KL Train Tickets Hate Me

Every time we tried to take the light rail or monorail in Kuala Lumpur, something went horribly wrong with my ticket. Some times the ticket reading machine just wouldn't read my ticket. Other times, it would read my ticket, but the gates would not open. I even admit, there was a time or two in which operator malfunction seemed to be the problem. But the best incident was the time in which I put my money into the ticketing machine, and my ticket came flying out of the slot like a bat out of hell, hitting me square in the chest and fluttering to the ground before I could revive from my astonishment and retrieve it.

Bird Park

The first part of today was spent at the Islamic Art Museum, but the second part was spent at the Bird Park in Lake Garden (a large forest reserve and park in the heart of KL). The bird park includes a huge huge aviary filled with mostly peacocks and small white birds that I don't know the name of. They are all over the place. There are quite a few varieties of other birds as well, but they are stealthier and tend to take to the trees and bushes. There are a ton of parrots and other similar birds in smaller internal aviaries. The whole place is pretty impressive and a lot of fun. Unfortunately, there was a massive downpour for about 30 minutes during our stay, but the rest of the time spent there was definitely worth it.

Islamic Art Museum

If you ever find yourself in KL, make sure you get to the Islamic Art Museum. They have an excellent collection of art, including textiles, ceramics, weapons, and jewelery, from Spain to China and everywhere in between. My favorite gallery was the one dedicated to Islamic architecture, where they had scale models of mosques and mausoleums from all over the Muslim world, and excellent descriptions of the key architectural features seen in these buildings depending on when and where they were built. My biggest disappointment, of the 20 or so buildings they featured, I have only been to one (the Taj Mahal). After trekking around a section of the Muslim world a few years ago and visiting almost every notable mosque I encountered, I feel like there should have been more overlap. Then again, the display did include 3 structures from Uzbekistan, and I don't think I have ever heard of a tourist going there.

It is also worth noting the the museum building was itself quite gorgeous, incorporating many classic Islamic motifs such as elaborate tile work and fountains with a modern, airy feel.

How to Shop In Kuala Lumpur

So far we have been quite enjoying our time in Kuala Lumpur, despite the fact that it is hot and humid. While we have done some site seeing, we have also done a fair amount of shopping at the malls and markets. At all of the markets and many of the mall shops bargaining for the best price is key. Here is what we have found to be the most successful way to do it: 1) Identify what you want. 2) Ask the price. 3) Say you are willing to pay 10-15% of what they quoted, then prepare to walk away, but do it slowly. As you start leaving the price will begin to drop dramatically, listen for the last price called out to you as you move to the next stall. 4) Do not turn back and buy the item, move on, you will see it again within a few stalls. 5) Find item again, repeat 1-4. 6) Repeat 1-5. At this point you should have a pretty good idea of what the lowest price for you object of desire will be. At the next stall you find, go through this process, but this time tell them you are willing to pay 30% lower than the low price previously determined. Once they come down to the low price, buy the item. Enjoy!

Corn In Cup

When Erik and I arrived at KL Tower, we were feeling a bit peckish. Luckily we were at a touristy spot, so we quickly spied a cart selling drinks and snacks. The main attraction at this eatery was "corn in cup" and the front of the cart featured a picture of a cup brimming with buttery colored goodness. I thought, "popcorn will hit the spot, and what a funny thing to call it." So, I went up to the cart and gave them my 3 ringits (about $1). Then I got my "corn in cup." As it turns out, this is not popcorn, but rather steamed and lightly buttered fresh kernels of corn. While I was a little surprised, it was quite good, and definitely hit the spot.

Kuala Lumpur

Yesterday, we arrived in Kuala Lumpur. The flight was pretty nice and the train over to our hotel was really convenient. I am impressed with the public transportation here and the modernness of the city. I guess that I was getting too used to Thailand.


After checking into our hotel, we ventured out to the KL Tower, which is the fourth tallest communications tower in the world and has the highest view we can see in KL. It was a great way to get our bearings and check out the city. I'm amazed at all of the tall buildings here. Aside from the tower, they have a little animal and reptile area (all the mammals seemed to be from North America though), a pony ride, and an F1 car simulator. Nothing was that terrific, but they were still fun.


We walked all over the place in the evening and found the Indian part of town, where we picked up some grub. Later, we checked out Chinatown and Petaling street, where there are a million merchants all selling the same cheap clothing items, hand bags, and sunglasses for prices that warrant bargaining. It was kind of fun to walk up and down the street and see what they had to offer.

