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Published: February 8th 2006
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Petronas Towers
Once the tallest buildings in the world (until 2003 when Taipei 101 in Taiwan passed them up). View from the KL Tower. K.L., the capital of Malaysia, is an ethnically diverse, large, modern city that contains what were once the tallest buildings in the world, the Petronas Towers. For me, it's been a place of confusion and complications.
Here's my story, and I'm sticking to it! 😊
...I left Singapore Monday morning on a train bound for Kuala Lumpur. The first set back was minor. Crossing the Malaysian border I found that I didn't have my customs departure card given to me upon arrival in Singapore (I vaguely remember throwing it away - nice move on my part). Not a big deal...just a slight delay with more paperwork.
I arrived at the K.L. train station around 8:00 at night, and it was raining and stifling hot (not a good combo). I found a taxi but had no hotel reservations. In my Lonely Planet Travel Guide, there was a highly rated Hostel nearby (Pudu Hostel). Hostels can be sketchy but this was highly rated and they are used to receiving late arrivals. I figured I would give it a go.
I should have known better. The Lonely Planet Guide was a couple of years old and this place looked very questionable from the outside. Inside, it was even worse. The entrance was a stairway, and the lobby was on the 3rd floor (no elevator). However, they did have rooms available and it was only $8 after all. How bad could it be for one night? Famous last words.
First off, the A/C was broken but I was assured that it would be working later that night. Uhuh. My room was a box with no windows, no fan, and as it would turn out, no A/C. That's not a winning combination in K.L. with temps in the 80's and humidity around 80% (and that's in the middle of the night! You should feel what it's like in the day).
My bed had a sheet on the mattress but no cover sheet and no towels. The walls weren't the cleanest (and I don't really want to talk about the floor, but hey, I didn't have to touch the floor, did I?). The bathrooms were shared by everyone in the hostel (hoping I didn't have to use them).
Now, the big complication is about to hit. I meet 3 nice girls that are vacationing together while on break from college (from Canada, Turkey, and Norway - random, I know). We go out to dinner and I'm having to be careful about the cost because I have only about $6 worth of Ringgits on me. We have dinner which brings me down to about $1 worth of ringgits, and I head to the ATM.
Unfortunately, my debit card doesn't work at that ATM, nor does it work at the next one, or the next one, or the next one. Bank of America had blocked my debit card. Isn't that why I called them before I left the country to give them my travel plans? Thanks guys.
I have $40 on me but that's my emergency back up fund that really should have been higher (my bad). It's about 10:30 at night and I try to call Bank of America. My room obviously doesn't have a phone but I go to a public phone (took a while to find one that worked), and find that I can't make long distance toll free calls from there. They don't take credit cards either and I don't have the cash. So I go to a higher-end hotel and they are nice enough to let me use their desk phone but the international call wouldn't go through. Basically, all roads are closing and it's getting late. I'll have to wait it out until the next day.
Sleeping at the Pudu Hostel...oh boy. What an experience. The walls are paper thin so noise travels extremely well from one room to another. Add to that the heat. There were moments where I would lay perfectly still and for a second, I would not be sweating and I'd think to myself, I can handle this, but then I would start sweating again. I fell asleep at around 2:00, but never slept for more than an hour or so. 7:30 a.m. rolls around and I decide to get up and search for another hotel.
Granted, I have no money and VISA is not widely accepted. But I find a place that's reasonable (around $25 per night and accepts VISA). I still can't reach Bank of America (why is it so hard to make toll free international calls here?). Nobody seems to have the answer. But, I discover there is a branch of BofA in K.L. (seriously). I can't pay for a taxi without dipping into the emergency fund, and I'm reluctant to do that so I start walking. I get to the general area but don't see any sign of Bank of America. I eventually find them on the 18th floor of a building (no sign in front).
Unfortunately, they can't really help me other than to connect me to their customer service department in the U.S. So I stand for 2 hours at the front desk with the phone at my ear trying to get through to customer service (got disconnected a couple of times and had to start the waiting process over again). By the way, when they say that your call will be answered after "more than 8 minutes," it apparently means it will be answered after more than 45 minutes.
I get through, finally, and am assured that they will remove the block and I'll be able to use my card immediately. Uhuh.
I head out to lunch at the KL Tower. They accept VISA, right? Yes, and this actually was pretty cool. For around $20, I got to have lunch on the top of the tower with a rotating view of the city. I had to wear a sarong though since shorts were not allowed. And no, I didn't have to buy the sarong. They provided it. It went over my shorts. Stylish.
After my lunch, I find a bank and try to make a withdrawal. Rejected again. Hmmm, this is going well.
I start dipping into the emergency fund, and know that for food and lodging, it's VISA all the way. Can't get the cheap food, gotta go to high-end places that accept VISA. Can't take taxi's or public transportation, gotta walk.
So where do things stand? I have about $25 cash and a VISA. ATM is still not working.
I have to get to the airport tomorrow morning and I think I can get there. It's about 20 minutes away I think. The taxi can't be more than $25, can it? I have my airline ticket. I may not be able to eat if they don't take VISA anywhere at the airport. So be it.
Soon to be in Cambodia. Hope they take VISA...
Look! There goes Dave!
(no more pictures tonight; went to a ghetto Internet place for the cheaper rates and the connection speeds are too slow for more than one pic).
p.s. I hope Santa is reading this...no presents for Bank of America this year. They've been very bad.
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anonymous
non-member comment
If anything happens to you we are holding BOA personally responsible. You here us BOA?