Final Days in Kuala Lumpur - Pt. 4

The end of the week was winding down and I was getting ready to head to my next destination; Bali. But first, I had one more day and my friend from Minnesota from Seoul was coming to meet me and finish my last eight days in Bali with me. Now, I met my friend at UMD and we both played French horn together. Well, she was a flute performance major and she played in Wind Ensemble (the highest band) and she occasionally played French horn in concert band and pep band. So we've known each other for six years. So, she met me for one day and one night in Malaysia and then we were going to spend eight days in Bali.

Sheila was organized and an awesome person to travel with. She planned most of the things we did that day; mostly because I wanted her to see the things she wanted to see because I had already been there for five days or so. So we went to the Batu caves that's about 15km outside Kuala Lumpur. The cave is one of the most popular Hindu shrines outside India, dedicated to Lord Murugan. Outside the cave, there is a 42.7 m-high statue of Lord Murugan, which is the largest Lord Murugan statue in the world. The cave was damp and humid inside, but it was very neat to go in there. It seemed random that there was a cave so close to the city.

That was the first stop on our one-day tour. After that, we headed to the pewter museum. They make a lot of cool things there: cups, jewelry, replicas of things and the trophy for Formula One racing. It's really great because the tour took us through the factory and you could actually see the people working and see how things were made. A lot of work-by-hand went into making the products, so it was really hard not buying anything (I am pretty cheap and some of the things there were expensive).

Next on the tour was a textiles shop where you could see how patterns were made and woven into the cloth. It was pretty interesting, but the guides there weren't the best, so I wasn't too impressed with that lag of the trip.

Then, we went to the chocolate factory. the first thing we saw was how the seed from the cocoa bean was made into chocolate. Then Sheila said the funniest thing once the chocolate was finished: "Wow, it smells like Easter!" I laughed so hard when I heard this. I actually laughed so hard that the guy presenting was actually laughing too. It was hilarious. Then we continued to go through the store and sample a whole bunch of chocolates: chocolate covered espresso bean, vanilla chocolate, mango chocolate, EVERY kind of chocolate. I held out and didn't buy any (because I'm cheap) but I don't regret that.

I think that concluded the tour. I think we had one night together and another half day the next day before we flew out.

My new friend - Kuala Lumpur Pt. 3

I think it was after returning to my hostel from the KL Tower, I went to the roof of my hostel because from there you could see the Twin Towers poking through the building and the top of the KL Tower. So I was going to take some pictures until I ran into a girl up there. We started chatting and I thought she was from England, judging by her accent. Turns out, she was from Wales [close enough ;)]. I had just bought some beers, but we both went back to the store to buy more and sit on the roof.

When we got back, we started chatting and it turns out she was teaching English in South Korea too! It seemed like any foreigner I ran into was an English teacher somewhere. That was good because we had something in common and had something to talk about.

We decided to head to bed because I was still so tired those first couple days. But we made plans to hang out the next morning because she had just arrived and didn't know much. I told her I had been there for a couple days and know a little about the city. What she really wanted to do is see the bird park. I told her my extreme fear of birds and laughed at me. Oh well. But I still had my bright orange wristband from a couple days before, so I told her I would try to get in without paying.

So when we finally got to the bird park the next morning, she paid and got her bright orange wristband and I still had mine on. I remember from the first day that you could enter the park from the gift shop and there probably wasn't anyone guarding the door. There was a person there, but he just checked our wrists and let us go. So I got in without paying, which was nice.

We spent a good couple hours at the bird park and then walked across the street where we spent another couple hours at the orchid garden. She had just bought a new camera and wanted to use her 'macro' setting. She was very excited about it. Then I finally found out that I had a macro button on my ancient camera. Everyone makes fun of me and says it belongs at a museum. I think it takes pretty good pictures still, so I don't care.

