Kuala Lumpur

Our first real taste of Mainland Malaysia was the city of Kuala Lumpur. A place that bathes in it's relatively new wealth, an overcrowded urban sprawl with McDonald's next door to the man whose been frying rice on the same street for 30 years.

Let me at this stage say that our impression of KL was most likely tainted because of 2 things; Jackie had a bad cold and we were staying in the worst hostel in the world (Pudu - but should be Poodoo). After a long journey from Singapore we were both really looking forward to getting a good nights sleep. This would be our only dream for the day because our bed had expired 100 years ago and we had a noisy neighbour, a furious Indian woman who was arguing with her husband on the phone.

The optimistic travellers that we are, we ventured off the next morning to the Petronas Towers and managed to secure 2 of the 1200 free skybridge tickets handed out each day. An amazing building with a great view from the bridge.

Jacks retired to the hostel and I decided to visit the Jamek Mosque, the city's most famous. I found myself a robe and was walking through the outskirts of the structure when I noticed a pair of tourists wander into the main prayer room. A middle-aged fellow (that authorities should really be keeping an eye on) also saw them and went screaming frantically after them. He chased them out and then turned his attentions on anyone else in the area, namely me. He ran up asking if I was Muslim. I managed to stop myself from making any derogatory remark or tying him around the nearest pillar and calmly exited. With a possible international incident averted I de-robed and started making my way out of the grounds but was cut off by another chap. He was very apologetic and told me that I was most welcome in their mosque. I thanked him but said that it most certainly didn't feel that way.

As we left on a night bus we had our last look at the city and the iconic Towers lit up against the night sky I contemplated the city and our experience. A city with architectural genius, with fantastic shops and restaurants and an amazingly varied culture and people but one that lacks any real warmth. If only they would smile once in a while.