I thought KL would be boring, after all, I've been here in December '12 with mum and luis, I stayed at some nice hotel then. I came again in December '13, stayed at aunty Poon's house like a luxurious.
I always fancied myself someone who likes to travel. I imagine travelling alone, exploring, doing shit. apparently not. finding myself in this situation I wasn't fairly excited- after all, I was going to a city. and I live in a city.
I arrived at 7:30pm, after 6 hours on the bus. walked around, got lost as usual finding my way to Serenity Hostels. meh.
did nothing that night, except haltingly went around looking for food (I was starving) when I arrived at Berjaya Times Square. I walked to Sungei Wang, every so often checking the map I screenshot prior, and went into the first restaurant I mustered the courage to lift my head to.
it was good, the butter chicken. but awkward, eating alone. leaving immediately. being silent throughout.
so I went to bed and used the wifi to bring myself back to Singapore a bit while the clubbing music below my hostel blared and blasted and boomed (alliteration) through the walls into my bed.
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woke at 12:30pm disoriented. what time is it? too late, apparently. laughed it off, went back to sleep.
finally woke for real at 3:30pm and decided to wake the shit up and get down to getting around. after all, this place is "The Heart" of the city (besides KLCC) and I should enter every damn mall yes?
all silly plans of heartlander travels (going to Batu Caves, 1 Utama to climb, looking at waterfalls and parks, immersing in culture and history) was lost to the convenience of typical tourist consumption.
walked past this coffee shop, decided to make a turn in to see what they could offer. lo! they had the best char siew meat on fantabulous wan ton mee!!!!!! argh my very full belly just rumbled.
satisfied, I carried on my way only to be stopped by Starbucks, offering respite in the sweltering heat.
I, being the sucker I am, went in.
they had this mocha praline drink i never tried before, so I ordered it. besides, soy milk was at no additional charge! soy milk it is.
but wait, what they never charged in soy milk in Msia they made up for it in taxes ha ha.
found a plug, finally, and began charging my Surface.
my phone was dying, and I forgot to bring an adaptor. hence my camera for the day went unused. though there really wasn't much to capture in the malls.
after a long while in Starbucks finishing my drink, I headed back to Imbi monorail, toward Berjaya Times Square. but then I changed my mind and turned back to Sungei Wang hahahaha
had the best buy there of a 10 RM pair of jeans! it was stained and dirty honestly but i felt it added character to the pair haha and I couldn't even try it on prior! and it fit!!!!! I smelt the stain though it smelt clean haha it was definitely not "made this way" though.
after round and round the mall I impulsively thought I should get a haircut. mind you, the idea only came because I saw so many salons around. hmm space impacting my mind. it was typically 38RM and I thought I might go in this where it was 35RM but then she told me she was a senior stylist and hence charged me 45RM -.-
whatevs! I quite liked it haha I can't bun it anymore though! and I chickened out of bangs so I have incoherent choppy fringe now.
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pass the shopping phase, I walked back, entering The Ship to eat steak but reconsidering after I was company-less and decided a pricey steak isn't worth it if I were alone. service was impeccable, people do pay attention to you when you're alone/lonely. I have had 2 out of 3 servers ask me about the food. I told all 3 the food was excellent. which made me think of what I would do if someone told me the food was terrible when I asked them. which is part why I never do.
Full as a furnace stuffed with logs and humans, I made my walk back, only to stop by the food heaven of Jalan Alor and decided to walk down it instead.
walking down was The Tourist Experience I never thought I would experience though.
the city in KL is different in more ways than I thought in Singapore.
the streets are dirty, you can feel this sense of.. practicality and desperation. like it adds to the making of the spaces as at once dangerous yet somehow.. homely. it doesn't have the so-oft sterile feel of Singapore, strictly policed- no graffiti, keep your shops clean and people will enter, no touting. here it's different. I feel uncomfortable when I move. people stare, some whistle, they are so in-your-face come try this product/buy this food. I mean, Singapore has it too, but it doesn't feel the same. walking down the food stalls, they invited me through hokkien, english, bahasa melaya or Indonesia i don't know. such chupalang language along one road alone, how can we have the cheek to call ourselves rojak?
mind you, I speak one, read and write only one language.
I was thinking, why do we boast about not being able in the mandarin language? my friends and I are always laughing over who cannot Chinese the most.
if I could, I would. here in Malaysia, many of these people, especially the Chinese people, speak Chinese, malay, english and even their own dialect.
I feel like a foreigner to my own culture as compared to them.
the spaces are littered with humans. walking past one, I stepped over his legs as he was sprawled on the side walk. I briefly wondered if he was dead, and that I probably should look at the people I was walking over. which is more respectful- to not gaze upon their destitute conditions, or see them as they are?
KL has been interesting so far, though I have absolutely no idea what to do for tomorrow, I think I might just not be so reluctant to head out and think about my movement through space again.
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