Day - 6 China, Malaysia

Travel day. Flying from Sanya, China to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Got up early enough to get a quick bite at Shi Yuan. Followed by a nice ride to the airport. Check-in, immigration, etc. relatively painless. Boarded the plane on time. The rest went seriously downhill from there.

I was flying China Southern airlines. They announced “Due to traffic congestion, our flight is delayed.” The flight from Sanya to Guangzhou is about an hour and a half. I had a 2 hour layover in Guangzhou. The plane sat on the tarmac in Sanya for 2 hours. When we eventually landed in Guangzhou, I had 10 minutes before my connecting flight took off. For some odd reason, China Southern gave me and another couple hope that we could make the flight. That in 10 minutes we could take shuttle from the plane to the terminal (No jetway); Go from terminal W to terminal A (It’s as far as it sounds); Go through 2 security checkpoints and immigration, then proceed a quarter of the way down terminal A to the gate… I made it to immigration before they told me the flight was gone. I went back through the checkpoints, found the China Southern supervisor desk and they put me on a later flight that boarded at 1700.

This caused a couple of problems. First, I scheduled a pickup with Avani Sepang and I had to notify them of the flight change. Second, I was meeting @kumimonster in Kuala Lumpur and her flight arrived earlier than mine. The original plan was for us to meet in Kuala Lumpur and take the car from there to the resort. Through an excellent combination of AT&T hotspots and Vonage, I managed to get kumi picked up earlier and my pickup rescheduled.

Of course, that couldn’t be the end of it. My scheduled 1700 boarding didn’t occur until over 2 hours later. 3 and half hour flight to Kuala Lumpur. I arrived at 2330.

Immigration was quick. I had a little wait at baggage claim. Breezed through customs. Avani was waiting for me (yay). Approximately 40 minutes later, I was at the resort. Checked-in. Went to the room. kumi was still up posting stuff. Went to bed.

Day 5 - China

Do nothing day. Eat, drink, sleep, repeat…

Day 4 - China

Today started out nicely.  Woke up to the sun shining and the temperature already at 80°F.

I went to breakfast around 0830.  Usually when I arrive around this time, I can easily get a table next to the window.  No such luck this morning.  There were a lot of people there.  I'm guessing some arrived for the weekend.  Others appeared to be checking out.  Even though I wasn't next to a window, breakfast was still great.

Later in the morning, I took a bike tour.  This was really fun.  It was just me and my guide.  A woman named Milan, who spoke very little English.  (Which is much more than the amount of Chinese that I know.)  We went out to the bikes and she adjusted one for me.  I tested it out and another older female Chinese tourist noticed the tires were low on air.  A situation they immediately remedied. Tires inflated properly, off we went.  Milan was great.  She pointed out things along the way.  I'm guessing she was giving her usual “bike tour” speech.  We rode to the Sanya marina.  (Another place it seems, that is popular for wedding photos.)  I took a few pictures there.  We hung around the marina for a bit before heading back to the resort.  Along the way back, Milan tried to teach me some Chinese.  I learned how say “hello” and the correct pronunciation of a few other things.  It was a fun ride.

Of course, I stopped by Ahei when we got back.  I didn't even have to tell them my drink this time.  They just made what I wanted.  Does that make me a “regular?”

I did pretty much nothing the rest of the afternoon.  I took a few more pictures.  (More weddings happening.)  Then I crashed until dinner.  Which again was at Baan Rim Nam.  This time I had fried rice with pineapple.

No idea but I like it.

Balcony bed

Day 3 - China

The day started with thunderstorms.  That was fine since I didn't have any morning plans anyway.  I got up whenever, strolled downstairs and enjoyed a leisurely breakfast. 

Afterwards, I went to see the concierge and cancel a planned sea kayaking excursion.  It was scheduled for another day, the forecast for which was more thunderstorms.  Though it probably would have made for great pictures and a good story, I just wasn't feeling it.

Later in the morning, another thunderstorm hit.  I took some pictures but I don't think they quite did the thunderstorm justice. Intense as it was, it was quite enjoyable to watch from my balcony, which is well protected from the storm and has an awesome bed.

After stopping by Ahei (lobby lounge and wine room) for my lunchtime drink, I decided to venture out of the resort and check out the “neighborhood.”  Anantara Sanya is a resort next to other resorts and tall buildings. There aren't many stores around.  No traffic to speak of.  It's also relatively quiet.  There's a park next to the resort which seems to be the place for couples to take their wedding photos.  If you do want stores, Anantara provides a free shuttle to some place I can neither spell nor pronounce, that has that stuff.

I returned from my walk with time to spare before my next massage.  It was a 90 minute, traditional Chinese massage.  I've never had one and had no idea what it was.  I found out no oil is involved and you wear clothes.  At times it was intense, but I was definitely relaxed after.  Almost didn't make it to dinner.

I ate at the Thai restaurant again, Baan Rim Nam.  I usually don't eat too much at resorts.  I usually try to find restaurants away from the resort.  But I have not found any close to the resort that weren't other resort restaurants.  However, Baan Rim Nam has an extensive menu, and you can inexpensively priced food all the way up to the really pricey.  Tonight I had fried rice with crab leg meat.

Thunderstorm

It is seriously raining.

Anantara Sanya

Day 2 - China

Started the day with a great breakfast at Shi Yuan restaurant.  It's the main restaurant at Anantara Sanya.  (Anantara still has my favorite breakfast buffet.)

It was raining during breakfast so I initially decided to stay in the resort today. But it cleared up later so I decided to wander around and take pictures of the resort.

The resort is bigger than I thought it was.  I didn't make it over to the villa side. Not many people were out.  No one was by the pool.  The pool bar was empty. No one was in the lobby bar.  Yeah, it was before 5:00 PM, but they were open.  Someone had to go in there and have a drink….

I did tour a little bit of the area.  Not much around but other resorts.  Didn't see any stores or restaurants.  Depending on the weather tomorrow, I will see what else is around.

I also used the coupon for a complimentary massage, which I received at check-in.   60 minutes.  Yes, it was great.

I finished the day by eating at Baan Rim Nam.  It's the Thai restaurant in the resort.  They only serve lunch and dinner.  I had the fried sea bass with a few seasonings that I don't remember. It was very good.

China, Malaysia, and Sri Lanka

The beginning of my trip to China, Malaysia, and Sri Lanka.  First stop, Sanya, China.  Getting here was a little bit of a chore.  In addition to getting my boarding pass for SFO-LAX, I had to get a boarding pass in LAX for LA to Changsha.  Then get another boarding pass in Changsha for Changsha to Sanya.  The Changsha stop was made a little more tedious by having to pickup and recheck in my luggage.  Once I figured out the Hunan check-in counter services several airlines (like 9), including Hainan airlines (My airline), everything went fine.

Arrival in Sanya was fine.  It was a leisurely ride to the resort.  Actually, this was the first time in a while that traffic in a southeast Asia country wasn't, for lack of a better word, crazy.

The resort I'm staying in is the Anantara resort in Sanya.  It’s a beautiful resort.  (Pictures to follow.)  Upon arrival, the obligatory welcoming drink. They also upgraded my suite to a sea view suite because my luggage was late.  (Not their fault.)

After settling into my suite, I learned something surprising.  Almost anything Google doesn't work.  (Mental note: Give coworker grief for not telling me that.) Tumblr doesn't work either so no posting pictures or updates…  That is until I get a VPN connection working....