123) Kuala Lumper
It took us a little while to find out where we were expected to go but when we saw some of the people who had been on the same flight as us we followed them and found ourselves in a queue of people all getting very irate with a couple of Air Malaysia employees. They were trying to explain to us that our plane had gone and that the next flight would not be until the day after next. Everyone seemed to have a very important reason why they should be given special attention and go to Sydney as soon as possible. One had a very important business appointment another was supposed to be the best man at his brother’s wedding the next day and another had a very sick relative. It was vital that they got to Sydney that day and they were making the poor women’s lives very difficult. We were keen to go on to Sydney but it was not that important that we got there that day, except that Jonathan and Sian were expecting us and would be waiting for us at the airport. We talked to the attendant and told her that all we needed was to contact our family and then once we had our luggage we would go quietly to our hotel and leave her in peace. She assured us that she would telephone Jonathan for us and informed us that our luggage was already on its way to Sydney and would be there ahead of us. So although we had our toothbrushes, we did not have a change of clothes but there was not much we could do about it. We had organised to inform Jonathan and Sian so we thought we had better just make the best of it and enjoy our stay in Kuala Lumper. We were directed to the train that took us from the international terminal to the domestic terminal and from there we were able to catch a bus that delivered us to our hotel where we had lunch and caught up on some of the sleep we had missed during the flight.
When we woke I thought I would like to take a walk into downtown Kuala Lumper and although Jonny thought it would be too far away for us to walk he agreed to come with me. I had found a map in a magazine in our room and thought it was only a short walk. We left the hotel crossed the road and found a few shops but they were obviously not part of the city. As it was getting rather late in the afternoon Jonny thought that we should wait until the morning and then take a bus into the city. I agreed that this was probably a good idea so we walked back to the hotel and made inquires about getting into the city. We were told that we could get a taxi but that that would be quite expensive. The best way was to get the airline bus back to the airport and catch a city bus from there, so we decided to do that first thing in the morning.
We told the bus driver we wanted to go to the city and he said that he did not go right into the city but that he would be stopping at the railway station where we could get a train to take us right to the heart of Kuala Lumper. We travelled for about half an hour and I realised that my idea of taking a little walk into the city the previous evening was an impossibility. At the station we bought tickets and were directed to the correct platform. I thought that as we had already travelled so far this train trip would just be a few minutes but it was even longer than the bus trip. We were on the train for about an hour. Long enough to make friends with all the people in our compartment. There were a few people who could speak a little English and so we could make ourselves understood. They were all friendly and wanted to know all about us and where we came from and what we thought of their country. There was one young man, a student at the university who’s English was better than all the others and he told us what we should try and see when we got to Kuala Lumper and pointed out the things of interest as we were passing. We saw the Twin Towers out of the window, but they were not complete at the time.
Kuala Lumper was like any other big city, noisy and busy. But there were some things that we found strange. The jewellery shops opened on to the street and with the display counters filled with gold. They would have been rather a security risk except for the armed guards that were on duty. Every shop seemed to have two guards each with a machine gun at the ready. I don’t think I would try shoplifting there. I found the gold very unusual; it had a very deep colour. I had seen the women on the train with gold necklaces and though that they must be some sort of alloy as they were much coppery in colour than the gold I was used to. But it was obviously gold; one would hardly employ two men with machine guns to guard cheap jewellery. I wonder what made it so different in colour?
The average height of the Indonesian people must be less than European people, as I felt quite tall there at 4 foot eleven. But also the women are much slimmer. We went into one of the large department stores just for a look around and I wandered into the ladies clothes section. The dresses were marked “Small, Medium, Large, X large and XX large, and I could not have fitted into the XX large and as at the time I was wearing a size 12 I found that rather strange. I wondered what the really fat ladies did but I looked around and realised that there were no fat ladies. They were mostly short, petite and had lovely shiny black hair, hardly a grey head in sight. So I don’t know if they don’t go grey as early as their European counterparts or if they use more hair dye.
We had a very interesting day and when we got back to the station to catch our train we were again shown great friendliness. We asked a young man which platform our train would leave from and he told us which one and said that he would be catching the same train so just to follow him. As we waited for the train to arrive he told us that he was a doctor from Pakistan and had only lived there for a few years. His English was very good and he told us a lot about the country and explained that as he was getting off three stations before our stop, just to see when he got off and we would not get lost. When we got on to the train we lost sight of him in the crowd but as we knew the name of our station we were not too concerned. When the young man’s destination was close he came and looked for us to make sure that we would see where he got off and be able to find our way.
