Photos from Kuala Lumpur

Enough words.  Here are photos of what I've been seeing in KL.  Nope, not a single picture of the twin towers.  They're tall and impressive but it was raining and the pictures didn't turn out well.

Lunch at the food court at Lot 10 in Bukit Bintang.  Korean bulgogi - barbequed beef.  Delicious and about $2.50.

View from my table at the Lot 10 food court.

Jalan Hang Kasturi - the street my hotel is on.  My hotel is the large building on the left.  Geo Hotel - nice room and excellent location.

Lots of fresh flowers.  This arrangement is about $15.

Artificial flowers and Christmas lights.

Tea samovars at an open air tea shop.

Another view of Lot 10 food court.  So many food choices it's hard to decide.  We have one tiny food court in Mandalay.  Here, they are everywhere.

I'm guessing the young lady with bare feet is a Kiwi.  Auckland is the only city I've been to where there were almost as many people without shoes as there were with.  The streets here, by the way, are not clean.

Chinatown - complete with an Amigo guest house and a 7/11, which are everywhere, worldwide.

I'd read a lot about Petaling street.  It is short, jammed with hawkers selling food and knock off watches, purses and dvds.  Many of the vendors are from Myanmar.  I see more Chinese people every day at my school than in KL's Chinatown.

MLB, this one's for you.  A knock-off Hard Rock shirt.  I also passed the huge Hard Rock Cafe.

I thought it was a pedestrian street.  Clearly not.

I took this about 11 a.m., before the crowds arrived.  If you were in Peace Corps Samoa the photo of the KK Mart sign will have special meaning.

I call these elephant pants, since most have elephants printed on them.  They also make women look like elephants - NOT flattering but worn by every backpacker in Asia.

Kuala Lumpur - Christmas Eve and Christmas Day

My vacation continues to be just what I wanted - slow, relaxed  with lots of walking and eating.  Well, except for one adventure, which I'll explain in a minute.

I've been staying up late, luxuriating in being able to read as late as I like, knowing I don't have to be up early the next morning.  That's going to be a tiny problem, potentially, since I have a 6:30 a.m. flight on Saturday.

On Christmas Eve I took advantage of the free GoKL bus and cruised around KLCC.  I like KL and would certainly recommend it as a place to visit, but think I'll stick with Bangkok for future visa runs.  If it was faster to get to, I might change my tune but so far I haven't seen anything unique that makes me crave coming back.

The city is much smaller than Bangkok (1.5 million compared to 6.5 million, as of 2010) and has more green areas.  It seems a bit odd, and pleasant, to have random patches of trees and banana plants butted up against blocks of highrises.

Shopping (and banking) seems to be the main thing in KLCC and Bukit Bintang, which is adjacent to KLCC and filled with malls and restaurants.  Chinatown and the Central Market, both a stone's throw from my hotel are worth a visit but I've found mostly the kind of hawker goods sold in every Asian city on the tourist trail.  I'll continue poking around but so far, China town seems much smaller and less authentic than the Chinatown in San Franciscio.  The good news - people are friendly and you can dine on the cheap with good food.

Speaking of food, I decided I wanted a steak for Christmas dinner.  I love Asian food but part of this vacation is enjoying some Western fare.  I did that yesterday with a visit to Subway.  Sadly, it was the first Subway whose food was below par.  It was bad enough that I threw half of it away.

For Christmas dinner, I checked out Fuddruckers in Bukit Bintang.  They had a set Christmas menu for 90 RYM, about $27.  It included salad bar, choice of entrees (I chose the ribeye steak with baked potato), glass of wine and a dessert of apple pie and a ginger cookie.

The best part of the meal was the steak.  Perfectly cooked, tender and flavorful.  The best (and most) meat I've had since moving to Myanmar.

To top off the meal was a bit of excitement as I headed back to my hotel.  The sidewalks were packed with people and there were more people than usual waiting for the GoKL bus.  The first bus which arrived was heading to a different destination I was, so I stayed in the back of the waiting crowd.  People tried to surge onto the packed bus before letting passengers off and that resulted in pushing and yelling.  During the ten minutes we all waited for the next bus there was more pushing and yelling among the crowd.  Nothing too much, but disconcerting in such a large crowd.

