| The Malaysia Trip-a-Palaysia, part III |
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| Written by Jeff Ritter | ||||||||||||||||
| Sunday, 19 August 2007 | ||||||||||||||||
A day in "KL" Another day in Malaysia is in the books, and what a day it was. Kuala Lumpur—or as the cool kids (read: locals) say, “KL”—is modern, sleek and bustling. There is virtually no unemployment or homelessness according to Joe the Tour Guide, who added that the homeless are “rounded up” and quickly placed in shelters. This reminds me: interesting methods of law enforcement here in Malaysia. Drug smuggling can bring (brace yourself) the death penalty, and even petty theft can land you in the clink for three or more years. This reminds me, I should probably put those hotel towels back. Some highlights: Seeing the Petronas Twin Towers, the second- or third-tallest buildings in the world (the ones featured in “Entrapment”); Dinner at “The Tower,” KL’s version of the Seattle Space Needle, providing panoramic views of the city. The rotating restaurant, called the Reston Berputar Seri Angkasa—I know, it just rolls of the tongue—served a massive buffet of Asian-inspired cuisine. My favorite was a dessert of brown-sugar glazed bananas served over vanilla ice cream. We’re living big this week, America.
Other sights I sighted: A chocolate factory, a pewter factory (home of the world’s largest beer mug!) the home of the Sultan of Brunei, and the king of Malaysia’s palace. Here’s a quick story from the palace: You can’t get anywhere near the building itself, but the scene at the outer gates is reminiscent of England’s Buckingham Palace. There are guards on horseback and guards on foot, all who remain motionless and expressionless until it’s time to change shifts. Anyway, this is a big tourist stop, even for locals, and as I was snapping some shots a local man approached me while holding out his camera. Naturally I assumed he was gently trying to ask me to take his photo next to the gates, so I smiled and nodded. He then quickly whirled to a friend and handed him the camera. Forget the palace, this guy wanted a photo of the goofy American. Yes, I’m pretty much the only blonde-haired, blue-eyed person in Malaysia right now, so I’m assuming that was the fascination. After the photo he said thanks and went on his way, leaving me stunned and the rest of my group rolling in laughter. I can’t decide if that’s what it feels like to be Brad Pitt, or a zoo animal.
Back to The King of Malaysia for a moment: There are nine sultans, one from each of the various states, and every five years they elect from their group a new king. The current king is the thirteenth in the nation’s history and youngest ever. (I would give you this man’s name, but it’s about 50 letters long. I’m serious. Google it.) While Malaysia also has a prime minister who is elected by the people and handles the governing duties, the king’s main job is essentially that of a figurehead, entertaining foreign dignitaries and posing for lots of pictures while not actually having an impact on much of anything. Basically he’s like our president. (Okay, this isn’t a political blog, but I couldn’t resist one little poke.) Tonight we shove off to Port Dickson, a resort town about 90 minutes south of KL, and then the golf week begins. Until then, sleep well, America. A few more stats from the trip thus far: * Number of food items unable to be identified but eaten anyway: Two. (The latest was at a family-style Chinese joint, where just as my group prepared to dive into a bowl of soup, we recoiled as a pasty white chicken’s foot suddenly floated up to the surface. I tried the soup anyway—working around the foot, of course—and it wasn’t bad. A little like Wonton. ) * Number of blonde-haired, blue-eyed people in Malaysia who are not currently typing an AAGolf blog: Apparently zero * Number of blisters now on my feet: one. * Total cobra sightings: Still zero, but they like the golf courses, and golf begins tomorrow…
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