Tuesday, September 16, 2003
Okay then!
my first post from foreign shores...
in the last post England had just beaten South Africa in the Cricket - this time Leicester have smashed Leeds 4-0
If this continues its gonna be a good year for British sport...
Anyway - I digress (impressive since I hadnt even started - but get used to it I think the heat is getting to me..)
First of all a bit of background
You will see a few links on the left of this screen
Most of them are frivolous - sites I like and put in purely because I was tinkering with the code and wanted to see how it worked.
However the bottom one is relevant because it links to Global Freeloaders.com
This is a very nifty little site where you can link with other people around the world who have offered up accomodation in their house for free - you have to offer some accomodation yourself in return but it offers a great chance for people to travel cheaply and also get a contact in the place where they are travelling to.
I hope you can see where this is going otherwise go and make a cup of tea, lie down, watch some TV and come back when you are thinking more clearly.
SO
I registered on this site and set about looking for a contact in KL
I sent a few requests out to people who looked interesting and got a reply from a guy called Ronnie who I have been staying with for the past few days.
Its been great because I have been taken to all sorts of off the beaten track places and have stayed in relative luxury
In fact today is the first day I have been completely left to my own devices (this travelling lark - piece of piss)
So thats a bit of background into where I have been staying - ill be providing more detail later
I want to now wrap around to when I left and how i got here
Be warned I have been pretty busy and I fear this could be a very long post
(you may want to get that cup of tea)
So Wednesday I stayed at Murrays until it was time to go to Heathrow. He very kindly came to the airport to see me off (nice one Muzza) and before I knew it I was on the plane (having completely missed the England v Liechtenstein match - but it looks like that was a blessing...)
The flight was helped by the fact that although I was in a middle seat there was no one in the seat in front of me or the seat behind me or the seat to my left. Which meant I could lean back without worrying, did not have someone leaning back into me and I could put all the assorted crap they give you on the seat next to me - superb.
So after watching Anger Management and having some food i tried to get some sort of sleep.
It wasnt helped by the fat man sat next to the window who insisted on having the shutter up thereby meaning our row (and most of the rest of the cabin) was lit up as if by a floodlight - I only realised how bright this was when he eventually shut it and suddenly the plane was plunged into darkness
We had a bit of turbulence but this coincided with the start of X Men 2 and seemed like a special effect so that wasnt all bad.
Anyway enough about the flight - 12 hours webt fairly quickly. I arrived with little incident and caught the KLIA Express to KL Sentral station (as Ronnie had suggested I do)
He met me outside Starbucks and we got in his nicely air conditioned car to set off into the Krazy KL traffic
I thought London was busy (and i guess it is) but the drivers in KL are maniacs - ive been driven around a lot in the last few days and I can confirm that Ronnie is no exception.
They dont have a lot of patience and all rush into the nearest gap and cut across lanes with barely a second look. The traffic is terribly congested but at the same time almost always seems to be moving - the one way systems (with built in U-turn spots to change lanes) are baffling and it always seems to be a circular trip regardless where you are going
Ronnie has lived in KL all his life and knows the short cuts and different routes that can be taken depending on traffic which seems to help but it means that i rarely have any idea where we are going.
In the last few days I have seen KL and its skyline from all sides of the city by car - which i certainly would not have done if I didnt have him as a contact.
Another interesting point about the roads (while im on the subject) is the way they are constructed - most of the new roads are built by private companies (to an overall plan) which they control and manage for a certain amount of time. During this time they charge tolls to use the roads until they have made back the construction costs (and presumably made a profit) The road is then handed back into government control and the Toll is stopped. One toll near Ronnie's Mums house closed at 12.00 midnight sunday to great celebrations - apparently this is usually seen as an excuse for a party but can cause congestion as everyone wants to be the first through the tolls when they are free...
Roads eh?
So anyway after a short traffic filled tour of KL we went to the tourist office to pick up some maps and brochures. The other thing I noticed was the amount of Malaysian flags that were strung up on almost every building - on some covering virtually every square inch. I would have assumed i had entered an extremely nationalistic and patriotic country (and I would have been scared) but Ronnie explained that this was simply because they had just had their independence day celebrations (which go on for several weeks)
He also explained that because of a burst water main his flat was out of action as it had no water so we would be staying at his Aunt and Uncles house
They live in a suburb of KL called Petaling Jaya (or PJ) in a rather nice house which was originally owned by a well to do relative which I think is where the signed photo of the Queen and Prince Philip comes from(im a little sketchy on the details but I know they didnt buy it in covent garden...)
His Uncle is retired ("I dont work, I golf") but he used to work in KL zoo - they have a large Iguana in the back yard.. He has also been to England quite a lot - friends in Liverpool apparently although i didnt spot any missing tyres
Ronnie's Aunt works on the booking line for the KL Tower Restaurant - something which has come in very handy but ill come to that later.
So anyway, knackered and not really entirely sure what was going on I was given a dinner of fish filled with chilli, rice, chicken and chilli sauce and various other bits and bobs I was told was basic but which seemed pretty good to me
Then I went to bed.
