Friday 14th March
Yesterday we
changed hotels, from Quality to Geo. No
longer will we be able to see the KL Tower, looming mysteriously out of the
smog behind the blue mosaic building.
Geo is
similar. A slightly bigger bed, a
slightly smaller building, a different view of tall buildings in the smog from
our 10th floor. The position is a bit
better – right near the Central Market, on the edge of Chinatown.
 |
| There are still some shabby old buildings right in the heart of the city |
We left Quality
and took the monorail two stops to the Geo, which is right on a bus stop as
well as a train stop. We had a brief
moment of panic when Pete stepped nimbly onto the train as the doors shut in my
startled face. All was well; another
train came within minutes and I got off at the next station to find Pete on the
platform.*
 |
| Yes I do beware of pickpockets |
We caught our hop
on/hop off bus to the National Museum.
This is very big, full of history and a bit of geology. Oh dear poor Malaya, now Malaysia, forever
getting invaded – the Spanish, the Portuguese, the Dutch, the English, the Japanese,
all of the looting and pillaging the country and fighting with each other as
well.
There was an extra
exhibition in one of the outer buildings – Beauty Through Beading. We just loved it, such intricate work,
beautiful colours, subtle designs.
Next stop – the
bird park. I subscribe to the belief
that no cage is big enough, for
birds. But…an eight acre netted
enclosure – that is just about big enough…
We met a German
couple in the cafeteria, and ran into them again later in the hot steamy
streets of Chinatown. Hanna said Next time we meet we must have a drink! Indeed; they were very nice! They re in KL visiting family, and they have
been here for less than two days… They are REALLY feeling the heat!
Just near Geo
there are many little shops, selling this, that, the other. And...a window full of knitting yarn! What garments could they knit, here, where it
is never chilly, other than inside airconditioned buildings?? Pauline assures me they knit scarves…I don’t
feel the need for a scarf here at all…except maybe right now in his chilly
hotel room…
The sun struggles
to get through. I don’t think we need to
worry about sunburn one little bit!
* The same thing happened to me in the Metro
in Mexico City, which, with a population of 12 million (who’s counting??) and
an alarming crime rate, is a bit of a scary place to get separated from your
one and only friend on the North American continent… But a hero stepped up - a
most villainous looking man, thin, ragged, moustached, not very clean, missing
several major front teeth. “I will take
you to your husband!” he said, firmly taking me by the arm and steering me onto
the very next train. At every station he
stuck his head out, scanned the platform, and stayed at my side. After about six stops there was Pete, and my
protector thrust me into his arms, looking very relieved.
It also happened to Katy when she was teaching in
Santiago (Chile.) There was a brand new
metro system, very swish, very speedy.
She and another teacher had taken a whole gang of Grade Six students to
a city museum. On the way back, half of
them were on the train when…the doors shut and of they went, with no teacher on
board… If this had happened in Australia imagine the fuss! Maybe even a Royal Commission, or at least a
stern warning to the hapless teachers! But…not in
Chile. All was well, they were all
happily reunited and everyone thought it was a great adventure.
No comments:
Post a Comment