KL, First Time Around

 The KL Tower, World's Sixth Largest

Exotic and cosmopolitan, Old World and New Asia, colonial charm and skyscrapers –this is Kuala Lumpur.  

Islam is the state religion in Malaysia and all ethnic Malays are considered Muslim at birth by the constitution, but Kuala Lumpur’s pluralistic society is one of the main draws for nearly nine million tourists each year.  The city prides itself on religious tolerance.

 The National Mosque, Kuala Lumpur

 

The Methodist Boy’s School, founded in 1897 by missionary Dr. William T. Kensett, is one of the oldest schools in Malaysia.  Its library is said to be the oldest in Malaysia.

Indians have lived in the area at least since the eleventh century.  Malays are native to Malaysia and Malay chiefs hired Chinese workers for tin mines here in the early days of settlement, the 1850’s.

We see all of these, and more, on the train into KL.  Women in the Muslim head scarf are everywhere, but they are just half of the women we see.  We see Indian women, wearing not saris, but the Salwar Kameez, a dress and pants combination.  For the most part we see western clothing (women often wear long skinny pants and a long-sleeved top with a head scarf).  Jeans are less common than at home.

The blond in short shorts and a tank top with the young man in shorts seems to be Australian; possibly they’re on their honeymoon – KL seems to be a favorite vacations spot for Australians.

Hop On, Hop Off Tour

To get a feel for the city, we’ve opted for the Hop-On, Hop-Off Bus, which we pick up just outside the train station at KL Sentral.  

But we want to stop first at the Bird Park, in a beautiful green park that also houses an Orchid Park and a Butterfly Park.  The Bird Park is said to be the largest free-flight, walk-in aviary in the world.  

 A  Soft Gray Parrot

Inside, the birds get very close to visitors.   They seem to have little fear of humans and we get very close to take photos.  There’s a price to pay, however, if you happen to be carrying food.  While one family was taking a photo of the birds, one of the peacocks walked up to their stroller, seized a plastic bag filled with snacks in its beak, and refused to give it back. 

 

Peacocks seem to be everywhere:  on the pathway, in the bushes, on a wall, hiding off to my right. 

 They're Everywhere!

 He Likes It!

We stop at the snack bar, where we decide to try a coconut.  Fresh coconuts are cut open at the top, and you’re provided with a spoon and a straw.  There’s plenty of liquid to drink off before scooping out the coconut meat.  Bernie drinks a fair amount of it; me, just one sip.  It’s not a taste I care for.  I’ll stick with the pineapple juice I ordered.  

Are You Sure You Want All That Coconut?

All the while we’re sitting at the table, we have company.  White birds perch on the table, eager for a treat.  A family sits near us with food and they are dive-bombed by the birds.  They give up and leave.

 Lake and Waterfall

Storks, pelicans, flamingoes, and other water birds crowd the water’s edge in the lake below us.  

We depart this delightful oasis and board the bus again, this time stopping in Chinatown.  

  Name a Designer, We've Got a Bag For You

Chinatowns are very similar the world over.  Here, it’s hot and crowded, with hawkers coming at you from all sides.  Even if I wanted one of the thousands of fake Coach, Prada, Gucci, or Dolce and Gabanna bags (and I don’t), I wouldn’t dare stop to look at one.  These men, and they are mostly men, have Ph. D’s in fast-talking tourists.  I look straight ahead; if they talk directly to me, I smile and shake my head, again and again, and keep moving.

We’re hungry.  Easy – we’re in Chinatown, right?  Not quite.  We’ve been weaving in and out of stalls for about an hour.  The temperature is about 96.  Food has been sitting out in the food stalls for quite some time.  And I can’t identify it.  

Sooo, we find a regular restaurant and go inside, where it’s cool.  Regular Chinese fare, then.  Ha! Not on this menu! Margareta pizza and fish and chips.  They’re both frozen, it turns out (at least we know it was cooked while we waited).  And actually, the food is not bad. 

Still, my friend with the Middletown Health Department wouldn’t have been overly pleased.  When I asked if they had a place where I could wash my hands, they let me wash them in the same sink where they wash dishes.

a)       I saw their dish sponges

b)      I have a cold

I am five.  How old are you?

Back on the bus, we are joined by a family from Beijing, who’ve been to Phuket, Thailand. The mom and their little girl are sitting in the seat in front of us.  The little girl looks at her mom and says, “I am five.  How old are you?”  This is delivered in perfect, non-accented American English.  She also sings “I’m a Little Tea Pot.”  

It’s getting close to rush hour and we stay on the bus until we’re back at KL Sentral.  We’re thrilled with the ride through the city.  We pass through little India, through the crowded older business district and then past the gleaming Petronas Towers and the KL Tower.  

Near the old train station, with its minarets and Moorish architecture, is Merdeka (Independence) Square, formerly the cricket green for the exclusive Royal Selangor Club (founded in 1884).  Here, on August 31, 1957, Britain formally relinquished its claim to Malaysia and the Malaysian flag was raised for the first time.

The Royal Selangor Club not only still stands; it remains an exclusive, members-only club housing “sporting facilities” with food and beverage outlets.

We’re glad to see KL Central Station (or KL Sentral Stesion, in Malay).  Back to Subang Jaya on the crowded train.

The Basics

 The Landing, Bathroom #2, Our Bedroom, 3rd Bedroom

Housekeeping

One of the reasons I needed to stay alert the first day here was to familiarize myself with the house and the routine since our hosts were leaving early the next morning.

Though we’ve cared for this family’s cat before, that was another country, another house, and another cat.  

A cardinal rule with us is to care for the family’s home and pets exactly as they asked us to do.  Here, for instance, the trash goes out to the can in the little concrete enclosure built into the wall by the gate every day so we don’t get roaches or ants and it is picked up every couple of days. Zhou-Zhou will show her thoughts about a too-dirty litter box by using another spot for her needs.  Easy-peasy.

