Four Ready meals and 7 free Heineken later, Kuala Lumpur.
*As I write this I am sat on Coral Bay beach writing this blog which is pure bliss, So the below may be a little depressing at first.
The first I noticed on arrival in Kuala Lumpur was not jsut the heat but the complicated airport and not to mention the hour and half imigration checks. After arriving I picked up my luggage and and headed for any sign of an exit. I'm not the biggest guy in the world so you can imagine that after a 15 and a half hour flight with one connection in Doha I wasn't looking foward to lugging about a 20kg back pack and day back on my front in the 33 degree heat. Soon as I arrive I looked for a taxi service of some sort which I found after sweating and nearly bursting into tears, at this point I just wanted a bed I was really badly jet lagged.
Having found a taxi and buying a ticket for around £12 I asked the driver to take me to Julan Sultan which in the end near enough every street is called this. I decided to repat 3 times " China town" I looked into this place before landing and decided it would be a cheap alternative, which in the end it was-ish
I was thinking on the way to china town maybe "12 was too much" maybe I should have chipped him down or something but again I was just knackered so didn't care. After I had seen how long it took the driver 12 pounds was a bargin I felt like I had ripped him off the poor b*****. If I was to guess I would say that it was about the same distance as Huddersfield was to Manchester.
The driver dropped me outside the Red Dragon Hostel. After getting out of the Taxi in China town the heat really hit me, people randomly screaming at each other and the smell of food in this heat just wasn't my cup of tea, I put it down to being tired and walked up the 20 steps to the reception. I asked for single room for two nights that came to about 45 Ringgits basically £18 so wasn't expecting much which was good because I didn't get much.
Opening the door I was greeted by a table a bed, and a window that was smaller than that of a prison... But the word bed is important here because I just need a couple of hours sleep. The bed looked shady and the pillows were a no go, so on day one of my travels the old sleeping bag came out and I put my head down.

I woke up a few hours later still tired and inspected the room I was a little alarmed by the first marks in the wall and blood but hey what can you expect for £9 a night, I'm sure Lenny Henry wouldn't stop here but I decided to dig in and stay for two nights in the madness that was China Town.
I left the room and ventured around, china town is amazing although mad, think of Malia , Zante , and Benidorm on acid but with normal people and a much better culture. Soon as they saw my pale white skin I was a target " I have DVD's my friend..." To which I replied "I don't have a DVD player though mate" It seemed to work and they left me alone I did a few circuits of the area in which I just tried to size it up. Although a city Kuala Lumpur is not as big as you think you can walk alot of it if you can be bothered but a taxi would probably be the best idea. Landing in Malaysia I thought that it would be cheap, although not breaking the bank it was no where near what I thought it would be, firstly the money being confusing as there are notes for little as 40p and secondly when you first arrive you seem to just give the largest note because you can't be assed counting all the money at first. I decided to return back to the hostel a little later on to get some more kip, I had a little beer at the nearest place to the hostel which being the centre of China town, people looked at me asif I had landed there on a spaceship. I think the main reason for this was the fact that there was a lack of backpackers or even white people in general which I didn't mind... I went up to my room put my head down to hear someones door being knocked to the call of "Matt?" this must have happened 20 times to which there was no response. Right! I started thinking about the movie the beach where Robbie Carlye kills himself in one of the rooms, great I was in that kind of a hostel. I thought to myself do I get involved in the search for matt? Nah I just turned the aircon up and went back to sleep. Everywhere I looked I would see cockroaches they were small but living inside the busted table in my room, I counted at least 20 on my killing spree. I decided more sleep then I will head out again in the night to see it all lit up like a Christmas tree.
I headed out in the dark which was weird as I had only got there in the day but again soon as I walked out the heat hit me hard, it was nice to be wearing little next to nothing but at the same time walking past satay stands one by one made the heat more intense. I decided to see what all the craic was about with street food and got some satay chicken which to my delight was amazing! I had to keep going back. As I walked along the streets with the hustle and bustle I thought about how far I actually was from home with nothing more than my back pack and money. I was always thinking about where will I stay next as I had just arrived and was wet behind the ears... But as someone once told me, "If you have money in your back pocket you'll always have a place to stay" After a few beers I started to loosen up and went to a few quiet bars, the beer was too cheap probably same price as England someone later told me this was down to the Islamic culture of the country and they put it up so people won't drink it, but they didn't know I was Irish bless. The first night was pretty quiet and I returned later that night with a huge bottle of Anchor in my hand walking up the stairs to my room, I went in and chilled out for a little bit emailing people etc I wasn't alone though a few cockroaches would come out and complain about the light so I gave in and went to bed.

