My First Week

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So from the beginning My plane journey went well, the seats were comfy, the food was tasty and the films were abundant. I watched Johny English reborn and Brave, which I enjoyed and found entertaining enough, however not as entertaining as the man next to me found welcome to the exoctic marigold hotel which he was in complete hysterics over, so using that as recommendation I also watched it, it was good (mum i think you would like it) but maybe not as funny as the man next to me made it appear.

The journey was swift and had no hiccups, I arrived at the airport, collected my bags and got a taxi to the hostel I had booked into 5 miles down the road. I wont normally talk about a taxi ride but this one was a particularly entertaining as the taxi driver was new to the job or possibly someone just pretending to be a taxi driver to make a quick ringott (malaysian currency) from a fresh tourist. However, the taxi journey of 5 miles managed to take 1.5hrs as we had to stop to ask the way from several shop owners, street guys and local youths. The best part was when he got out google maps and then had to ask a store clerk to make sense of it for him, it was fine though and we eventually arrived, the lovely clean and cool, I had a shower then went to bed.

The next day (thursday) the hostel owner gave me a lift to salek tingi station where i took a train straight to KL Sentral (yes spelt the same way as the new shopping centre in hanley) and then from there i got a monorail to buckitt bingtang and walked succesfully to the serenity hostel, which was also clean, cool and had free internet!

On my first night in KL i went for a walk around to get to know the city, around the hostel there were a lot of bars and just down the road there was a collection of open air restaraunts with a common theme of chinese food, however this was not the official china town, though there seemed to be several unofficial chinatowns scattered around KL. There streets were full of people offering massages, some that came with free sex but I continued on my walk (nothing to worry about gemma :o)) I then walked towards the KL tower at the bottom of the hill going up to the tower there were was a free bus to ti, so i took that, the tower looked really good at night, i didnt go up it but walking around the outside offered an excellent view of the city, which I stopped for a moment to take in.

I made my way back to the hostel and got chatting to some of the other travellers; Erwin from Holland, Le Sa from Germany and Vince from Italy, they had all come from different locations on their travels but were all coming to the end of their stays, and gave me some tips on places to visit.

On the friday I went to check out a chanting lesson at the buddist temple Maha Vihar. I succesfully navigate my way there using a map and compass. On the way i discover the real chinal town and decide to have lunch at a street vender who looks popular. The food was good, I had rice with chicken curry, lamb in a black goey sauce and some pork. It all came to about 1 pound!

I continue on my way to the temple along the river where I can see some people using it to wash their clothes in. The climate by the river is more humid than the center and there are more insects, so I apply more insect repellent. I dont think I have ever really thought to observe the effects of insect reppellant in action before, however this time i notice what it does, Insects will come up to you still and hover about an inch away from your skin, looking as if to say, "he looks tasty but smells disgusting, lets go"

I eventually arrive at the temple, there are notice boards around advertising weekly serivices, events, courses, sunday school and volounteering opportunities, just like a church in the uk but buddist. I have a looks round there shop to see if there is any info on the chanting sessions, unfortunately they are not on today and I am directed to some literature on why buddism.

It is very hot so i take a seat and drink some water in a shaded area, whilst I am there I am joined by a volunteer from the centre called mayling, she runs the choir and sunday school. She would also like to know whether i think her son should go to uni in cardiff, hull, liverpool or reading. I suggest cardiff but say I dont really know. She then asks if I have a place to stay and if i want to come live with her family, I say I do but thanks for the offer, she then insists that I at least come to meet her family and let them show me around KL for the day. She is pretty insistant and in the name of experience I say yes (also she is easily less than 5 foot, i didn't think anything could go too wrong)

In the car we are chatting and I explain that I am a teacher, she says that she wanted to be a teacher however she wasn't allowed to be as she is bi-polar. This makes me think 2 things - 1. how open she is - 2.what have i done - I think it is fine. actually and a 3rd thing, I didn't realise they could stop people doing things cos of mental health.

We arrive at her familys and we do a whistle stop tour of some key places they think i should visit. we go to lake titiswanga and around little indea, they point out the national museum and the tour finish with the twin petronas towers at the KLCC, which is a massive shopping centre. At this point we part and I make my way back to the hostel through an airconditioned bridge.


Back at the hostel I meet with erwin, vince and le sa. We go out for a couple of beers, one at a german bar where all the staff wore laderhosen and served beer out of a giant eiffal tower (i dont know if they knew this was french but it was pretty cool)

The next day I do very little, in the morning I go for a breif walk and then in the afternoon I read my book on the hostel roof. It is a nice environment, it is relatively cool and there are some washing lines. On the roof I meet another of the travelers staying in the hostel. This time a chinese girl, she is 28 and her parents think she has been sent abroard for work, actually she like me has packed in her Job to spend time traveling. She has just arrived from Singapore and would highly recommend it as an airport to use as you can go swimming there for free.

Later in the evening I go out for food with Le Sa and Erwin, this time we try a place in the non official China Town. It is tasty, I have a noodle dish, it isn't as good as the buffet food in the official China Town but it must be the unofficial one for a reason.

We head over to the Patronas towers, as we have heard a rumour that if you go to the Patronas towers at 6 in the morning you are able to cross the bridge that joins them for free. Unfortunately we find that the rumour is not true however we get some great photos of the towers in the dark!

The next day (Sunday) is Le Sa's final days of travels, she has celebrated this buy buying some new eyelash extensions, which by all accounts are a bargin in KL although painful, however theny give you the appearance of someone more friendly that your regular appear when your eyelashes are not extended. So many pro's and cons to eyelash extensions in KL but back onto travels. Myself, Erwin and Le Sa decide to go to the Batu Caves, these are a major attraction in KL and even earn themselves a special blue box in the lonely planet guide to highlight their importance. To get there we take a local bus which costs 3 Ringots (60p). Arriving at the Batu Caves, they are massive and monkeys freely roam along the staircases leading up to them. The shape of Caves look like they have been formed from being worn away by an old dried up waterfall but I am not sure. Thier primary purpose now is as a hindu temple, all around there are statues of Gods with multiple arms and horses with breasts. A giant golden man guards the staircase to that leads up to the caves. At the top of the stairs a special ceremony takes place every 30 minutes, I am unclear of its meaning however what happens in it is that several men wash a stone, place it on a stick, wash it some more, wrap fabric round the stick and then place a haiian lay over the top, which makes it looks a little like a person.

The next day (Monday) I leave KL and head to Cherating on the East Coast.

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