Zhou-Zhou getting friendly

Safety and Security

 Our back door/gate.  Quadruple locks.

Our back door is a big steel door with two slide-bolts combined with an inner iron gate with a lock and a padlock.  Our front gate to the courtyard is padlocked and the landlord has told us we should keep it locked even in the daytime, because “not everyone has the same standards.”  

A glimpse of our neighborhood over the courtyard wall

And we live in an “upscale gated community” with a security post at the entrance.  But maybe he's cautious because there are so many workmen around rehabbing some of the apartments into not just nice, but luxurious, living quarters.

Frankly, though, we have seen no evidence that there’s any reason to be concerned about our safety and security here.  I walked the neighborhood at night two nights ago.  Folks were out in their courtyards, and some were also taking walks.  

 On a tree a several houses away

My biggest fear is that one of the monitor lizards is going to jump out in front of me as I walk by some shrubbery and scare the daylights out of me.  

Why, Yes, You Will, Eat American Fast Food Here

McDonald's and I loved every bite

One of the great pleasures of Malaysia, we are told (and we believe), is the food. 

 

Trouble is, we don’t know enough about it to order it.

 

That didn’t bother us much before we got here, because everyone knows that there are Chinese restaurants everywhere, right?  Lots of vegetables, seafood, rice.  And there are – there’s a huge ethnic Chinese population here.  But what if that dish that looks and smells so good has chicken feet as one of its main ingredients?

I did my research and I’ve made a list of some of the top recommended dishes with ingredients we both should like and we’re now carrying that around with us.  We do have a plan to begin eating in nice restaurants where we can try some of the dishes at their best. Then, when we know what we like, a whole new world of food awaits us.

But at dinner time we are often in train stations where only fast food is available (both Malaysian and American) is available.  And when you’re tired and hungry (or you just don’t want to go home and cook), KFC, McDonald’s, and Subway look more than alright.  Oh, and Domino’s is great here.

By the way, a Big Mac in Malaysia tastes just like a Big Mac back home, and it tasted the same in China, too.  And KFC does a much better job with chicken here than they do most often at home – cooked just right.  

 Food Stall in Chinatown

Much tasty food in almost endless variety is available from hawker’s stalls.  Every guide book says it’s safe, and good, and get over your squeamishness.  However, I trust my gut on this (pun intended), and in the first few days that we were here, observed that food was cooked and set out in open stalls in the hot sun for who knew how long?  We weren’t ready for that.

Then we picked up a newspaper with the front page ablaze with “Must We Stomach This?” The main article detailed how Malaysians are all too casual about food contamination, and that, even if they saw rats or cockroaches at the stalls, they tended to continue to patronize the places because the food was tasty and cheap (actually most food here is cheap).  

But the deciding blow came when we read about a student at one of the universities here who died the week before, after eating food from a stall where rat urine had contaminated the food.  The disease is called Rat Urine Fever.  That sealed it for us.

Ok, we might eat something from one of the stalls in the Central Market, where we can watch every step of the preparation, but it’s going to take a while for us to work up to even that.

 

The Moonsoon Latitudes

 Last Leg, From London to Kuala Lumpur

Sight unseen, Malaysia calls up thoughts of what is so iconically British Colonial:  potted palms, ceiling fans, handcrafted tropical wood furniture, a life of quiet gentility in steaming jungles.

 First Glimpse of Malaysia From the Air

If that idyllic life ever existed, if indeed it could have existed given the extreme heat and isolation from one’s own society, either of which might drive men and women mad, it does no more, of course.

Some of the Hundreds of Millions of Palm Oil Trees in Malaysia

Skyscrapers and shopping malls are the trademarks of Southeast Asia today.  Conspicuous consumption marks those who have arrived in this part of the world.

On the taxi ride from Kuala Lumpur International Airport, our driver proudly points to the Petronas Towers, for a short time in the 90s the tallest towers in the world.

Malaysia aims to be a first world country by 2020.  Having the tallest, the biggest, the most modern seems to be the approach Malaysia has taken to achieve this goal.

We try to take it all in on the drive to Subang Jaya, the suburb where our hosts live.  But we are numbed by two days of flying, jammed into narrow seats.  

We enter a gated community and follow a quiet street to our address, which turns out to be a pretty white condominium-type apartment with an enclosed, also gated, courtyard.

Even before we knock we’re certain we are at the right house.  Inside a baby is crying – Jaden, of course.

He’s an attentive little charmer who smiles sweetly.  Tired as I am, I cannot resist holding him and playing on the floor with him.

Damon’s tending to their last-minute preparations for the trip home alone, since Shannon is at Immigration, still sorting things out.  Travelling is much easier as a tourist than as an expat working in a foreign country.

She arrives mid-afternoon with everything in order and a box of pasties from the bakery.  We polish off most of the treats.

On My Way to Shopping Center

Subang Parade Mall

I refuse to slow down even though I know everyone can see through my cheery I’m-just-fine façade.  I even surprise myself by walking the three miles to the shopping center where there are a couple of full-service grocery stores with Shannon, Damon, and Jaden in his stroller near sundown when the air begins to cool down.  

Bernie has crashed on our bed.  He did not get even those ten-minute naps I was able to grab during the previous thirty hours.  It would be torture to try to keep him up any longer.

We are less than two degrees latitude above the equator.  Day and night are equally divided at this latitude.  Sunrise, year-round, is at 7:00 a.m.; sunset is at 7:00 p.m.

Now that I know where the grocery is located (as well as the Seven Eleven, just two blocks from the entrance to our neighborhood), and we’re provisioned with coffee and cereal for breakfast, I can go to sleep at last.