I'm in the homestretch! Two more days and I'll be in Singapore. It's a little sad that the bike trip is coming to an end but I'm really excited to see Ginny and fortunately we still have about a month left on our holiday.
KL was one of the bigger cities of the trip and I was looking forward to exploring it so I took a couple rest days there. I had been in touch with a future colleague (Fred Young) and he generously offered to host me for two nights at his hotel. It was great connecting with Fred who has been in SE Asia for the past couple months drumming up some business. Keep up the great work, Fred, and hopefully we get a chance to work together in the near future.
With respect to exploring KL, I found it extremely difficult to get around either on foot or on my bike (the monorail was pretty sweet though). On numerous occasions I had to run across a 6 lane arterial because no pedestrian crossings existed. Other times "you can't get there from here" applied as there was a motorway, construction zone or other massive concrete structure blocking the way. Fred mentioned that KL was formed as a tin mining town and that mining culture of ''just build it" has carried through to modern day KL. I think it's the worst city I've ever been in for peds/bikes but hopefully the city hires Alta and we can help them create a more active, healthier community. On the positive side, I was really impressed with the street food in KL which was probably some of the best of the trip. They also are home to three of the world's ten largest malls in case you were wondering.
So what else has been interesting the past few days? It's been Ramadan since I've gotten to Malaysia so many stores and restaurants have been closed. Muslims fast during the day and then these incredible Ramadan Bazaars pop up in the late afternoon which are a great place to get some delicious street food.
A few other interesting things that I have noticed in Malaysia:
KL was one of the bigger cities of the trip and I was looking forward to exploring it so I took a couple rest days there. I had been in touch with a future colleague (Fred Young) and he generously offered to host me for two nights at his hotel. It was great connecting with Fred who has been in SE Asia for the past couple months drumming up some business. Keep up the great work, Fred, and hopefully we get a chance to work together in the near future.
With respect to exploring KL, I found it extremely difficult to get around either on foot or on my bike (the monorail was pretty sweet though). On numerous occasions I had to run across a 6 lane arterial because no pedestrian crossings existed. Other times "you can't get there from here" applied as there was a motorway, construction zone or other massive concrete structure blocking the way. Fred mentioned that KL was formed as a tin mining town and that mining culture of ''just build it" has carried through to modern day KL. I think it's the worst city I've ever been in for peds/bikes but hopefully the city hires Alta and we can help them create a more active, healthier community. On the positive side, I was really impressed with the street food in KL which was probably some of the best of the trip. They also are home to three of the world's ten largest malls in case you were wondering.
So what else has been interesting the past few days? It's been Ramadan since I've gotten to Malaysia so many stores and restaurants have been closed. Muslims fast during the day and then these incredible Ramadan Bazaars pop up in the late afternoon which are a great place to get some delicious street food.
A few other interesting things that I have noticed in Malaysia:
- No more GST - as of June 1, the country has done away with the 6%GST they used to charge. There's a new government in power and I think it's part of their plan to bring more transparency and reduce corruption. Shopping holiday in Malaysia, anyone?
- Where did all the hammocks go? There were hammocks all over the show as we rode through Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Thailand. I don't think I have seen one single hammock in Malaysia though. They do have these free standing metal swings that I have seen in many yards but wouldn't you rather have a hammock?
- Leave your weed behind - they have a no tolerance policy on drugs here. An Australian woman was just sentenced to death for drug smuggling last week. I met someone last night who was going to a benefit concert to raise money to bail someone out of jail who had been busted for having a small amount of marijuana.
In the category of "weird things you probably didn't know about most SE Asian countries":
- Most hotels don't provide a top sheet. It's a bottom sheet and a blanket. Odd, huh? It's kinda like eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich without the jelly - just plain wrong!
- It's hit or miss as to whether you'll get TP in the bathroom but it's almost guaranteed that there will be a "butt gun" (see photo below). Don't ask me how to use it though.
- Flyover U Turns - to enable people to reverse their direction on a divided highway, they build these massive flyover structures that only allow you to u turn. I suppose it's cheaper than putting full diamond interchanges in but it's not that convenient for the drivers.
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