Yes. Yes I did.
Then I saw it again later and thought, “WTF was I thinking?” Other than the whole Tommy Lee Jones in shorts, it was pretty stupid.
It’s highly possible that the situation surrounding the movie made the entire thing so absurd it became funny. Somehow, that day at Southfield, it just became this comedy of errors. I don’t remember the whole thing, but we had to wait half an hour for popcorn or something like that and wound up missing the start of the movie. Then something else happened, like maybe the power went out or something.
I loved this tree. It was right on the road side and had all these viney things growing on it. The trunk was about four feet around. HUGE tree.
Whatever happened, we wound up leaving the theater and catching the next screening. By the time we sat down, I just needed the break so badly I guess the thing was hysterical.
So in retrospect, maybe Kuala Lumpur wasn’t that great. But man, I needed it.
Yes, I finally got the heck out of Dodge, and it was everything I thought it could be. Although right now, I can’t really pin exactly what was so great about it, except that it wasn’t Jakarta.
On Friday, we got our days off for the next few weeks. Friday was the last day of my six-day stretch that you have to do before you get two days off in a row, which were Saturday and Sunday. And on Friday, I learned that I’d also, once again, be off Monday.
Models in the little wading park near the twin towers.
Last time that happened, it was the Fourth and I couldn’t get anywhere since I didn’t find out until the Sat.-Sun-Mon. days off until the Sunday. This time, I had a whole day advance notice.
But you know what? I can meet a deadline. After just having found out around noon that I’d be off on Monday, too, I started mulling over what to do. I mean, if I stayed in Jakarta for three consecutive days, I’d be voluntarily feeding myself to the rats. I just couldn’t have taken it, especially after the last few days I’ve had.
So once I got into work, I solidified a plane ticket. I’d previously checked on tickets and I knew that the ONE flight I could use my Delta voucher on (for getting bumped going to Palm Springs) was to KL. And, even the day before, I could do that. Heck, I even have enough to do it again, which I might be doing later in September.
Petronas twin towers. World's tallest. 88 floors. I didn't go up, even to the observation deck.
Couldn’t reserve a hostel from the office because I didn’t have my credit card with me, so I did that once I got home. My first choice was no longer available but I found a No. 2 that turned out to be a brilliant choice. If I go back, I’ll be staying at the Traveller’s Palm again.
Travel-wise, everything went smoothly, which was almost surreal. I mean, I got there and headed to the train into town, which only leaves every half hour or so at that hour. One was leaving in five minutes. Seriously, I couldn’t have timed it better.
A little piece of home, although I'm willing to bet they didn't mean Florida.
Yeah, I misjudged some time and spent a bit too long in airports as a result, but who plans for seamless commutes? Seriously? No going to bitch about that.
My flights were fabulous. Apparently on the way out, the flight actually goes to Amsterdam with a KL stop. They had a real meal and free drinks and stuff, even though it was only an hour an a half flight. I even had a movie selection. (Mine: “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.” I had to watch half going and half returning. God, that’s a great movie.)
IMO, KL is superior to Jakarta in every way I can think of. Heck, they even had a jungle in the airport! Seriously! The terminal I was in was circular, and in the middle was the outdoors. Where most airports would set a smoking room or something, they had a little jungle boardwalk you could walk through. No animals that I saw, but they had some little informative stuff on the trees. And silence, which is always nice in an airport.
One day, I'll make that book of signs. This is going in.
Other ways the place was superior: cooler weather (which seemed weird, because it’s about as far above the equator as I was below but it was actually cooler there), public transportation, less traffic and more green. They also had a TGI Friday’s, but I passed it up in favor of Nando’s, which came recommended by Elizabeth (who was totally right – fabulous).
I do admit, though, that one of my drink choices didn’t work out well. Something called a “Cane drink” that had a picture of sugar cane on the side. It seemed like a good idea, especially in comparison to *another* soft drink or the tea that said “with real chewy bits!” on it. That seemed like a bad idea, too, but the cane stuff just made me shudder. It was like sucking on a sugar cane stick, which I guess was the point but unless it’s Mule Day, I’m going to take a pass next time.
This won't make it in, but I liked it anyway. I definitely take weird photos.
Another annoyance was mosquitoes, but after attacking me the first night as I sat with the other hostel guests, they seemed to fill up on me and lose interest. But I did get bit on the bottoms of my feet, even.
KL is home to the world’s largest twin towers and a ton of malls for people watching. I went to a couple and just basically messed around. I probably didn’t do 10 percent of what the place had to offer – I never made it to a museum, the deer park, Chinatown (although I did hit Little India and had a great lunch my last day), a mosque or a monument.
The fountain in Little India, where I had a HUGE thing of rice for 5 ringgit, which is maybe $1.50 or something. I almost made myself sick eating all of it, but what a way to go.
