Malaysia, Day 3
First of all, a few words from our sponsor (aka. Yoga):
'...the editor in me couldn't resist correcting some of the bits in your e-journal. I LURVVEEEEEEEEE Malaysian food which is composed of mix of Malay, Chinese, Indian, Iban, Kadazan and the other 50 over ethnic groups' food. Just that the Malay dishes that I like are limited because their selection is limiting to start with. And particularly like the Chinese and Indian ones...'
'It was a guy who was driving the fancy car that ran over the Brit's foot. remember the driver sits on the right hand side here.'
'...you just saw that bit of KL Sentral which caters more for passengers who come off the airport train and so don't hang around - its actually
quite big and very crowded.'
And now for the tale of my mediocre Wednesday...
Wednesday wasn't bad, but it wasn't amazing either. It was WAY hotter than it has been...WAY hotter...making it feel like a sauna out walking around. Which is exactly what I was doing. After breakfast et al here, I set out in a new direction to go to China town and little India and all of that.
The best part of the day (which I am going to repeat this afternoon before heading out on the plane) was finding the gorgeous Thai massage place around the corner (about $12 for an hour of heaven). The lady who worked on me was Thai, here only for this place on a two year contract from the Thai National Association of Massage (the creme de la creme...their training program is a year and they have to pass rigorous testing to get their papers). She is worth coming to KL for all on her own!!
After that I came back to the old guy in the middle of the road for lamb, as promised. It didn't taste bad (and I'm sure was totally fine!), but I think my system is about curried out for a while and it made me feel kind of blah all afternoon. Not the best state for extended wanders in scorching heat. Nice to have the cat that looks like Mao begging at my feet and rubbing against my legs while I ate though.
The road signs to Petaling Street (China Town) are what I have come to realize is typical...astoundingly well marked for the first half and then strangely absent just when they become most important (say, at major intersections). The area itself was interesting to see, just because it is so different from everywhere else I've been, but not my style. Very crowded, VERY touristy, very overwhelming. I beat a fairly hasty retreat, without really getting a fair sense of what was there.
Highlight...big pet store where I ogled the bunnies, kittens (stunning smokey siamese, among others) and puppies (even a saint bernard!).
Central Market is even more touristy than Petaling Street, but at least it wasn't crowded and was cool since it's indoors. I spent a long time
discussing the finer points of soap making with a nice woman from Taiwan, representing an artisanal soap maker there who had great stuff and better packaging. Very simple, along the same lines as soapling, but a little further developed. And she knew a lot about the process and the product (they grow their own herbs, which is very cool) so we talked for a long time, then exchanged contact info for the next time I am in Taiwan. Would be interesting to see how someone else goes about the soap business first hand, and Taiwan is a lovely place to visit.
From Central Market I wandered mostly lost along the river until finding the big mosque in Little India. The architecture around there is indeed
fabulous, but by then I was so tired and hot and wretched feeling I just wanted to get into the air conditioned mall and not think for a while. So I took the train back to the towers without spending hardly any time in little India at all, promptly got a fresh juice (fabulous...ginger, apple, pineapple and lime...), and went up to the nail place without delay. Without much delay that should be...I did stop for an enormous praline cookie (that tasted delightfully and dangerously like a largish ball of uncooked cookie dough) and another peruse of the book shop on the way (where I showed enormous restraint in not buying any of the things on my previous wish list).
The mani-pedi was fabulous. They aren't actually very good at the nail care part...Koreans are WAY ahead on that...but the overall experience was about a thousand times better. I got buffed, massaged, scraped, scrubbed, soaked, steamed, masked...on and on. It took a couple of hours in all and went a loooong way to improving the state of my stomach and mind. Plus it was fun to see the reactions of people whenever the cute little worker at the end opened her mouth and rang out in a big, male baritone. Clearly the hormones have not fully kicked in yet. Once you hear the voice you start to notice the manly hands and other masculine features. She must get sick of all the double takes and staring, but her massage skills looked to be absolutely superior (I had another woman work on me so can't say for sure).
From there I walked back to Pavilion for another Jade Love Jelly, which definitely improved my outlook, and went around to that big IT mall again that Yoga showed me the first day. I've been deleting old pictures from my memory card all week, and figured that it would pay to have a new card for my months in New Zealand. I got a super-fast 8G for about $25. When it was in my camera I couldn't believe how much faster I could shoot pictures...added bonus! Then I came back to the guesthouse, read a book for a while, talked with an interesting Aussie guy for an hour (who is here doing the same thing I am...he got a cheap flight through here to South Africa and is on his way home now), had more curry down the street at a great Indian joint (didn't want curry but was too tired to find anything else), watched a bad-but-entertaining-anyway Robin Williams movie (license to wed), finished writing some of the kindergarden evaluations that I didn't finish before I left Korea, and then sat up with Yoga until the wee hours. He didn't arrive until close to 11, coming from a big fashion show he had to cover for work.
Today I'm taking it easy. Gonna get some late breakfast, check out the orchid and hibiscus garden back near the bird park, find some Thai for lunch (probably in the mall...air conditioning sounds good today since my belly is still not very delighted with the world), have that Thai massage, and then head for the airport around 5:30. My flight this evening is at 9:10. Malaysia's been awesome and I am so looking forward to coming back again and spending a lot more time. But for this trip I am ready to move on. Snowstorms are sounding pretty good to me right now.
