Kuala Lumpur: June 8-10

8th of June - the bus to KL from Singapore. It’s a nice bus – individual tv screens (watching Halloween H20 – heh – crappy horror on a bus in Malaysia), food, water, big plush seats. Not a bad way to travel. On the way into Malaysia, had to go through Singapore customs about 30 minutes after leaving, on the Singapore side of the causeway bridge. Then through Malay customs on the other side. A bit annoying, but it didn’t take too long. I should be on the bus about another 2 ½hours.

When I arrived at KL, took a couple minutes to find the LRT system, then tried to get money and couldn’t. Bad news. Then tried a different ATM, less money, and was able to. Ok. So I take the commuter train one stop to get on the Putra LRT to Masjid Jamek and then change to the Star LRT. Which I then take to the end of the line. After 45 minutes of walking around (and worrying that I was not going to find the place before they left for the day, I found the travel agent in some random office complex in northern KL. Ok, get up there and then find out that they only take cash. Gah. So I head back down, and lucky for me, the ATM nearby is one of the ones that actually works for me. I take out more cash, get back upstairs, the guy there gives me some water, and I get my package paid for. Back to the LRT, to my hotel next to Puduraya bus station. Craphole, dirty shared bathroom, but I have AC and a power outlet. So there’s that. Plus, cheap internet in the lobby. So I drop my stuff off, head out for some food. Walking for a little while, then stop at a hawker center in little India. Had roti canai and something else with chicken in it and rice – I still don’t know what it was, but it was damn tasty. Then back to the hotel, after seeing Merdeka Square and a few other sights (including Chinatown, which is very similar to Canal street in NYC) along the way.

Next morning (the 9th), walking around KL. Roti canai for breakfast, walked to Berjaya Times Square (big mall), freaked out a little because money wouldn’t come out of the ATM, then found different ATM that worked. Saw the Petronas Towers, walked some more, actually ended up getting lunch at Fridays (after the money incident I really just wanted some western food), hamburger and fries and lemonade. I wanted a western meal! So sue me. I went nearly a month without one.