Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

I haven't been able to connect with this big city, abbreviated KL, as it feels just like every other one. The main attractions here are shopping and partying, although being caught in possession of drugs (even marijuana) carries a mandatory penalty of death by hanging. Most people here speak enough English to understand, even if I have to listen intently to pick out words through a heavy accent.
The main experience here was CouchSurfing with Okey, a logistics major and shipping business owner from Nigeria. We arrived late on a Friday night, made more complicated by the multi-step process to get from the airport to his place via public transportation. We flew on AirAsia thus arriving at the Low Cost Carrier Terminal instead of the main one. Luckily, I did some research online prior to leaving Da Nang so I knew we had to take a shuttle bus to a train station, a train to the station nearby Okey's condo, and then a taxi.

Our flight was uneventful aside from the quite delicious vegan meals we pre-ordered. After landing, we got about $10 USD of Vietnam Dong exchanged for Malaysian Ringgits. We attempted to buy a data SIM card for our phones but our preferred company's booth was closed. We bought tickets for the shuttle and train just past customs which had a sign but no officer or further checks. After walking a ways to the pick up spot and seeing the bus depart, I sat down in a coffee shop with wifi and air-con to let Okey know we would be a little later than expected.

The bus and train went by smoothly so when we arrived at the station, we debated walking the 1.5 miles to the condo. After staring off in each direction for a few minutes, we realized we should just pay for the cab since it was around 8:30 PM and we were hungry. There was a booth next to the taxi stand where you told the cashier your destination and she printed off a receipt rather than using the taxi's meter. This was a horrible idea as we paid more than 3x the normal price without knowing any better.

Now we were at the condo but didn't have internet or SMS to find out what building or apartment Okey lived at. To give you an idea of how large the complex is, there are 3 buildings, each with 28 floors and about 10 flats per floor. Each floor plan is the exact same with 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, mostly housing students from the nearby university.

We walked to the nearby 7/11 to get SIM cards only to be told that we could buy them but not register them since "the office" was closed. Carlos asked the employee to send Okey a text message, asking him to meet us at the McDonald's at the complex entrance. While waiting for him there, I checked my email on Carlos's Kindle finding out the apartment number and how to register with the guards just as Okey and his girlfriend Jennifer walked up to us.

The Patronus Towers

By this time, it was about 10 PM. Okey's friend Dino picked us up in his car to go for dinner but most restaurants were closed so we settled on an Malaysian-Indian place next door. It was quite different from any Indian restaurant I've been to and we didn't even get menus. After a long wait, we were served yummy bread with a curry dipping sauce and fried rice with little bits of veggies. Not amazing but it worked. After hearing Okey's business side on the phone to his employees in Nigeria, we went upstairs to settle in for the night.

Okey and Jennifer rent out the master bedroom in the flat with two roommates occupying the other rooms. They graciously offered us their bed and slept on a mattress in the living room. Before we went to bed around 1 AM, Okey informed us that a Polish girl and a couple of her friends were arriving early the next morning on the night bus from Singapore. Their host had bailed on them so he was wondering if we would be okay with them coming to his place for the day and possibly the night. Fine by us!

The next morning, the group of Polish interns arrived and we went to find some food so they could rest up and have some privacy. No restaurants were open before 11 AM so we picked up some basics at the Giant supermarket next door. It was lovely to see the variety and Okey insisted on paying for everything, in accordance with his cultural norms.

After that we ventured into the city center to buy the Europeans a bus ticket back to Singapore for the following day and see the Patronus towers which are the 2nd tallest buildings in the world. It was a long and hot walk since we disembarked at the wrong station and walked past the towers a few times on accident. We didn't go up to the top floor as it cost over $30 per person!

A Hindu temple across from our restaurant in Chinatown

Then our group split up as the Polish students wanted to go to Chinatown and we were planning on going to a CouchSurfing pool party. We met up with Dino again who took us there in his car after driving around for about an hour and making several U-turns... which are right turns here where they drive on the left side of the road! The party was alright, not my scene, but I did meet a woman named Vans who went to Western Michigan University and lived in Kalamazoo for 6 years! Apparently there is a popular exchange program between WMU and a university in KL. We remarked about how much we missed Meijer and having everything we could ask for within a 5 minute drive.

The following day was an adventure to find Reef sandals for Carlos. They only sell them at one mall in all of Malaysia which took us 2-3 hours to get to by public transportation (the cab back was only $10 and took about 25 minutes). It was worth it in the end as Carlos's feet are happy to be out of hiking shoes and we were able to get some other errands done at the same time, like cleaning his camera lens and getting my eyeglasses adjusted.

After saying goodbye to Okey and getting myself a haircut, we headed out to find a hostel near Chinatown. Randomly enough, we ran into a guy named Sam from the CS party whose friend from Korea directed us to her hostel. It's quite nice with a quiet 14-bed room and single-person shared bathrooms along with a kitchen area. And you can run the AC all day instead of just from 9 PM - 9 AM like the first place we looked at! The only downside has been finding food as the one vegetarian Indian place nearby started serving meat a few months ago and the waiters are barely able to confirm that they understand, "no butter, no egg, no milk."

I have been sick for the last 2 days so I've been semi-fasting along with the Muslims for Ramadhan, ha. One interesting thing has been seeing all of the women with hijabs in this country that is 40% Muslim. Hopefully I will feel better by the time our flight leaves for Thailand at 7 AM on the 27th! We're going to rent an apartment for a month there so we can feel a bit more settled and Carlos can get some work done, rather than feeling like we should be out exploring a place.

Graffiti near our hostel