Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

I'm in KL today, I had a 24 hour layover on my way to India. I'm so glad I've had a chance to check out the city - I'm definitely coming back! Malay people, so far, are the friendliest and politest people I've met! I hired a taxi, they call them 'limos' (ha) to take me around since my time is short. I've seen about everything there is to see in 3 hours. Raj dropped me off at the twin towers and I'm going to take the train from here to the airport.

I tell you, I have never been more ill prepared for a city! I had no idea where the hotel was in relation to the city center or what the exchange rate is. I asked my bus driver how much it would cost for a round trip to the city from the hotel and he said $200. Holy shit! Is that US dollars? I dont' even know what the Malaysian money is called...well now I do, but at the time I was a little taken aback. But I worked it out, got some cash & figured out I was 45 min away from the city, unless you drive like a true Malay, which is right up on people's bumpers, weaving in and out, cutting off scooters and flashing your lights, then it's only like 30 mins.

I met a girl in Auckland from Malaysia, she was going to the University of NZ. So I told her about my layover and she quickly made a list of places I had to go and where I had to eat. Most of the places I covered on my tour and for lunch I'm at the Twin Towers. Inside is like the San Francisco Shopping Center - layers of super upscale shopping and tons of people. But I made my way to Madame Kwan Restaurant and it's totally packed. Everyone that works in the towers eats in the food court or in the many restaurants, so I had to wait for a table of 1! Oh and did I tell you that I've been carrying around my pack, so I really look like a tourist not to mention I've taken out half of dozen people. Everyone walks really close together - the amount of personal space is a lot smaller than what I'm used to. Anyway, I order Nasi Lemak, b/c that's what's written on my list of things to eat in KL. I look at the picture - chicken, rice, I should be ok. The food comes and it's a PLATE of food. Chicken curry, just like mom makes, w/ a huge mound of coconut rice, some pickled onion things, two huge slices of cucumber, half a boiled egg, what tastes like powdered peanuts and a side dish of pickled/spiced cucumbers. OMG, I was in heaven! I licked my plate clean and it was less than $5 (US)! I had to watch the people on either side of me, b/c all I got was a fork and a spoon. They use the spoon instead of a knife, and eat w/ it rather than the fork, which is just used to push the food onto the spoon or hold it in place while you pull or cut w/ the spoon. There was a lot of clanking b/c the cucumber was so thick that you really had to put some pressure on the spoon to cut it - but everyone was doing it so I didn't feel eyes on me when my spoon hit the plate. What would have really sucked is if my cucumber had gone flying out from under my spoon. Which is definitely something that would have happened to me.