Kuala Lumpur

Let me think back to my time in KL. I wasn't there very long and didn't really do all that much. I woke up early enough and left Singapore. I slept for most of the bus ride. Malaysia and Singapore both kind of have little slogans that they hang up at immigration. 'Death for drug traffikers.' I was there before the Australian was executed in Singapore so 'death to' signs were more comical to me then. Oh, Israelis aren't allowed to go to Malaysia. I've been a few places where people have said that Israelis are the worst tourists. I know that's not why they aren't allowed into Malaysia. Malaysia's largely Islamic.

I really can't think of anything that interesting that happened to me while in KL. I met some guy from Korea. Why are Koreans that aren't in Korea so untypically Korean. This guy had a big bushy head of hair. An Asian 'fro if you will. He didn't do anything but hang out at the hostel from what I could gather. I tried to go out sightseeing one afternoon but those monsoon rains got in the way. I ducked into the National Museum of History. My shoes were all wet and squeaky since I'd been wandering around in the rain in a little plastic poncho and had submerged my whole feet in water. My pants were soaked right through too. I really only felt bad because I had followed a woman who had just cleaned the floors. I relearnt about Malaysia's rotating monarchy. They've actually have 13 kings or something since independence in 1960 (I think) and only 4-5 prime ministers. The country has 9 sultans but only one can be king so they take turns.

I went to the Petronas Towers. I didn't go inside though. I meant to go the next day but they say you need to get there early since they limit the number of people who can go in. I woke up too late and knew it was my last day so I went to the Kuala Lumpur Tower which is uglier but has a higher observation deck. I also discovered I had seen 3 of the 10 highest towers on my trip. One in Seoul that I only saw in passing and the strange tower in Shanghai. KL's tower was 2 or 3rd.

I really like being in Islamic countries. I think it's something about the mosques and architecture. I've really only been to Turkey and Malaysia but it just makes them feel so much more foreign. Sarajevo was actually my first Islamic city. Downtown Sarajevo is actually really nice. Malaysia though was the only one where the women covered their heads. I'm not sure what it was but for some reason I found myself staring at them so much more. Something about it being mysterious or just different. The men were dressed pretty securlarly though. Funny to see some guy in t-shirt and jeans walking around with a woman in full muslim get-up. Malaysia has a fair number of Indians and Chinese, obviously. I took a photo of some women waiting for the bus outside of 7/11. Turned out blurry though. It really is a diverse Asian country.

My pics of the Petronas towers look incredibly unnatural. I swear I didn't do anything to them.



I really liked the base of them. Some strange reflective material makes it look there's motion. After I took it I looked at it my little screen and thought what the hell? After I took this some guy started talking to me in Portugese. I just look at him like what are you saying? He was from Brazil and thought I was too. We had a little chat but I think he was disappointed. He really wanted to be a fellow countryman. I really should be a masterspy or something. People have thought I was so many different nationalities. The strangest one happened while I was in Seoul. I was in Dongdaemun market and some guy says to me "Japanese?" I did have a hat on though but still. Then other people are sure my ancestors are nothing but northern European. People have thought I was Turkish, Chilean, French, Russian. I know I've mentionned this before but it seems to be a recurring theme in my life. Do I really have this ambiguous nationality look?

For the record, I'm quite a mutt. in decreasing order, I'm part English, Irish, Spanish, Scottish, Austrian, German, French, Welsh, and a teensy bit Dutch. Not Danish at all, or Turkish or Japanese for that matter.