I believe we also went back to the Towers again (surprise, surprise). I couldn't help it and since it was her first couple days there, she hadn't seen them yet. I think a lot of people go to Kuala Lumpur to see those towers. After that, I think we headed out to the bars. There is one popular bar in Chinatown that is popular with tourists. So we went there. We met some cool people there; lots of Europeans. Actually about five from Holland and one guy from Zimbabwe and a guy he was hanging out with. That guy was from Seattle, but he had a British accent. And he was brown; not black and not white, but mixed. I know that is probably politically incorrect, but I kept calling him that. I was so confused at his accent. But they were all pretty fun. Crazy fun.

Towers of Kuala Lumpur Pt. 2

I was really tired during the days, so the first couple days I actually stayed in the hostel to take naps. It reminded me a little of Spain or Mexico because everyday around 2pm, I would go home and rest. It was glorious. I knew I would be in the city for the next couple days, so I had no worries about missing something. Plus, isn't the point of vacation to relax?

I walked around Chinatown a lot. I also ate Subway quite frequently. But I really wanted to get a full view of the skyline, so I went back to the City Centre. Then I realized to get a full view of the skyline, I would need to go further away from the Twin Towers, not closer to them. So I took a few extra stops on the 'ol subway and walked as far as I could. I got tired pretty easily because it was so humid there. The temp was around 90 the full six days, but when I was checking the weather, it also said it was supposed to be thunderstorm-y the entire time I was there. I think it sprinkled maybe one day.

So I walked far enough to take a few shots of the skyline. I still don't know what draws me to those Twin Towers, but they are mesmerizing; almost hypnotic.

So walking all that way away from the towers, I realized I had to walk all that way back to get back to the subway. But it was getting dark, which was a good thing, because my plan was to go up in the Kuala Lumpur Tower at nighttime and go up in the Twin Towers during the day. That way I could see two different perspectives from two different towers during the daytime and the nighttime. Perfect, right?

Plan A worked, but plan B didn't. I successfully saw the Kuala Lumpur Tower at night, but the next day when I went to go up in the Twin Towers, I was too late in line to go all the way to the top observatory level. It's a first-come, first-serve basis and I didn't get there early enough in the morning at 8:30, so I figured I wouldn't get up any earlier any other day, so I would just deal with it.

I couldn't go all the way to the top, but I could go to the sky bridge. The sky bridge in unique because it's a two-story bridge. In fact, it's the tallest two-story bridge in the world at 558 ft. The 41st floor is only used for tourists and the 42nd floor is only for workers in the buildings. The sky bridge also isn't even connected between the two towers. It was designed to be able to slide in case high winds blew the buildings and made them sway. Pretty intense.

That's the story of my experiences in the towers. I swear I visited those towers everyday. OH YEAH! I should tell you. While I was waiting in line to get my ticket to the sky bridge, I got there at 8:30 and waited an hour just to get a voucher for a ticket. Once you got that, you had to wait again (for another hour!) to get the actual ticket. So when I finally get my ticket, it says my time to go up in 2:20!!!! Now I have to waste time around this place for four hours!!!

Luckily, the towers had six levels of shopping. It slightly reminded me of Mall of America because it was just endless shops and stores. Tons of name brands and everything. So I got some lunch and stumbled upon a movie theater. They had two movies playing that I really wanted to see: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 and The Hangover 2. I decided on The Hangover 2. I had a 7-hour layover in Kuala Lumpur on my return from Bali to Seoul, so I figured I would leave the airport and plan on seeing the final Harry Potter movie. Perfect!

I really enjoyed my day just walking around the stores and seeing the towers. I WANT TO GO BACK!!!!!

Summer vacation - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Pt. 1

Well, I finally have some time to catch everyone up on my summer vacation. I got 16 days off, which is a long time for a hagwon. I was pretty happy. So I decided to split the vacation and travel six days in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and spend eight days in Bali, Indonesia. I traveled alone for the first four days in Kuala Lumpur. I wanted to travel with other people from my town, but everyone had different vacation times. My co-workers didn't want to go to Malaysia, so I just decided to head there by myself. I was scared, but I would never admit it to anyone.

My co-workers were going to Thailand, but they had a long layover in Kuala Lumpur. So even though we all booked flights at different times and through difference sites, ironically (or coincidentally) we were all on the same flight to Kuala Lumpur. So I was a 6.5 hour non-stop flight and we arrived around 6pm. We all had accommodations in Chinatown, so we all walked to find my co-workers' hostel. I was staying at a different place.

When we started looking for my hostel, we had no idea where to go. They were only supposed to be around the corner from each other. Me, being stupid, forgot to print my confirmation, so I didn't have the address. After about an hour of looking, I finally went to an internet cafe and wrote down the address for my hostel. then we were asking every person that walked by and they had no idea where the hostel was. I thought that was impossible because Chinatown wasn't that big and I couldn't fathom how nobody knew or ever heard of this hostel. After two hours, we finally found it.

After that adventure, we went to Nando's for dinner. Everyone was talking about how they haven't had it in a long time and I was saying that I have never even heard of it. The three people I was with were all South African, so maybe it's more common there than in the States? I don't know. I had half a chicken, I think. It hit the spot actually.

After that, we all decided we wanted to see the Petronas Twin Towers. That is the one reason why I wanted to go to Kuala Lumpur. Something so majestic about those two buildings that really attracted me to go there. It was awesome. From Chinatown, KLCC (Kuala Lumpur City Centre) is only four stops on the subway. Very cheap and easy.

So as we are emerging from the subway station, you look up the stairs and the tower is literally the only thing you see. It was breath-taking. As you get to the street level and keep walking, another identical tower comes popping out. The buildings really amazed me. I can't explain it. So we spent a while there and headed back to the hostels.

We went to bed in our respective hostels and one girl and I went to the bird park. If anyone knows me, I don't really things that fly, so of course, I go to the largest free-flight walk-in aviary in the world. I'm stupid. It was a great time though. Over 200 species of birds. It was maybe $15 to enter, and you get one of those bright orange wristbands. I like to keep those one for multiple days. I don't know why. So we saw lots of birds and took a professional picture as a souvenir. It's kind of what you do when you go to that bird park.

I forgot to mention and was too lazy to go back and edit, but on our way to the bird park, we stopped at the National Mosque. That was pretty cool. It was very open with a fountain in it. It had all these pillars and and main praying room. People couldn't go in there; only if you were Muslim. You were still able to take pictures from the outside.

It was very different than a church or a cathedral. All my other travels have been mainly been to predominantly Catholic countries (just thinking of Mexico and Spain). I have been to many cathedrals, but never many mosques.

After spending a day togetrher, my co-worker finally said she had to head back to the airport and catch her flight to Thailand. I was a little nervous, but I knew I would be fine. I think I ate at Subway after they all left and went to bed early. I was pretty tired still.

So that was the first day. I hate to admit it, but I think I ate at Subway at least once a day for the first three days. I was nervous to eat by myself or alone, but I didn't mind eating alone at Subway. Don't judge me.

New Kind of Biker Gang

My friend had this bike in Korea, and when she left, she gave it to me. She left way back in February and I just picked the bike up now. Why? I’ll tell you.

There are three foreign teachers in my school and we all live in different apartments. But there are six other teachers who all live in the same building. It’s called the waygook building (foreigner building). So my friend just had it locked up and parked in the little lobby.



So I was hanging out with those foreigners at their apartment and finally someone said, ‘hey, you have to take that bike in the next five days, or it’s mine.’ I said OK and went to get the key so I could take it home. My friend gave the key to another foreigner in that building, so I asked that guy for the key. Of course, he didn’t know where it was.



So I walk to the local hardware store and point to a bike lock. Then I say, “I need to cut.” She the guy reached for a big clippers and said ‘$25.’ I said no. Then he pointed to a tiny saw that was probably less sharp than a serrated knife. But he said it was $1, so I jumped all over that.



So when I got back t the apartment where the bike was, my friend helped hold the bike lock while I sawed through it. It took about ten minutes. After that, I went back to the same guy and bought a new combination bike lock. I’m glad the guy didn’t seem too suspicious as to why I bought a knife so I could cut off a bike lock, then come back ten minutes later and buy another one. That doesn’t have theft written all over it…



So I am officially the proud new owner of a bike. It’s too bad that I didn’t get to ride it for the whole summer. But I must say that basket is very convenient. I went to the supermarket and put all my groceries in there. Usually it would be a 15-minute walk with two heavy bags. So this is better!

