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So, I am now in Kuala Lumpur (KL) and it is very different from Singapore in as much as the government does not seem to make a priority of keeping the environment spotless and certainly there is more evidence of poverty and the issues that go along with it!
However, there are touristy and high class areas, and on the first afternoon I used the KL transit system to get around and eventually found myself at the Petronas towers(in picture) these are quite impressive and are the centre for the commercial district and business end of KL. There is a huge, 7 floor mall in between the towers and lots of designer shops. I also had a walk around the KL city park, lots of maintenance people and security/police were around and I suspect this was due to the high proportion of tourists in the area. My first night was spent in a very basic hostel in what used to be the red light district, it was clean although I was a bit dubious about using the communal showers outside !! But, needed a shower as soooo hot here!
Met with Jade, my contact for the volunteer programme the next morning (have to confess I found a Starbucks and had breakfast there as a last luxury before moving on!) she was great and filled me on some of the back ground to the home (Ti Ratana) and also gave me an insight into the political and economic issues currently in Malaysia, its quite oppresive and there is a law against more than 6 people gathering in a public place.
Anyway, I am now based in an area called Desa Petaling, very down town KL. All the streets are unmaintained, lots of rubbish around, stray cats in their hundreds and some very unloved shops and restaurants. However, so far the people have been lovely and very generous, I have eaten at two Malay cafes and the food is tasty and hot!
For a foreign visitor it is very cheap to live here, taxis are cheap, food is even cheaper and taking RM10 (about 2.00 GBP) to visit a local grocery store will buy you more than you can get your head around!!
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