Many of the friends I made in the Perhentians and Koh Phi Phi have been in KL this week. It's been brilliant. They've mostly stayed at the Reggae Mansions in China Town - THE place for backpackers, apart from the lucky few who've bunked in the Hilton with me. We've had a great week of drinking the night away at the hostels rooftop bar, and spending the day in the mall/cinema to nurse the hangover.
The rooftop bar at Reggae Mansions, with Arjun, Nik, me & 'the exotic girl'
Vera treated me to a cocktail at the Skybar, 33 stories up in the Traders Hotel. Thanks Ver :-)
Alicia (Scarlett's sister) has been in KL for a couple of days this week, and we had a right laugh. On Tuesday we got caught in a massive rainstorm. Thankfully a nifty little Malaysian dude cracked some quality umbrella hats out of his bag and we happily purchased 2 at 3 ringgit a pop (about 60p), only to be told 'nice umbrella miss' by every subsequent local we met. Liss has the photos, they'll be on facebook soon.
Good though the umbrella hats were we decided to go up the KL Tower to escape the rain. The views of the city were great, and it's cheaper than going up the Petronas Towers (47Rm as opposed to 80RM). The visit really highlighted how quickly the city is developing. Images showing what the buildings are where were seriously out of date and lacking LOADS of new sky scrapers! Most hilariously an Indian guys asked to have a photo with us up the tower, and within 5 minutes we were participating in a mini-photo shoot with all his mates. Literally felt like a celebrity.
Vera has been staying with me in The Hilton and we had a little fun with the Umbrella Hats.
What's really annoying is the people I have been hanging out with are all traveling through South East Asia, and so either leave to go home this week or go on to Thailand or something. It really sucks to have to keep saying goodbye. Having said that, last night we went out to celebrate my birthday in KL and with a wicked crew of some of Sepideh's friends from Iran, and some Portugese construction workers we met at a bar a couple of weeks ago. Proudly I introduced them all to my friend, Sam Bucca, and we danced like nutters. At the end of the night Sophie and I met some Irish and Aussie guys in a bar called Havanah, and they have invited us to start playing Gaelic Football with them. They train and play matches each week and then go on socials at weekend. It sounds pretty bloody perfect as a way to meet people who will be staying in the city, although Soph and I youtubed the sport earlier to discover a bizarre mix between football, basketball & rugby. Hmm.... Patrick (Irish guy) assures me it is female friendly, so we're going to give it a bash.
The night was really fun, until the end when Sophie was mugged!! Just like Sepideh had warned us, a motorcyclist drove past her, pushed her to the ground, and stole her purse. Luckily Soph was not hurt, and did not have her passport, phone or camera on her, but in the space of a week we have between us had a bag and a purse stolen. It's really pretty scary when it happens half way across the world and Soph and I seriously need to be careful with our stuff, and somehow get streetwise to the city to counteract being white and female.
In the day Soph, Vera & I went to Changkit Market. Was such a cool place, selling crazy fruits, vegetables, spices, chillies, cows heads, trotters, tongues, eels, and other disgusting 'foods'. The colour was incredible, and stalls were piled high with produce and stall tenders balancing on the corner. The smells were pretty intense, varying from gone off fruit, to meat, to fish, to general shit. We saw a cat with its insides hanging out, and a couple of rats. It's not really a very touristy spot, so we stood out like a sore thumb. The locals shout beautiful at us as we walked by. One even provided a rendition of 'isn't she lovely' in Malaysian as we strolled past a cows head stand, and another gave me lychees. Going to have to find somewhere like Changkit close to our apartment and start doing some house meals with Sepideh.
Vera & I are off to Penang for a couple of days, to stay in the Reggae Mansions there. I might go to another island called Tioman after as well. IBM have had another delay in getting my visa sorted, so my start date has been pushed back to September 10th!! I've been in KL over 3 weeks not, and am really itching to get started, but hey ho. Going to make the most of my final few days off. Really need to get re-acquainted with Excel too!!
In the day Soph, Vera & I went to Changkit Market. Was such a cool place, selling crazy fruits, vegetables, spices, chillies, cows heads, trotters, tongues, eels, and other disgusting 'foods'. The colour was incredible, and stalls were piled high with produce and stall tenders balancing on the corner. The smells were pretty intense, varying from gone off fruit, to meat, to fish, to general shit. We saw a cat with its insides hanging out, and a couple of rats. It's not really a very touristy spot, so we stood out like a sore thumb. The locals shout beautiful at us as we walked by. One even provided a rendition of 'isn't she lovely' in Malaysian as we strolled past a cows head stand, and another gave me lychees. Going to have to find somewhere like Changkit close to our apartment and start doing some house meals with Sepideh.
YUCK!
Vera & I are off to Penang for a couple of days, to stay in the Reggae Mansions there. I might go to another island called Tioman after as well. IBM have had another delay in getting my visa sorted, so my start date has been pushed back to September 10th!! I've been in KL over 3 weeks not, and am really itching to get started, but hey ho. Going to make the most of my final few days off. Really need to get re-acquainted with Excel too!!
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