Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan, Malaysia
December 03, 2013
My last day in Hong Kong was a very quiet one. Possibly alcohol induced as I sampled a little more of the Korean Soju that is so cheap to get hold of in an expensive city like Hong Kong but the main reason was to keep the spending down as once you have seen the main sights around here you are left with either shopping or drinking. I went for another wander round the electronic markets still in desperate search for a charger for my clippers as I’m starting to look a bit like Santa lately but still to no avail. So I bought a new cheap pair in some random hairdressers type shop for a fiver which will do the job. The rest of the day was spent eating cheaply and checking a few things out on the internet ahead of Malaysia and Langkawi.
The following day I was up nice and early and packed up ready for my flight out of Hong Kong. It didn’t fly out until the night so once my bags were in storage I took a wander out to see what the shops looked like for Christmas round here. They do a fair job, it’s a bit like Fenwick’s window but in every shopping mall you go into. I guess if you had some serious money Hong Kong would be a pretty cool place to fly in to do your Christmas shopping. This year however everyone will be getting a selection box via mail order from me so I didn’t spend anything!
The flight I booked had a stupidly long stop over in Manila even though the direct flights only take a few hours mine would take me 14 hours in total to get to Kuala Lumpur. Once at Manila I was lead to the transfer room which has to be dingiest smallest transfer room I have ever seen. Seats for maybe 50 people, all covered in coffee and god knows what other stains and no access to anything other than the toilet and a water tower. I tried to get my head down for a while but it’s hard to get comfy when guards keep popping there head in and the place is steaming hot and sweaty. Eventually I was allowed up to the rest of the terminal where at least I had somewhere to charge my laptop and grab a coffee to keep me entertained for another few hours before my connection to KL was ready to depart. The flight itself was easy-going and before I knew it we were touching down in Malaysia.
The center of KL is easy to get to. Just 30 mins on the high-speed airport train and your bang in the middle of it all at central station. A couple of stops on the monorail got me to walking distance from my hostel and I dropped my bags off before grabbing some pretty tasty dry chilli pork from a small place round the corner. I headed out to do a bit of shopping after that as the trainers I had bought for a few quid in Beijing were now starting to walk around of their own accord so I needed to freshen up a bit. I checked up on where the best malls were and sampled some retail therapy Malaysian style….and they love it here! It reminds me a lot of Bangkok, shopping mall after shopping mall of cheap knock off gear, mobile phones, electronics etc. I spent far too long wandering around in search of that elusive bargain and perfect pair of trainers and eventually settled on a pair in the second stall I had visited. Should have just bought them when I first saw them. I grabbed a new fresh t-shirt for a couple of quid and then actually got myself a haircut as I was getting a bit raggy and wispy now that I have been left home a couple of months. The girls English was pretty decent but standard hair styling rules still applied and I came away with something that looked nothing like I wanted. I look like a poor effort as an aging boy scout now!
Once back I caught up with Gary from the states who had just arrived then I took a wander up to the market and China town for a bit more food before settling in for the night with a couple of cheap cans from the local alcoholics emporium.
