1st Week Update
Trip Start
Oct 24, 2007
1
5
26
Trip End
Jan 13, 2008
Kuala Lumpur,
Malaysia
Monday, November 5, 2007
THE WEEKLY UPDATES HAVE BEGUN!
for those of you that were with me in 2002 in South Asia, Welcome Back
and you know what to expect.
for those that are new, expect an email once a week with details of my
travels and experiences. also, should not wish to receive these emails,
let me know - i won't take it personally!
so on with it then!
i was in London for a week visiting family. spent some relaxing time
with my cousins and khala (which is 'aunt' in Urdu - mother's sister).
also have my chacha (uncle in Urdu - dad's bro) in London. first few
days were relaxing and jet lagged. stayed up till 3AM and woke up after
noon. Saturday i went on a road trip with my three cousin bros (Sameer,
Kamil, and Shazad) to Stonehenge, which is about a 2 hr drive from
London. it was great to see these mysterious stones but not as grande as
i imagined. the rest of the afternoon was spent at a local pub drinking
pints of local brews, playing pool and taking in some premiership
football games. saw a total of 11 goals in one afternoon.
On Monday i met up with Rahim, who is now studying in London, and we
went to get Alykhan (Gamma) from Heathrow. spent the day touring around
rahim's hood and had an all you can eat veggie Indian meal for 3 pounds
- cheapest meal I've had in London! everything here is twice as
expensive compared to Canada. on Tuesday night, met up with Gamma and
Rahim along with my cousin's Sameer and Shazad. went to a pub in Camden
town and had a steak and pint for £5.99! what a pub. sat for hours
enjoying time with the boys. Gamma and i left London on Thursday for our
16 hr journey to Kuala Lumpur. watched 3 movies on the plane, ate two
gourmet meals and dropped wine on my linen pants which are ruined now. i
guess i'll be buying a new pair for $5 in bangkok.
Kuala Lumpur has been a good moderate introduction to SE Asia. we got
here on Friday night and found the only room left at a recommended guest
house in China town. got a room with 3 bunk beds and A/C for $17. walked
around for a bit and got some local cuisine for dinner. Hianese chicken
with rice. on Saturday we set out to tour KL. It has been hot and muggy
here with temps of about 25 - 30 degrees. highlights of Saturday include
the Chinese market where you can get anything (mostly name brand stuff
at walmart prices), the petronas towers, other major sights in KL. it is
a beautiful city with lots of greenery and relatively clean. the people
are friendly and accepting. however, i am finding that the language
barrier is preventing me from exploring the local cuisine. have had my
share of roti canai though. there are many Indians here but they are all
South Indian so i can't communicate with them in Tamil. i instinctively
begin talking in Hindi. on Saturday night we went to the beer garden on
our guest house roof top and met some local guys and an African American
guy turned Muslim. as usual, the American was the loudest and most
obnoxious one.
on Sunday we woke up late (still jet lagged) and headed off to Batu
Caves on the local bus. the place has a series of three caves with a
large Hindu god's statue at the entrance. when i say large, i mean large
- like 4-5 stories high and gold plated. it is Hindu pilgrimage site as
well. ate some south Indian cuisine and headed back home. took a nap
and then went out for our last night to northern KL, a place called Kow
Chot to find some local cuisine and ended up at another south Indian
place for roti canai.
we are leaving on Monday for the beaches in Thailand where we plan on
being beach bums for a week and getting over our jet lag.
hope you enjoyed the email.
take care, and feel free to write to me. i look forward to hearing from you.
sameer
