February 12, 2024
We started chasing the dragon today. All the way around the world to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. But first, a detour through the Atlanta Airport. Oh, and Doha. Ha!
We caught the dragon, a Qatar Airways 777, heading east towards the sunrise of a shortened day. Breakfast was just served. Pickled oryx with coffee. Black. After a 13 hour flight, we will land in Dohar, arriving mid afternoon after our mid afternoon departure from Atlanta the previous day.
Check-in at the airport was uneventful but a bit confusing. The long snaking line of fellow travelers left us wondering whether we were boarding a passenger flight or a cargo flight. Everyone was pushing dollies of stacked luggage and large boxes. The family with the side-by-side Amana freezer caught our attention.
At the departure gate while waiting for our boarding call, we discovered the couple behind us was from my childhood home of Warner Robins and the young woman ahead of us was from Teresa’s Asheville. Small world. Only to be outdone by smaller Economy Class seats.
Knees folded in and elbows across our chest, we continue the chase.
(MORNING: After a mid-Atlantic crossing, we entered a new morning somewhere over southern Spain and are now heading east towards Libya.
(LUNCHTIME UPDATE SOMEWHERE OVER BUMFUC EGYPT: I must say, the curried oryx is a much more interesting option especially if you want your lips burned off your face. I wonder if there is a McDonald’s at the Doha Airport.)
(TRAVELER’S TIP O’ THE DAY: Don’t rub your eyes if you have curry on your fingers.)
February 13, 2024
Flying past Downtown Dohar (“Dodo”) with it glimmering in the late afternoon sun looking like something out of Blade Runner, the smoke from a thousand methane fires filtering around the cluster of newly built blackened towers, we arrived at Hamad International Airport.
After landing, our 777 dragon rolled to a stop on the tarmac. A phalanx of buses waited. Business and First Class passengers were allowed to disembark first and we, in the cargo section, were instructed to stay behind heavy curtains and out of sight so the privileged would not be discomforted by viewing us.
Fifteen minutes passed with the privileged classes taking their time. Slowly. Slowly. Our friends from Warner Robins got anxious as they had a very short time to connect to their flight going to Manila.
The flight crew finally opened the heavy curtains and announced we were now free to “go down the step ladder”. Apparently jetways have not been introduced here yet. Much less stairs, seemingly.
Climbing aboard a waiting bus, we headed to the terminal where we had to go thru security again. Clearing that hurdle, we headed to our next gate. 6.
And no one was there.
February 14, 2024
Another early morning as we start our landing into Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. 13 hours ahead on the opposite side of the world.
Our friend, Loo, picked us up at the airport and drove us into Kuala Lumpur, “KL” as the locals call it, where we checked into our hotel to recover from the long flight.
After a short rest, we met back up with Loo and his wife, Seha, and headed out to grab lunch. Our hotel is in the city center and the surrounding area is all new with high rises and shopping malls, including the notable Petronas Towers, briefly the world’s tallest buildings and still currently the world’s tallest TWIN towers.
Loo, who was born in China, has a house in Alpharetta with his wife, Seha, who is Malaysian born and raised on Penang, an island up the coast 200 miles north where we will head in a couple of days. Both are engineers with degrees from American universities.
A level up from the street is a shopping mall that stretches for more than a mile and includes pedestrian bridges that cross over busy streets. While covered, they are open air yet air conditioned. With temperatures in the low 90s (in mid-February!), it is much appreciated.
We toured Malaysia’s version of a food court and tried a variety of foods. All good and purchased for cents on the dollar given the exchange rate. The lunch for four people including drinks, multiple entrees and a dessert cost less than 10 US dollars and all of it fresh. No fast food junk and low in sugar. No tipping too.
The mall continued on for blocks. Elevated walkways connected sections and eventually opened up, after following an escalator, to the street below. From there, we followed the sidewalk, passing by a park filled with holiday decorations, to the base of the Petronas Towers where, not surprised at all at this point, was another shopping mall.
We bought some cheap underwear and headed back to the hotel room.
Across the street from our hotel is this incredible video billboard that, from the sidewalk on our side, looks like 3D animation. KL is an amazing place.