OH MY GOD
this is hard work
And I havent even done anything yet
I think i will leave it there for now and hopefully update a bit more tomorrow
my first post from foreign shores...
in the last post England had just beaten South Africa in the Cricket - this time Leicester have smashed Leeds 4-0
If this continues its gonna be a good year for British sport...
Anyway - I digress (impressive since I hadnt even started - but get used to it I think the heat is getting to me..)
First of all a bit of background
You will see a few links on the left of this screen
Most of them are frivolous - sites I like and put in purely because I was tinkering with the code and wanted to see how it worked.
However the bottom one is relevant because it links to Global Freeloaders.com
This is a very nifty little site where you can link with other people around the world who have offered up accomodation in their house for free - you have to offer some accomodation yourself in return but it offers a great chance for people to travel cheaply and also get a contact in the place where they are travelling to.
I hope you can see where this is going otherwise go and make a cup of tea, lie down, watch some TV and come back when you are thinking more clearly.
SO
I registered on this site and set about looking for a contact in KL
I sent a few requests out to people who looked interesting and got a reply from a guy called Ronnie who I have been staying with for the past few days.
Its been great because I have been taken to all sorts of off the beaten track places and have stayed in relative luxury
In fact today is the first day I have been completely left to my own devices (this travelling lark - piece of piss)
So thats a bit of background into where I have been staying - ill be providing more detail later
I want to now wrap around to when I left and how i got here
Be warned I have been pretty busy and I fear this could be a very long post
(you may want to get that cup of tea)
So Wednesday I stayed at Murrays until it was time to go to Heathrow. He very kindly came to the airport to see me off (nice one Muzza) and before I knew it I was on the plane (having completely missed the England v Liechtenstein match - but it looks like that was a blessing...)
The flight was helped by the fact that although I was in a middle seat there was no one in the seat in front of me or the seat behind me or the seat to my left. Which meant I could lean back without worrying, did not have someone leaning back into me and I could put all the assorted crap they give you on the seat next to me - superb.
So after watching Anger Management and having some food i tried to get some sort of sleep.
It wasnt helped by the fat man sat next to the window who insisted on having the shutter up thereby meaning our row (and most of the rest of the cabin) was lit up as if by a floodlight - I only realised how bright this was when he eventually shut it and suddenly the plane was plunged into darkness
We had a bit of turbulence but this coincided with the start of X Men 2 and seemed like a special effect so that wasnt all bad.
Anyway enough about the flight - 12 hours webt fairly quickly. I arrived with little incident and caught the KLIA Express to KL Sentral station (as Ronnie had suggested I do)
He met me outside Starbucks and we got in his nicely air conditioned car to set off into the Krazy KL traffic
I thought London was busy (and i guess it is) but the drivers in KL are maniacs - ive been driven around a lot in the last few days and I can confirm that Ronnie is no exception.
They dont have a lot of patience and all rush into the nearest gap and cut across lanes with barely a second look. The traffic is terribly congested but at the same time almost always seems to be moving - the one way systems (with built in U-turn spots to change lanes) are baffling and it always seems to be a circular trip regardless where you are going
Ronnie has lived in KL all his life and knows the short cuts and different routes that can be taken depending on traffic which seems to help but it means that i rarely have any idea where we are going.
In the last few days I have seen KL and its skyline from all sides of the city by car - which i certainly would not have done if I didnt have him as a contact.
Another interesting point about the roads (while im on the subject) is the way they are constructed - most of the new roads are built by private companies (to an overall plan) which they control and manage for a certain amount of time. During this time they charge tolls to use the roads until they have made back the construction costs (and presumably made a profit) The road is then handed back into government control and the Toll is stopped. One toll near Ronnie's Mums house closed at 12.00 midnight sunday to great celebrations - apparently this is usually seen as an excuse for a party but can cause congestion as everyone wants to be the first through the tolls when they are free...
Roads eh?
So anyway after a short traffic filled tour of KL we went to the tourist office to pick up some maps and brochures. The other thing I noticed was the amount of Malaysian flags that were strung up on almost every building - on some covering virtually every square inch. I would have assumed i had entered an extremely nationalistic and patriotic country (and I would have been scared) but Ronnie explained that this was simply because they had just had their independence day celebrations (which go on for several weeks)
He also explained that because of a burst water main his flat was out of action as it had no water so we would be staying at his Aunt and Uncles house
They live in a suburb of KL called Petaling Jaya (or PJ) in a rather nice house which was originally owned by a well to do relative which I think is where the signed photo of the Queen and Prince Philip comes from(im a little sketchy on the details but I know they didnt buy it in covent garden...)
His Uncle is retired ("I dont work, I golf") but he used to work in KL zoo - they have a large Iguana in the back yard.. He has also been to England quite a lot - friends in Liverpool apparently although i didnt spot any missing tyres
Ronnie's Aunt works on the booking line for the KL Tower Restaurant - something which has come in very handy but ill come to that later.
So anyway, knackered and not really entirely sure what was going on I was given a dinner of fish filled with chilli, rice, chicken and chilli sauce and various other bits and bobs I was told was basic but which seemed pretty good to me
Then I went to bed.
OH MY GOD
this is hard work
And I havent even done anything yet
I think i will leave it there for now and hopefully update a bit more tomorrow
