Bye bye, Malaysia :( (Day 137 of the world trip)

19.01.2020

In the morning, we slept comfortably until 8:00 am and then watched some YouTube videos :D We had planned to take a walk around Kuching again, but it was pouring rain and didn't stop. Since we wanted to dry all our clothes, we stayed in the hostel in the morning :p :D

At some point, it was time to "pack" again! You would think that it becomes routine at some point, but somehow it's always something new :D Maybe it's because we're also looking forward to the new country, I don't know.

This time we also had to pack "smartly". In Singapore we have a 9-hour layover and wanted to be prepared to either have the big backpacks with us during that time or pack everything for the overnight stay in our carry-on luggage ;-)

When everything was packed, we were kindly allowed to leave the big backpacks in the hostel for the whole day and only went to the mall with water and bouldering stuff for a quick lunch. Instead of ordering the same vegetarian food again (which we couldn't stand anymore :p ^^), we treated ourselves to a meal at a small Thai restaurant.

The staff there was super friendly and could offer us all kinds of dishes as a vegetarian version after asking the kitchen - yay! The dishes we had were really delicious and we were quite satisfied :)

Refreshed, we continued to our next destination, and for that we went back to the bridge that we had only looked at from below on the first day in Kuching. Since it was Sunday, there were a lot of people. Many families, couples, or friends seem to like meeting there in the afternoon and taking a walk. Not bad^^

Maybe the others were also tourists - you never really know in Kuching ;-)

As expected, the bouldering gym was in another mall. This mall is quite spacious but almost completely deserted. In the foyer, there is a top-rope climbing wall, but you have to be secured by a staff member for an additional fee.

More interesting for us was the bouldering gym itself. I was skeptical at first because it's very small and the first routes I saw looked quite difficult.

However, both of us paid the entrance fee and after a short warm-up, we went to the wall. The gym is overall very small and there are probably only about 15 routes + a moonboard.

When we were there, a children/youth group was training with a coach. The kids were all really good and they would have easily beaten me in the subsequent strength training :p :D :D

Under the eyes of the young athletes, Jonas and I tried the routes. I only managed to complete one. With all the other routes of the lowest difficulty, I could only do the first two or three moves at most before it became too difficult :(

Jonas had a lot more options and had a good climbing afternoon overall. Especially at the moonboard, I was impressed by the kids, how skillfully they climbed up, and two young men who created their own routes by incorporating jumps, for example, were nice to watch^^

After a little over 2 hours, we packed our things - Jonas could also feel his forearms^^ - and went back to the first mall :D :D

I can't say it enough: there is simply no better way to cool down in the tropical air :p We never actually use the mall for its intended purpose, which is shopping, but that doesn't matter^^

To satisfy our desire for something other than fried noodles, we went to Pizza Hut. Jonas and I discussed a bit because he wanted to get rid of our cash but didn't want to withdraw new money. I wanted to pay with a credit card and invest the remaining cash in groceries from the supermarket :D :D

In the end, we agreed to order a menu for 2 at Pizza Hut. For a little less than 9 € in total, we got 2 x mushroom soup, 1 x fries, 1 veggie pizza, 1 cola, and 1 sprite. I think that's a good deal price-wise ;-) :D :D

Afterwards, we planned to buy some snacks from the supermarket for tomorrow morning and then we called Clinton from the hostel to book a Grab to the airport :)

He was excited to see us again and we chatted happily until we reached the airport.

Upon arrival, we were initially confused by the layout. You have to enter some kind of "glass box" where the check-in counters are and that's where you drop off your luggage. Then you leave this glassed area again and go somewhere else to get to the gate.

So, I don't know what the purpose of the first glassed area is :p :D

Well, you just go along with everything^^

When it was our turn, the staff member asked us how long we wanted to stay in the Philippines. As we knew from our research, an onward or return flight ticket is required for entry into the Philippines, and so we proudly presented this flight ticket and checked in without any problems :)

After dropping off our luggage, you usually go through a security check for carry-on luggage and the gates are behind that. But it was different in Kuching^^ We officially left the country (received an exit stamp) and then we landed in a long corridor.

The access to the gate was still locked because we were early and the access was only opened one hour before departure. Each gate had its own security scan, which was a bit annoying because there were so many people :p :D

At exactly 10:00 pm, we took off and landed just under an hour later at Changi Airport Singapore. Jonas already knew the airport from a layover two years ago, but even though the airport is super cool (there's a free cinema, a swimming pool, and various small parks :O), we had different plans^^

With our sleeping bags in our carry-on luggage, we had everything we needed for a night at the airport.

We were a bit excited in advance and Jonas was already looking forward to spending the night at the airport.

After strolling around for a bit, we finally found a spot in the corridor next to a lounge. The floor was carpeted and we were on the first floor, from where you could look down like from a balcony onto what was happening below.

It was almost midnight, I was completely exhausted, so we set up our camp in the hope of getting as much sleep as possible before the alarm clock would ring at 6:00 am, so we could catch our connecting flight :)