Kuala Lumpur

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Fianlly got acess to an internet machine for a few hours! Well what can i say about Kuala Lumpur(KL)? the taxis havce an interesting system at the airport - you have to buy a ticket for your destination from a kiosk and then queue up for a taxi - you give the guy the ticket and off you go - presumably this stops unlicensed cabbies from getting in on the action and stops bona fide ones ripping tourists off. Having said that 100 Malaysian ringits to go 20km was daylight robbery anyway. another English traveller I met who lived here as a girl in the 1950's thought it might be something the British left behind - you have to have a ticket for everything! She might be right as the Malaysians use some quite old expressions that we haven't used in England since the 60's - example was a Straits Times headline that read 'Lebanese done in by his own generosity' - the story was about a Lebanese businessman who had been caught wuth sevral million fake U.S. dollars after tipping the maid in a hotel with a fake $500 bill - the use of 'done in' to describe a criminal being shopped or someone being killed went out with dodgy cockney accents and black and white British films of the 50's and 60's. I've also heard the locals coming out with similiarly dated english on odd occassions. And talking of the Brits in Malaysia - they want us back now! The Govt is running a special scheme for wealthy retired people to have a second home here - apparently it is aimed at the Brits but as far as I could tell it's aimedf at any nationality.

The part of KL I was staying in was the 'Golden triangle and KLCC' area - mainly businesses, skyscrapers including the pretty awesome Petronas Towers - even more awesome at night, very expensive shopping malls and one street full of really tacky western food restaurants and backpacker bars.
The shopping malls have to be seen to be believed - it's not the size but the fact that London would be proud of them. the Starhill Gallery is amazing with the ground floor all restaurants - good ones! with a stage for live Jazz at lunchtime and in the evening. The next floor up which is the one where the main entrances are has more jewellers and luxury watch shops than I could count and as for designer handbags and shoes - don't let a woman anywhere near this place with a credit card!!! The prices are not cheap and in some cases I suspect more than the UK - there is some real money here in KL - it's not quite Hong Kong or Singapore but give it time. The Gallery also has two 5 star hotels built into it - the Ritz and the Marriott both have a presence here.

In total contrast KLs Chinatown is the scruffiest, dirtiest, and biggest tourist trap I've seen so far on this trip. They have completely abandoned traditional Chinatown type fruit and veg markets, decent food stalls for total tourist tat - T-shirts, fake watches and garbage food all at rip off prices - they even have a fake buddhist monk allegedley collecting alms but actually sellling bracelets and charms - there are a few of these fake monks in Malacca too. Malaysia is not a buddhist country and does not have a tradition of monks collecting alms like Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand and in my opinion these guys are here conning toursists who have seen the real thing in these other neighbouring countries. The backpacker accomodation here is really grim according to several people I've spoken to who have made the mistake of staying here.

I will be coming back to KL but at this point all I can say is that it's ok for girlie shopping and parts of the skyline wouldn't look out of place in London, and that unlike the other capitol cities I've visited it has a laid back feel to it - the rush and the bustle is missing here - which is a good thing I think. KL does not overwhelm you.

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