 turned it into a #3.8RM to $1USD exchange rate. It was brutal!
Online Website Airline Ticket Pricing… Not Yet Invented...
During the 1999 in Malaysia, shopping around on websites or Priceline.com or Google flights or any of the airline websites pricing we have today were not invented yet.
We barely even started dial-up modem using our house landline for internet at whopping 56kb/s! That’s 0.056Mb/s or 0.000056Gb/s. 1Gb/s were unheard off…
What USB? Thumb drive?? That’s all alien talk. We save our work on 1.44Mb 3.5 floppy discs…
The most popular cell phone were Ericsson and Nokia with only characters on the screen.
No texting, no 3G or any G for that matter, no color, and no camera on our cell phones.
Cell phones were truly for voice communication only…
Image from Wikipedia
Source: Ericsson Mobile Communications in Wikipedia
Yes, we actually have to talk to the other person on the line with our voice! It was the better days if you ask me unless you do all Face Time or video chat which are even challenging.
Actually hearing your loved ones’ voices on the phone or the gal you had a crush on.. Their voices are so much sweeter than just a text message. Or an emoji… sign…
There were no international cell phone service at that time as well. Imagine how we communicate from a board… Let alone buying international plane tickets!
Can you guess how one would go about getting an international flight ticket in 1999?
We rely on travel agents for ticket purchases. Only travel agents can sell tickets in their stores from airlines if you did not live next to the airport ticketing counter. The only other option was going to the only international airport in the country to get an airplane ticket which were a trip by itself.
When I finally was able to return for Christmas in the year 2000, I had to get my ticket purchased in Malaysia through an agent and printed in Malaysia on a carbon copied ticket slip. Then had the paper tickets sent over to me by postal mail.
Yup… Flying was a luxury back then.
Image Source: Flyertalk
Unlike today, international flight is just like taking an expansive and long bus ride. Buying a ticket to anywhere in the world with just a click of a button on a smart phone requiring no physical paper ticket to board a plane.
All the fantastic advancements that made this world so much smaller.
Departure Stamp K.L.I.A.
Time for Departure… Leaving everyone and every place I knew...
The mixed feelings of both excitement to finally get a chance to further my studies and learn what America has to offer with my college transfer friends...
and sadness that I’ll have to leave behind my then 4 years old sister and both my parents.
As my sister staring down from the level above thru the glass below the guard rails, she started crying as I enter the immigration to officiate my departure from the land known to me as Home for the past 20 years.
I turned around and wave to them goodbye one last time for the millennium.
My brother wasn’t able to be there that day since he had been selected as an exchange student abroad to the United Kingdom for 6 months. Little did I know, it will be another 5 years before I get to see him again.
Time passed so fast. We all grew up as individuals, in separate countries.
Time never waits for anyone and it’s always brutally honest.
~ Around 5pm, December 29, 1999
(as the sunset... I took my first steps on to American soil)
We landed in Detroit International Airport on an extremely cold December, 1999 after a blizzard that brought in about 6 ft of snow and ice before Y2K.
Trust me when I say EXTREMELY cold from an Asian’s perspective who lived all of his life in 95ºF weather... It was cold!
US Immigration Stamp of Arrival!
As I recall, the temperature was in the high teens ( about 19ºF ). Yeah, to native midwesterners, this is nothing. Wait till the dash symbol shows up in front making it (-)19ºF in 2 months… Why am I here again??? 🥶
I remember vividly, I had
+ 4 layers of shirts (short tee, long john, button up long sleeves, sweater),
+ 3 layers of pants (long johns, gym pants, jeans),
+ a winter jacket,
+ a woolen scarf around my neck and face,
+ a wool hat,
+ 2 pairs of socks in a pair of Winter boots,
+ and 2 layers of both wool gloves and leather gloves…
Bundled up like an eskimo and It was still cold as heck! Boy how I wish I had a camera back then to take pictures.
Guess what, Detroit was not our final destination! 😭
Our connection from Detroit to Kalamazoo was Cancelled due to weather! After traveling for over 24 hours from Malaysia to get to Detroit, we were stranded!
~ Around 10pm, still Friday
(we should have reached Kalamazoo by now… but nope)
After waiting for what seems like an eternity, about 4 hrs, the airline arranged 2 airport buses to ferry any passengers who are willing to take the bus instead of waiting for the next flight out the next morning.
