Hello from Cheras, Malaysia!

I met some lovely friendly people on the way over here (Malaysia, from Australia):  Jarlyn, a young aboriginal woman; Suzanne, from Germany, who had been in Australia for a few months, American David who drives trucks in Iraq, Chinese David travelling alone for the first time, on his way to Mauritius for a holiday, & a couple of very helpful staff at Kuala Lumpur International Airport, who seem to just wander around the arrivals area to help distressed arrivals!

I flew Malaysia Air & we were fed often & well, yet somehow I was hungry each time, & the staff were smiling & pleasant.

During the long drive from the airport to where I'm staying in Cheras, at first I thought what a paradise KL seemed to be, because of the beautiful palm trees, green grass & other plant life.  Further along I started noticing buildings which were in need of maintenance (or at least a lick of paint), & I haven't stopped noticing these buildings because they seem to be all over the place (except KLCC).

I can cope with the constant humidity if I'm sitting under a ceiling fan, or in air conditioning (of course), but once I start walking outside my clothes are sticking to me.  My first few days were spent catching lots of buses & walking (on uneven ever changing, up & down footpaths) a lot in between.  I would be completely lost without someone to tell me which bus to get on where.  Luckily the government (not sure if that's local government or other) introduced RapidKL buses in the last year, which are very popular.  A ticket bought cheaply in the morning lasts all day.  Mind you, it seems to take an hour & a half or two hours to get where you want to go, somehow!  Taxis are much quicker.  Taxis are also much much cheaper here than in Australia - but some of them have bad suspension & most of their back seat seatbelts don't work, & their a/c is either not working or not cold enough.

Food is very cheap here, in the many many many dives where I've been eating.  If I eat any more fried rice my eyes may change shape (hehe).  In Australia I would not dream of eating in places which looked so makeshift & seedy, but here it is commonplace.  I don't think I've had food poisoning yet, somehow, yet I often have pains in the tummy & toilet anxiety - & if you could see the toilets here you'd know why.  Almost nowhere has toilet paper, for starters.  Thank-you, dear brother, for forewarning me to carry tissues, I have needed them so many times!  Goodness knows what the locals think a pipe of water is going to accomplish: are they walking around with wet bottoms in non pristine condition?!  Can you believe that in a modern multi level shopping centre, when I was desperate to go, all the toilets in the ladies bar the handicapped toilet were holes in the floor?!  I should have taken a photo of one of them.

I'm staying in a friend's apartment in Cheras, near to a large government owned construction site of many apartments, & the work & noise seem to go on day & night, 7 days a week, & although I'm on the top floor it is very loud! 

I got in trouble with security in a grocery shop for taking a photo!  I just smiled & niced my way out of it.  I was taking a photo of alcohol with a sign above it saying that it was illegal to sell alcohol to Moslems! 

I've spent a few quiet days at 'home' getting addicted to foreign soap operas!  Every now & then I strike either spoken English or English subtitles, thank goodness.  Most of the time the sound or subtitles are in Malay or Chinese, & perhaps other languages, how am I to know?  I should have learnt some basic words in Malay so that I could understand some signs.

People eat with a spoon & fork here, knives are nowhere to be found.  One cuts with one's spoon, and butters bread with one's spoon, as best one can.

I'm told that any time one needs to use a toilet, to just ask at the 'restaurant' (cafe/dive) where one is, but some of those toilets are like those toilet nightmares that surely I'm not the only person to have?  You know, when you're deeply asleep & need to go to the toilet, so you dream of going to the toilet, but there's always something wrong with it (to prevent you from actually going in your sleep)?  TMI?

I explored a multi level shopping complex which seemed almost entirely computers & mobile 'phones!  This place is mobile 'phone & small motorbike mad!  The traffic is mad here!  The drivers are crazy!  There are so many near mishaps, all the time, & I don't understand how there aren't more accidents!  The drivers must have nerves of steel.  There's no way to get where you want to go without doing risky moves to break into a lane, apparently.  Seatbelts are only compulsory in the front seats still here, too.

I've only had one night of luxury since I've been here, & if you're coming to Kuala Lumpur you might consider staying at the Seri Cempaka serviced apartments.  It cost only 230 ringgits (about $80) for a spacious suite with a great view of the Twin Towers & KL Tower, & breakfast (like the breakfasts at Brisbane's Hilton & Twin Waters Resort) is included!  The staff were friendly & polite, too.  In fact there were a couple of staff who seem to be paid to wander around & help people if they need it (just like at the airport).

I think it's standard practice to sleep on a fitted sheet which includes a 'flounce', with no top sheet, here.  That's how the sheet sets seem to be sold, just the bottom sheet/valance thing, with four pillow slips?

Apparently the human rights for certain foreigners here is abysmal.  I met a humble Nigerian man here who was recently jailed for several months, for hawking!  Apparently Nigerians are advised by agents in Nigeria to come to Malaysia because it's a good  place to get ahead financially, yet when they get here they discover that it is illegal for them to work here &/or nobody will employ them!  It is apparently very shameful to return to Nigeria without making at least a small fortune first, so the Nigerians in Malaysia keep all this quiet from their family & friends back home, & get by as best they can in a desperate situation.  Once their jail terms are over, the police dump them in Thailand!  If Thai authorities caught them they would be deported & held there until someone paid up (in Nigeria)!  If possible word gets back to their Nigerian friends in Malaysia & although poor they donate money to try to get their friend back in to Malaysia.  This particular poor fellow had sores on his body from the bacteria in jail.  Also, the police are busy during the week so they use weekend nights for raids & for the intimidation of the Nigerians living here!

Bribery & corruption is rife here.  Everything seems to take too long to get done, & cost more than it's supposed to (because of bribes).  There are many many foreign university students in KL.  The universities make money by charging foreign students exorbitant fees. 

I should finish with some positives!  The food is cheap (unless you want attractive, comfortable surroundings), bus fares & taxi fares are cheap, people watching is entertaining, the plant life is beautiful, & I live in Australia!  :-D