Basically, I was at peace walking somewhere that wasn’t Jakarta. There were very few cars on the road, really – I was there Sunday – and I can’t even recall seeing a single motorcycle.
For the first time, I went armed with headphones and my MP3 player, which really gives me a ton of time on one battery. I listened to about two weeks’ worth of the “Through the Bible” alternated with stuff like Toby Keith and Jimmy Buffett.
Can I just say how extremely weird it is to be walking down a foreign street and hearing something as American as “How Do You Like Me Now?!” or “I Will Play for Gumbo?” It’s almost like a secret joke.
The jungle experience, smack dab in the middle of Terminal C in the airport. Literally smack dab in the middle.
I visited the towers, but didn’t go up (I’d run out of cash at that point – didn’t have much – and hadn’t yet found an ATM) but did wander in the little park nearby, which included a wading pool.
My traveling wardrobe, luckily, now consists of a gray pair of Capri pants and my rust-colored (and now, bleach-spotted) Lands’ End shirt, which has a handy front pocket for an MP3 player and the little clippie sunglasses I own. My Chacos are the only shoes I wear on non-work days (if that).
In the gardens outside the twin towers, near the wading pool. I liked the big leaf plant, but I didn't see anything telling me what it was.
This is how PC has affected my travel: For a trip that lasted, essentially, a day and a half, I didn’t even bring a change of clothes. I brought a tank top and shorts to sleep in, but that was it. Didn’t even wear the belt – it sets off airport security sometimes – and therefore spent about 1/10 of the time hitching up my pants, which are close to sliding off my hips these days.
But the Capris are a good pick, because I can do things like jump into wading pools when they appear in front of me. Plus, if I sweat, they’re light enough that I can basically just shower in them to rinse them off and then leave them to dry the rest of the night. (Don’t try this at home – people will think you’re nuts. But in cheap SE Asia hostels, it’s pretty standard.)
At some point in the future (inchallah) I will get a decent job and income again, but man, I am not sure how I will manage to adjust back to the real travel world. Like the kind where you get a whole room to yourself and don’t fill up on the cornflakes at the free breakfast.
Other KL highlights were minimal, I guess. I walked a ton, which is nothing new – although my calves still hurt – but I did hit up a few sights like the handicraft center.
Didn’t find anything I couldn’t live without, but I did head into a drugstore (not illegal drugs, of course. Beyond the fact that this is me, Malaysia has lots of warnings up about trafficking being a capital offense) and check out their fungus drugs.
Yeah, my little rashes aren’t healing themselves, despite me slathering stuff on every chance I get. So I found a couple of possibilities and decided to ask the pharmacist which was better. She (I got lucky) asked what it was for and since one spot is in a place I can show and tell, I showed. (Didn’t speak the language enough to tell.)
She offered to give me the full Monte one – the prescription, way stronger than the OTC. Yay! Fungi killer drugs!
So that and a magnet were my souvenirs. I’m so exciting.
Luckily I didn’t have to declare anything at the airport – I wasn’t really sure how to go about that. “What did you buy in Malaysia?" “Drugs!”
Yeah, that didn’t sound so great. But fortunately no one asked.
In fact, no one asked anything. And I sped through.
My flight on the way back was in this HUGE plane. Ten seats across, 63 rows. Not totally packed, but pretty piled in. I got lucky --- I was in bulkhead, albeit next to two somewhat rude Dutchmen.
On the way out, I figured I’d have a long wait in the immigration like always, but I realized I didn’t have to stand in the “Visa on demand” line, which probably 80 percent of the people herded toward.
The other 19.8352 percent were Indonesian, and I really got thrown off as to where I was supposed to go. I didn’t need a visa, I knew, but the only other line said “Permanent Alien Residents” or something like that. And there was only one person in that line.
Now, I hate to think of myself as a permanent Indonesian resident, but that seemed to be the closest category, so I got in that line. Breezed right through, grabbed a cab and headed home.
I gotta say, it was quite a fabulous break. I just needed it so badly.Maybe when I do it again, it'll be like "MIBII," re-deux, but I'm willing to give it a chance.
What got even better was today was my holiday since tomorrow is Independence Day. I could have stayed in KL for another day, but honestly, I figured I could use a day here to just catch up.
And that’s what I’ve done. I even wound up going to the doctor here, which was a little unplanned. I’d tried to make an appointment but due to the phone issue I couldn’t get through and emailed them instead. I didn’t know until last night I had an appointment, so I went ahead and went and got MORE drugs. Yay! I’m going to win the fungus battle.
And maybe, just maybe, I will head back to KL next month or the month after. I do have enough for another plane ticket and unless I stay on the plane and go to Amsterdam, I don’t have another destination for the voucher. I was really hoping that purchasing the one ticket might extend the Feb. 10 expiration date, but that didn’t happen. So since I am a little low on funds still, I could cash in and head back.
Which wouldn’t be a bad idea.
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