With departure from Brisbane at 11.20pm on 31 August the red eye flight getting here was not too bad as I did manage to sleep a little bit. Did not help that the cabin lights were not turned off until about 1am then turned back on at 5.30am to be served breakfast.
Arrived fine at the massive Kaula Lumpur International Airport and was a bit thrown when you had to catch a train to the main building just to collect your baggage. Malaysia is definitely more relaxed on customs than Australia as you could just pick up your bag and walk out.
Stayed at local airport hotel, the Concorde Inn, which was fine but the rate was $30 ringget more than quoted me when I phoned to book. I was supposed to pay $60 ringget cash extra for early check in, which I did not have and which they did not charge me in the end so it worked out fine anyway. Also I got in an extra breakfast as after showering I went to the buffet (around 11 Australia time and 9 local time) and had brunch even though I was paying for only one night so was only entitled to breakfast the next morning.
After a few hours nap I caught the free courtesy bus back to the airport then the express train into the city. Got off at KL Sentral station which is the hub for all the different trains as well as buses and taxis. This is a pretty new development with transport, shops, food court, commercial and residential buildings all in one spot. And plenty of new buildings under construction also. At this stage it is hard to walk anywhere so I caught a taxi to a nearby shopping mall. It is called Mega Mall and is massive. Picked up a Malay phrase book here. Checked out the camera shops but a stall at KL Sentral had a good price on the Canon Powershot s95 camera that I was after so I went back the next day. Got it for $450 Aus rather than the $600 advertised back home which was the best price. There is not as much difference as I thought and the website that gave me the big difference before was obviously not right.
Caught the train back to the airport hotel and looked on the internet for somewhere cheaper to stay the next day. As worked out that for $230 for one night then $70 return trip on the train I could pay for three nights elsewhere. So booked into the China Town Inn, which had some great reviews about being clean and central but also some worring comments about bed bugs and noise.
But the place is perfect. The little box room has no windows but that makes me feel a bit more secure as less opportunity to break in. Also I am back from the front of the hotel so no noise at all and no bed bugs. I get great wi-fi internet access in my clean air conditioned room and a safe deposit box to leave my passport in when heading out. China Town markets in street outside and it is funny to see the difference from no stalls and cars going through in the morning to it being packed with displays of Chinese copied brand name bags, watches, tshirts and DVDs.
On the Saturday I headed out to do some sightseeing with the KL Hop On, Hop Off bus. It does a loop of the city stopping at all major tourist sites. I went to the museum (just like any other museum but good to get a bit of history of Malaysia which is not yet 50 yo). They did have a few animals though so had my picture taken with an albino Burma Python. Next stop was the KL Bird Park which was interesting though I think it has environmental issues with all that bird shit and a water feature running through the middle. My main aim was to see some of the hornbills that some of my voluntary work will be focused on. Had pictures taken with a couple of Pied Hornbills. It was pretty hot and steamy at the bird park so I was keen to just complete the circuit and get back to the hotel but one of the last stops was at the Craft Cultural Centre so I jumped off. Purchased the first souvenier which is a silver filigree brooch of an orchid. Something small and easy to carry.
After dinner that night I went back to have another massage, similar to the hour and a half one I had on Friday night. This cost me $100 ringgit which equates to about $31 Australian. Yan Sen, or no.90, is very good but this time he was a bit enthusiastic with the work on my face, leaving me with a faint red mark between the eyebrows due to some broken blood vessels which will hopefully fade.
The world is a small place as on Friday I had received a Facebook message from a colleague I had met at SOPAC in Fiji who is here now working for the International Federation of Red Cross. We met up on Sunday to have lunch at the KL City Centre which is another massive mall next door to the Petronis Towers. These towers are big and shiny but I did not bother trying to get a ride up to the bridge which is apparently popular with tourists. Chelsea and I had lunch at a Thai restaurant which was fabulous. I was keen for some vegetables so had deep fried sea bass with a mass of green mango salad.
Cannot wait to get to Thailand for the food. As I am staying in China Town it is a bit challenging to get some good Malay food though have had satay. Have found a Chinese food stall around the corner where I can get vegetables with prawns, fried rice and other dishes to take away for about $2-5 Aus. A cafe a street over does Western style eggs, toast with a piece of processed meat (hamlike but not ham) for breakfast, which with a cup of green tea costs me $3.50 Aus.
