Going home

4.20am Friday morning. Our plane touches the ground and we're getting ready for a 10h quick stop to explore Kuala Lumpur. A HUGE difference in price (and the curiosity on Jo's part to always take the chance to go and explore when it presents itself) made us choose an AirAsia flight to our final destination Japan, including this layover. Be aware of hidden costs when making this choice: in true low cost carrier fashion, you have to pay extra for your bags, your meals and even water! It still ended up much cheaper though.
AirAsia planes seem to be designed for as small people as I am. If even I complain about space issues, it's real. However, as it was a night flight, both Tom and I slept through most of it and arrived in Kuala Lumpur fairly well rested.
I am still impressed about how easy it is to enter certain countries. With no visa needed, we simply walked through immigration and entered Malaysia at about 4.45am. I had been a bit negligent about the fact that internet wouldn't be as readily available and the fidgeting with the open wifi cost us the first skybus (yes, I hadn't saved a screenshot of our tickets... duh). Everything else went as planned though. The 5.20am bus took us to the city, that still lay dormant in the dark. Early morning hours, especially during Ramadan, didn't seem to be the most active ones in Kuala Lumpur. Initially I had wanted to get to the park, but as we wouldn't have seen anything yet, we headed for coffee first. Turns out, the breaking daylight was needed to navigate our way through all the highways anyways. We finally crossed a few, walked through a hotel lobby and secretly followed fellow pedestrians to get to the part of city that was easier to walk around. I had booked a 90min tour with "withlocals", a platform connecting travellers and local travel guides, that was starting at 8am. Thanks to offline maps, we made it well in time and started to get a feel for the interesting city on the way. Old and new, rich and poor, clean and dirty, traffic and people sleeping by the road. The contrasts were later described by Siddoz as diversity, and I think that might be a better term. KL's history made it a multi ethnic city. 68%Muslims, 23%Chinese, 7%Indians and 2% who knows what all live together, creating a melting pot that is hard to describe as anything other than diverse.
Despite the fact that it is Ramadan, Siddoz, our guide, took us out for a traditional breakfast: Nasi Lemak (fried chicken, boiled egg, anchovies and peanuts served with cucumber, rice and a spicy sambal) and cham, a local drink that mixes tea and coffee with condensed milk. I was amazed that the drinks all came in a takeaway option: a plastic bag and a straw. Siddoz pointed out that plastic bans are becoming more and more common though and that the government supported women in leading positions. His way of saying that Malaysia is a forward thinking and modern country. Palm oil, on the other hand, is regarded as a major economy boost, creating jobs and opportunities and there is little discussion about its downfalls locally. How do you approach such topics? When talking about vegetarianism, Siddoz simply mentioned that Malaysian cuisine is mainly carnivorous and vegetarian dishes are rather found in Indian and Chinese restaurants. China town seemed to be full of meat still. Our casual stroll through the market, where animals were killed to order, simply regarded as goods, not so much as living beings, made me question the meat eating once again. While both Tom and I follow a rather vegetarian diet, trying to eat meat only when we know it's been ethical sourced, I haven't turned vegetarian or vegan completely, mostly because I don't want to take away the joy of trying local dishes. But I need to be stricter after all...
Apart from food, Siddoz introduced us to a few historic buildings and temples in the area and filled the 90min with many interesting historic facts. A really good introduction in such a short time. As the tour progressed so did the heat and humidity (it stays 31-34 degrees year around!) By the end, time didn't allow for much more than to head back to the station. Navigating the confusing streets and crazy traffic once again, we made it back. Pedestrians are really a rare sights outside of the old part of the city opposed to cars as well as bikes jumping red lights, going the wrong way or driving on the rare pedestrian walks even in front of police stations. Oh craziness, I've missed you.Baca lagi