The next day I woke up and decided to get a taxi into the centre I asked for food so he asked " MacDonalds" I said no "Real food" Which I later regreted. He took me these row of stalls near the centre, I walked down casually accepting the stares until I got to a small stall selling what looked like indian food and in a place that resembled an Indian slum. I pointed at random things on the buffet and he chucked it out with a lemonade. I was expecting a nice 7uo but instead I got some warm drink of some sort. I started eating the food and within a few mins my gag reflexes kicked in I payed for the food after about two bites it came to about 40p so I wasn't bothered about not finishing it. I walked slowly up to a smoothie bar and got a real breakfast. I walked towards the Petronas towers that stood over the skyline. As I walked towards it I couldn't help but think about the differences in China town and KL centre which was only 20 mins. China town was very poor looking and you could see it as you walked about, 20 mins down the line and you would think you were in New york City. I got to the centre where I put my headphones in and walked along until I got to the towers. I could only see one tower and thought that I had been conned so decided to walk inside the front door of a building that seemed cold and welcoming... As I walked in I could see two F1 cars with Patronas written on them so I thought I was in the right place. As I walked out the back of this lovely cold area I was greeted by some beautiful gardens with a lake in the middle I started to point and snap at things. As I took photos a woman came up to me and said "I love your skin, it's white" She explained that people In Malaysia see this as a sign of class the whiter you are the less you have had to work in the fields. I walked about and took a load of photos of the area and some great pictures of the towers themselves, I decided not to go up them as they were about £30 and I thought I would just go up the KL tower later that day and see the area from up there. I walked along the gardens and sat down and took in the scenes the towers where straight ahead although in my pictures they may not seem much when you are faced with them the shimmering silver structure is gorgeous.
I sat and listened to some eagles and chilled out having music was a great way to switch off because I was being asked constantly where I was from, and posing in pictures. This must be how it feels to be a celeb I think it was the pure white skin at the time of being there. I decided to head off to the KL Tower it took me a while to find but I did in the end. Walking up to the strucure was amazing the road was long but the nearer you got it seems so big, arching my next upwards was just about enough to get the whole structure in. I paid 45 ringgit and tool the elevator which weirdly took 2 seconds to get to the top it must have been fast. I walked out the observation deck and looked down on the city it was an amazing view although a little smoggy. I walked around it a few times and decided to head down to the taxi's which again cost a little much in my eyes. The locals pay about 5 ringgits which a quid, but seeing a tourist they charge you 15. Getting back to my room I hit the deck and slept. I decided that day to head out for the England game that night which would be about 3am my time so I thought Iwould sleep until about 12.

Waking up I decided to shower and get ready. I shared a communal shower which was ....... different.. The toilets had a peice of strong to flush and the cockroaches seem to enjoy living there too. The showers at least were hot and not too bad. After getting ready I went out into China town to get some food and a few drinks thinking I might take in the game at a hostel. I had my Shrimp Dumplings and a few satay sticks and headed off to the hostel that usually showed games. When I arrived they were closing, I needed somewhere quick I wanted to watch the England game quite badly I was missing football.
I flagged down the nearest taxi and haggled him down to 10 ringgits to take me to the centre, I got out at a place where I had lunch that day they had screens everywhere shwoing the France game so I thought I was in here. They decided to close also, Panic! Everywhere seemed to close at 3am which was gutting.
I flagged another taxi and gave him the instrauctions "I must see the England game, find it for me" He only charged 15 ringgits and I'm sure he drove around for about half an hour, he was very helpful. He found me a sports bar and stressed that he would wait for me until I found out if they stayed open in which they did until 5am, great lets get a beer.
I had a few beers, until I was inturupted by a cockney sparrow who said "Alwiight mateee, I wana show you a trick" He asked if I was German and if he could show me a trick I said yes as long as it didn't cost money. I was a little embarrassed when he started his trick and I finished it for him only for everyone to have a little laugh at him. I talked to another English guy who worked in the city he gave me some pointers on the place and we talked for a while, well until about 6am. I headed back in a taxi and went straight up to bed I had a long day ahead of me with travel to Lumut via coach and then somehow getting to the Island of Pangkor via a ferry, as you know I'm there now as I am writing it on pristine sands .
Next blog entry is Pangkor...

Neil