February 14, 2024
Jetlag time! Adjusting to 13 times zones away takes a while. Going to bed at 8 means you’re wide awake at 3 in the morning no matter how sweet your dreams of wild monkeys are. Hope to get another hour of sleep before a full day ahead starting in the morning at Batu Caves.
The God’s await.
PS Ignore previous comments about underwear. That was just sleep deprivation talking.
A day of big plans can be started with bigger problems. Malaysian Montezuma and his revenge found Teresa and she was ill all night long. Maybe it was too much oryx on the flight over. Stomach problems are rare for seasoned travelers but still an occasional hazard. Teresa decided to stay bed bound.
I met Loo in the hotel restaurant for breakfast. After settling a small problem with a waitress (who knew you had to pay for bottled Perrier water or that you were not allowed to serve yourself from the cooler behind the service counter), we headed to the parking garage, passing by a “garage shrine” where automotive offerings are made, to shoehorn Loo’s size 12 Range Rover out of a size 6 parking space. Success was achieved (the offering and prayers worked!) and we headed north to the Batu Caves, a UN World Heritage Site.
The early morning downtown streets of KL were packed and traffic inched on slowly. But a stillness and calmness pervaded. No one honked their horn. No one yelled at other drivers. No one got out of their cars in fits of rage armed with automatic weapons, guns blazing. It was unnerving and very un-American. What’s wrong with these people, I thought to myself.
Batu Caves is located on the northern edge of the central business district. Built into the side and interior of limestone caves, it is home to several sacred Buddhist shrines, with the star attraction being the god Murugan, Ganesha’s older brother.
I thought maybe Murugan could put in a good word for me with Ganesha to help settle that little “faux pas” I had with him back in 2005 in India so I decided to hire a local priest to make the connection. Slipping off my shoes at the shrine doorway (shoes are forbidden), I entered and found a young celestial barrister who looked eager for business.
I explained my dilemma and ensured him that the “2005 Event” was all a simple misunderstanding and totally unintentional. The young barrister listened patiently to my plea and, after a few moments of contemplation, explained the he had a solution. All it took was a donation and he would “get right on it”.
One cash donation later, the deal was consummated and I was assured that everything would be taken care of.
With that bit of Karmic Accounting taken care of, we proceeded to climb the 700 stairs to the internal cave and home to a couple of other busy shrines. Along the way we passed several eager monkeys and a young man carrying a lorry load of bottled drinks on his head to help resupply the snack shop and souvenir stand.
The morning was hot and getting hotter.
Here’s a fantastic video from our recent visit to the Batu Caves from Loo’s neice, Atiqa, who lives in KL. Very well done!
An update on Teresa, she is getting better and by tomorrow hopefully back to normal. Fingers crossed.
On the way back to the hotel following our visit to the Batu Caves, Loo, Antiqa and I stopped at the Central Market, an historic 100 plus year old market, to meet Seha and her cousin Ainif, who lived in Kennesaw, Georgia for a few years and was a professor at KSU before returning to her native Malaysia. We gathered at the ice cream shop and enjoyed the local delicacy called “Cendol”, a frozen desert of flavored ice, palm syrup and corn. Also, too, green noodles. Oh, and black beans. I need to tell Baskin-Robbins about this new thirty-first flavor. Believe or not, it was really good!
Tonight was the big traditional New Year dinner. Loo and Seha invited Teresa and me to join them and their entire family. Unfortunately, Teresa was not well enough to attend the feast.
I met the family at a nearby outdoor restaurant festooned with lights and lanterns. Loo’s brothers and sisters were there along with their adult children and families. An 84 year old uncle and his wife were there too along with two cousins who were born deaf at birth and only spoke in sign language.
The first main course was served on a platter in the center of the table, rice with salmon that was described as a “salad” by one of the guests and the customary ritual for the dinner is for everyone to simultaneously start stabbing the pile of food and tossing it up into the air using chopsticks while yelling something in Chinese that sounded like “good luck” or “God duck”, I just couldn’t tell since the only thing worse than my Chinese language skills is my hearing. Regardless, I would have to say that the first course was a “Chinese Tossed Salad” and it was delicious.
There were 8 other courses served along with one that was described as containing “cat eyeballs” thus explaining the abundance of one eyed cats that I’ve seen strolling around downtown KL (pronounced “kale” much to the probable delight of health food nuts).
Desert was one shot of 21 year old whisky so a good time was had by all.
