Malaysian Open reporting

I’m writing this from the Cititel hotel in Kuala Lumpur, the venue for the 2010 Malaysian Open.  In stark contrast from my recent blogging contrast, I’ll be updating this daily (probably) with reports on the tournament and especially the Aussie performances.  We’ve got quite an army here, and are fielding two Aussie teams (with a couple of Kiwis thrown in) for tomorrow’ team rapid champs.  After Malaysia, I head off for some chess-free R&R in Cambodia in Vietnam, where I’ll be joined by Fi.  I’ll then meet most of the Aussie Olympiad teams in Dubai before we make our way to the Olympiad in Khanty-Mansiysk, Siberia.  I’m not sure how reliable internet access will be on these trips, but I’ll try to blog about as much of the adventure’s general shenanigans as I can.

On the point of shenanigans, and without a move even having been made, I can report that the omens thus far are not in my favour.  I boarded a 2.40am flight from Melbourne, having gone 36 hours without sleep, “Abbott-style”.  Aware that my many oncoming journeys would be frequenting countries with interesting sanitary stereotypes, I decided to stock up with a sandwich from a Melbourne airport café.

However, my faith in developed-country food proved ill-founded.  As we boarded the plane, I felt nauseous.  While the stewardess went through the safety demonstration, I felt positively awful.  As we took off, I began vomiting at a comparable velocity.  My ordeal lasted the entirety of the flight, which consequently kept me awake and thus extended my Abbottathon.

Fortunately, a full night’s (and day’s) sleep, and a relaxing day touristing in fabulous KL, has righted the wrongs.  It just so happens that we’ve arrived during the annual Malaysia sales, when retailers offer up to 70 per cent discounts on everything from clothes to ipods.  I bought far too much for far too little, and then finished the day by sharing a massive banquet with some of the Kiwis and Aussies.  We even got a complementary pigeon.  Guess who ate the head?

Glad I kept that one down.  The beak would have really hurt on the way up.