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Kristina's
Journal:
October 27-30, 1998
We left one "eastern/mystic" culture for one "eastern/western"
culture. Kuala Lumpur is a city bordering on the "first world" with water
supposedly safe to drink straight from the tap.
Exhausted after a long stay in the Denpassar airport,
we entered the gleaming, modern, new KL International Airport, built for
the 1998 Commonwealth Games. It was virtually deserted. As we exited from
customs, we debated how we would get into the city, almost 45 minutes away,
and where we would stay. We checked with the tourist information desk and
then with some of the hotel 
reservation
counters. We discovered that after a huge tourist rush such as the commonwealth
games, there was a glut of empty rooms on the market, making a five star
hotel go for as low as 180 RM. a night. As we stood there and debated whether
or not we could afford it, the guy behind the counter upped the ante with
free breakfast and an upgrade to an "executive class" room. Sold!
Now, before our budget conscious readers berate
us for "distancing ourselves" from the locals, you must remember that KL
is a very modern, cosmopolitan, large city. We would not have been any
closer to the local culture in a cheaper hotel, we would have just been
in a dirty, cramped room. We took a cab from the airport (66 RM.), where
you can purchase a cab voucher from a counter, alleviating the worry of
haggling with an unscrupulous cabbie. The bus would have cost the two of
us about 50 RM. and we would have had to change twice with our bags in
tow.
Anyway, the Hotel Equatorial was really nice and
we had a room on the 15th floor overlooking the city and the KL Tower.
It had AC, fabulous bathroom (a definite plus over the ones in Bali), and
something we had both been missing since we left home: CNN.
So, we gorged ourselves on western culture for a
few days, telling ourselves we would get back in the thick of it as soon
as we left. We were able to get internet access, upload text and photos,
eat fast food (both American- McDonalds, TGIF Friday's, Haagen Dazs Ice
Cream, and local amazing roasted duck and rice from an outdoor stall),
watch TV, movies, CNN, CNBC, and plan the next part of our trip.
Having a free breakfast in the hotel saved us money
too. It was a large buffet, geared not only to 
western
culture with eggs, cereal, toast and such, but Asian as well with rice,
curried chicken, fish porridge, and noodles. For breakfast!
A note about internet access from the hotel; the
phone lines in the hotel room were very poor and only allowed us access
at 4800-9600 baud. At this rate we couldn't even get our e mail. We finally
gave up, went downstairs to the hotel's business center and used the phone
there. Much better, 16600 baud and we were able to upload.
Malaysia is primarily a Muslim culture, unlike Bali which was Hindu, and most of the women here wear some sort of head covering or scarf. Many also wear wrist and ankle length dresses, but invariably they are in an amazingly bright floral silk with scarf to match. This is unlike the all black chador, or veil, of the Muslim Middle East countries.
David's
Diary:
October 31, 1998
Happy Halloween
Having reached our fill of Western culture
and food (although some things, like beef bacon and the total absence of
pork from all elements of the menu, even in TGI Fridays, were a subtle
reminder of the Islamic dominance) we set off towards the Thai border,
with our destination, Penang in Northern Malaysia.
A recent film, entitled Return to Paradise,
and starring Anne Heche, is situated on the island of Penang. This
movie is about some stupid American kids, one of whom gets busted for drugs
in this little Malaysian paradise, and is sentenced to death. I passed
on this film, even though Kristina and I are, happily drug free, and not
at risk for that sort of thing. Malaysia does have a stiffer than
stiff drug policy for all those who enter her borders. In bold, large
point type, on your arrival card at the airport, on billboards in line
at the customs, and all throughout the city of Kuala Lumpur: Death Penalty
for Drug Offenders. They make it so clear, in fact, that only
an idiot (or perhaps someone on drugs) would take the chance of a swift
trial and almost certain hanging, by breaking that law. I was pleased
to discover, however, that unlike its southern neighbor, Singapore, a country
with similarly harsh laws and penalties, Malay law does not forbid gum
chewing, and so we bought some wrigley's spearmint and have been chomping
away merrily ever since, without fear of imprisonment, fines, or caning.
Penang is a small island on the northwest coast
of peninsular Malaysia, just across a narrow straight from the city of
Butterworth. Georgetown, Penang's metropolis, if you could call it
that, faces Butterworth, and is connected to the mainland by one
of the longest bay bridges in the world. It is similar to the Oakland
Bay Bridge, in that it rises for a section in the middle, to become a suspension
bridge for almost a kilometer, just enough for the freighters to
pass through. From the train station, however, it is much simpler
to catch the ferry, only 100 metres away, and a mere 60 sen (the Ringit
is broken down into 100 sen) going from Butterworth to Georgetown- the
return trip is free! As you may have inferred from their names, these
two Malaysian cities are leftovers of the once thriving Dutch Colonial
era, but ironically, they are now host to Malaysia's largest visible Chinese
community (we found pork in Penang! Hooray).
The night sleeper train to Butterworth was not terrible,
but it was a difficult readjustment from the five star comforts of the
Hotel Equatorial. At times, I thought the train was going to derail,
it was 
bouncing
and rocking so violently. Once in Georgetown, we followed our Lonely Planet
guide to a supposed backpacker haven, called the Swiss Hotel.
I feel confident in speaking on behalf of the entire Swiss population in
saying, 'there ain't nothing Swiss about this place, dear'. What
a pit. I've spent more money on a bag of manure that served me twice
what this place could. Ick. We found our way to one of the
LP's mid-range recommendations, The Cathay Hotel, and were happy
to give them 69 ringit for one night of air-conditioned slumber, in the
funky colonial architecture of this clean spacious, Chinese run hotel.
While in Georgetown, any traveler should find his/her way to the Rainforest Restoran (that is how they spell restaurant here), where the food is good, the ice coffee is great, the internet is cheap, and the reading would justify the visit even if the rest of what I've said were all just a heap of bull. They keep scads and scads of journals for travelers to write in, volumes for each country you can possibly imagine visiting, and some you ask, why? The personal anecdotes and recommendations gifted by fellow voyagers are informative and entertaining, and surely worth stopping in for.
Our one evening meal in Georgetown was spent in an
outdoor corner Chinese cookery, with one older gentleman playing two giant
Woks, a steamer and a fryer much like Keith Moon or John Bonham on a
drum set. We had seen this guy cooking earlier in the day, and so vowed
to dine at the same establishment that night. Upon arriving, however,
we discovered the place was packed chock full of locals- always a good
sign, but in this case, a problem as well. We were fortunate to be
invited to sit with the only other caucasian faces in the whole place,
Karen, Anna, and Kate: three young Britons who were all chums at university,
and doing the whole around the world thing, as well. What a bit of
luck. In fact, they had just come from our next destination to be,
Ko Tao, a small Thai island, and Scuba diver's mecca in the Gulf of Thailand.
We swapped info and stories, and ate a terrific meal of satay, beer and
fried noodles with pork (yea pork!) or shrimp, for which we charged a palmful
of spit and dirt! or about 20 RM., actually. All in all,
loads of fun.
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