As our bus pulled up, people surged forward to get in.  There seemed to be a group of late teen/20 something young men together and they were riding roughshod over every one.  Sad since on the bus going to Christmas dinner I'd enjoyed watching a young local man offer a middle-aged local woman his seat.  Just the opposite, this group was mowing over everyone in front of them.

As they pushed forward, a couple of guys they tried to muscle out of the way started yelling and throwing punches.  By that time, I was on the bus, between the two groups of men.  Other than yelling, they stood their ground.  I just hung on to my bag (thinking this might be a distraction for pickpockets) and hoped for the best.

While we waited for traffic to clear for the bus to move into traffic, a young man started screaming and pounding on the window.  Both groups who had been fighting just turned and stared.  As the bus took off, it seemed apparent that the new entrant into the unhappy holiday bus ride was part of a family fight.  It appeared that the young man and his father were fighting and luckily, the mother was able to calm them down.

Most of the men got off a couple of stops before I did.  Things calmed down.  As I stepped off the bus the driver made eye contact and said "Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!"

I was proud of myself for showing restraint and not yelling "Peace on earth, damn it!" during the melee.

Kuala Lumpur - Day 3

It was a good day today, although rainy here in Kuala Lumpur.  Some might consider a rainy vacation day a bummer but since we're in the dry season in Mandalay, I'm enjoying the rain.

I stayed up late last night and slept in this morning.  One of the perks of vacation  And suitable for KL.  When I finally ventured out to stroll around Chinatown, the vendors were just putting out their wares at 11:00 a.m.

After walking for about an hour, I caught the free Go Bus, which is fabulous.  I headed back to Bukit Bintang for more window shopping.  I strolled around the upscale Starhill Gallery Mall.  Very few shoppers, huge prices and subdued, elegant surroundings.   Staff were friendly as they said hello but clearly my attire did not indicate I was ready to drop $100,000 for a watch at one of the many stores charging those prices.  I don't think I'll ever understand the fascination with expensive watches.  The couple I sat next to from BKK to Kuala Lumpur looked at watches in the airplane magazine and talked pros and cons.  Snore.

Then I headed along the rainy street to see what there was to see.  After wandering through a couple of nearby (cheaper) malls, I realized it wasn't much different than walking through a mall a couple days before Christmas in the U.S.  Crowded and not much different than I'd see at a U.S. mall.

I stopped at a food court at one of the malls for lunch.  No burgers in sight, but lots of Asian choices.  I went with Chinese and it was tasty.

When I ventured back outside the rain had turned from a drizzle to a downpour so I opted to hop on another free bus.  I headed toward Kuala Lumpur City Center (KLCC) and my second view of the Petronas twin towers.  I'd seen them first when I drove in from the airport. They looked impressive, with their tops in the clouds.

The most surprising thing to me about the city is the amount of greenery.  Lots of high-rises.  Tons of new construction.  And lots of trees, banana plants, grass, etc. in between.  It's also a bit hilly.

After a tour around KLCC, I headed back toward my hotel.  I walked for another hour or so, contemplating which purse I should buy.  I clearly was not in the buying mood and passed on all. After more walking around the Chinatown area, I had an early dinner of duck and rice and then headed back to my hotel.

Another good day, but I was left with a question.  Why, in S.E. Asia, do they pave sidewalks with the most slippery tiles possible?  Even the locals were avoiding the sidewalks to walk on the streets.  Better to brave the traffic than the slippery sidewalks.  Thanks to most of the drivers for avoiding splashing pedestrians.  Big boo to the guy who gunned it and splashed another woman and me as he passed us.

All in all, a great day.  And so nice to enjoy clouds and rains after the dry season in Mandalay.

Kuala Lumpur, Day 2

This post will be brief.  I slept in.  It was rainy.  I spent the day in my jammies, watching tv, reading, surfing the 'net and napping.  It has been fabulous.

Tomorrow, rain or shine, I'm going exploring.  Or, I may take a nap.  That's the great thing about vacations and traveling alone.  I can do exactly what I want, when I want.  If I do go exploring, I promise to take some photos.

Maylaysia, Day 1

Sunday, December 21, 2014

I'd planned to sleep in but the damn cough kept waking me up.  I finally got up at 8:00 a.m., after about five hours of fitful sleep.  The bathroom of my room is tiny.  It would fit comfortably in the walk in closet of my FL house, with room to spare.  And it has the most awesome shower ever.  Good water pressure, hot water and the steam helped my chest.

