Kuala Lumpur in Two Days

Ann Marie and I at Lake Gardens

My first time at Stonehenge! (Just kidding, it's a replica. In the middle of Kuala Lumpur. Random?)

Ann Marie and I in front of the Petronas Towers

A night market

Petronas towers at night

Today is my third day in Kuala Lumpur and we've already packed in a lot of city sight seeing. On Sunday, we visited a couple of parks and markets and I tried to get used to 85 degrees with 85% humidity. Yesterday I wandered around alone while Ann Marie was in class. What we've learned is that Kuala Lumpur (KL) is not very pedestrian friendly. There are several forms of public transportation from buses to light rail and monorail, but sometimes, even if you can see a rail station, busy roads and a lack of cross walks make them almost impossible to get to! Luckily taxis are also very inexpensive here and during normal daytime hours you can hardly pay over $3 to go anywhere in the city (after 10pm they have a 50% surcharge though). It cost us a whopping $8 to get back from a concert downtown last night.

Yesterday I visited the National Museum where I learned all about the history of Malaysia. Then I headed to the Central Market, then Chinatown and Petaling Street Market which I found by using my failsafe method of following the hoards of other tourists. Petaling is a big market here where you can get everything from clothes to DVD's to cheap handbags. I did sort of want to buy a purse, but I could not bring myself to wear something Prada or Coach even if it's fake! After Chinatown, I was determined not to take my third taxi of the day, but instead to make it home by myself on the light rail. I found the station no problem, but a big bus transfer station seemed to block the light rail platform and I couldn't find the staircase. With the help of some security guards I finally found it, bought my ticket and made it on the correct train. I thought I was home free when trying to exit at KL Sentral (Ann Marie's stop) the ticket gate ate my ticket and wouldn't let me out (I guess I put it in the wrong way?). So I  had to pay another ringgit (~30 cents) to exit. KL Sentral is a huge station and I was very happy to recognize the exit and Ann Marie had taken me through the day before and get myself headed back to her apartment. I knew if I couldn't find my way back, I could just hop in a cab. But I made it on my own! It certainly helps that almost everyone speaks English here and people are very helpful.

Today, after Ann Marie's class, we're headed to the Forestry Research Institute outside of KL. On Thursday we fly to Langkawi (an island in northwest Malaysia) where we're meeting Ryan and relaxing on the beach!