The Toothpick Course

For our last night in Thailand, Erik and I decided to splurge and have a nice romantic dinner at one of the nicer restaurants on our beach. The outdoor patio seating overlooked the beautiful Kata beach which was lit up with candle lanterns at night. The cuisine was more Western than Thai, though it all had a fusion feel, and it was all excellent. We had three courses, a starter, mains, and then when we thought the meal was done, our servers re-appeared, and with a dramatic arm gesture laid on our table an fancy box full of toothpicks just for us. Now, I should note that most restaurants we ate at in Thailand had toothpicks on the table along with the salt and pepper, but this is the first time toothpicks were given an entire course of their own.

Another Diving Day

This morning was a lot of fun since we were able to get another dive in. There is a small island off the coast of Kata beach with some nice shallow diving. We saw most of the same creatures as last time and also some barracuda. There were just 5 of us this time, which was a lot nicer than the mobs at the other diving spots.

After diving, we finally had the chance to hang out on our beach, which we surprisingly ignored for most of the trip here. I attribute this to our strong fear of the sun. Still, the beach was really nice and the temperature was a lot more comfortable than yesterday.

Simon Cabaret

Last night, we went to Simon Cabaret which is a lip syncing and dancing show with a large cast of Thailand lady boys. I have no idea how many there were because I am still convinced that some of the performers were natural women though seeing them after the show provided some doubt. Anyway, that gives you some idea of how good they looked. The show was fun and included a wide variety of songs form around the globe. It was a bit heavy on the Chinese and American side though. We were lucky to get front row seats to the performance. The highlight of the night was directly due to these seats since one of the actors singled me out and gave me kisses on both cheeks leaving some industrial strength lipstick.

Thailand Just Got a Little More Interesting

After having a non-Christmas Christmas dinner, Erik and I met up with Andrea, the German woman we met on our islands tour to have some drinks. We were having a nice time chatting at an outdoor bar, and ordered some fru-fru cocktails. We were quite surprised when our (very tasty) drinks arrived in glasses shaped like naked ladies. We had a good laugh, snapped a few photos for proof, and enjoyed the rest of the evening.

Thai massage troubles

Since we've been here, we have gotten two massages. The first one was pretty awesome. It was an hour long for only 200 Baht, which is about $6-7. I highly recommend getting one when here since it is very relaxing. Thai massages include lots of stretching and pressure on the various pressure points of your body to clear your energy lines. I don't know what it's all about, but it generally feels pretty nice. The second massage we got was definitely an exception to that though. While Liz was on the mat next to me having a good massage, I was getting man handled by a heavier than average Thai woman. I guess she wasn't that fat, but she was definitely too much to handle, especially since Thai massages include a lot of walking on top of you. I had to constantly tell her to soft soft it a little, and then she started laughing at me. I am not sure if she just didn't understand or thought I was just a weakling. It wasn't relaxing at all, which has persuaded me to try an oil relaxation massage for the next one. Hopefully that one will be a lot better.

Christmas in Thailand

It's been a while since we were able to update the blog so I'll have to remember all the stuff that we did this week in Thailand.

When we first got here, we pretty much took it easy. We found our hotel and relaxed for the evening and tried to get our bearings. The hotel that we are staying in is really nice with a large spacious bathroom and a good sized room. It's on the 4th floor overlooking the main drag in Kata and the hotel next door. There is a great big pool below us with a built in bar.

The next day was a fun filled day of scuba diving. There is an island off the southern tip of Phuket (which I can't remember the name of) and we were off for 2 dives there. The boat was pretty crowded with a huge Russian contingent aboard for some strange reason.

As for the diving, it was pretty nice. We saw a lot of coral and a ton of fish. Some of the neatest creatures below were cuttle fish (two of them). They were cuddling a little bit, which was good fodder for my yet to be deployed play on words later in the day. We saw two Morey Eels, a scorpion fish, a nudibranch, a lion fish, and gigantic clams. I also had a close encounter with a Titan Trigger fish, which had visible teeth in front and the dive master previously told us about his trigger fish attack earlier. He waved me away from it.

On the way back, we passed out and got ready for the Christmas Gala dinner, which was an obligatory part of staying in the hotel. The dinner included a large buffet with lots of meat, and some seafood. The entertainment included Missadan on the microphone singing songs by the Beatles, Elvis, The Everly Brothers and more. Besides Missadan, we were entertained by the housekeepers doing a stage performance of the latest new age music, and a lady boy with a lip syncing dance number.

We left at about 10 to head up to the room, where I went out to the patio and watched the show of the hotel next door. They had fire dancers! Also, the night was filled with fireworks viewable from the room and candle lamps being sent up into the night sky to celebrate the coming of Christmas.

Not for Blow

Ever since arriving in Thailand, we have been noticing a large number of locals with very very long pinky fingernails. While I hadn't expected so many cocaine users in Thailand, I though maybe these people would be so high that I could get some really bargain prices at their clothing shops and such. You can imagine how disconcerted it was when we were picked up for a tour around some of the smaller near-by islands by a mini bus driver with one of the longest pinky nails we had seen yet. Before we could get too worked up about it, we were joined on the van by a Thai/German couple, and they explained to us that in southern Thailand long pinky fingernails is for good luck. Phew (wipes sweat off forehead).

As you surely have figured by the fact that I have written this, we arrived back from the trip safe and sound. In fact, we had a lovely day, visiting Monkey caves that were also a Budhist temple, a Muslim fishing village built on stilts over the water, and the island used as Dr. Noe's lair in one of the old school James Bond films, and we managed to fit some sea canoeing and making a new friend.

Winding Down in Hong Kong

Our last day in Hong Kong we decided to take it easy, so we slept in, had a light breakfast, and did some shopping. Then we met up with Laurence, Emma, and Emma's Dad for a relaxed lunch. After lunch, we had a little adventure, we rode one of the famous Hong Kong trams.

Later in the afternoon we meet up with our roommate's sister, Kat, and her friend Edmond. They were fantastic tour guides, showing us Hong Kong they way that 20-somethings experience it. First we went to a small museum in a historical building featuring a exhibit on the history of television in Hong Kong, complete with vintage sets. Then we went for tea at a little shop where we got milk tea with coffee, and some delicious pastries including egg tarts and pineapple buns (so named because they sort of look like pineapples, not because they have pineapple in them). Sooo good. I am especially a fan of the pineapple buns, I need to find a good place to get them back in the US. After tea, we got reflexology foot massages. OMG! I never knew feet could feel that good. I need to find out where I can get some of those in the US too. Once I do, every night out in high heals will be followed by a little piece of foot heaven.

Restaurant Marketing in Hong Kong

Before leaving on this trip, I decided that our travels would be much easier if I gave up being a vegetarian for the duration (though eating vegetarian when possible). Even when not trying to be a vegetarian though, I have to say, seeing an entire duck carcass in the window of a restaurant (yes, I mean the whole thing, including the head, this isn't a rotisserie chicken) is not a way to entice me in. Really, I don't eat something if I can see its face. Also, I would rather not be eating and looking at the face of the food of my neighbor).

Its Like Buddah

At the recommendation of the Ausies we hung out with at the wedding yesterday, Erik and I decided to take a break from the busy urban center of Hong Kong and ventured out to the green and hilly Lantau Island, where the Tian Tan Buddah Statue sits atop a hill (note, Austrailians pronounce it with the short 'u' sound, like butter). To get there, we took a long tram ride over the hills and water, giving us great views of the natural beauty of the island. The statue itself was pretty awesome, and you definitely hurt your neck looking up at it from the base. We also visited the Po Lin monastery and ate at their tasty vegetarian restaurant. After having our fill of statue and monastery we wandered through Ngong Ping village, a sterile tourist trap that seemed like it would fit better in Epcot Center than next to a Buddhist monastery.

Wedding Events

The wedding evening started out at about 3 pm yesterday. The ceremony was a very nice quaint civil service with no religious overtones. Emma looked amazing and Laurence was looking pretty sharp too. I think that he was a bit nervous, but you can't blame him, and the after ceremony playing of "Another One Bites The Dust" was an interesting touch to lighten the serious mood of the whole event.

After the ceremony, we had seemingly hours of time to get to know all the international guests at the wedding, who were pretty all Australian friends from Emma's side. They were a lot of fun to talk to and gave us a more full picture of Emma's life pre Stanford.

The dinner started and I didn't quite realize that the room gathered about 300 people from the time that we got there to the time that the food was ready. Prior to this point the wedding had been fairly balanced between Chinese and Australian things, but for the rest of the night, Chinese tradition was dominant. It started with a 12 course meal and lots of speaches by the family members wishing good luck for the future and lots of babies. It was a very extravagant event with tons of pictures, memories, and loud chatter.

Morning wedding games

Today was a bright and early morning as we made our way to the Manadarin Oriental Hotel for prewedding games. The basic format for the games are that the girls make up slightly lousy and embarassing things for the boys to do and the boys have to do them to show that the groom is worthy of having the bride. Admittedly harder on the groom, the games weren't that bad for the rest of us. Still, I had to eat some sour, bitter, spicy, and sweet food, dress up in a bikini and dance to Like A Virgin, and the worst event was waxing a bit of my leg. I might have to post the picture of my missing leg hair patch for your enjoyment at a later time. So, eventually, Laurence earned his bride and we were off to his family's house for some snacks and a lion dance. The lion dancers were very impressive; it was the first time I saw a dance where they were jumping aroundon pegs about 10 feet above the ground.

