KL is a very interesting mixture of people, attitudes, food, prices, and technologies.
For example, they have an awesome subway system, but the automatic ticket machines are pretty scarce and there are separate ticket booth for each line. Some interchanges are completely disjointed, meaning you have to walk outside, cross the street and go back into the subway. On the other hand, the people could teach the Japanese many lessons in subway manners. When the train starts to become crowded the people will just stop entering the train and wait for the next one, where as in Japan, they will rush the train until it’s absolutely packed – to the point of having special subway attendants who push the last few passengers into the train to get them closed. And here another paradox. The Japanese people, regardless of the rush, will queue up and enter the train in orderly manner. The Malay will queue up, but when the doors open they all rush in.
They have a very interesting adaptation of US system of discounts, specials, promotions, and the like. While bargaining in most stores is the norm, it typically goes like this: “how much is this?” - “299 before discount” – “how much after the discount?” – “159 sir” - “can you do better?” - “140”
That’s typically the end, unless you buy a couple of items at the same time, in which case you can get another few RM off. So basically, people dont bargain, they just double the price and then call it a discount (…most of the time).
They have few pigeons and sparrows, instead they have colossal butterflies (that’s a small one)… who likely feed on pigeons & sparrows.
Interesting combo: 7-series bmw with a tiny engine.
Museum of natural history was converted into a restaurant… so we went to the only place open to visitors – museum of textiles.
…gotta love the tropics, a few minutes into fascinating visit it started to drizzle, and moments later it became an all out storm, with thunder and lightning exploding across the skies every few moments. In just a few minutes the water level on the street was about an inch. In under an hour it stopped and we continued with our journey. The museum people were nice enough to let us wait out the storm indoors.
Malaysia is predominantly muslim, and there are mosques and little praying rooms everywhere. EVERYWHERE… in the subway stations, in the malls, in the movie theaters, in the restaurants, in the airplane… neat stuff.
The day ended with a visit to a stake house. I took a picture of the menu to water you appetite. The exchange rate is roughly 3-1, meaning filet mignon is around $10 ^^
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