Aaron gets kissed in the middle of a street/Jian is the master of bargaining!

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Okay kids. The week that was.

Welcome to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. A city that could be Sydney’s half-sibling, a continental brother from another mother. This feeling of familiarity is maybe why we traded our cons for thongs, our back-packs for shopping bags and our lonely planet for paperback pot-boilers. All in all, a good week.

Kualar Lumpar is a melting point of countries- Indian, Chinese, Malay- you turn one corner and you are in Chinatown, turn the next and you are in downtown India. It’s really fascinating. Every menu is a smorgasbord of continental food- it’s really great. So suffice to say, I’ve gotten my appetite back and I am back in good health.

Jian and I have been indulging in some much needed Western style shopping- although with a purpose. We need winter clothes bad. I’ve thrown away a couple of shirts to make way for some long sleeves and a new pair of jeans. Jian is loaded with jumpers and new shoes. But despite rumour, Malaysia isn’t that cheap at all. Which is a bit of a shame. But we made do. And keeping in vein with our Western-World-Binge, we went and saw a blockbuster at the local cinema complex which at my bequest was the ‘Friday the 13th’ remake; a movie I had high hopes for, but which was in fact, utterly and insanely intolerable and an insult to our intelligence (and I love stupid horror movies, but this one was utterly horrendous). Not only this (although very interesting)- the film was rated 18+, and despite the rating the film was full of fourteen year old kids and the film itself had been ‘cut’ (obviously by the complex itself) for censorship reasons. And we are not talking ‘bleeping’ out the occasional ‘f’ word- but jagged pieces of film missing. Sentences were incomplete- action broken in half, etc. It infuriated me. I paid to see a movie and to see all of it, with respect to the rating. But with this respect must also come respect for the culture of those behind the cutting knife- a traditionally minded and often conservative hand. I still felt ripped off and angry that someone else was telling me what I could and could not be subjected to (of my own free will).

We have again been ripped off seriously; prime culprits are taxi drivers with jumping metres (Jian and I were so furious we yelled at one guy and jumped out of the moving car and did a runner on him) and middle aged postal office workers who insist on being paid to do absolutely nothing and making you pay for sticky tape usage etc… But despite this, we have had lovely moments of beautiful generosity and kind acts that shine through all the negatives (ie: a lovely woman in a food court who just with a smile made me feel so insanely welcome in her country and an older Indian Man who came up in the middle of the street and kissed me on the cheek and said ‘I love tourists- have a lovely day- and be sure to check out India!’- just amazing).

The KL Petronus Twin Towers are a marvel of architectural / industrial ingenuity. We were wowed, but I got serious vertigo in the observation deck because Jian insisted on going to the edge and pretending to fall.

(NB: to those who don’t know- I’m terrified of heights and I’m trying to overcome them. The towers were a challenge WITHOUT Jian being a total nong. My knees literally shake and my stomach drops like I’m on a roller coaster and my head swims like I’m drunk… not to mention my hands go purple (PURPLE!))

We have had some amazing food and have stayed in three different places. The first was a cheap hostel with ‘private rooms’- although by private I mean they have made private rooms out of classroom dividers (actually kind of funny). Another hostel (with sound walls- although thin (take note the ladies across the hall- I CAN hear you all singing in the shower))- that had no windows, so whenever you woke up in the morning, at whatever time it may be; it feels like it’s three in the morning. This can be rather disorientating. The last was our farewell to Asia nice, hotel for one night (where I’m currently writing this). We walked forty-five minutes to get there with our backpacks on and rocked up extremely smelly/sweaty… I’m convinced the concierge was convinced we were at the wrong hotel (it’s very swanky! We want to stay here forever … and ever … and ever- ala The Shining- um, actually no- that’s kind of freaky). Tonight we ate at the KL tower (similar to centre point in Sydney) at a revolving restaurant buffet (ohhhhhh such a bad idea… we ate ourselves sick... so Jian and I have decided we can save money by not buying any food tomorrow).

Jian and I have been doing some reading of our own, which has been a really great pleasure. We both love losing ourselves in good books and rarely get the opportunity, or find something we really connect with. But we did. Jian and I found a great second hand bookshop that we got lost in (I for longer…). Jian bought and read ‘Stay Alive, My Son’ by Pin Yathay which is about the Cambodian Killing fields. Jian was literally in tears (has anyone been in the position of having to comfort someone who is crying over a book, it’s a weird experience- and thanks to all those who have done it for me). I read two astounding theological books by William Peter Blatty, who famously wrote ‘The Exorcist’ - one called ‘Twinkle Twinkle Killer Kane’ (very rare- an amazing find) which blew my mind in how religiously thought provoking it was (and suspenseful as well) and another, a memoir on his writing ‘The Exorcist’ and the death of his mother- which just floored me (I swear to God I am going to make this book into a film one day- mark my words).

So we just literally lost ourselves in other worlds whilst within other worlds this week. It’s cleared our heads. We are so ready to bring on the next continent.

Istanbul here we come.

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Comments

[Emma]

Aaron Aaron Aaron! You crack me up! That whole entry I was smiling and laughing. I love you! So nice of the random to come up and give u a kiss! Jian you're so mean to Aaron lol. But Aaron purple is a great colour :p The classroom dividers is a classic. Also love the tie Aaron. Looks like you had a great week. Love you and miss u both so so much xox

[Simon b]

Im loving all the asian food, im going to miss it now that your off to Europe. KL looks really nice, i'll have to go there one day.

[Caryn]

Ahhh.. the Motherland =)
KL never looked so go till the two of you visited!