My goal was to head to Low Yat (which I keep calling Low Fat) Plaza.  It is a multi-story mall of nerds.  You want anything tech related?  They have it.

I took the free bus from in front of the hotel.  A nice lady on the bus told me when to get off.  Another nice lady tried to help me get from the bus stop to Low Yat Plaza and asked several other people, none of whom knew where it was.

I had a map and struck out, having no idea if I was heading in the right direction.  I asked people along the way and everyone was consistently friendly and helpful.  I'm proud that I have a Masters Degree but feel even prouder when I venture to a new country, not knowing the language and am able to get where I want to go. It makes me feel brave and independent to venture out alone and find my destination  Ok,  I'm no Sir Edmund Hillary, but still.

I took the scenic tour but after about 30 minutes of walking, found the IT plaza,  I expected something like the big IT mall in Bangkok.  No, better!  Floor after floor of geeks selling every electronic toy you could imagine, including amazing home theatre systems.

I talked to a lot of guys and finally found the computer I wanted.  I'd considered a convertible or touchscreen but they were more expensive and heavier.  I settled for the little beauty I'm typing now, which is very porrtable and has all the features I need.

After the walking, exploring and shopping, I was hungry.  There are a lot of options, so I just followed an Asian family through a doorway, down an escalator.  We ended up in a fabulous food court.  I'd eaten American Subway on my first night in Malaysia.  My next meal, at the food court, was Korean.  And while I enjoyed it, a 3 generation family of Chinese women stopped to ask me what I was eating and where I got it.  Traveling alone does not mean being alone.

I took a short cut back to the free bus and sat next to a local woman.  We started chatting (her English was fluent) and she was very curious about why I was alone in KL for Christmas.  She was excited to discover that I'm a Christian.  After a 30 minute bus ride, she hopped off with me at my stop.  She is 60, the youngest of 10, a KL native and offered to show me around.  We exchanged contact info and I hope our schedules will connect.

After resting for a couple of hours and working on my new computer, I set out again to explore the area around my hotel.

I'm incredibly close to both the Central Market and Petaling Street.  I'd hoped to find a new purse and discovered the only problem is deciding which one to buy.  I then started contemplating what to have for dinner.  So much fried chicken.  Or dried/fried meat burgers?  I ended up at another local food court.  I opted for Indian food.  Tandoori chicken and garlic naan.  $3.

I've walked more today than I have in a month.  I've met lovely people who seem genuinely friendly and helpful.  I'm comfy in my $35 a night hotel room.  I'm looking forward to tomorrow's explorations

Finally, I'm doing something worth writing about

Sorry it's been so long since I've posted but really, I was doing you a favor.  My life is pretty routine.  Not the same kind of routine I'd be living in the US but Mandalay has become routine for me, in a good way.

I could give you details of teaching first grade.  There are some really funny moments.  Some very frustrating moments (and days).  And some days (to paraphrase a great author) "that pass like junket on the tongue, leaving no taste behind."

Mostly, I'm content and happy.  Especially this time of year when the weather is hot and sunny during the day and cool at night.  If only it were like this year 'round.  But then, it would be crawling with tourists.

Anyway, I'm posting now because I'm doing something worth writing about - at least for me.  I hope people enjoy reading about where I am but I mostly use this as a way to remember cool stuff that I get to experience.

So here it is, the beginning of my journal of my three week vacation in S. E. Asia.

Day One:  Leaving Mandalay.  I was very excited.  Just three weeks off work was going to be great.  The last week was bittersweet.  The kids were over-the-moon excited about vacation and Santa and a bit out of control but also sad that we'd be apart for so long.  I got a lot of hugs and was ambushed on numerous occasions by groups of 6 year olds giving me group hugs.  There were some tears, from just an overload of emotions and that was me, not the kids.

I like to leave things neat and tidy when I go on vacation.  The kids helped clean and organize our classroom.  I cleaned the 'fridge and left everything shipshape in my apartment.  I was packed and ready to go early.  Thanks to mi hijo Matt for carrying my giant (almost empty) suitcase downstairs to the bus.

