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Published: January 19th 2007
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I arrived in Kuala Lumpur (KL) late at night and was instantly taken aback by its liveliness, despite the time. It was 11pm and every store and market was open (many are open 24hrs); there were people all over the streets, some eating, some just sitting on ledges appearing to do nothing. Since it was 4am my time I was very delirious when I arrived at the hostel and went straight to sleep. The next day, my cousin April arrived. It was sooooo nice to even get a simple hug, let alone be with someone who knows me and my life at home; someone who is family. Having been in Abu Dhabi where there is no alcohol available the first thing April wanted to do was have a beer and catch up. After this we wandered around a little but ended up returning to our rooms and lying in bed talking for 5 hours.
For the first little while, April and I seemed to walk around the city in a bubble. I think we were in disbelief that we were in such a place and even more that we were here together. The thing about KL is that it's a
April and I up the towers
The elevator that takes you up moves at a speed of 1 floor per second! very modern city, but in some areas it still has a definite under-developed touch. It's very difficult to adjust to simple things like not being able to drink the tap water and remembering to take a water bottle with me to brush my teeth. We soon snapped out of our bubble when in about 5 minutes a series of things happened to snap us back to reality. While walking down the street, we first we saw a lady with a tumor coming out of the side of her neck; it was so big it almost could have been a second head. It was desperately sad to see. A bus driver of a Chinese tour group honked at us very loudly, 3 men sitting on the sidewalk said "good morning misses" (it was nighttime), an old man walking by barked in April's ear, and another man grabbed my hand in passing and quickly let go,.
The attention you get from men is unreal. They don't try to hide their stares and will do anything to get your attention. Of course we just ignore them, but April and I have been wondering what they would do if we actually responded to
Entrance to the Pedaling markets
Note the McD's...there is literally a Mcdonald's or KFC on every corner. their beckons. The taxi drivers are also relentless. They are constantly stopping you on the street saying "Taxi? Taxi? Miss, where you going? Taxi?" Even if they are just driving by, they will honk at you continuously until you shake your head indicating you don't need a taxi.
Yesterday April and I visited the pedaling streets in Chinatown. You can find a knock off of ever brand name you ever wished for. It is such high pressure shopping that you have to keep your eyes ahead at all times; divert them in the just slightest way and you will have 5 men in front of you trying to guide you to their stall saying "special price, for pretty lady like you."
Having re-read what I have just written, I realize it may sound like the things I am seeing and experiences are negative. But they absolutely are not. What I haves just described is Malaysian (and possibly Southeast Asian) culture. There are so many competing for your money that they have learned the only way to get it is to be in your face. It is refreshingly new and exciting to be engulfed in it such a different
culture. I have never felt unsafe in any of the situations we have been in. Ok, I take that back. Today I was a little afraid of the attacking monkeys.
April and I took a somewhat adventurous bus ride to the Batu Caves, which is a sacred place for Hindu's in Malaysia. They are limestone caves, 400m long and 100m high. Before climbing the 272 steep steps to the cave entrance, visitors are greeted by a 42.7m high statue of Lord Murugan, a popular Hindu deity. The caves are very beautiful, but in my opinion, unfortunately the souvenir vendors and modernization of the caves (no doubt for tourists like me) has taken away from their spirituality and uniqueness. We were however highly entertained by the aforementioned monkeys. At first they appeared to be really playful and cute, especially the babies. Then we noticed a male quietly observing all the tourists and their flashing cameras. All of a sudden, something came over him and he ran towards a random person (who wasn't even particularly near any babies or females), jumped on him and started swatting. This happened more than once and we quickly decided it would be best to keep
moving.
Now, last but not least, the toilet situation. As some of you may know, Asia has a different way of doing things in that respect. It really is an unpredictable thing. Before walking into any stall a sense of suspense comes over me, "What am I going to get this time? Will there be toilet paper?" Sometimes there are the toilet bowls we are used to, but more often than not it is a toilet built into the floor with places to put your feet on either side. The idea is to squat right down and then use the water hose to replace toilet paper when you are finished. I have also seen (in a very posh shopping mall I might add), a regular sit toilet with a fountain of water continuously flowing in the bowl. I walked in and thought..."hmm, what are you supposed to do when the toiled is already peeing for you?"
As for the food, so far everything seems pretty safe. Again, Malaysia seems to have higher standards than what I have heard about other Southeast Asian countries. Even so, being the beginning of our journey April and I have remained naturally cautious.
Really the biggest problem is figuring out what exactly the food is. Convenience stores have a lot of dried foods, none of which look vaguely familiar. For meals we have mostly been eating in restaurants that look clean and have prices to suit our budgets. Even so, I have had to use the pictures to get an idea of what I will be getting. Last night we had the munchies and bought some potato chips and dried fruit. Well it turns out chips here are sweet not salty, and the dried fruit were limes and did NOT taste good.
Let’s just say that literally EVERYTHING is a new and exciting experience.
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steph
non-member comment
wow!
hey heather- those caves are incredible. i had to look at the statue a couple of times, i almost couldn't believe it. i can't believe all the amazing things and places you are getting to experience. i'm so glad you have some familiar company for a while as well, nothing like the absence of family to make you appreciate it that much more. i'm off to aus tomorrow, but i'll try to check in ASAP! xoxo love, steph