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Published: March 8th 2011
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My quick exit from Vietnam brought the feeling of failure. I walked the streets of Singapore with a deflated travel confidence. It was a little balloon that followed me but for a very short period of time. Now that I was back in the real world, I could catch up with the world via social networking. A little chat on a Saturday evening and I was making plans to meet Richie (yes the famous Richie Quigley from some of my Australia blogs) in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday morning. I was excited to say the least, catch up with an old friend, make some new memories and just have a good laugh with a familiar face.
I ended up in Kuala Lumpur on a late, humid Monday afternoon. I went back with the intentions of doing the things I loved in Kuala Lumpur my first time, eat plenty of food and walk the streets. I caught up on sleep, walked the streets and ate food. The highlights this time, a restaurant that only sells pork, the best crispy pork belly I've had in my life, the street burgers, a fried chicken stall (don't remember it from last time) and some wonderful
curries from Little India.
Wednesday morning did come. It did bring sunshine, heat and humidity. As I waited for Richie to arrive I stood amongst the flow of people, diesel fumes, the booming of the nearby construction sight and the shouts of the salespeople outside Central Station. It took awhile before he popped off one of the buses. Smiles, casual catching up then a quick train ride. Checked in to The Swiss Hotel (a nice neutral place to spend a few days) then we hit the streets. It was fun to be a tour guide, to show a good friend what makes this place special to me and to have a good friend to share it with. So we visited markets, ate food and drank a few beers. This was Richie's first time to South East Asia and in no time he was bargaining with the sales people on the streets of Chinatown purchasing a fake pair of Ray Ban sunglasses. With his new shades and my Guns N Roses shirt, Richie was now Rock n Roll Richie.
My first time in KL I walked past a small little bar with dusty bottles resting on shelving that reached
the ceiling, a wooden ladder leaned against, crooked wooden tables, a hodge podge of seating, old men with funny facial hair, large cigarettes and drinks in hand. I walked past this scene many times with curious eyes, watching the local customers enjoying drinks. They sit, they smoke, they drink and watch the sidewalk theatre that performs in passing right there in front of them. Seemed like the kind of place I would enjoy. So with a drinking buddy in town this was a must go. We sat at one of the benches, enjoyed our beers, tried to blend in with the locals and enjoyed the movements in front of us.
Thursday we ventured around the city, toughing out the heat and humidity to see some of the sights.. We did the usual tourist things, Petronas Towers, Bukit Bintang, Little India, Chinatown, Central Market and got to be passengers on the monorail, The monorail is a great air conditioned way to get around the city plus it includes some nice views. When the day got too warm, we explored the shopping centres with their air conditioning, shops and food courts.
While at Central Market Richie talked me into putting
my feet into the fish spa. I seen these in Cambodia but have never tried them. What you do is put your feet into a pool or tub of water and the little fish inside nibble on the dry skin on your feet. Sounds easy right? They see you lowering your foot and crowd around the expected point of entry. There are large armies of these tickle- fish waiting. I embarrassed myself but more importantly I embarrassed Richie with my giggles and laughing each time I placed my foot in the water. I actually never ended up placing both feet in the water. The girls who were enjoying an extended time laughed at me and even the elderly lady behind the counter politely encouraged me to be a man about it. Can a grown man be ticklish? I've embarrassed myself enough on this trip that I think I have a good immunity towards public embarrassment now.
In only 48 hours from Richie's arrival he was back at the airport and I was sitting at the Central Train Station waiting for a train north. It was a time spent with a good friend of mine in a great location. I
did think that it was much different from our usual behaviour when we are together. We didn't get overly drunk, misbehave, cause scenes or annoy strangers. I figured it out, there was something missing. Phil Hughes was missing. Brisbane days usually consisted of one of the three of us inviting the others for a drink. Then hours later, jugs of snakebite and countless bad jokes we realized that we agreed to have a non-party night. The good thing is we behaved ourselves in Kuala Lumpur, our mothers would have been proud of us. We were well fed and well behaved.
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