God Duck!
(ED NOTE: CORRECTION… The line “one shot of 21 year old whiskey” should have been “21 shots of year old whiskey”)
February 15, 2024
This morning we planned to pack up and head north with Loo and Seha to the island of Penang. But Teresa is still not feeling well enough for the 3 hour drive. I met them at breakfast and explained the situation and our plans to stay put for the next couple of days so Teresa can recover.
With the change of plans that leaves me with the opportunity to wander around KL and become a Lumpurian citizen. Or “Lumper” as I prefer to be called.
First order of business was to head back to my cheap Chinese underwear store and return the “all-too-tighty-whiteys” that did not fit. Needless to say a “Chinese large” does not equal an “American large”.
Following the two mile long air conditioned elevated walkway back to the base of the Petronas Towers, I finally reached my destination, sweat rolling off my head in the hot winter humid morning air.
A young woman dressed in a hijab stood alone behind the cash register and the conversation went something like this…
ME : “Nee how!”
CASHIER : “Sir, I don’t speak Chinese.”
ME : “I need to return this underwear. It doesn’t fit. Estoy muy gordo.”
CASHIER : “Sir, I don’t speak Spanish. Did you put the underwear on?”
ME : “Yes. How else am I supposed to find out if they fit?”
CASHIER : “We have a sizing room in the back and they cannot be returned if worn.”
ME : “But … (thinking better of it) … OK.
CASHIER : “Is there anything else I can help you with?”
ME : “No. Shay shay tie!”
CASHIER : “Sir, that’s not even Chinese.”
ME : “Ciao!”
February 16, 2024
Our hotel lobby just got invaded by dragons. Hungry, hungry dragons. It is their year afterall.
February 17, 2024
A slow day, Saturday, hanging poolside at the hotel. Happy Hours are still a big thing in this part of the world. Teresa is getting better and by tomorrow hopefully back to normal. Fingers crossed.
Midnight in Malaysia and it’s fireworks time. Happy New Year! <AGAIN>
February 18, 2024
We leave KL this morning for the airport. Teresa is on the mend and getting better and we hope the worst of her stomach bug is behind us. Since Teresa has not seen Kuala Lumpur, we spent an hour walking the quiet early morning streets near our hotel.
KL is an amazing and vibrant city yet it seems overshadowed by its sister cities of Singapore, Jakarta and Hong Kong. Maybe because of the calmness of the Malaysians. They have no major social divides in a population of Muslims, Hindus and Malays. They are governed by a British style Parliamentary system with a Muslim Sultanic Royal family overlay. And natural disasters are rare.
Their only problem seems to be downtown parking. And the Malaysians patiently deal with that too. Unarmed.
Next stop, Hanoi. Teresa tells me we have a room booked at the Hilton. Hey, I think I just saw Jane Fonda.
Wow! Didn’t expect that.
Teresa and I exited the hotel lobby and hailed a taxi. We were running late. A blue Toyota van pulled up and a middle aged man hopped out and greeted us. “I’m Hare”, he excitedly said. We told him we were heading to the airport and jumped on board.
In seconds we were zipping down the freeway, heading south. We sailed by Nirvana on the way to KLIT (Kuala Lumpur International Terminal), lickety-split, doing 120 klicks in an 80 klick zone.
“Andale Andale”, I yelled. “Sir”, he said, “I do not speak Spanish.” Exasperated, I implored, “Step on it. We don’t have much time!”
He gently took his right foot and pressed down firmly on the pedal, his car’s bumper centimeters from the bumper in front.
Quickly we arrived sweaty and exhausted. What normally would take an hour we frenzily completed in half the time. Teresa rolled out of the cab, satisfied. She asked the driver how much it cost and handed 20 dollars for a 250RM fare and said, “Hare, keep the change.”
He stashed the bill in his Baju Melayu.
Just seated on our flight to Hanoi aboard Air Asia with their tag line “Now Everyone Can Afford To Fly”. Worrisome. While standing in the hot jetway (for half an hour) we waited for the black ninja dressed ground crew to change the airplane’s front tire. A new retread was hustled out and swapped out after the plane was jacked up. Worrisome. Well, at least, we can look forward to our lunch of Ong Ong Lai.
Hope they have some yum yum sauce. Next stop, Hanoi.
