Another big city

Trip Start Aug 15, 2006
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Trip End May 27, 2008


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Flag of Malaysia  ,
Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Tuesday I decided to put my faith in public transport for the final time but yet again it let me down as the airport bus didn't show and I had to get a taxi, costing me much more money.  At least the flight to Johor Bahru was OK but getting from the airport to the bus terminal to Kuala Lumpar was another challenge - an expensive tourist bus into a bus station in town followed by another bus (luckily cheap) out of town to the main bus terminal.  As soon as I got off I was hounded by a young lad asking if I was going to KL and his bus was leaving soon for 30 ringgets.  Being the savvy traveller that I am now I decided to ignore him and head for a ticket desk and he began running very fast after me - I soon found out why as there was a fare sign at the ticket desk (being covered by another employee) and when I asked them to move their hand I saw the fare should only be 24 ringgest (a whole quid cheaper the cheeky scoundrels!).  So I bought my ticket as they said the bus was due to leave now and I didn't want to hang around but that was another false promise.  Just like South America the bus companies don't like to leave unless they are full so I waited on the bus for maybe an hour and they leave the air-con on which is nice but hardly good for the environment.

After what seemed an eternity I arrived in KL, ignoring all the hassle from taxi drivers and walked in the heat with all my stuff to Travellers Palm Lodge, the hostel my friend Ollie was staying at.  Lucky I was born into the age of mobile phones and I could text and meet up with Ollie soonafter and it was good to see a friendly face again after Borneo being so quiet.  I'd been told by my Aussie friend Jack that KL had an Auntie Annies pretzel shop (US chain of tasty goodies) so my first priority was getting a 'glazin raisin' pretzel (my favourite).  I managed to find the stall but alas no glazin raisin pretzels so I had to settle for being treated to a fruit shake by Ollie and buying some pic n mix. 

Back in the hostel we met a Sweedish girl (Maria) who was in the city to renew her Thai visa. Wow I'm potting a ball!
Wow I'm potting a ball!
 She's working in Phuket as a travel agent and plans to stay for a while and has offered a place to crash if we need it which is nice,  We also met up with an Irish guy (Steve) that Ollie travelled from Singapore to KL with and an American (Kent) who is here on business.  We all went out to a great restaurant just on a little back street near the hostel, bought some fruit then went to the Green Hut hostel to play pool.  I think we annoyed the guests there as they were trying to watch a movie and we were being quite rowdy (who puts a pool table in the same room as the TV anyway?) and I managed to pot a rambuttan fruit down the pocket (unintentionally) which is bad because it was a pay machine where balls dissappear into the mechanism under the table.  We put more money in and the balls came out but the rambuttan didn't - in 3 weeks they may find there's a nasty rotting smell coming from an unknown place!

Today myself and Ollie got up early and walked to the Petronas towers - basically 2 massive towers linked by a walkway owned by the petrol company.  We were lucky enough to find tickets for that day (free but a limited amount given out) and it was a nice view.  I headed back to Auntie Annies but still no damn pretzels!  Either they don't want business or that variety is very popular (so make more next time then!).  I wandered into the big shopping mall but soon left as that much choice and chaos overwhelmed me and I'm not a major fan of shopping. 

Later that night I met up with Ollie in China town and we had some spicy Indian food for dinner then headed back to the hostel where the other guests were watching a movie (The Devil Wears Prada) which I managed to stay awake for but it was pretty terrible.  Tomorrow we plan to head to the island of Penang which will probably be my last stop in Malaysia before reaching Thailand.. Rambutan as a substitute ball
Rambutan as a substitute ball
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