Rosie Marzouk

Had a good sleep last night and this morning felt ready to face the world, and we are now just back from the day’s adventures. But first our trip here…our first leg - the 3 hour flight from Cairo to Dubai was sort of hilarious…I think the passengers were about 98% men, and you’d think it was a party…they were all talking and wandering round - had to be told to sit down so we could leave…otherwise uneventful…then Dubai - Amr managed to get us entry to a lounge which was good as we had a 5 hour wait. Decided to eat dinner then and not on the plane as it was late and the food was good (had a very tasty butter chicken). Then on Singapore airlines for 7.5 hour flight to Singapore - just had a glass of wine and no more food, planning to have breakfast …but sadly didn’t sleep well, and when they were preparing for landing realised we didn’t get breakfast! Then we had to dash to another terminal at the enormous Changi airport, as only an hour to get there…less by the time we emerged from the plane…we just made it and had the 35 minute actual flight (they allow an hour for all the fiddling and taxiing etc) and arrived at KL at 9.30 am, the same time that Omnia arrived on a direct flight from Cairo leaving way after us…so we got a car to the hotel and sort of collapsed.

Amr went out hunter gathering and brought back some soup with an assortment of noodles and vegetables and fish balls, which kept us going until 6 o’clock when we were picked up by car and taken to Ragai’s apartment, which is the residence of the ambassador and extremely lovely. It is on the 32nd floor of a tower building…in fact it is the whole floor. Ragai was very glad to see his cousins as he is probably a bit lonely at the moment - his wife Saha (where we had dinner a few nights ago in Cairo) is currently in Cairo while their daughter finishes her university year. But their delightful son Ahmed is here in KL starting university. So amazing to see him. He was a baby under 2 when we saw him in Cairo in 2006, and now is tall and skinny - makes Amr look short! And the funny thing is that they bonded about watches…Ahmed is about as fanatical as Amr!! We were served a beautiful Egyptian dinner - there is a chef, and 2 girls serving and filling our glasses - not wine! - with delicious guava juice. As always, much more food than I could eat - even the others could not finish everything, but really delicious. By 9 we were visibly drooping (I was anyway) and we were driven back.

Well that was yesterday, and now I must remember today. We left at about 9 and got a taxi to the bird park - a famous and beautiful park with wonderful exotic birds. It is very tropical and lush and there is a net over the area, but it is so high and invisible it doesn’t seem caged at all. Many peacocks roaming around, often showing off their tail feathers. A lovely walk round there. We had been advised to go early as when it gets hotter the birds take cover and you don’t see them so well. Then we went on to see the Islamic Arts Museum which is conveniently nearby. We asked the man at the bird park how to get there and he said too far to walk, you need to get a taxi, but we assured him we were walkers and he pointed us the way, and we found it was barely a kilometre! And downhill! I think Malaysians don’t walk much because it is so hot and humid, but a little is fine, and then we were in the A/C of the museum - at a very comfortable temperature…so often A/C is too cold.

The museum was beautiful- Islamic art is so satisfying to look at with the geometric patterns and designs, and the calligraphy. (Think of the ceramic tiles at Isnik Paul - if you can remember that far back to 1991). We tried to visit the mosque also nearby, and is a landmark for visitors, but not at prayer time which it was, so Omnia could go in, but Amr and I couldn’t, so we happily waited in the seats outside.

Then the adventure of getting home started. We knew there was a metro equivalent station nearby, and we asked the mosque lady how to find it…she explained but as usual it is never as simple as it sounds. We could see sort of where we needed to be, but we had to cross a very busy road, and unlike Cairo pedestrians can’t just walk into the traffic and wend their way through the cars! She had mentioned an underpass which we finally sighted, but then found it was shut…so we braved the road, one side at a time, and then still had trouble getting to an actual station. To complicate it, there is also a train line above ground (but that was not the right one for us)…after much round and round walking we did find the right line and station, and Amr managed the ticket machines which gave us plastic tokens. But these magically worked on the reader and in we went, and successfully went on the right line in the right direction!! Getting out we had to find an exit with a slot to put in the token…didn’t work on the reader this time as they wanted the tokens back…

Then the next feat was to find the hotel…we knew we were very close, but not close enough to see anything familiar…thank goodness at this point there was a big pedestrian crossing with lights and a countdown! KL is quite organised, and the traffic orderly - they stay in lanes, signal directions, stop at red lights etc, but it is not very pedestrian friendly. Maybe just because people don’t walk much. It does not feel seething with people either…maybe that is just after Cairo? The metro (MRT) was quite busy and full at mid afternoon. Anyway, after much fiddling and wondering Amr got us back - he sort of remembered from his venture out yesterday. And we were lucky it hadn’t had the afternoon downpour yet. It rains every afternoon usually after 3. So Amr and I had a late lunch at the restaurant he got the soup from yesterday…you just get a bowl and choose from the assortment of vegetables, noodles, tofu, fish balls, bits and pieces with tongs and give it to the man and he takes it and puts broth in it…very yummy! I knew not to have laksa as Amr had that broth yesterday and while I love spicy, it was just too hot for comfort. And we were very lucky - while we were eating the rain poured down, drenching if you were caught in it. And it had virtually stopped by the time we just to cross the road to get to the hotel.

So now back and relaxing for a couple of hours. Amr is swimming which is his relaxation. At 8 we are being picked up again to have dinner with Ragai. He has ambassadorial duties till then, and promises it will be a light late dinner…I’m not sure that Egyptians understand light!

So that is an enormous double report, and I will add pics of birds and Islamic art.Read more