Kuala Lumpur

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After a teary goodbye and a 4 hour delay I finally boarded Malaysian Airlines for the longest flight of my life and the adventure of a lifetime! Was I unsure? Yes! Was I scared? Er. Yes! Did I contemplate turning around? No way! Intrepid not yet, trepidatious,definitely - but I'm sure that will turn around! Lucky for me I was sat next to someone relatively normal even if she was hell bent on having a few. That's fine; she had booze, I had diazepam...nighty night. Before we respectively dozed off I was aware of how much of a novice long haul flyer I appeared... surprise at the in flight entertainment, blanket, meals and drinks....this was no sleazy jet flight no no! Service with a smile continued upon landing in Kuala Lumpur airport and everything seemed modern, clean and well organised...they even give you a ticket for your taxi so you don't get ripped off!

A taxi ride, 15 min nap, another taxi, train and tube ride later, Neina and I found ourselves on the sky bridge between the Petronas towers that make Kuala Lumpur's skyline so famous.....83 floors up and I was having an Alice in Wonderland moment dazzled by the majestic sparkle of the tower opposite me. These upside down chandeliers were far too beautiful to be offices surely? The fourth tallest building in the world, this is the highest I had ever been and the view was spectacular...never had light pollution looked so beautiful! Neina pointed out a strip of neon we would head to for local eats later and we were politely ushered back down to the humidity outside. It may have been the lack of sleep or the culture shock kicking in, but once at the bottom of the towers looking up at all the skyrises that minutes before had seemed like hobbit dwellings, I felt like I was on a film set - surreal or what! This ant was impressed.

A quick gape at the vegas like multicoloured fountain and I was being led to the neon lights and the promise of eating everything Asian along Jalan Alor, a busy street decorated with chinese lanterns, lined with restaurants and hawker stalls. The street was alive with the energy of hungry happy people, sellers drumming up business, sizzling food, cars and people choking the streets, music - this is what I expected wasn't it? We sat and ordered fresh juices, a hot sweet milky tea, several varieties of prawns, chicken satay (I know!) and pak choi....mmmmmm yum. A mojito and catch up later, we retired back to Cyberjaya for a much needed bed to lay our heads. Less than 24hrs into my trip and the introduction to Kl had been made - thanks Neina!

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