The following morning we went to the airport early so that we could look around a little before boarding our flight. There was a wonderful play area for the children. It was the shell of a plane, with ladders and slides and all sorts of things for the little ones to play with. We also saw the largest video arcade that I had ever seen, we found that fascinating. There were beautiful shops, full of really high-class goods. We saw some of the flight attendants that had been on the flight from South Africa two days before and we were amazed that they recognised us and gave us friendly greetings. But I suppose it was the clothes they recognised as we were still in the same things we had been wearing when they last saw us. We had been able to wash our underwear in the hotel room basin but I think our clothes were becoming well known in Kuala Lumper.
When we woke I thought I would like to take a walk into downtown Kuala Lumper and although Jonny thought it would be too far away for us to walk he agreed to come with me. I had found a map in a magazine in our room and thought it was only a short walk. We left the hotel crossed the road and found a few shops but they were obviously not part of the city. As it was getting rather late in the afternoon Jonny thought that we should wait until the morning and then take a bus into the city. I agreed that this was probably a good idea so we walked back to the hotel and made inquires about getting into the city. We were told that we could get a taxi but that that would be quite expensive. The best way was to get the airline bus back to the airport and catch a city bus from there, so we decided to do that first thing in the morning.
We told the bus driver we wanted to go to the city and he said that he did not go right into the city but that he would be stopping at the railway station where we could get a train to take us right to the heart of Kuala Lumper. We travelled for about half an hour and I realised that my idea of taking a little walk into the city the previous evening was an impossibility. At the station we bought tickets and were directed to the correct platform. I thought that as we had already travelled so far this train trip would just be a few minutes but it was even longer than the bus trip. We were on the train for about an hour. Long enough to make friends with all the people in our compartment. There were a few people who could speak a little English and so we could make ourselves understood. They were all friendly and wanted to know all about us and where we came from and what we thought of their country. There was one young man, a student at the university who’s English was better than all the others and he told us what we should try and see when we got to Kuala Lumper and pointed out the things of interest as we were passing. We saw the Twin Towers out of the window, but they were not complete at the time.
Kuala Lumper was like any other big city, noisy and busy. But there were some things that we found strange. The jewellery shops opened on to the street and with the display counters filled with gold. They would have been rather a security risk except for the armed guards that were on duty. Every shop seemed to have two guards each with a machine gun at the ready. I don’t think I would try shoplifting there. I found the gold very unusual; it had a very deep colour. I had seen the women on the train with gold necklaces and though that they must be some sort of alloy as they were much coppery in colour than the gold I was used to. But it was obviously gold; one would hardly employ two men with machine guns to guard cheap jewellery. I wonder what made it so different in colour?
The average height of the Indonesian people must be less than European people, as I felt quite tall there at 4 foot eleven. But also the women are much slimmer. We went into one of the large department stores just for a look around and I wandered into the ladies clothes section. The dresses were marked “Small, Medium, Large, X large and XX large, and I could not have fitted into the XX large and as at the time I was wearing a size 12 I found that rather strange. I wondered what the really fat ladies did but I looked around and realised that there were no fat ladies. They were mostly short, petite and had lovely shiny black hair, hardly a grey head in sight. So I don’t know if they don’t go grey as early as their European counterparts or if they use more hair dye.
We had a very interesting day and when we got back to the station to catch our train we were again shown great friendliness. We asked a young man which platform our train would leave from and he told us which one and said that he would be catching the same train so just to follow him. As we waited for the train to arrive he told us that he was a doctor from Pakistan and had only lived there for a few years. His English was very good and he told us a lot about the country and explained that as he was getting off three stations before our stop, just to see when he got off and we would not get lost. When we got on to the train we lost sight of him in the crowd but as we knew the name of our station we were not too concerned. When the young man’s destination was close he came and looked for us to make sure that we would see where he got off and be able to find our way.
The following morning we went to the airport early so that we could look around a little before boarding our flight. There was a wonderful play area for the children. It was the shell of a plane, with ladders and slides and all sorts of things for the little ones to play with. We also saw the largest video arcade that I had ever seen, we found that fascinating. There were beautiful shops, full of really high-class goods. We saw some of the flight attendants that had been on the flight from South Africa two days before and we were amazed that they recognised us and gave us friendly greetings. But I suppose it was the clothes they recognised as we were still in the same things we had been wearing when they last saw us. We had been able to wash our underwear in the hotel room basin but I think our clothes were becoming well known in Kuala Lumper.
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