Malaysia

Kuala Lumpur has been raining almost every day and the outlook for the next 6 days is the same - thunderstorms. When it rains, KL will come to a virtual standstill with traffic jams and grid lock the city - anxious and exciting stuff if you happen to be travelling into the city, wondering if you would ever meet your appointment in time.

(Photos: enjoying a RapidKL bus ride in the middle of a traffic jam; Batu Cave)

(Photo: try finding a way to cross Jalan Sultan Ismail? Now that's a challenge!!)

We found out we could travel all day within the city for only two Ringgit (less then an AUD). So, technically, you could see KL city for less than a A$ a day - sitting in comfort in very clean RapidKL buses. It is a great scheme. It could, however, take you half a day just to get across the city as we found out on a rainy day. The trouble is there appears to be no fixed frequency. They don't publish the schedule and it is a secret. If you have unlimited and plenty of time and enjoy watching the amazing traffic jams, RapidKL busing is the mode of transport for you. But, if you want reliability, rail is best bet to transport within the city and surrounding districts. Don't even think of taxis on a raining day - the taxi drivers would tell you where they would go and how much you would pay (the meter on-board is superfluous). This couple in the bus stand as us tried about 9 taxis before one would take them to where they wanted to go. Saw the same thing repeated in Petaling Jaya.

(TwinTower; Entrance to Little India bazaar; a shop in Little India)

Shopping at the KLCC (TwinTower) is still catered for the upper end of branded products. OK to look around though. The use of the toilet on Ground floor will cost you 2 Ringgits. That is about 10 times the normal charge and you P into it just the same as any comparable toilets. The toilets in the Lower Ground are just as good and better still, they are free. I have it from good authority that the toilet usage charge in The Garden (Mid-Valley) shopping centre is 5 Ringgits - cost more than the cost of having lunch at a hawker store - just for something you P into!!

Every six months or so, the Malaysian tour operators would gather in a convention centre to provide the public information on tour packages. They call it the MATTA Fair which started yesterday. One could pick up some very reasonably priced holiday packages in these fairs.

(one of my favourite dish - ClayPot Chicken rice - at a hawker store. The bottle of beer costs as much as the food; if you are fond of BeanCurd, you can't go pass this stall at Petaling Street - Previously known as China Town)

Our movement within Malaysia depends very much on Le's dental work. As luck would have it, despite a sterling effort by her dentist, the dental work will spread over the two weeks - almost the entire period of your stay. It makes it difficult to get away from KL, despite that, we left KL for my home town Kuantan - on the east coast.