Kuala Lumpur

[Friday Oct 12th]
We decided to hit the road and driver to Kuala Lumpur (KL). Its a good 4 hours drive to the Capital. Along the way we stopped at a few Rest Areas, these things are massive! They have restaurants, gas stations, bathrooms, shops, fruits stands, prayer areas, the whole nine yards!

Before long we made it to the outskirts of the City. Getting there was easy, getting anywhere in particular in the city... not so easy... There were a complex set of turns and exits to make. We didn't make them ;) Signage, heh, yeah right... We pulled off into a gas station parking lot and believe it or not we were able to find ourselves on the map. Luckily the map we had showed some key landmarks such as McDonalds and Gas Stations ;) We figured out where we were, where the towers were and basically zig-zagged our way downtown.

Traffic was real good until we got close, then, a whole new ball game. Imagine cars, bicycles, motor bikes, pedestrians, buses all forcing themselves down the street, less than inches from each other. All cramming and vying for position. After too many close calls, we made it through.

Some how, not sure how, we made it to the KL Tower. It was huge! One of the tallest in the world. We rode up to the top. Great views of the city. We could see it all, the KL Towers, all the landmarks, everything. Hard to believe nothing was here 150 years ago!

After going through our audio tour and taking in the sights, we headed back down. From there we drove a few blocks down the way and found some parking, surprisingly easy actually. We were just one block away from the KL Towers. The tallest Twin Towers on the planet (not the large disclaimer...). They are quite nice, they look like they are out of a 1930's futuristic movie. At night they are even better. No wonder the famous scene from Entrapment was filmed here! At the base of them is a mall (KLCC), a nice park, fairly large fountains too. The fountain was a real fountain too, not the spray nozzle in Singapore. These jets were great, they send a controlled burst of water up, it'd all coalesce together in mid-air, and fall back.

Unfortunately due to the Holday (Hari Raya), the 'bridge' tour of the KL towers was closed. Oh well. We went shopping at the KLCC instead. It was a pretty good an sizable mall. Two notable things occurred. First we bought a significant personal item, more on that later I'm sure, second we witnessed a theft. A little back story, we were approached a couple of times while we were outside enjoying our Starbucks whether we wanted to purchase a Rolex, "Hey Boss, Rolex?". We didn't bite. Later while shopping, we saw a guy run out of a Rolex store and bolt. A clerk went running after him. Everyone was pointing as he fled the scene. Jumping a head a little bit, the next day when we were listening to the radio, we heard a news story about the event. A guy stole a Rolex worth 26000RM, was chased by security, and shot a security officer! How crazy is that?

After we were done shopping, making our purchase, and viewing the sights we decided to start heading back to Penang. It was already dark and decided there was nothing else we really wanted to see in KL the next day anyway. Here marks the start of our long venture back.

We decided that we wanted to go to the Cameron Highlands the next day so we were hoping to find a Hotel on the way back. Not an easy thing to do apparently. It was raining, and dark. We stopped and got gas at a rest area. The gas attendant said there were a bunch of hotels at the next town. We took the exit. As we drove threw town and saw the hotels downtown, we both said No, not happening... They looked quite run down and, erm, grimy. We kept driving. Surely we'd find a hotel out of town somewhere. Soon it was raining harder, the road was narrower, the windows fogged up. We didn't have a defroster in the car. Down came the windows in the rain to help defog the windshield. Not much luck. Lots of houses that sorta look like motels along the road. No sign or placards. We kept driving and driving. More off the beaten path every minute. What should we do?

We need to get some sleep, its almost midnight. The bathroom is urgently needed. Ugh, middle of nowhere Malaysia. Just when it seemed like nothing was coming up, a small sign for a 'Grand' hotel appears. We take the turn. Seems like a false hope. Then wham, there it is. It looks very posh. This place has to be a few hundred US a night. I go and check availability. Whew, a room was available tonight, all booked the next night. I get the room. A mere 165RM a night (~$48US). The room was quite amazing, especially given the price. Ahh, time to get some Zzzzs.