KL

KL is what the cool kids call Kuala Lumpur. It's the capital of Malaysia and home to 6.5 million people as well as 66 shopping malls. The famous Petronas Towers are here (picture). The Menara KL Tower is also here. It's hard to get a feel for the Malaysian culture from KL because there are so many nationalities here - Indian, Chinese, Middle Eastern, African, etc. I look forward to getting to know more about the Malaysians as I get out of the big city!

I arrived at 3 AM after a delayed flight from Bali and a shuttle bus break down at 2 AM just outside KL. I slept in and made my way to the top of KL Tower which costs money but provides the best view of the city. Like any big city, there are some big buildings, some small buildings, some government buildings and religious buildings. I just wanted to go to the top to get a shot of the Petronas Towers from the air and get a feel for the city, which I did!

As part of the KL observation deck ticket, I got a pass to a small zoo and an F1 simulator ride. The zoo was shocking. There were all kinds of poisonous snakes, spiders, etc...lots of things that crawl and slither and can kill you. I timed my visit just in time to watch a caretaker feed !LIVE! baby mice to frogs and lizards. The frogs gulped them down in two swallows. The lizards bit and thrashed around. Very violent and disturbing nature in action. The F1 simulator was not so violent, but if it had been in real life, I would have killed someone. It was really tough trying to fake drive one of those race cars!

Made my way to the Petronas Towers that evening for some entertainment - a little shopping in the seven story mall and a little movie watching of Iron Man 2. It felt very strange, but refreshingly comforting, to be back in civilization and air conditioning.

Wednesday was hospital and shopping day. I finally got in writing what I've known for quite a while...I can breathe! (Well enough to dive anyway!). At the hospital, I was in and out in under 1.5 hours. I spent less than $42 and had a consultation with the doctor, chest x-rays, a lung function test and two prescriptions filled. Very efficient, very cheap. I am not versed on the new health care reforms in the States, but if it's modeled after the system in Malaysia, we'll be much better off for it. What were the prescriptions for you wonder? That would be bed bugs. It's disgusting. Trust me, I know, I'm the one who can't stop itching these massive red welts all over my body. KL is notorious for bed bugs. I splurged and got a room slightly above my budget in hopes of avoiding it...better luck next time Jamie.

I got up before anyone who isn't working should get up (6:40) and went to the Petronas Towers to wait in line for over an hour and a half to get my ticket to stand on the skybridge for 10 minutes. It was a cool experience, made more cool by the fact that there were 6 Chinese people I was able to chat with in my group. Also, there was a guy cleaning the windows right outside of the skybridge. I kept watching him thinking maybe we were in the middle of a heist like in Entrapment. No such luck.

I finally realized that people in Malaysia don't camp, so I got creative with my desperate attempt to find a sleeping bag liner to avoid bed bugs going forward. I bought a queen sized sheet and paid someone $2 to sew it up like a sleeping bag. Not too bad for 1/3 the cost of a liner you'd buy at home! I look forward to sleeping, bug free, in my sheets for the remainder of this trip!

Heading into the jungle tomorrow morning. Taman Negara is smack in the middle of Malaysia (the west part anyway). I'll be on a bus for a couple of hours and then on a boat for a few more until they drop us in the middle of the jungle. I'm told there are places to sleep there. Hope that's true. Otherwise, I'm armed with my fancy new queen sheet-folded sleeping bag to keep me warm and dry! From there, I'm headed to the Perhentian Islands where I hope to do some diving and turtle watching. I really have no idea how long I'll be at either of the aforementioned places or whether or not they will have internet access. Therefore, this could be my last blog for several days. Until next time...sleep tight and don't let the bed bugs bite! (That phrase will hold a new, deeper meaning to me for the rest of my life!)