Funky smells and fishy balls

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Set off to Stansted at around dinnertime after yet more tears saying bye to family and friends. Everything went surprisingly smooth, checked in with no problems and though the flight was delayed it was only by 20mins. The 13hr flight seemed quite short to me as amazingly I managed to sleep for most of it. Not so for Rob who had a squeaky seat :p We got through passport control fine (and I had my first experience of a squat toilet -not a fan esp if you have long trousers on). It then all got a little crazy with bus touts shouting for our custom and some odd but effective system of having to buy taxi coupons before getting into a taxi. Taxi cost RM74 (approx 14 squid) which considering the journey to the guest house took nearly an hour we thought this was quite a bargain.

Raggae Guest House (2) is really nice. We had booked into (1) but were pleased to be put into this one instead as it's just along the road but is further from the noisy bar. We have a double room which is v. clean, free tea and coffee and bathroom is pristine 😊 Also there's free Wifi and towels.

Going onto the streets was a culture shock for me though Rob was taking it all in his stride. Most of the market stalls were closed by the time we went for a wander so the streets weren't awfully busy though a few eaty places were still serving food and beer. Saw my first 2 bugs urgh expected to see more, Rob thinks he saw a rat too. Ate in one of the cafe type places, had veg rice while Rob had duck noodles, very yummy, price was really cheap too. Decided to get an early night so we'd be ready for tomorrows adventure.

Having trouble adjusting to the time difference meaning we were up at 4.30am! Had a shower and read Lonely Planet to fathom out how to get to KL Tower. The monorail station luckily was really close. As it was so early we had a little wander first round Chinatown. This area smells quite a bit and there's quite a lot of rubbish about, having said that it's an intriguing place and I started to feel much more comfortable and less apprehensive than I did last night.

The monorail was really cheap, clean and air conned and it only took about 10mins to get to our stop near KL Park. This area of the city is totally different to where we're staying, it's very, very clean. Stepped off train and mooched straight into a very westernised shopping centre with a Nando's (let Roy know Mat :p), Costa Coffee and even a Topshop!

The park outside is really pretty with funky trees, you can also see the Petronas Towers from there. We had a walk around and stumbled into a convention centre which to my delight had some lovely clean toilets haha. We (or maybe just me) decided it would be a good idea to walk to the tower which may have been a slight mistake as it turned out to be a fair distance away. It was really warm today and I was sweltering by the time we got there. Was well worth it though- so high my ears popped 3 times in the lift. The view is amazing from the top, looks right over the city. We also got free entry into the animal park next door. Fell in love with the Marmaset monkeys and African foxes (so cute). Didn't fall in love with the vast collection of tarantualas (which Rob took great joy in showing me), the huuuuge python or the big, fat squashed bull frog.

Walked back to the mall for food and was reminded how weirdly sweet foreign bread is, not right with tuna. Rob had lumps of fish on sticks eloquently named fish balls! Sat in park to eat then got train back to hostel where we conked out for 5hrs :p Went in search of food at about 8 and it was raining, decided to try a place recommended by Lonely Planet called Restoran Wilayah Baru. Was really nice and cheap.

Walked around the huge market (JI Petaling) which sold lots of "authentic" *cough, cough* designer goods, had some really cool bags, trainers, watches- Paul and Kristan would love it! Came back to hostel about 9, checked flight and ordered taxi for 5:30am! Loooooong day ahead of us as Rob likes to keep saying 😊

- Suse x

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