Now I know you are probably thinking I am referring to the beginning of our year long sojurn, but in fact what I am so pleased about is that I've confused the computer, or more to the point it is WRONG!
It tells me it's 9.05am, which indeed it probably is in New Zealand this morning with daylight savings having finished last night, but here it is 5.05am! Now when I connected to the wireless here at The Red Palm in KL the google page was in Malaysian, and it asked for the malaysian equivalent of "password" so it knew where was and when I logged on to blogspot who I was, so come on all you geeks why hasn't it managed to update the time to Malaysian time?
Anyway enough of that.
We are all lying in our respective beds at the Red Palm Hostel, which from the outside is dubious indeed, and after a long flight and a short walk in the steaming KL heat on our arrival caused much trepidation. However once inside it is quite the opposite. Not an upmarket hotel, but a very friendly, comfortable, quiet environment, right in the middle of a bustling real KL. We have our own room, with airconditioning at night, fan all day, window, lights, all the power sockets a girl could need, (yes Tim, the six plug power board was a good idea, wasn't it- though I was scoffed at) and thankfully KL uses the same plug types as the UK (we've got a UK adapter), a good old hangover from its colonial past I imagine. We have breakfast provided, tea and coffee as often as we want, free wireless, dvds to borrow, books to read and very friendly and helpful hosts.
Yesterday was quite busy, the flight was longer than we thought (the Christchurch phone book says that KL is 3 hours behind NZ but when NZ was on daylight savings it is actually 5), and hence the flight was 11 hours rather than 9. Air Asia was fine, no more cramped or less friendly than any other airline we've flown with. It was the inaugural flight for them from NZ which makes it a bit special, we were "part of history" possibly my only experience of that. Of course I got the usual "restless leg" thing half way through the flight, and that "I really need to put my feet up" experience as the blood clots loitered mid calf, but I got through it and actually managed a few hours of disturbed sleep.
When we arrived it looked as though it was raining but it was just the steam rising from the earth and virtual 100% humidity. It is the monsoon season at the moment, and though we didn't have rain yesterday it felt as though it could have bucketed down. It is incredibly sticky, we are drinking like fish and still my pee is bright yellow, the hostess here advised us to drink lots of electrolyte/osmolytic drinks to avoid cramp, so we are taking that advice. The bottled water seems to have electrolytes in it? the nutritional information implies it has more than just artesian water in there.
We arrived at our hostel after a long but interesting bus ride in from the airport, we were going to walk from the bus stop to our accommodation but our packs were too heavy with back packs as well in the heat and our tired states, so we caught a taxi for 5 MR (about $2 NZ) not a silly idea at all. We couldn't check in until 2pm and I think we arrived at sometime after 10, so we left our luggage and went exploring. Hilary is struggling with the heat and tiredness so not very impressed by the thought of doing walking tours to see the city, but managing well nevertheless. We have a book which suggests some itineraries so we melded bits from a couple of them and got back here about five. We caught up with itinerary 1 down near the Central Markets which are a bit touristy but interesting nevertheless, with many shops/alcoves selling wares from different parts of Malaysia. We stopped at a fruit stall and had a lively discussion with the vendor about his different products, we sampled and bought mangosteem? which are a delicious I define cross between a lychee and a loquat with a bit of passionfruit tossed in, we bought 1/2 a kilo for 6 ringgit and scoffed those as we walked. I asked the guy how to spell the various fruit but he had no idea, in hindsight he probably didn't have the advantage of a middle class NZ education. We wandered through the markets taking photos, chatting to sellers, avoiding eye contact with others, and purchasing only a little. Hilary got a new blue cotton sundress which she wanted to wear straight away and would still have on if allowed. I bought some essential "three monkeys" see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil. We wandered absorbing sounds and smells (some not wanting to be absorbed I can tell you) admiring architecture and the contrasts between modern and historical, well maintained and crumbling. Some beautiful structures golden glass high rises juxtaposed with ancient Asian style buildings. Nice green spaces too with beautiful tropical flowers/foliage and interesting crested birds. We stopped at the Textile Museum - very interesting and air conditioned. Informative displays and videos about processes and products. Next we went to the butterfly park, or more correctly Hilary and Di did while I waited outside, I didn't think it was necessary for me to spend 18RM when I have seen butterfly displays/ aviaries before. So I sat outside chatting to a very inquisitive taxi driver who was trying to drum up business at every opportunity. We walked back down the hills past the bird park and spotted little monkeys sitting in the trees, (some with babies attached) and a bit further a 60cm monitor lizard running into the bushes. we caught a taxi back from outside the park and then walked out a bit later for dinner, Hils had chicken kebabs from just around the corner and Di and I intended having something from China town but on getting there were not inspired. The markets at Chinatown were heaving with hot bodies and desperate people all selling the same fake crap with varying degrees of insistence. We weren't tempted at all, just wanted to get out from the hustle and noise. Interesting sights were the fresh fruit stalls, flower stalls, and roasting hot chestnuts. All else a bit much for three hot and now exhausted travellers.
Back here by taxi, dishonest rip off merchant, our first of the trip.
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