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Published: October 20th 2009
What a way to spend a few short days off! When my friend Ayden told me he'd be stopping in Malaysia for a few days while crossing the globe I jumped at the chance to have some face time with someone from home. I love all my friends in Korea but they only know me as Korea Megan, while people from home know me in a different light.
After a few speed bumps and what seemed like a dead end, some light did eventually burst through the end of the tunnel. So with a Korean friend willing to come in and take my classes for 2 days (Friday and Monday), I booked my flights (6 in all) and found 2 well priced and nice looking hostels. I left my place at 5am on October 16th and headed to Daegu International where I would catch the 7:30 Incheon bound flight before jumping on the 11am Kuala Lumpur flight.
I landed in KL at around 4:30 and headed to the arrivals area to wait for Ayden who was flying in from Oz and wasn't scheduled to arrive until just after 8. Now Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) is apparently the best
airport in the world, but I do believe they don't take the arrivals area into account when they make that decision because it was BORING! It certainly wasn't a comfortable wait!
When Ayden arrived we headed down to the train that stops at KL Sentral Station and from there got into a taxi that took us to our hostel. As we were signing in I realized that my passport was not amongst my things, something that took me by surprise because I have never misplaced it before. Now not only did I not have my passport but it was stored in a travel document case which meant that I did not have my tickets or the very important Korean Alien card. The girl checking us in took the taxi ticket we had and called the station to inform them that there may be a passport in the back of the taxi we had ridden in. While we waited for news we took our stuff up to the room, a 4 person dorm which housed 3 guys and me. All I have to say is thank goodness they were all clean and quiet! Instead of sticking around the hostel and
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The National Mosqueallowing me to stew about how stupid I was we headed out to explore the area.
The first thing I discovered was that Malaysians drive on the same side as the British. You'd think I'd have noticed that while we were in the cab but I really didn't and it's a totally different experience crossing the street! Incidentally that Saturday was the Hindu festival of Deepavali which from what I gather involves people congregating on the street and setting off impossibly loud firecrackers that to the ignorant ear sound astoundingly like gunshots and mortar explosions! I couldn't help thinking that the hostel was too good to be true, sure it was trendy but it was in the middle of KL's gang district... GRRRREAAT! After learning about the festival everything made sense although a very loud bang still elicited a reaction from me! On our walk we discovered city jungles, walls crawling with little lizards, insane drivers but a relatively quiet capital city. When you are coming from a country (Korea) where things don't really pick up until after 11pm it's strange to be in a place where things are pretty much finished for the night!
When we got
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A Monitor Lizard back to the hostel we waited some more and I zoned out a bit thinking of what I was going to do when I had to stay in KL for a lot longer than I had initially planned, how much was it going to cost me, would I have to return home, what was my mother going to say, was it because I shook my head at the guys on the Amazing Race that lost their passports and were eliminated despite finishing the challenge first. Seriously there was a lot going on up there and apparently it was showing on my face! Finally a taxi pulled up outside and out popped the driver carrying my beautiful black case sporting a Korean flag. I was so thankful and paid him more than double what it cost us to get to the hostel in the first place and believe me I would have paid more! With the crisis averted we headed up to bed. That night neither of us slept that well as the Hindu celebrations carried on very loudly outside.
In the morning we had a quick breakfast of toast and jam then headed out for a full day of
exploring. We walked through China town and the market which had a bunch of stuff but nothing compared to what it would have that night. After exploring some sketchier areas we headed off towards city hall and more historical areas. Perhaps my favourite of these was the National Mosque. I had never been to a mosque before and I would consider myself very ignorant for thinking what I had been expecting, which was something cold and regimented. What I discovered was a beautiful building with open ceilings allowing nature to come in and the air to circulate. We weren't allowed in the prayer hall which is understandable as we are not Muslim but it was truly beautiful to behold. I had to wear a robe that covered my exposed arms and head and Ayden had to because he was in shorts. Luckily they were very airy as KL was not! Following the mosque we headed towards the bird park which ended up being much much further than we had anticipated and by the time we got there we were both stupidly thirsty! After cooling down with some liquid we opted to not buy tickets because they were a bit pricier
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An old monk at the Chinese Market than we had thought. So we walked back down to the main road. On our way there was a monkey crossing sign and we both looked up closely examining the tree tops. While I squinted into the sun Ayden discovered a monitor lizard walking about the forest floor looking for food. It was pretty cool to see one just walking around and not behind bars or glass. Our next discovery was not as exciting but it sure had that eyebrow raising quality! At the end of the road there was a park which incorporated a replica of Stonehenge.