Absolutely let’s get on the BUS! Who in the right mind is going to wait for another 12 hours in the airport with no shower, no food, and no place to sleep in the luggage claim area?
Oh talking about luggage claim... I almost forgot to mention, all of our luggages that were checked in before taking off from Malaysia will NOT be available until the next flight reaches Kalamazoo...😫
Yup, it was pre-9/11 so all of our international luggages were checked thru all the way to our final destination. Yay! All everyone had was their back pack and laptop bags. Some of us were smart enough to pack one set of overnight clothes in our bag pack just in case. Others were not as fortunate.
~ Around 2am the next day…
( wait... what do you mean we can’t get into dormitories?!? )
Did I mentioned we were not staying in a hotel? We don’t even know anyone in Kalamazoo, MI...
There were about 11 of us transfer students who had never been to this frozen land and the advisor who traveled with us.
All of us were relying on some form of transportation from the university to our dorms when we arrived at Kalamazoo. But that was at the Scheduled arrival time... NOT 7.5 hrs later at 2am!
As the group lapse in and out of consciousness, chattering of concerns can be heard on and off within the group.
"Were are we going to stay?"
"Will there be anyone picking us up this late?"
"What if they left and assume we are arriving tomorrow?"
"Kalamazoo airport has to be much smaller which means there might not even be open for us to take shelter for the night!"
"I can sure eat an elephant, take a steaming hot shower, and sleep on my own bed right now."
Beaten in the cold, exhausted, and tumble dried without heat in an airport bus for 3.5 hours… much later
We arrived at Kalamazoo Battle Creek International Airport. Finally!
To our pleasant surprise, the university’s International Students Ambassadors and volunteers returned at 2am and waited for our arrival!
Wow! We were all extremely thankful to these dedicated volunteers.
After taking a head count, gathered up all of our only possessions and a small introduction with everyone, the last and final surprise was unraveled!
The Ambassadors asked,”Anyone of you have hotel reservations or know anyone in town that you can stay the night?”
“Uhh… what do you mean? We thought we have dormitories assigned?” 😫
Ambassadors,“All the offices are closed until Monday and orientation starts on Tuesday. You will get into your dorms on Tuesday… probably… if not Wednesday”
I think we were all just too tired to be surprised anymore… at that time none of us have credit cards. It was the era where we all traveled with travelers’s cheques. Cell phones are a luxury item and international roaming were non-existence at least to us.
We have a little emergency cash on hand but that might only get us into motels if they are accept cash which none of the ambassadors are comfortable suggesting. Love shacks? 😓
Traveller’s cheques are basically worthless to small businesses since it requires banks to convert it into real legit cash. To get any sort of plastic payments, it required a Bank.
Guess what? Banks won't be open until morning. The only thing we can do is to get cash from our traveller's cheques and open an account. We'll still need to wait for our debit cards in the mail. PLUS we do not have an address to send anything to. All in all, hotels are just not a viable option and I didn't want to spend what little money I have for a few nights of hotel if I could help it.
Yay! How about bringing on illnesses and highway robbery just to sweetened this unbelievable trip!
Basically we were out of options. Except…
2 of the ambassadors split us into 2 groups and provided us free stay in their apartments until we are able to get into our dorms. Did I say how lucky and extremely thankful we were? Yeah.
Let me say it again. We could not thank them enough! Lisa hosted us for 5 nights! We were scattered all over her living room like refugees… I guess in a way, we are taking refuge... Thank you again Lisa! 🙏
When the connecting flight finally arrived at Kalamazoo, the airline brought all of our luggages to Lisa's address and all of us got our luggages. Things were looking up!
We had a small yet cozy new years party at her apartment since none of us are old enough to buy alcohol. 🤣
Our luck only has one direction to go from here… UP! There was little room to keep diving… No more bad surprises...
Except for cracked lips due to the dryness and no public transport on the weekend, we were very lucky to have Lisa as looking our for us.
All in all, it was not the smoothest travels but everyone made it with lot's of help! It was after-all, the quickest way to make new friends.
Thank you very much for reading and I hope you have enjoyed this part of my journey.
Please let me know in the comments what would you be interested in learning more about on my journey.
Thank you very much for your time!
