June 9, 2001 - Saturday - Singapore to Kuala Lumpur
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| Petronas Twin Towers, World's tallest buildings |
I left Singapore this morning without seeing much of it. Little Indian was fairly unkempt and a bit on the dirty side, as was Chinatown, but it wasn't as bad. I boarded the bus to KL and we passed through some very nice part of the country.
It was a bit disorienting because after an hour or so, the bus pulled up to this large airport-like structure and everyone hopped out to go into it. We walked through Singapore immigration and then hopped onto the bus again. We then proceeded to JB where we repeated the procedure.
I think I was supposed to hop on the bus again but I didn't think of it. I asked a guy for instructions on which bus to catch. He told me the bus number and how much it would cost, which was only RM$0.80 (about a quarter) but I didn't have any Malaysian Ringots with me and there were no moneychangers around.
He gave me a RM$1 and wouldn't accept my offer of US dollars in exchange and bided me farewell with a smile. It's great to meet nice people like that. After I got on the bus to KL, I read a little bit before falling asleep. About an hour outside of KL, I started chatting with this guy sitting next to me. His name was Shahril, a Malaysian living in KL but working in JB.
He asked me if I'm planning on visiting other places besides KL and the islands to the north, and I said no. He said most tourists only visit the tourist areas and don't visit the countryside, which made me a bit embarrassed since I was trying to avoid being that type of tourist.
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| Shahril eating Roti - thin flat bread with various types of curry |
Shahril invited me to go with him to the countryside where his parents live and I accepted the gracious invitation. He walked me to my hostel across the streets from the bus station and helped me checked in. We then went downstairs to grab a bite of Malay-Indian food to eat. He refused to let me pay for it. We parted company after that and I went back to the hostel to hang out a bit before heading to bed.
;)
;)
