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So we wake up in Kota Kinabalu at 8am on February 14th… its hot outside as its been the entire time…  we get to the airport at 10am.  Flight leaves at 11:45am, we get to Taipei after 3 hours.  1 hour layover, and a 14.5 hour flight we land in Los Angeles.  The connecting plane is late.  We wait in LAX at our gate for 2.5 hours and then a 2 hour plane flight to San Jose gets us to where our car is parked (courtesy of the wonderful in-laws picking us up).  So after 23 hours on airplanes and in airports, its 10pm on… February 14th.

 Highlights of the trip:

• Justin and Joey are MARRIED!
• We know Justin
• We met Joey
• AWESOME food, the entire trip
• Proboscis Monkey sightseeing from a speedboat (and fireflies later that night)
• Driving without having to pay attention to rules, regulations, street signs (they are all crazy over there)
• Hanging out with Justin’s family (Bonnie, Darin, Victor)
• $3 watches
• $5 Gucci wallets
• Lugging way too much camera gear for what I was shooting… maybe not.

Now Jen and I are headed on a Mexico cruise, courtesy of my employer!  3 day cruise to Ensenada will be very fun.  More pictures, I’ll post when i’m back.  Yet we can’t sleep and its 4AM.  YAY!

Here’s what I crammed into my camera backpack, and poor Jen had to carry my 10 lb. laptop.  I’m lucky she loves me.

• LowePro Rover AW II
• Bogen 3021BN tripod with Kirk BH-1 ball head
• Canon EOS-30D with BG-E2N battery grip and RRS L-plate
• Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L USM
• Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L IS USM
• Sigma 16-35mm f/2.8-4 EX
• Canon EF 28-135 f/3.5-5.6 IS USM
• Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM
• 2 extra BG-511A batteries
• case for my glasses
• 4 extra AA batteries
• 2 extra CR2 batteries
• (1) 4GB and (1) 2GB extra CF cards
• a bulb blower
• pack of tissues
• RRS flash bracket
• Canon 550 EX flash with sto-fen diffuser
• Nikon SB-28 flash
• 2 PC cords
• universal power adapter
• watch
• (4) ball bungee cords
• mini notebook
• (2) pens
• flashlight
• Canon TC-30N remote timer and shutter release
• SanDisk card reader
• Maha AA battery charger
• Canon battery charger
• GI Cactus remote trigger/receivers
• flash foot
• TTL flash cord
• sunglasses

A bit overkill, eh?  I really need to learn to pack better.  AND less.

Our fabulous Malaysian adventure has begun!  We arrived at San Jose International at  ~3PM, thanks to the driving efforts of Mary Born.  After checking in, getting through security and what not, we were all good to go.

After hopping the short flight to LAX, we grabbed our bags from the bagage claim, checked them in to Malaysia Airlines, and got some food.  Whoever said airport food was crappy should go to LAX, it was delicious.

So now the long part begins.  We boarded the plane at 10:40PM in Los Angeles.  Thirteen hours later, we arrive in Taipei, rainy and about 40 degrees F, its 6AM and we’ve got a couple hours to wait for our connection to Kota Kinabalu (everyone here calls it KK).  A relatively short 3 hour flight to KK and we’re finally done with flying.  I should have brought one of those inflatable donuts that you sit on, because my butt is so sore by now that it hurts to sit.  Justin and Joey meet us at the airport and we grab a couple of rental cars.

The hotel is only a short drive from the airport, everything is so close here.  Our hotel room has a great view of the bay.

We take showers, clean up after being stinky for ~24 hours of traveling and head out to a coffee shop with Justin and Joey.  Here’s what they look like up close.  Justin is better looking when there isn’t food poking out of his mouth!

Oh yeah, good call.

After the coffee shop, we headed to the beach.  There was this guy selling fruit, durian, that’s this big spiky, smelly fruit.  they break it open and you eat the fleshy part surrounding these seeds inside.  If you can get past the smell, and the strange slimy texture of the fruit, its pretty good tasting.  Check the hairdo.

Durian up close:

What’s the range of facial expressions you might experience after trying your first piece?

Fresh coconuts from the man that chops off the tops… you drink the milk and then they cut them open so you can eat the coconut meat.  so tasty!

A short while after the beach, we picked up Justin’s half-brother, Victor, and headed over to Joey’s parents’ place and had a wonderful dinner.  Now..  its time for sleep!

Drove up Hwy 1 on the way home from work last night and stopped in Morro Bay to watch the sun set.   It sure does suck living here, with views like this: