Blogs from Wilayah Persekutuan, Malaysia, Asia - page 202

We are currently on a flight from Singapore to Delhi, India. The last couple days have been filled with meetings for me, as Lou spent his time touring the city of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. I had to change my flight plans and left Lou in KL for a 24-hour period while I traveled to Singapore for meetings with the Ministry of Health and Economic Development Board. In Singapore, I met up with a few people I work with from Vienna so we spent a few hours together. I did call Lou back in KL to make sure he was doing okay alone, only to find out that he had made friends with a fellow from Bangladesh and a woman from China while on a structured bus tour of the city. The woman was the editor of ... read more

Kuala Lumpur (KL) was our base for getting to and from Borneo. We decided to check it out for a few days and meet up with a another friend whi I met at the 'Eastman'. We stayed in a guesthouse (called 'number eight') which is budget accomodation but it was actually really modern and quite original. We did the usual stuff in KL like going around the shopping malls. We then went to the KL bird park, which apperently has the biggest in-flight aviary in the world. We even got to see some hornbills here as we didn't see many in Borneo. We also had to do the Petronas towers which are really impressive buildings. Especially at night as they stay lighted up and when your looking up you can see lots of bats flying around ... read more

One of the valuable things that I learned while traveling is that there's no shortage of kindness everywhere. Journalism (and should I say, adulthood and the bitter experiences that I had to overcome) has made a cynic out of me, always suspicious of people's motivation, especially of strangers who want to befriend or help me. ( I was like, why? Do you need anything from me?). But it was during my trip from Kathmandu to KL last September 29 that I had a change of heart. Good Samaritans do exist and that while i can't be fully trusting of strangers (let's be realistic, psychos also EXIST) I should learn to give people the benefit of the doubt. The Nepal Air flight to KL was delayed by two hours. Of course, I was really annoyed that ... read more

I've found myself tonight in KL's China town. The night markets were on last night and the town bustling and vibrant, although smelly. Pooey. I'm not supposed to be here, actually. I left Donna and Jodie at KL airport last night for their flight back to Sydney from Langkawi Island, and I made my way into town, armed with Michelle's KL address (but not her phone number, stupidly -  I left that in my diary, which I left with Donna to take home because I'm carrying way too much weight - yes, on my body, but also in my three bags! That's not how backpackers should travel! It's early days, after all, and I'm learning!). So anyway, a taxi takes me to Michelle's house and there's no one home. Well, no one answering the door, anyway. ... read more

Malaysia’s capital is an important transport hub in Southeast Asia and we had used it several times, mostly to or from Indonesia. Up to now, we have been in Kuala Lumpur four times, twice only at the airport and twice we stayed in the city. This is mainly due to Asia’s first low-cost airline, Air Asia, which is based in Kuala Lumpur. The airport is very modern, filled with light and convenient, it has only one serious drawback: it is 72 km from the city centre. There is a fast express train to the centre but this is very expensive (RM 65 = EUR 13), for travellers who are not in a big rush, there are slower but much cheaper alternatives. The cheapest way is to take a local bus which stops every few metres, that ... read more