Flooding and Landslides

So, Korea has a monsoon season and what I've heard is that this summer has had record rainfall. Great. The rain fell the hardest in mid-to-late July, so I was home for one of those weeks and preparing for my summer vacation the other week. Then I headed out of the country for two weeks. But the flooding happened not too far from where I'm living.

Chuncheon is the second biggest city in my province. They got hit the worst by the rainfall and landslides. 32 people died. It's weird to think that all this could be happening and I'm only 50km away. Not good.

Here is a clip from MSNBC: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43909618/ns/weather/t/dozens-dead-landslides-flash-floods-hit-south-korea/

There was also flooding in Seoul and one of the subway lines had to close. That wasn't good because Koreans are work-a-holics and heavily rely on the subway system. I wouldn't want to be stranded underground in the subway.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCSAUQ5whFY

A Small Hiatus

Hello! I must apologize for not blogging for quit some time now. The month of July was very busy for me, working many late hours and Saturdays AND Sundays!!! Saturdays AND Sundays!!! It was a long month. With working all those extra hours, I didn't have much time to go out and have fun. But, with a quick trip home and 16 days in Southeast Asia, I am back and ready with some stories.

First, I should tell you about this experience I had in Seoul. My friend was leaving Korea and she had an early flight Saturday morning. So she has this great idea that we would go out in Seoul, stay up all night and she could go straight to the airport. I ALSO thought it was a great idea. But remember, I was working late hours and weekends. I thought I could sneak away for the night anyway.

So Friday night, the last bus from Inje leaves at 7pm. I finished work at nine. Crap. So one of my adult students was going to Chuncheon to go to the big department store there. She gladly offered me a ride. The last bus from Chuncheon left at 11:30pm. So when I finished work, I left with my adult student at 9pm, arrived in Chuncheon in an hour and a half or so, and caught the bus to Seoul at 11:30pm. Perfect.



Well, I don't know if you know this, but Seoul is a big city (understatement of the year). So the bus station I arrive at and the place where I'm meeting my friends takes about an hour on the subway. So, I figure since the subway stops running at 2am, I should be fine. So, I board the subway at 12:30am thinking I will make my 2am deadline. To my surprise, the subway stops after about four stops and someone approaches me and says 'finishy,' which means finish in English. So I said, 'Oh, crap' and got off the train.

So now, I am in this part of Seoul, standing in the rain with my umbrella, half drunk (I had been drinking since I left Chuncheon) and looking for a cab. The cab ride would be about 45 minutes to the final destination, so I was prepared to pay a hefty fee. A cab finally drove by and we were off.

I can't remember how long it took us to get there, but the fee was only about $17. I can't complain about that. Plus, I finished me whiskey in the cab, so I was alright. So I finally met my friends at 2am.



Think this story is finished? Heck no. So you know how I said I was working Saturdays AND Sundays! Well, I had to work the next morning. So, after dancing in the club for about four hours, it's now 6am Saturday morning and I work at 11am. So, I have to make the trek back to the other side of Seoul to catch the bus back to Inje. I arrived at the bus station at 8am or so. The bus I was catching was at 8:45. I thought 'perfect, two hour bus ride brings me to 10:45am, 15 minutes to shower and be off to school.' Well, that didn't happen. I was on the slow bus, which means that it stops in every small village between Seoul and Inje. Lame.

So, I finally got home at 11:30am, had to remove my beer-soaked clothes, rinse off in the shower and head to work. Luckily I slept for an hour on the subway from where I met my friends to the bus station and for an hour or two on the bus from Seoul to Inje. Needless to say, that was a long day of teaching.

I have never regretted that decision and I was really glad I was able to see my friend and spend one last night with her. This was the second weekend in July and I haven't been to Seoul since. Maybe that's a good thing?

Thanks..more stories to come!