The Jetsons

It seems a while ago now but it's only 10 days ago we were in Kuala Lumpur(KL). Once again the journey there from Penang went smoothly with a local matriach looking out for us at the bus station. The bus itself was luxurious, only 3 seats wide; so 2 seats and then the aisle and then just one seat. They also reclined so there was plenty of room for me to fidget.

KL is almost futuristic as you can see from the Jetson style monorail that connects the city and the huge modern buildings. KL is only 150yrs old, we found that out when we visited KL Tower (middle building in bottom pic) - the 4th largest in the world. As we were in a big city again we did "normal stuff" - went shopping in a mall and also to the pictures. The shopping mall is part of the Petronas towers (2nd pic from bottom) and only has designer shops - Gucci seemed to be downmarket - so obviously we fitted in v well. I needed to replace my swimming shorts and there was a whole shop just full of trunks but at a starting price of 70 pounds sterling I was able to resist that particular bargain(!)

After making one purchase - we bought speakers for the iPod - we went up the towers. I bet no-one can guess who got up early to queue up for the tickets? Bec thought it was hilarious when my palms got sweaty on the 42nd floor viewing platform (indoors) but I was fine the next day on from the top of the 452m KL tower as you can see from my cheesy grin that looks like I've been superimposed. While we were there I also went on the reverse bungy contraption (2nd pic) it fires you into the air and for a couple of seconds you are weightless (yes, even me) and you're suspended upside down, Bec declined to accompany me.

It was a totally different atmosphere than the other places we've visited as Malaysia is primarily a Muslim country and there were lots of Arab tourists. The blokes were dressed in Bermuda shorts and T-shirts while the women were in full length jet black Burkkas(?) with covered faces. Bec was fascinated by this. July and August are the peak tourist months so there were free concerts right outside our hotel and the obligatory firework display when we're in town.

Bec is still with me by the way - it's just that all the pics are of me. Just a quick note on cultural differences: in Chiang Mai I asked a Thai couple to take a pic of me and when they showed me the pic and asked if it was OK I lied and said yes then asked someone else to take one. At the KL tower a German bloke asked Bec to take his picture 3 times and seemed a bit put out when she couldn't get it exactly how he wanted!