Day 3 in Kuala Lumpur and we're stuffed!!

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Wow! Time has really flown and all of a sudden we're at the end of day 3 here in humid K.L. For those that are wondering, the time difference is 15 hours ahead of Vancouver. Since we flew overnight and essentially spent 24 hours traveling to our destination, we actually adjusted quite well and beat jet lag!! (Go team Whittle!)

The travel itself went well. The first leg to Hong Kong was 13 hours, but due to pharmaceuticals and one of those neck pillows (for Lindsey-obviously), we both managed to get some sleep! Cathay Pacific was good for giving us the necessities like extra socks, toothbrush/paste, and mints. Lindsey even got an eye shade - Yes!

Once in HK, we didn't have too much of a layover, which was good and also a little stressful when we were directed to catch our connecting flight and at the security area were told we needed boarding passes! A big thanks goes out to the lady in Vancouver who checked us in and only gave us the ones for HK. After a hike back across the airport, we managed to get our passes and spent about 30 minutes walking across the airport.

The next leg to KL went great. One odd thing to note is that right before landing they announced that they would be spraying the cabin interior (it's required) and if you were wearing contact lenses to close your eyes.

Finally, we made it to K.L International Airport right on time: 12:30pm Thursday (we left Wed at 3am). Again, all went smoothly and we were able to pass through immigration, grab our bags, and even buy our tickets for the KLIA Express train to KL Sentral Station. (28 minutes non-stop!). Once we arrived at KL Sentral, we hopped another train one stop to Pasar Seni (Central Market) in Chinatown, which was within walking distance to our hotel, the Swiss Inn...in Chinatown...

We checked in to our lovely room around 2:30pm and had a much needed shower! The bathroom is 'interesting' with a Western toilet (thank goodness) but the shower is basically not separated from the rest of the bathroom, so when you pull the curtain around yourself, water comes out the bottom and bathroom floor floods...nice.

That afternoon we decided it was time to get a snack. We were starving and had no idea where to begin. Hawker stalls? Food courts? Restorans? OR, the "Reggae Bar". Yes, we went to a Reggae bar in KL. Weird, but when you're starving, a couple of Carlsberg and some potato wedges really hit the spot. We got a prime patio spot (no one else was there) and immediately had a local employee (?) approach us with a small photo album of him using a wooden stick to 'massage' people's shoulders, neck and head. We opted out of that one. BUT, we did get to see him in action when a fellow French traveler sat down and got the sales pitch. She said it was ok.

We would have left sooner, except the rain started to come down, and it doesn't rain here like it does in Vancouver, it downpours. That's when we decided we'd better get some umbrellas. So off to the UO Superstore just around the corner. We checked the market first but they wanted something ridiculous like 10 Ringitt (about $3) and only had Louis Vuitton knock-offs. Ryan refused to carry a knock-off designer umbrella for some reason...

After a few hours of exploring we decided to call it a night and retired around 9pm. Not bad!

Friday was an excellent day for exploring. We did all the major touristy things: visit the Petronas towers skybridge, check out the mega-mall, explore the jungle near Menara KL (another tower with 360 degree views of the city), take a bus around town (hop on hop off), eat more yummy food, eat, eat and eat. (Hawker stalls, restorans etc..). One of the best deals of the day was Ryan's haircut. We were walking down the busy "Bintang Walk" and all of a sudden he saw a sign for a shampoo and haircut for RM7. The funny part was how they don't shampoo your hair in the sink, but while you're sitting in the chair with a spray bottle. (That works out to be about $2 Canadian!).

Speaking of deals, here are some of the best: Yesterday we got 2 tiger beer (cans) for RM10 (about $3 Cdn), we took the train to the KLCC (convention centre) for RM3.60 (about a dollar), Ryan bought a knock-off Yamaha team shirt for RM62 ($20), and tonight (Saturday) we had an Indian feast that probably would have cost about $40 in Vancouver for RM22.30 (or about $7 !!) Oh, and this is the expensive part of our trip.

Today was also the first day of the MotoGP part of our trip. Ryan said he had trouble sleeping this morning because he was so excited! We got up and had our breakfast at the hotel (included!), and jumped back on our hop on/hop off bus to the KL Sentral station. We found out that there was a shuttle bus to the track for RM14 roundtrip/person. Good deal! We arrived at the track around 10:30am, so half way through the MotoGP bikes practice session. Ryan bought tickets for both parts of the grandstands so we had our choice of where we wanted to watch.

About an hour after arrival, the skies opened up and down came the rain again! Luckily we packed our trusty umbrellas, but it doesn't seem to help that much when the rain is bouncing up onto your ankles. We found shelter in the BMW tent where they were doing a draw to win a trip around the track in the BMW M6 safety car. And for entering you got a free drink! We opted for the beer and it hit the spot! Even though it was pouring out, it was still very hot and humid.

One thing to note about Malaysia, moreso for the women, is the washroom facilities. Seeing as it is ridiculously hot here, you need to drink a lot of beer, water, juice, etc... I (Lindsey), have been lucky enough to find some 'western' toilets (there are many squat toilets), however, there is no T.P. And, there is a hose so you can rinse (?), yet, how would you dry? I bring kleenex in. The other interesting thing about this experience is that there is no soap in the washroom, and nothing to dry your hands with. I will leave this with you to ponder.

There is so much more to write about, but time is ticking on. We have booked the next leg of our journey for Monday to Krabi, Thailand. We fly out around noon and arrive there 12:25pm !! Looking forward to it.

So everyone, make sure that you turn on the Speed channel Sunday to watch the MotoGP and look for us in the stands!!! Take care. Love L&R

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