We were all ready and one teacher didn't show.  She was late the last time we went to the airport, too.  She finally showed up, taking her time to say goodbye to staff who were staying behind.  Once on the bus everyone was pumped as we rolled out toward the airport.  Until we had to turn around and head back to the school because the teacher who was late forgot her passport.  Eye roll.

After we were finally on our way the trip was uneventful, except for the amount of military presence at the Mandalay airport.  No problems but a bit disconcerting.

I spent my 2 1/2 hour layover in Bangkok eating.  I started with a Big Mac, then got a Subway to go.  While I waited at the gate I had the smallest Dairy Queen cone they had.  Delicious.

We landed on time in KL, about 9:15 p.m.  Immigration was a breeze, with no paperwork to complete.  Usually they take electronic fingerprints but the system was down.  I headed to collect my suitcase and was one of the first to arrive.  In the new KLIA2 baggage area it's kind of fun.  You can watch the bags come down what looks like an America's Next Top Model runway before it hits the.circular belt.  I saw a lot of luggage.  None of them was mine.

I went to the lost luggage counter.  They sent me to another office.  It was now 10:15 pm and I was tired and getting cranky.  A nice young man from Air Asia asked if there were any bags that looked like mine.  Hmm.  Big, black suitcase.  Yes.  He suggested that someone took my bag by mistake and I'd have to hope they returned it..  I politely suggested that perhaps between Mandalay, Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur, Air Asia had misplaced it. He agreed that was possible, especially since Mandalay doesn't use computer encoded bag tags.  We're old school in Myanmar.

We headed to the luggage belt where the sign flashed "Last bag delivered".   We stood in a sort of Zen trance watching the few unclaimed bags circle the track.  It was soothing, really.   I had resigned myself to 3 weeks of vacation wearing my current clothes.  That's why I always travel in something comfy.

Then, a bag was launched onto the model runway - a bit battered but it was mine.  My young Air Asia friend and I high fived  and I rolled off to Customs.

KLIA2 is new, a bit industrial feeling and very nice.  It was also odd to me that to exchange money you had to walk through a "mall".  Whatever, I got money.  I'd planned to take the train to the city, then get a cab but decided to just treat myself and take a taxi.  It was 74 RYM, about $25.  It would have been nice if the driver knew where my hotel was, but it gave my heart a good aerobic workout as he programmed his GPS while driving in traffic on the freeway. 

I finally spotted my hotel and he let me out.  Check in was easy and I took the elevator to a small, not-luxurious but clean room. It was now almost midnight.  Thank goodness for the Subway I'd been carrying from Bangkok.

I got to sleep around 1:30 a.m., which is midnight, Mandalay time.  I was exhausted but didn't sleep long.  I'm still struggling with a bad cough and finally found I could sleep only if I sat propped up in bed.

It wasn't a great travel day.  It wasn't a bad travel day.  The point was, I was in my 69th country and ready to explore!

Photos of Mandalay

Life goes on in Mandalay.  If you imagine that I lead an exotic life, you're wrong.  I work.  I come home.  I hang out with friends.  But, because I'm doing my working and hanging out in Myanmar, it's a little different.  I'm still loving it after more than a year.  Here are some photos to let you know what I've been up to the last week.

Can you tell what this is a photo of?  My feet.

A new spa charges $1.50 to let you soak your feet in a tank filled with fish.  The fish love to eat the dead skin off your feet and legs.  To make it even more fun, locals were in the doorway, taking pictures of me.

Saturday started at a tea shop.  Next, fish nibbling on my toes.  Then, shampoo and massage.  After that, a fabulous lunch at a new-to-me restaurant.  Then shopping at Mingular - a local market that has everything from clothes to fruit.  These young Buddhist nuns were collecting food for their daily meal.  Someone gave them bananas, which they were carrying on their heads.  I gave them money.  They gave me smiles and giggles.

At Mingular I bought roses (10 long stemmed roses for $.50)  I gave them to one of the school staff who I love.  I bought these orchids for $2.00.  That's the view from my living room.

Everyday we start off by writing how we feel on our slates.  This was from Friday.  One of my kids likes school.

Another boy was happy because Friday is Funday!

I don't have a photo but lunch at My Cafe, which is over the SP Bakery on 78th by the train station was great.  Terrific chicken burger for 2,500K.  Amazingly, mozzarella cheese sticks for 1,500K.  That's $2.50 and $1.50 USD.  Plus, free wifi.