The Malaysia and Singapore trip is back by popular demand. Sorry for the absence. Looks like I'll have to write fast since my computer has started misbehaving again already. I'm starting to get angry that they keep having my computer for weeks and not ever fixing it fully.

Part 2:
DEC 23: We woke up early Monday morning and headed to the site where the bus left from (different than where we bought the tickets). Once we got there, we found many people waiting around outside the building (called the Textile Center) and hung around with them. No one seemed to know what we were supposed to do very well. Across the street there were three buses from our company, Eltabina Express. We figured they were our buses, but we didn't know if they would come to us or what. Eventually people headed over to the buses, and we found out we were supposed to have entered the Textile Center and found a small office for Eltabina Express where we were supposed to trade our general ticket for one with a seat number and a bus number. I hurried in to trade our tickets, but there wasn't really a rush since our bus left about 15 minutes late. There were three buses, but ours was less than half full, and I think some of the others were too. I was a little surprised they ran three buses.

Eventually we were off and on our way to Malaysia. We crossed the border stations on either side of the Singapore/Malaysia causeway. There were no problems, of course. We drove for awhile in Malaysia, and the thing that stood out from the drive were all the palm trees. When you drive on North Carolina's highways, generally you see forests all around you. When you drive on the highways in southern Malaysia, you see palm tree plantations, rows and rows of them everywhere.

Our bus stopped for lunch around noon at a popular bus stop. It was much like a giant cafeteria with different restaurants and shops. Unfortunately, there was no place to change money, and we hadn't had the foresight to change money in Singapore beforehand. Luckily, before I left Toyama, a girl who had been to Malaysia gave me about 15 ringgits which she had leftover from her trip. The exchange rate is set between the dollar and the ringgit (1 to 3.8), so this was equivalent to about 4 dollars. We bought some chicken and rice for 9 ringgits total, which left us a little emergency cash. We didn't need it though, since we went straight to Kuala Lumpur from there.

One more thing I noticed on the trip was how cheap gas is in Malaysia. It is the first country I've been in where gas is cheaper than in America. It was about 1 dollar per gallon or so. I later found out they are an oil exporter, so that's why gas is so cheap.

As we approached Kuala Lumpur we could see the Petronas Towers and the city skyline. We weren't sure where the bus was taking us (there are three bus stations it could've been), so I was trying to figure out where we were. I managed to figure out our specific area once we passed a light rail train station that was on the map. We actually didn't get dropped off at any bus station, but instead we were left off in the heart of Chinatown, on the way to the biggest bus station. It was more convenient for us, so we didn't complain.

We quickly found a cash machine and Paul withdrew some money for the hotel. We had reservations at a nice five-star hotel, but they were for the 24-27th. Since we went to KL a day early, we didn't have a reservation. We decided to stay someplace cheaper instead. We found a hotel that sounded nice in the guidebook that was located in the middle of Chinatown. We headed there, squeezing our way through a crowded street of movable kiosks selling everything imaginable (purses, watches, illegal CDs and DVDs, t-shirts). The main outdoor market formed on this street, and actually got worse at night, when it was almost impossible to walk down the street due to the crowds. We made it to the Hotel China Town Inn, which was well-hidden. However, the hotel was quite nice. The price wasn't too bad. I don't remember the exact number, but I think it was a around $25 for our double with cable TV and a private bathroom. Once time when we entered the hotel, we saw two white lizards on the ceiling near the door. They looked really cool, but we didn't see them again.

After dropping off our stuff, we wandered around Chinatown, looking at the market stalls, and scoping out the neighborhood. We found the bus station that we had to use to go to our next destination, Cameron Highlands. In scoping out the neighborhood, we quickly realized that you could stand at one point downtown and see three different McDonald's restaurants. They were quite close to each other. We also found an A&W restaurant nearby. This time it wasn't just a food stand like in Singapore, but a full-fledged restaurant. And it was super cheap! I got a huge mug of root beer with vanilla ice cream for about 80 cents. It was insane! That was root beer float #3 for me. Paul had one too.

We also discovered a very pretty mosque, which we admired from afar. It was right in the center where two rivers met. We converted a lot of our yen to ringgits. Since the ringgit is fixed to the dollar, our money was worth more if we converted yen instead of withdrawing money from our home bank accounts. Unfortunately, the Japanese banks aren't connected to international networks, so I was unable to withdraw money directly from my Japanese bank account. Instead, I took 40,000 yen, about $320, in cash. We must have had dinner at some point, but I can't remember what we ate. At night we headed to a cheap internet cafe and wrote emails home, telling our parents we were in KL. A thunderstorm swept over KL while we were in the internet cafe, but was pretty much gone by the time we left the cafe. I don't remember if we had our umbrellas or not, but the cafe was really close to the hotel, so it wouldn't have made much difference. We went back to the hotel and fell asleep.

