Kuala Lumpur
Jan 23-26
Up early for me.
Gus upgraded to get me breakfast, so for just $30 we are up to Club class. Nice business lounge on the 32nd floor, good breakfast, afternoon tea, happy hour and a view to die for!
Another neat toy this hotel has is the Toto toilet. I'd seen them before, but had never had one in a hotel. It has a retractable bidet nozzle. (Refreshing!) I thought this a bit of a novel thing, but "bottom blasters" are in all public toilets. Has to do w being clean for prayer 5X a day.
Did a bit of wandering, first over to the towers just across the park. Banking, etc. Walked a while and decided to get orientated w the hop on/hop off. Rarely a bad way to orient to a big city. This turns out to be the exception that proves the rule, but no big deal. Just too long and traffic too heavy. I didn't know quite what to expect here. I was thinking more Bangkok than Singapore, but it is more the latter than the former. Large parts of it, anyway. Hopped off at the Central Market, which was a non-starter, but I had a decent lunch. Visited the Hindu temple of Sri Mahamariamman, KL's oldest temple. So hot when the sun is out, but then a rain shower blew in offering some relief. Rode the bus home from there, but Gus hopped off when the towers were clearly visible, hoofed it home, and was ultimately only 5 mins behind me.
The towers have a real presence in the city, and there is a large landscaped (wading pool, playground, walking/running paths) space between them and our hotel. Really couldn't ask for a better location. Lots of nice hotels in town, most of them open on to shrubs and then 6 lane roads (that's the Bangkok bit). Our front door is the same, but we have a back door to park and one of SE Asia's most notable landmarks.
Across the park for dinner. Have yet to see pork on a menu. Lots of "crispy beef bacon" at breakfast and dinner. Steak house/Italian? Have had worse. Took some pictures in Marj's dress. Went up to the 33rd floor night club. Euro-techno pop DJ, cool Malay kids, plenty are gay, a few business men w their Asian "daughters" and middle-aged white tourists. Sadly, I only fit into one of those categories. Left there to go back down to 5th floor and a quiet beer.

I continue to wake early, try to stay quiet, and wait for Gus to stir. Damn near 11:00 by the time we get out of the hotel. Harumph!
Walked over to the KL Manara (tower), one of those CN/Calgary tower things that they built on a hill in a effort to be the biggest... whatever. Didn't go up, as weirdly expensive, unless you had lunch for another 2 bucks, and then quite reasonable.
Took a taxi to the bird park, the world's largest open air aviary. More or less a large netted hillside. A lovely greenspace in the middle of the city. Tons of peacocks, fed the ostrich and emu and watched a chick hatch, among other things. The orchid park was free and just across the road, but paled in comparison to Singapore's. Good walk down to the Independence square, where you will find the world's tallest freestanding flagpole. (Just me, or anybody else beginning to think these guys must have really tiny peckers?). Also Malaysia's oldest Christian church, St. Mary's (very small Anglican) cathedral.
Flagged a cab, and insisted on the meter before getting in, so under $2 to get back to the hotel, 10 minutes away.
Had passed a German restaurant on the cab ride home, and when we cut thru the convention centre, it was only five minute's walk away. Well! Here they have found pork and they're doing it up big! Perhaps you need a special license to import/serve pork in this officially (if not always devoutly), Muslim nation. And of course, they would be limited in their staff too, so they make up for the lack of porcine choice on any other menus. Pork salad? Hmm. All pork schnitzels and sausages. Even the pate was from pork liver, which i have never seen before. Side of cracklins, anyone? You get my drift.
If you're wondering about the local cuisine, I eat that sometimes at breakfast, and always at lunch, when Gus doesn't eat. It is just like Indonesian and/or Thai. So are the utensils. No knives.

Another late start on the 26th, tried to go up the Petronas towers, not made easy for the tourists, incidentally, but all tickets sold out for the day. Oh well. The view is in looking at them, really. Sour grapes? Maybe.
Decided to take public transit back to the Central market, so I could maybe p/u a t-shirt to sleep in, which I did. I also went for a 10 minute "fish pedicure", which was very cool. These weren't the little guys I've seen on TV, but about 3 inches long each. There is a shallow hot-tub like arrangement, you pay 5 Ringets ($1.66), kick off your shoes, swing around and drop your feet into the pool. If you need a major exfoliation, best to go when it's quiet, so you can have more of them work on you. A very strange sensation to begin with, but you almost get used to it. It really does smooth the feet!
Were approached by several taxi drivers for the ride back, but none would use the meter, and the best price we could get was MR12, so we took the subway home again for MR 3.20. Not that the $4 would break us, it's the principle. Besides, the underground was probably faster.
Cleaned up, checked out, I ate some spicy mutton thing for lunch, and then the long drive back to the airport. It'll be a long day. Layover in Singapore, (nice airport though), then 7.5hrs to Brisbane to arrive there.
That it for Asia this trip.

Country #101- Malaysia- Check