We walked back the way we came after realizing there wasn't much more to do at that particular end of the city. We stopped for lunch and while I was not hungry Ayden got a very delicious lunch of various Indian dishes. I stuck with some freshly squeezed orange juice which incidentally may have been the best juice I have ever had... seriously I'll be talking about it in 10 years... hell when I'm old and senile I'll still be talking about it! The humidity didn't really bother me in the way I thought it would but it certainly made any
appetite I normally would have had disappear completely. I'm not sure if guys are capable of experiencing that, it almost seems like they get hungrier!
Next it was off to the Petronas Towers, but not before we were accosted by 2 monks that insisted we donate 200 ringit to some temple rebuilding cause. In the end we both gave 20 ringit. Donations don't fit into my budget. Usually buildings to me are just that, buildings, as in big whoop! The Petronas Towers however really are something to behold. It was as if someone was watching an episode of The Jetsons and said THAT is what we're going to build and then they did! Space age is all I could think of when I saw them! They really are nice to photograph because they have such spectacular presence. Here I am talking about buildings like they are a rare piece of art... but in a way they are!
While the two towers house various companies the centre extends into a very large mall. Korea doesn't have malls so it was nice being in one again... spoken like a true capitalist! I didn't buy much just some fruit and a
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At the National Mosque universal adapter which was false advertising because universal means it incorporates all the plugs of the universe! It should have been called an Almost Universal Adapter because a Korean plug did not fit. When we walked out of the building the sun was shining but something was out of place... either it was the sun or the downpour that was taking place. We seemed to be the only ones a bit put off by this combination of weather patterns. If it was humid before the rain it was humid and disgustingly muggy after it. To escape the stickiness we ducked into the convention centre and walked around an Expat convention which was about as interesting as someone miming Good Night Moon... no even less so! We walked back to the hostel which we found without any problem whatsoever. Either we are amazing or KL isn't hard to navigate. I'm going to go with amazing!
We rested a bit before heading out again for dinner. We walked through the China town market again and where there had been open spaces that morning there were now hundreds of stands set up selling just about anything you could want to buy... especially
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Monkey crossing if you were in the market for a knock off something or other. Generally vendors just called out to us when we passed but the DVD sellers actually stocked us! I am really good at being... well a bitch and just ignored them with the occasional flick of my hand but Ayden is far to nice and entertained them with actual words! Eventually we found a restaurant selling just about every ethnic Asian food under the sun. I got some Chinese noodle dish and Ayden got Nasi Goreng and we both ordered a Tiger beer which was surprisingly light yet just as strong as Canadian beer. I barely ate my meal as I still was not hungry while Ayden thought he'd need to stop and grab more food after dinner... seriously I just don't get it! After dinner I bought 2 scarves which I actually haggled for, the price started at 35 ringit per scarf and I ended up with 2 for 32 ringit. Then it was off to bed so we could catch our flights the next day to Kota Kinabalu.
