Kuala Lumpur, or K.L. was a shiny, modern culture shock.
After three days on the train, we looked like dirty hobos compared to KL’s
squeaky clean streets and flushable toilets. Luggage lockers allowed us to have
a few arm-swingingly free hours to explore the city with it’s many Mosques,
ethnic neighborhoods and delicious fried bread called “Roti”. It’s always fun
to order something random on the menu. Fried dough with delicious melted cheese
in the center? Could have definitely been worse. Our splurge for this trip was
staying in a hotel on the water (not on the beach, but literally tiny houses on
posts in the ocean itself-see my cover picture on Facebook for a visual
reference). I guess we must have really looked disheveled from our three days
on the train, because the previously silent taxi driver not only assertively tried
to drop us off at two cheaper place first, but laughed uncontrollably when we
insisted on being dropped of at the Golden Palm Resort. It’s not everyday that
two broke looking college students with a Marshalls bag for luggage ask to be
dropped at a fancy hotel.
I assumed the place would be swarming with American and
European tourists, but I couldn’t have been more wrong. Again we were the 1%,
this time surrounded by wealthy Chinese families. I guess all the profits from
China’s economic progress have to go somewhere. Feeling completely pampered we
slept on actual pillows rather than folded up sweatshirts and even took two
showers in one day. Craziness. Leisurely strolls along the beach, endless
Chinese hot pot for dinner and a pool under the stars with live singers in the
background wasn’t bad either. And yes, “Party
in the USA” and “Call me Maybe”
really can get worse. Oh Asian hotel singers, you have done the impossible. Of
course we also made the most of our stay by sneaking ramen into our room to
avoid the expensive dining and stretching the all you can eat buffet breakfast
to both lunch AND dinner. Hey, don’t judge. We have Singapore to save for
(apparently almost as expensive as the US). We’ve been preparing ourselves for
the sticker shock after street snacks by the dime in Thailand and three-dollar
shoes in Malaysia (Another note to self:
even though the outside of your backpack has two perfectly sized pockets for
your flip-flops, this doesn’t help you when you board the train and realize
that only one flip flop has survived the day. I guess that’s your tip Ganesan.
Thanks for an excellent taxi ride!).
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