My time in Kuala Lumpur was great, in spite of one big mistake initially that eventually worked itself out. I was a little worried about traveling there by myself, I ended up not going with a package tour, although I did go on a city tour while there, and walked around the city a lot by myself. I was thinking that maybe Malaysians would have a problem with Americans, since Malaysians are very proud about being an Islamic culture. However, everyone was really nice, and I was really impressed. The service there is fantastic, only one taxi driver tried to cheat me, and prices are dirt cheap.
A few comments about things I saw. The Petronas Towers are really nifty. I didn't go up on the bridge because the line to get a ticket up was too darned long. I got some good pictures, though. Malaysian women wear the prettiest head scarves! Some of them were simply beautiful, and they're all so well-coordinated. Still, I saw how sweaty their faces were - they are not particularly comfortable, especially when you're also fully covered in tropical heat. There is definitely a generation gap - a lot of the younger women wear jeans and t-shirts, or even short skirts. If any of you have heard about Gwen Stefani's concert in KL, where she will actually be wearing clothing due to protests, you can see why this is interesting. The Muslim men's organization that protested her concert said she would corrupt the morals of the young. By the time you're worried about things corrupting the morals of the young, you're probably already too late.
Most annoying thing I saw - women wearing burqas (the full covering with just the eyes showing) walking dutifully two paces behind their husband, who wore the traditional garb of shorts, Birkenstocks, and a polo shirt. Why does HE get to wear Western clothing that's comfortable in the heat, and make HER wear some horribly ugly and uncomfortable drape? If the Malaysian women wearing headscarves were uncomfortable, I can't imagine how a huge black thing that made me look as shapely as a barrel would make me feel. The whole concept that it is a woman's fault that a man can't keep it in his pants is beyond me. If they're so worried about moral corruption, maybe they should look in the mirror first - Mr. Shorts-wearing-Western-looking-man. Okay, rant over.
My hostel, Pondok Lodge, was reasonably clean and decent. My 'blanket' was a thin linen sheet, but that was sufficient enough for the climate. The bed was lumpy and so was the pillow, which was also rock hard, but I've slept in enough backpacker's hostels that I expected nothing else. The breakfast also was typical hostel fare - one piece of sweet bread, a piece of fruit (peach colored banana), two pieces of white bread toast, and jam/butter packs. I also asked for tea. Anyway, it was satisfactory. The thing that annoyed me was that it is directly above a club, and being Saturday night, they were open and loud until about 2am. So, trying to sleep was a bit of a problem.
All in all, I really enjoyed my weekend, which is good, because I haven't been enjoying my stay overall very much. I'm still looking more forward to Melaka, but that's because I find the history of Melaka interesting, whereas I find KL and Singapore of passing interest, at best. Singapore is so safe, and the toilets are real toilets, not squat toilets (which I was also expecting, so it didn't bug me as much as before), but it's also a little boring. So, if you're ever in East Asia, you should go to Malaysia. :)
Final note - Starbucks saved my sanity. Because I missed my first bus in the morning (the mondo mistake), I also missed my tour to the Batu caves, which I was pretty mad about. Then after I arrived, I started walking and got overheated, and then arrived at a shopping center with a Starbucks, whereat I immediately bought a caramel frappuccino. I love those things! Drink them no more than every couple months, though, piles 'o calories. Anyway, it was fantastic. There are so many Starbucks in KL that it almost rivals Seattle. And that's impressive. I still feel slightly ambivalent about the fact that I went to Starbucks only once in Vienna, and have already gone a good five times since I've been in Asia. I guess I've needed the homey comfort of a fattening coffee drink to keep me going. :)
