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It was around 10:30am on a Sunday when I arrived at Kuala Lumpur international Airport. Lack of sleep the previous night and falling in and out of sleep during the 3 and half hour flight gave me the very thing I hated whenever I’m travelling – headache.

I had an eight hour stopover in Kuala Lumpur and although I’m not the adventurous type, going out of the airport came into my mind as I thought I would have enough time to wander around the city before my next flight. However, the headache was still so apparent even after taking 2 pills, leaving me no choice but to stay put so as not to magnify the pain.

It’s funny how our body won’t yield in to our plans at times. What a bummer.

After sometime, when the pounding on my head wasn’t so bad anymore, I walked around and checked the shops. It was my second stopover in KL Airport but my first time to roam around.   My first stopover was an early morning stop when shops were closed and all I did was head to the gate and sleep till boarding time.

I was so happy upon seeing a JW Smith shop as I knew I will find books there.  It took me around 45 minutes (or more) before I was able to decide which book to take. They had a buy 3 take 1 promo so I was trying to limit myself to taking to only 4 books as I didn’t want to overspend even though I really wanted to take more.

After that ecstatic 45 minutes (or more), I felt so hungry and went to this food counter with huge images of noodles and rice meals on their roll up posters. Although I was so tempted to try Nasi Lemak, Malaysia’s national dish, I wasn’t able to resist the call of the wanton noodle soup, hence I settled for the latter.

I ate slowly and even after that hearty lunch, I still have so much time to spend so I went to a café to have tea and on the way, I came across an old man. He was looking at me, smiling and as we crossed each other’s path, he nodded his head and so did I. I certainly didn’t know who he was but his smile and nod somehow felt comforting.

It’s funny how random strangers can be comforting at times we least expected.

Time passed and it was just 3 hours more prior to my boarding time when I heard the rumbling of my stomach (again?). It was still early for dinner so I thought I’d just have snacks, maybe a coffee and a pastry. I went to Starbucks and checked the prices of their coffee and muffins and counted the remaining Malaysian Ringgit with me. I didn’t want to spend more than the local currency that I have. I didn’t want to bring more Malaysian Ringgits with me as I won’t be able to use them afterwards (you pay dollars, they give you Ringgit as change).

My money wasn’t enough for a Starbucks coffee and muffin. My money was only enough for a coffee but that won’t satisfy my tummy. I headed to McDonalds and was so happy to still have some Ringgits with me after buying a coffee and banana walnut muffin and to be honest, McD’s coffee and muffin wasn’t so bad at all.

I found that scene funny, that scene of opting for McD because I didn’t have enough Ringgit for that SB coffee and muffin. I mean, I had money but somehow I didn’t want to change it just for SB.

So, I thought.

If this happened 10 years ago, Starbucks wouldn’t even be my option. I wouldn’t even come close to it nor check the prices because I never had money for this luxury.

If this happened 5 years ago, I would have paid by USD just to have that Starbucks Coffee regardless of the Ringgit change, just because I want to be in Starbucks instead of McDonalds.

It’s funny how we change according to what we have or what we don’t have. And it’s funny how in time, we change regardless of what we have or what we don’t have.

My 8 hours in Kuala Lumpur Airport wasn’t very productive because of the headache and all I did was eat and drink but hopefully, if I’ll get a chance to stop by again, I’ll be able to do more.