Made in Japan, Outsourced Globally

So many things went wrong this weekend - but somehow we triumphed over the curveballs in life.

TOP FIVE THINGS THAT WENT WRONG:
5 - I lost my contact lens (again), suffering from 4-eyes syndrome and a loss of US$90 (these contacts are expensive. grr...)
4 - Singaporean taxis avoided Digs and I at all cost. Not even the vacant cabs would stop for us.
3 - We had the wrong date for the bus ticket. The bus agent wouldn't let us change the tickets and told us to come back the next day (of course, we said "screw that" and figured out another way)
2 - I almost got rejected at the border - ran out of pages on my passport. grr... grr...
1 - We couldn't get a hold of Cheong once we got to KL (luckily we got a hold of Vishen :)

But let me reiterate - we prevailed.

I bought temporary contacts. We finally called up a cab and got to the station 10 minutes before departure time. The wrong ticket became a sunk cost, but a nice bus driver took us to the border (for free) and arranged another bus to take us. The immigrations officers gave me a lecture and eventually let me pass. And Vishen kindly invited us to his house at 4:30am.

Other than that, Malaysia has been a very cool place - and I had the best guides to tour me around the KL hotspots.


KL's very own tower - the Petronas Twin Towers. It wouldn't be KL without it (although owned by the sultan of Brunei, since financing it became difficult after the Asian financial crisis). And this photo of Christina, me, and Vishen was brought to you by...


... this guy in the grass. (I swear the glasses make him look like a 70's pornography movie director)...


It's quite a sight in the evening


Vishen also took us to the Batu Cave, which is a Tamil religious ground which gained its fame and significance from the sighting of 5-legged cows in the past (Vishen claims that he has seen this genetic wonder himself, but the cows have died off and do not exist today).


Feed the monkeys


The Batu Cave is also a pilgrimage site for Thaipusam - a Hindu festival of pentance and celebration. Some of the men will decorate themselves with flowers and head-dress, and then pierce themselves with hooks, spears, and other objects that break through their skin. Interestingly, the self-mutilating acts seldom let blood, and the men can endure the pain because it is a holy and magical festival. Women are also said to go into trances, where they turn into snakes and four-legged animals that are holy in the Hindu religion.


Christina, the snake charmer


Saki, not so elegant with the python scarf.


Hindu phallic symbol

And what do you know - I'm at an authentic Malaysian restaurant:


Margaritas, baby.


And guess who else was in town?

@US reunion in KL - Vishen, Saki, Cheong, Devrim, Kai

The nightlife in KL is pretty good - we'll just see how it can handle Saki.

One of the nice things in Asia is the abundance of good and cheap massage places. So far, I have had excellent massages in China, Singapore, and Malaysia - I'll have Chinese foot reflexology and Japanese shiatsu any day.

But I had never really seen this:

Supposedly, cupping sucks out the toxins in your body and helps your qi or something like that. From Cheong's "ouch" behind the curtains, I was a bit doubtful.


And the results are a bit frightening.


I think Vishen wants to sell them off to the circus or something.

I said farewell to Vishen and joined Cheong & Adelle's humble abode in Bangsar. They get along really well, and their cozy apartment remind me of my life with Duncan back in HK. That night, we went to the hawker street, where the ordinary street magically turns into a delectable Southeast Asian streetfood fair on Sundays only.




Cantonese steamed food stand. You boil whatever you want on the stand and eat the piping hot food with satay, chili, or sweet sauce.


Adelle takes a bite out of the braised tofu stuffed with cucumber


Peanut butter pancakes, smeared with hot butter - (an artery clogger for sure - but it's oh-so-good)


Mmm... delicious! Malaysia definitely has some really good and cheap food that whet my appetite. Indian, Malay, Chinese - it's all here in an interesting mix of culture.

I am enjoying my time here so far - and my encounters with people have all been good. However, the news is somewhat gloomier than what I see in Singapore and Hong Kong - crime statistics and religious tension catch my attention more in Malaysia.

I'll be off to Taman Negara (the national park in the Northeast) tomorrow and the Tioman Islands on the weekend - the adventure continues...