Salamat Jalang, KK; Salamat Datang KL

I just finished my first 24 hours in KL and I’m quite shocked to observe that it seems to me that I’ve only got about 20 left. Left in KL and left on my trip. Not ready to leave about sums it up…

But before I get all philosophical and start reminiscing, I need to go ahead and finish talking about my time in KK and talk at least a tiny bit about KL.

It’s always hard when I let too much time come between my experiences and writing about them, so I’m going to just hit the highlights.

KK Day 4: After a 5 star breakfast of eggs on toast a la Mr. Cham, we went white water rafting on the Kiulu River. Here Nathan and I were the only white people in a vast sea of another type of traveler hitherto unencountered (yes, I realize that isn’t a word): The Young Female Asian Tourist. It was me, Nathan, and eight photo snapping, giggling girls from Singapore or KL or perhaps China. Of all the boats, we were the only two who didn’t shriek when we got wet or drop our paddles to make peace signs every time a camera appeared. Because of this, the harried guides naturally gravitated to us and we shared many a chuckle at the expressions of terror and disappointment as these girls realized they’d paid money to do physical labor (paddling) and get drenched. Needless to say, Nathan and I had a blast and the shyness of the girls may have kept them from talking to us, but they weren’t afraid of taking pictures of us not drowning (also known as swimming) in the water. That night we had some fine Chinese dining and shared ostrich, crocodile, and corn fed chicken with some of Mr. Cham’s rather amusing business partners.

KK Day 5: Laid on a beach. Turned our lifejackets into lederhosen and embarrassed the very few whites on the beach. Snorkeled. Dodged jellyfish. For dinner we went to a little hole in the wall Chinese place with more business associates and sat at a table filled with little bowls. In said little bowls were literally every part of the pig one could eat. Intestines, kidneys, ligaments, knuckles, eyelids, and meaty bits (only one of these isn’t true…). It actually turned out, like all of the food we had in KK, to be absolutely divine. Desert of Es Campur (that’s the Indonesian spelling, I know it’s a bit different in Malay, but it consists of shaved ice and 15 different jellied things from beans and corn, to seaweed and crunchy things) followed at a Malay place and it was as not tasty as the one I had in Medan.

KK Day 6: Went to one of the many many many Catholic churches in KK. The service was in English and several of the hymns were not only the same words, but also the same tune. Singing ‘One Bread, One Body’ with a church that was packed 30 minutes before mass started. Afterwards a lady came up to me and said, “I hope you enjoyed mass, I know it’s so different here!” I thanked her, but didn’t mention that far from different, the service was, of course, almost word for word the same as ours back home. The two differences: Chinese and Malay people can’t sing the sound –th which was pretty amusing and during the sign of peace, people bow to each other rather than shake hands. This is AWESOME. A breakfast of roast duck and roast pork and Chinese coffee at another hole in the wall completed an excellent morning. We spent the rest of the day trying random foods, going to random resorts, watching random golfers, and finally bidding goodbye to our most gracious host and getting on the flight to KL!

I really do miss KK and it was a wonderful, bustling, welcoming town blessed with abundant and excellent food and amazing natural beauty. A must see on any South East Asian tour.

Well, I promised a bit about KL, but it’s 3:30AM here and I’m starting to have difficulty seeing straight, so I’m going to call it a night. Update tomorrow? I think so.

G’night!