DEC 24: We woke up around 9 or 9:30 and found some breakfast at a nearby pastry shop. Afterwards, we went to buy the bus tickets to Cameron Highlands, since the guidebook was quick to point out that few buses head to Cameron Highlands and buying tickets early was a must. Also, we wanted to go to our new hotel around noon, since the check-in time there was 12:30, and the check-out time at our current hotel was noon. I think we used up some more time by visiting the mosque we had seen the day before. It was quite pretty, and open to visitors. However, we couldn't go into the prayer hall, just admire it from the outside. Since the prayer hall had no sides anyway, it didn't make much difference. Soon it was noon and we checked out. We found the light rail station and discovered a couple of things about the trains. First, they don't have drivers, so it is all automated. You can even see out the front window, which is really cool. Second, at any given time, 70% of the automated ticket machines are broken. Normally they don't accept either bills or coins, or both. So it is a slow process to buy tickets for the light rail. There are two light rail trains, but they are run by different companies, and changing lines means leaving one station, walking to another, and buying another ticket. Apparently the city started constructing a monorail and major interchange station that would unify all three commuter train systems, but when the Asian economic bubble burst, many of these projects got sidelined. Regardless, the LRT system was pretty efficient, if not crowded.

When we got to our stop, I was really surprised. While Chinatown was crowded, dirty, and loud, the city business district was modern, clean, and uncrowded. We couldn't see our hotel, so we wandered around until we found it. It wasn't too tall, but it was tall enough to provide a nice view. We were staying at the Crown Princess Hotel. We found a great deal where we could stay for $45 a night in a double with breakfast. This was on Christmas Eve too, which was great. The fact that it was Christmas seemed to have no effect on prices in KL, maybe since they are muslim. However, the hotel was pretty crowded. There were tons of tourists from India there. I think there was a wedding or something.

Our hotel room was quite nice. It was on the highest floor you could be on without being in the executive suites. We had nice big beds, an internet connection (no computer for us), a great view of the city parks, and a huge TV stand with a rather small TV inside. I guess hotels in Malaysia aren't into big televisions. We actually had less channels on our TV here than at the other hotel (no HBO or CNN). Victoria will love this little fact. Paul hadn't seen "Meet the Parents" and it turned out it was coming on HBO on Christmas Eve. However, once we moved hotels, we couldn't see it anymore. It didn't really matter, but I thought it was really funny that it was coming on TV, especially since that was my Christmas present to Victoria (she's an addict).

After we finished marveling at the hotel, we headed out to see the famous Petronas Towers, which were a short walk away. When we go there we found out that there were no more tickets left for the day. You need a ticket to go up the towers to the bridge that runs between them. The bridge is not that high up, so we decided that waiting in line in the morning to get the tickets was a waste of our time, even though the tickets were free. Instead, we took some pictures by the towers, and moved on to the KL Tower, the second highest building in the city. The KL tower was a fifteen minute walk away, a lot of it uphill. The KL tower is the fourth tallest communications tower in the world, and nearly as high as the Petronas Towers, since it is built on a 90 meter hill. There was no line to go up the tower, but it cost 15 RM ($4.50). While more than the free price of the Petronas Towers, and one of the most expensive tourist things we did, it is not that expensive for us. It was also really worth it. On the top of the tower they have audio headsets which explain all the buildings you can see below. You can see 360 degrees, unlike on the Petronas Tower bridge. Apparently the tower is open at night for people to see the lights of the city. We didn't come back at night though.

While we were in the tower, I noticed a group of young girls staring at me and whispering. In Japan this normally means they want to talk to me and are unsure of their English. I guessed they would either come talk to me or not have the courage. Anyway, I didn't wait around. I just kept walking around the tower looking out. Eventually a group of them did come and asked to have their picture taken with me. I guess I looked very different than what they were used to. They were on a school field trip, and they were wearing their school uniform. They attended Islamic school, so they wore white dresses with a white headscarf. It was quite interesting. The boys were wearing a white uniform similar to the ones in Japan. However, none of the boys came to talk to me. The girls took about six pictures of me and Paul and then I had Paul take one of them and me. It was a great thing to show my students when I got back. One of the girls spoke English really well. She was quite friendly, and they all were very nice. Apparently, starting next year, Malaysian schools will teach science and math in English, in an effort to improve overall English useage and to have students speak a more accepted international language for math and science. Some of the girls didn't speak so well, so maybe they will need to study hard to make this adjustment. It was hard to say who was just shy and who was actually not good at English, though. The class left the tower shortly after talking to me, but it was nice to meet some people briefly.

We walked back to the Petronas Towers after we finished at the tower. Near the Petronas Towers is a rather large park, called the KLCC (Kuala Lumpur City Center). It has a shopping center nearby (connected to the towers) and a water play area in the center of the park. Nearby are many embassies. Once we entered the park, we had three more people ask to take our picture. It turns out they were university students in KL taking pictures for a class. There were other groups of students asking people if they could take their picture too. I think since we were brothers and blond-haired, they wanted to take our picture. Then we walked around the park. I remember thinking that the water park play area was quite cool. It looked like the type of thing I would've liked when I was 5. We tried to make it to the U.S. embassy, but we didn't really find it. I thought I saw it, but I wasn't sure if it actually was the embassy. We didn't need to go to the embassy. We just wanted to know where it was, just in case. Our hotel was less than a mile from the embassy, so we felt quite safe in case anything happened.

That night was Christmas Eve, and our hotel was having a buffet dinner for Christmas Eve. It was a little expensive at $13 a person, but only in terms of Malaysian prices. It would've been a great deal in America. We decided to go at the last minute and went and stuffed our faces. They had many different kinds of foods, including turkey, which was great. They also had many different desserts. A group of employees sang Christmas carols to us, and Santa Claus even came around giving out presents to the kids. It was lots of fun, and about the only Christmasy thing we did. I think we went upstairs and watched some Christmasy movies and fell asleep.