The Malaysia connection

I know.  How is it that only 8 days after returning to. oz from the incipient wilds of Ontario's early winter I am off on the road again?

Just lucky, I guess. Having answered the call of duty in Canada, I am now on leave, and fulfilling a long standing invitation from my friend Soma to see something of his country, Malaysia.  This plan was hatched earlier this year, around the time when my change of job became public. It changed slightly when Soma's daughter Shadhinee announced that she and Van were going to get married. When I offered to defer my plan, Soma insisted that I come for the wedding - so here I am!

It is currently day three of the eight that I will be away for. It's the first chance I have had To sit down and do some writing as the hours since arrival have bIeen jam packed.

Departure was set for 9.55 from Sydney on Malaysian MH140. Just to show that it isn't only Qantas who can stuff up a schedule, we didn't get away until after 11. No explanation given. The good news was that for some reason - perhaps double booking - I got bumped up to business class. A style of travel to which I could easily become accustomed. While the entertainment system was not as up to date as those in Qantas, the seats reclined nicely and the service was very attentive. The eight hour trip passed relatively comfortably, and we arrived in KL around 4 am, passing through the limited formalities relatively quickly once we cleared immigration, which was badly under staffed. Soma, however, has a Malaysian passport, so went through in about 30  seconds.

We had a mini bus organised, which took us to Port Dixon, where Viji's family lives. We arrived before the sun came up and had a lovely Indian breakfast, including roti fresh from the local baker.

Next stop was Soma's Mum's home in a suburb of KL. The city traffic took a little getting used to, but it still wasn't much after 9 when we agrrived. We said goodbye to the van, had a coffee, and then arrangements were made to take delivery of a hire car. Soma and I drove the guys who dropped it off to the LRT - the local train system. We couldn't check in to the Goodhope hotel until 3, so various other errands were run, including getting me a SIM card for Anne's old phone, so I could stay in touch locally. Then there was lunch at a nearby vegetarian restaurant and we were able to check in.

The hotel was clean and comfortable. I shared a room with Kuhen. While we were trying to have a rest, I ended up spending a deal of time with the reception desk getting them to navigate past the Malaysian menus (that I somehow see to have switched on!) to get my credit loaded up.Soma and Viji stayed at Soma's Mum's, while us "kids" stayed at the hotel.

Just as I was settling down for a rest, Shadhinee, Van and Syam arrived to invite me to join them for a trip into town. Eventually we worked out that we needed a cab to the LRT, then a train, then a monorail, but it all worked smoothly. trains were clean and frequent, stations were totally unmarked by graffiti and even had working toilets, and the system of buying tokens was not too hard to master.

We went to KLCC- KL City Centre - an absolute panic of malls and brand names. We went in to one mall with the biggest lot of Christmas decorations I have ever seen in a mall - rather a surprise in a strongly Islamic country. Whatever sells, I suppose.

All good so far. The adventure started when we emerged. From the mall to discover that the heavens had well and truly opened. It was monsoon after all! The grand total of umbrellas between the 4 of us? None. That's right - zip, zero, nihil, nada - which total augured badly for meteorological protection. Van bought 2 cheap brollies from a seller who appeared with almost magical speed at the same time as the rain,  and we sallied forth for the monorail. We were doing alright until one particular road started doing an impression of a small stream, and in crossing my shoes rapidly filled with water, but more significantly, Syam lost both thongs. The one I eventually recovered was of little real help. We figured, get on the monorail to Sentral, then get a cab. Part A - a truly excellent and farsighted plan. Part B, not so much, displaying genuine ignorance of KL taxi drivers. Once we flagged one down (no simple matter in itself) it became clear that the KL cabbie is under no obligation to take anyone anywhere he doesn't fancy. Ditto for the next. Time for plan C. Mick to piggy back Syam. This was not a goer. (Thank God). Plan D, walk carefully to the LRT and hope for a cab at our stop. We survived freezing in the icy blasts of LRT air con and exited the station to see a long line of hopefuls awaiting a cab. As we stood watching, several cabs just cherry picked the awaiting customers, through a damp process of customers standing in the rain to plead their cases. After about 20 minutes, we had made it to the head of the line, and luckily the first cab pto which we presented ourselves in sodden supplication wasn't choosy. It was well after 10 by then, and we were still in our first day in the country, but it wasn't to be complete without a meal at the rustic, open air restaurant on the corner near the hotel, where we met Soma and Viji, who had clearly had a big day. A good meal, a few beers and bed at last. Did I mention that Kuhen was absolutely out to it, and slept through all of us being in the room, mustered a few incoherent words when Shadhinee invited him to dinner, then rolled over again. That's about it for day one. More when I can.