Now before I go on, I had thought my flight was at 9:20 because that is what
I had asked for but when I checked my ticket again it said 2:15 which meant that Ayden was going to get there several hours before me, which wouldn't have bugged me if one of the main reasons for going on the trip wasn't to hang out WITH my friend! Anyway the train took 30 minutes to get to KLIA which basically meant that Ayden missed his flight. Naturally all the other Malaysian Airline flights were sold out and so he had to pay even more for a new flight on Air Asia for a later flight which still got there before mine but at least not several hours ahead of me. He went off to the terminal that Air Asia operates out of which is apparently a large empty barn with lax security! I grabbed some breakfast and a latte which seems to be my miracle drink because I was in a far better mood following it! I talked to my sister on Skype and read a couple of the magazines I had bought before checking the departure board which, wait for it... had CANCELLED flashing beside my flight! I immediately started to panic. Ayden would have already left
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It was a little hot! and would be expecting me within a couple hours and then my flight would read as cancelled and then what! Luckily he was smart enough to check at the KK airport to see what was happening. I was bumped to the 3 o'clock flight and by 4pm was enjoying a lovely chicken satay dinner with veggies, fresh fruit, and a pack of Ferrero Roche. Not only was it a short flight but they fed us a fantastic meal... North American airlines really are awful! After landing I found out that Ayden's flight had not been as enjoyable. Apparently Air Asia is the Northwest Airlines of Asia!
We got a taxi to our hostel which was very close to the water and some very cool night markets. Our room had 5 people in total and after introducing ourselves we headed off to dinner as a group. The nice thing about hostels is you get to meet great people from all over the world. We had a great meal talking about our travels and homes. The Dutch girl had been to Canada and traveled to the same university as Ayden had attended and had a friend who lived very close to
me. It's amazing how small the world can feel! The other two guys were from Spain and England and we all got along great which is nice, especially when you have to share a room! After dinner we walked down to the market. There was food being cooked, various types of seafood which didn't smell all that great but it was cool to see the variety! I fell in love with a fruit called Mangosteen, which is sad because I'll never see it again! The English guy bought some and we later sat in the hostel talking and eating them. On the walk back to the hostel I experienced something I had always wanted to experience. Little kids going crazy for pictures in a poor area... being in love with photography I have always loved the pictures of these kinds of kids. The looks on their faces exude pure joy and it was a lot of fun. I doubt I would have been as at ease with them jumping all over me if I wasn't a kindergarten teacher now!
Back a the hostel we talked some more and Ayden and I reminisced about our Tim Hortons days laughing about
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Mangosteen on the left mmmmm! the outrageous things we had experienced there. Before I knew it, it was time for bed and then it was morning and Ayden was heading off to Lahad Datu to stay for a few days at a Orangutan research facility. It was hard to say goodbye just because it had been such a short visit but at the same time I was so happy that I had seen someone from home. I may meet up with him again in Europe sometime next summer but we shall see, lots of things can change in 10 months.
A little later that day the Dutch girl and I went off exploring. We ended up going up to the Sabah Museum which honestly was as about as exciting as the Expat Convention! Again there was a downpour under a brilliant sunny blue sky. We went to a very nice Italian restaurant for lunch which made me realize that Lonely Planet books are really helpful as much of what I enjoyed including hostels had been rated as a top pick in the Malaysia book. The rest of the day I spent wandering the streets before having my hair washed at a Chinese hair dressers.
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sleepy kid! Let me just say that I didn't even realize it was possible to shampoo someone's hair for 25 minutes! I thought it would be a quick process, boy was I wrong! I met my new friend for a drink on the pier before grabbing a taxi to the airport.
The rest of the night I spent in an airport or an airplane and at 9:30am I was in a cab on my way to work! Teaching kindergarten after an overnight flight is a dangerous thing, consider this your warning label!
I'm very happy I went although next time I will spend much more time in Borneo and less in KL... as in no time in KL because one day is enough to see everything there is to see. Now I just want to see what wildlife I can see in area's that are still very wild! Perhaps I'll head down over winter vacation... but who knows where the wind will take me... or maybe I should say money instead of wind!
Thanks for stopping by!
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Simon
non-member comment
Passport
You were so lucky!! OMG - I would have keeled over but I bet getting it back was joyous!!! xx