One day in Malaysia

We'll the last few hectic weeks are over with uni and work and we made it safely off the plane to Malaysia. No real drama's but planning there has been little off particularly in the financial department.

As you may or may not know this trip through Malaysia and into Laos, is partly a holiday, but also to deliver kindly donated monies to school kids in Laos. Tomorrow I fly out to Vientienne before heading straight north to Luang Prabang were I will meet up with my guide and assistant, Tee.

Of course all the thing I should have done such as obtain Travellers checks, I didn't get to do so there may be some joys in actually getting the Money into Laos through the still emerging electronic systems there. But it should be possible without to much exchange rate loss (which I will cover for).

That was the initial disclaimer, now onto what has actually happened. I woke up at 6am, packed a few final things, had some breakfast, before being picked up by Renee at 8am. A quick stop at work for some last minute photocopies and then on to the bus station, only to arrive rediculously early. Better early than late is what I always say. Anyway, onto the bus (no spare room) and settled in for a nap until Goulburn before twiddling my thumbs for the next two hours to the Airport. On arrival got a text from mum my that she was still at home, Great!! Another 45min twiddling of thumbs and she was there and we checked in and completed to formalities without any troubles. 2hours later after a Beer and G&T we were airborne. The flight; suprisingly; uneventful. I introduced mum to 'Up'before settling to watch 'Chocolat' and 'The boat that rocked'; both good movies.

We arrived late in KL and decided to front up the money and taxi to our hotel; again no dramas.

The next morning, slow rise and free breakfast made it a good start, though the rain was a little concerning. Not that it is cold! About 28 degrees, 90% humidity. We decided to start the day with a walk to Chinatown were mum did her initial haggling from which the price agreement was way too easy, suggesting a still inflated price range. From there we walked through some of the food markets and wet markets, stroked a pig snout, before heading outback for some food and drink. Unfortunately no Rotti Chenai, so it was just tea with sweetened condensed milk. Forgot to order 'tarik', i.s. Black. From there I decided to go to the mosque which is only a short 200 meters away, however there is a river and a train line in between so it took us about an hour to walk up and down the step, and walk through tunnels intended for cars for us to get there. (On the way back we realised that there was an underpass that would have made the whole walk easier. With both looked dumbfounded at eachother that we didn't see it on the way there.)

At the national Mosque we stopped for some Chilli soup and talked with a son on Indonesian expats that now live in Holland, who work in some really funk agricultural technology that mean that people don't have to plant seeds anymore, they can just monitor computer screens that monitor robots. A pleasant suprised given that he immediately started talking to us in Dutch, without even asking if we could speak it. Coincidence?

Returning back to the city, taking the underpass, we took a left turn at the intersection which sent us on a loop in another direction. This is were we realised that KL isn't really for walking and decided to get on a train to the Petronas Towers, which compared to all the walking we had done was easy.

I admired the towers from the base spent some time in the park behind it playing Yahtzee. Mum won. Whoops, I should have said something earlier, but I Mum is travelling with me for this trip, bravehearted soul that she is!! From there we decided to head home as the day was getting on. We walked passed a hawker centre and picked up a quick meal and chatted to one to stall owner before catching the monorail. We decided to take the thing to the end of the line before returning to our station, which was near where we started just to get another view of the city.

Then there was some planning to do, as none was done before we left. Passport foto's to get visa, kind of important. Money in right currency to actually pay for Visa; very important. Cash to get to airport; really important. So after some effort we managed to get all that sorted and get mum a pair of shoes and her face half cleansed and watch the indoor rollercoaster and have a cup of sweet bitter tea, before heading back to the guest house for a beer. And that is were I am now and if the prices weren't so high I would be having more beer. We'll, I guess that is waht Beer Laos is for.

So tomorrow the flight leaves and the real adventure begins. Stay informed and win prizes (unlikely but possible) right here on 'Is this the real life?
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