In and out of KL

I endured, perhaps my last coach ride, on Thursday night. I arrived in KL early Thursday evening. I didn’t have accommodations booked, so I phoned the Eight Guesthouse, one of my favorite guesthouses in KL when I arrived. I used KL’s modern LRT (Light Rail Train) and KL Monorail transport to transport myself to the guesthouse. Soon after I arrived, I luckily met two Brits named Alexis staying at the guesthouse. I joined them for dinner at a nearby Middle Eastern restaurant on Jalan Bukit Butang. After dinner, we visited to KL’s version of Times Square. Times Square is just another one of KL’s large shopping malls.

The next day, I realized I needed keep moving toward Thailand. And I decided I wanted to spend my last week in Asia on Phi Phi lsland in Thailand. I booked a plane ticket for Phuket leaving the next day, Saturday.

That same night Friday, I met up with a local from KL. Originally from Perth, Australia, Jin Wei is a colleague of one of the friends I have met along in my travels, Weh. He has been in KL for over a year. Jin Wei, and his girlfriend, Choy Wei, offered to take me out to experience the local nightlife. We started at a place called Zouk, and ended our night at Poppers. There was barely any room to move. Both clubs were equally packed. At Poppers, we were greeted with the sounds of dirty hip-hop, and rhythm and blues. The price for alcohol was astronomical at both places. A bottle of whisky was almost $150. I found out later, if customers can’t finish their bottles, they can opt to store their bottles at club for their next visit. Why can’t we do that at home?

On Saturday, I arrived on Phi Phi Island. After spending a lot of time in English speaking countries, I took for granted I could speak English without being misinterpreted. Well, not in Thailand. I had to slow my speech to get my boat ticket to Phi Phi. When I arrived on Phi Phi, I was tired from my last night in KL, and fell asleep watching pirated copies of Munich and Syriana.

Today, I sat watched the rain come down. It didn’t occur to me that wet season has started in Thailand. The rain here is monsoon like. It rains for hours, then stops without warning. When I was here in January, it didn’t rain at all. My plan is to stick it out on Phi Phi Island, and do some diving before Friday. I’ll be in Bangkok by this weekend.