KL, Here We Come

Having left Japan, I can officially say that the adventure has begun. Even though I spent one week in Japan, there were many things that prevented from really being an adventure. I served my mission here, so I speak Japanese (even if it's rusty, I can still understand people). Japan is a safe country; you don't have to worry about getting robbed or being taken advantage of. I can say that I was a little anxious traveling to Malaysia. Of all the countries that I've visited/lived in, this is the one that I know the least about.

I'm including this picture because I think the expression on the man's face is hilarious. He seriously stood like this for 10 minutes! I was waiting for the airport express train this morning and I saw this man and had to take a picture.

Back to my day...I was seated in the middle of the Boeing 777, so I didn't get a chance to see Kuala Lumpur (locally known as KL) from the sky. However, the airport is very nice and clean. Once we got our baggage, it was a little like JFK where there was the official airport taxi (comparable to the yellow cab) and then lots of random people asking you if you needed a lift. They were obviously trying to take advantage of the tourists because they charged 120-140 Ringitts (US$1 = 3.5 Ringitts). The official airport taxi charged 60R for a normal cab (30 minute wait, though) and 90R for a premium cab (a mid-90's Mercedes E320). We took the premium cab and were able to pay with a credit card.

The man who drove us was very nice. He spoke some English and we chatted off-an-on during the 45-minute ride. I was impressed by the large and clean highways in the country. I was expecting the country to be less developed and dirtier. However, I found the city to be quite clean and modern. Our cab driver was funny. He tried to set us up with his daughter, whom he kept referring to as naughty. He also asked that we not call him daddy (i.e., don't marry his beautiful daughter—not that we had any intention of doing so).

We pulled up to our hotel, which appeared to have a nice foyer. The actual room is a little dumpy, but not too bad. It has a/c (which you need when it's 80+ degrees at night plus humidity). The street we're on is a little ghetto and kinda smelly, but I don't really feel like my life is in danger. There's plenty of Western influence here thanks to the British. However, it's the American restaurants that continue to penetrate the world: McDonald's, 7-11 (They do have slurpees! Going for a slurpee run tomorrow night!), Burger King, KFC (provided a light dinner for me), Dunkin Donuts, etc. I'll be sure to try more ethnic cuisine tomorrow.

One great thing about this country is that it is cheap. The cab from the airport only cost US$30 (for a 75km drive), a 1^st class train ticket to Singapore only costs US$20, and my KFC meal cost US$1.25. I don't think Yale and I will even spend $100 between the two of us. Oh yeah, we're going to get massages tomorrow or Friday. I'm really looking forward to that.

Overall, I'm excited to see KL. I wish I had more time here b/c I'd like to visit some beach towns (I'm dying to go to the beach) and see the countryside (they have a beautiful national park, I hear). However, I'll have to settle on just KL, which seems to have plenty to offer.