'...the editor in me couldn't resist correcting some of the bits in your e-journal. I LURVVEEEEEEEEE Malaysian food which is composed of mix of Malay, Chinese, Indian, Iban, Kadazan and the other 50 over ethnic groups' food. Just that the Malay dishes that I like are limited because their selection is limiting to start with. And particularly like the Chinese and Indian ones...'
'It was a guy who was driving the fancy car that ran over the Brit's foot. remember the driver sits on the right hand side here.'
'...you just saw that bit of KL Sentral which caters more for passengers who come off the airport train and so don't hang around - its actually
quite big and very crowded.'
And now for the tale of my mediocre Wednesday...
Wednesday wasn't bad, but it wasn't amazing either. It was WAY hotter than it has been...WAY hotter...making it feel like a sauna out walking around. Which is exactly what I was doing. After breakfast et al here, I set out in a new direction to go to China town and little India and all of that.
The best part of the day (which I am going to repeat this afternoon before heading out on the plane) was finding the gorgeous Thai massage place around the corner (about $12 for an hour of heaven). The lady who worked on me was Thai, here only for this place on a two year contract from the Thai National Association of Massage (the creme de la creme...their training program is a year and they have to pass rigorous testing to get their papers). She is worth coming to KL for all on her own!!
After that I came back to the old guy in the middle of the road for lamb, as promised. It didn't taste bad (and I'm sure was totally fine!), but I think my system is about curried out for a while and it made me feel kind of blah all afternoon. Not the best state for extended wanders in scorching heat. Nice to have the cat that looks like Mao begging at my feet and rubbing against my legs while I ate though.
The road signs to Petaling Street (China Town) are what I have come to realize is typical...astoundingly well marked for the first half and then strangely absent just when they become most important (say, at major intersections). The area itself was interesting to see, just because it is so different from everywhere else I've been, but not my style. Very crowded, VERY touristy, very overwhelming. I beat a fairly hasty retreat, without really getting a fair sense of what was there.
Highlight...big pet store where I ogled the bunnies, kittens (stunning smokey siamese, among others) and puppies (even a saint bernard!).
Central Market is even more touristy than Petaling Street, but at least it wasn't crowded and was cool since it's indoors. I spent a long time
discussing the finer points of soap making with a nice woman from Taiwan, representing an artisanal soap maker there who had great stuff and better packaging. Very simple, along the same lines as soapling, but a little further developed. And she knew a lot about the process and the product (they grow their own herbs, which is very cool) so we talked for a long time, then exchanged contact info for the next time I am in Taiwan. Would be interesting to see how someone else goes about the soap business first hand, and Taiwan is a lovely place to visit.
From Central Market I wandered mostly lost along the river until finding the big mosque in Little India. The architecture around there is indeed
fabulous, but by then I was so tired and hot and wretched feeling I just wanted to get into the air conditioned mall and not think for a while. So I took the train back to the towers without spending hardly any time in little India at all, promptly got a fresh juice (fabulous...ginger, apple, pineapple and lime...), and went up to the nail place without delay. Without much delay that should be...I did stop for an enormous praline cookie (that tasted delightfully and dangerously like a largish ball of uncooked cookie dough) and another peruse of the book shop on the way (where I showed enormous restraint in not buying any of the things on my previous wish list).
The mani-pedi was fabulous. They aren't actually very good at the nail care part...Koreans are WAY ahead on that...but the overall experience was about a thousand times better. I got buffed, massaged, scraped, scrubbed, soaked, steamed, masked...on and on. It took a couple of hours in all and went a loooong way to improving the state of my stomach and mind. Plus it was fun to see the reactions of people whenever the cute little worker at the end opened her mouth and rang out in a big, male baritone. Clearly the hormones have not fully kicked in yet. Once you hear the voice you start to notice the manly hands and other masculine features. She must get sick of all the double takes and staring, but her massage skills looked to be absolutely superior (I had another woman work on me so can't say for sure).
From there I walked back to Pavilion for another Jade Love Jelly, which definitely improved my outlook, and went around to that big IT mall again that Yoga showed me the first day. I've been deleting old pictures from my memory card all week, and figured that it would pay to have a new card for my months in New Zealand. I got a super-fast 8G for about $25. When it was in my camera I couldn't believe how much faster I could shoot pictures...added bonus! Then I came back to the guesthouse, read a book for a while, talked with an interesting Aussie guy for an hour (who is here doing the same thing I am...he got a cheap flight through here to South Africa and is on his way home now), had more curry down the street at a great Indian joint (didn't want curry but was too tired to find anything else), watched a bad-but-entertaining-anyway Robin Williams movie (license to wed), finished writing some of the kindergarden evaluations that I didn't finish before I left Korea, and then sat up with Yoga until the wee hours. He didn't arrive until close to 11, coming from a big fashion show he had to cover for work.
Today I'm taking it easy. Gonna get some late breakfast, check out the orchid and hibiscus garden back near the bird park, find some Thai for lunch (probably in the mall...air conditioning sounds good today since my belly is still not very delighted with the world), have that Thai massage, and then head for the airport around 5:30. My flight this evening is at 9:10. Malaysia's been awesome and I am so looking forward to coming back again and spending a lot more time. But for this trip I am ready to move on. Snowstorms are sounding pretty good to me right now.
posted by Roberta | 10:32 AM
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