Museum of history

Yesterday was our first day touring around Hong Kong. After sorting out some business with laundry, we hit up a small restaurant that had pictures of familiar breakfast selections on the window. I was hoping for eggs and toast. Somehow, I got stuck with two hot dogs and a bowl of macaroni stew. Oh well. For the most past, it was good.

Then we went to the musuem of history of Hong Kong. Though I don't generally love hanging out in museums, this one was very good. Now I know all about HK. The next 40 years of HK history are going to be exciting as we wait until China restablishes its rule on the city. I can't say that I am looking forward to seeing what happens.




After a good indian food dinner, we went through the Kowloon night market. There are a ton of cheap items for sale and it was pretty fun to spend a couple of hours wasting time seeing all the merchandise.



Hong Kong doesn't seem to be a large culture shock. Almost everyone we run into speaks English. The food is really imbalanced towards seafood, but we have found good food so far. Liz is giving up her vegetaranism for the trip, but I think I might become vegetarian for the duration of the trip because I get more food I like when I don't know what I am getting, but do know that it is not meat.

Brain Candy

The only other time I have flown trans-Pacific was from Hong Kong to San Francisco in 2006 (those of you who are not long-time readers of the Erik and Liz travel blog series might be wondering how I got to Hong Kong without flying trans-Pacific, for details of the journey, please see my blog for that trip: lmsummertrip2006.blogspot.com). I managed to pull myself through that long haul by keeping myself entertained by re-reading "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" and it worked wonders. I was barely aware that I was on a 12 hour plane ride.

In preparation for this trip, I though maybe some similar brain candy would be needed. Something the doesn't require too many brain cells to process, but is interesting enough to keep me awake and make me forget that I have no circulation in my butt. I happened to be in Walgreens the day before leaving and they had a trade paper version of Twilight so I decided that might be a good option to try, stiking with the young adult fantasy genre.

I am happy to report that the 18 hours of travel to get to Hong Kong went by pleasantly fast, but I can't give Twilight all the credit. The on demand movies helped a lot. As for Twilight, its an easy read, and interesting, but I definitely fell asleep a few times mid sentence (anything that will put you to sleep on a plane is a good thing thoug, right?). That said I am having a hard time seeing what all the hype is about. Seriously, a 104 year old dude with a 17 year old girl, eeewwwww.

Passport Drama

On Sunday night, Liz asked me if my passport was good for another 6 months.  I knew it was good for 5 months, but didn't think about the fact that in order to leave the US for Hong Kong, Thailand, and Singapore, I would need to have a passport which expires 6 months from the last day of my trip.  I think it is really annoying that the expiration date is sort of meaningless for these countries, except to determine that you can't travel in the last 6 months of the passports valid time frame.

It was pretty nice to find out that you can get a passport in 1 day if you are dedicated and show up at the San Francisco passport office at 7 am in the morning when there are already 20 people waiting for the passport office to open at 9. 

Luckily, the wait isn't so bad because you meet a lot of people in line right away with the same predicament and a lot of questions about whether or not they will aqctually get a passport.  One guy seemed to know what was going on.  He eased our stress by saying that the first 75 people would surely get their passports.  We shared travel plans and the guy behind me happened to be from Hong Kong.  He said I could rent a suit for the wedding there for about $50, but that's the foreigner price.  I decided to go ahead and bring a suit though since the hassle of a rental would have been stressful. 

So, by Tuesday, I had my new passport and I am all set to go.

I decided to start freaking out about the whole passport issue because I remember having to wait for weeks and weeks to get it renewed and delivered before

What to Expect

Erik and I are about to embark on a holiday trip to Asia. This trip was originally inspired because we have friends who are getting married in Hong Kong right before Christmas. We thought, while we are in the neighborhood we might as well visit another friend who lives in Singapore. Unfortunately, she had plans to be in England with her family for Christmas and wouldn't return to Singapore until right before the new year. It seemed Erik and I would have to fill the interim time bumming around South East Asia. Oh darn!

Those of you watching at home might want the run down on where we are going and when so that you can more easily follow along. Here is our itinerary:

December 17-18: Travel to Hong Kong
December 18-23: Hong Kong
December 23-28: Kata Beach, Phuket, Thailand
December 28-30: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
December 31-January 3: Singapore
January 4: Return home

Stay tuned for the fun and excitement to come.