{"id":1856,"date":"2011-12-01T21:47:55","date_gmt":"2011-12-01T13:47:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mayl.id.au\/?page_id=1856"},"modified":"2017-08-17T21:40:52","modified_gmt":"2017-08-17T13:40:52","slug":"kl-pg-2","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.mayl.id.au\/?page_id=1856","title":{"rendered":"KL Pg 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

Thu 17th<\/strong>
\nI slept better on David\u2019s side of the bed \u2013 thank goodness for that! I\u2019m really a person that needs my sleep. And I was very relieved to hear that he had been fine on my allocated lumps and bumps!<\/p>\n

Now here\u2019s a funny thing. The pictures on the hotel room walls were black and white prints of flowers and such. I hate black and white photos of nature \u2013 why ruin a beautiful thing? But one of the pictures was *really* \u2018alternate\u2019. Nothing there but an empty frame adhered to the wall. I spent some moments expecting the hotel to accuse us of stealing it and I wondered how many guests have stayed there since it went missing. Or whatever did happen to it?<\/p>\n

\"Transparent

Transparent Picture?<\/p><\/div>\n

Breakfast today included the delicious bread pudding that I\u2019ve already mentioned and some waffles that weren\u2019t quite \u2018dried out\u2019 but definitely came over as being a bit old!<\/p>\n

Having failed in my attempts yesterday to persuade David to buy some gifts for the family, he\u2019d now decided that he was happy to get them, so we decided to walk once more to Sungei Wang Plaza.\u00a0 The route was now familiar and I will take this moment to share with you the real-life horror of the footpaths and their drains!\u00a0 Here\u2019s one stretch where there are 4 drains in the middle of the visible footpath \u2013 3 of them were missing.\u00a0 Just open, gaping holes with an 8 to 10 foot drop for those not paying attention!!!<\/p>\n

\"Pedestrians

Pedestrians Beware!<\/p><\/div>\n

Not only that, but as I walked to the right of this one I tripped on one of a series of metal rods that were sticking up about an inch, where it seems that a fence of bygone days had just been sawn off at a height comfortable to the person doing the sawing, and the stubs left for the unwary.\u00a0 Heck, we were *being* wary and still didn\u2019t notice them until after I\u2019d tripped! \u00a0This one has even been camouflaged ROFL<\/p>\n

\"Camouflaged

Camouflaged Death Trap<\/p><\/div>\n

Once we got to Sungei Wang, the trouble was that we couldn\u2019t find the shop I was looking for!\u00a0 It had some shoes suitable for the children that looked like crocs but had toes with claws so that they looked like monster feet.\u00a0 I was cross with myself for not insisting that we got them yesterday while we still knew where they were.<\/p>\n

Instead, I actually managed to get David to buy 2 pairs of jeans \u2013 you just don\u2019t know what a miracle it is to get him to buy clothes!!!\u00a0 He got them for a total of about $40 Australian so we were very happy with that.\u00a0 Then we saw some dear little fluffy backpacks that the girls would love and some really cute \u2018diamond-studded\u2019 teddy bear key rings that I hoped Amie would like, so we got those.\u00a0 And just around the corner\u2026 monster shoes.\u00a0 Yaaayyyyy!\u00a0 We got a pair each for the 2 girls and the youngest boy but the only ones big enough for the elder lad were pink and we didn\u2019t think he\u2019d appreciate that.\u00a0 But then we saw a great Spiderman mask and *knew* he\u2019d love that!\u00a0 Excellent.\u00a0 I\u2019m always more relaxed once we have gifts to bring home!<\/p>\n

From here we walked once more to the Petronas Towers and as always took a heap of photos every time we got there.\u00a0 They really were fascinating to photograph.\u00a0 So I guess I may as well get that out of my system and share them all at once before continuing with the story.<\/p>\n

\"Petronas

Petronas Towers<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Petronas

Petronas Towers<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Petronas

Petronas Towers<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Petronas

Petronas Towers<\/p><\/div>\n

Once I\u2019d done with kneeling down low on the ground to make sure I had every single floor of the towers in my shots, David managed to drag me away and we went into the shopping centre once more.\u00a0 This time we were hungry and decided to indulge in a Haagen Dazs ice cream.\u00a0 We\u2019d enjoyed one of these in Singapore and were very much looking forward to trying their delights again.\u00a0 Looks like we did LOL\u00a0 They were very delicious and served by really friendly staff who actually brought us a more than welcome *cold* glass of water each!!!<\/p>\n

\"David's

David's Iced Coffee<\/p><\/div>\n

\"May's

May's Ice Cream<\/p><\/div>\n

Nom, nom, nom, as they say these days!!!<\/p>\n

After this, and another check with the centre\u2019s concierge about the fountains to music show \u2013 and with just as vague a look in return \u2013 we just wandered around the park behind the towers fairly aimlessly.\u00a0 It was pretty hot that day and we enjoyed watching a large group of young children splashing and laughing in the wading and paddling pools and waterfalls.\u00a0 They were supervised by parents and teachers and we did take some photos but of course it\u2019s wise not to share photos of children without permission so I won\u2019t post them.<\/p>\n

Hot and tired we returned eventually to the hotel and decided to try the other infinity pool on level 7 that was for everyone in the building.\u00a0 Do you think this one was warm?\u00a0 Not on your nelly!\u00a0 Just as freezing as the one above.\u00a0 In actual fact it was rather an odd feeling to look up 4 floors to see the large, protruding \u2018balcony\u2019 above us and know it was full of all that weight of water.\u00a0 And to know that we were standing in another just the same.\u00a0 All that water and weight suspended far above us and all that water and weight we were standing in, also unsupported.\u00a0 As if the cold wasn\u2019t enough, it was time to get out before I had much more time to think about it.<\/p>\n

The welcome from the desk at the entrance to the pool\/gym was about as warm as the water; where they had grudgingly given us towels.\u00a0 David went to the men\u2019s changerooms as I entered the ladies\u2019.\u00a0 There were showers but nowhere in the cubicle to put anything that would remain dry!\u00a0 I\u2019d got my gym clothes and shoes so all I could do was put those outside the door and wash the pool water off me and then quickly dry myself and go find somewhere to change.\u00a0 There was nowhere private to do this other than a toilet cubicle so I tried to find a little spot at the back where the lockers were.\u00a0 I had no idea if it was \u2018the thing\u2019 to get dry and then dressed where other women could potentially see me but there didn\u2019t seem any choice.\u00a0 If I was young and slim and all that kind of thing it wouldn\u2019t worry me at all \u2013 but I\u2019m not!\u00a0 And of course by Asian standards I\u2019m quite a big girl.\u00a0 One staff member came around as I tried to huddle discreetly in my towel.\u00a0 Nothing I can do about that!<\/p>\n

By the time I came out I\u2019d been so long that David was just about calling the police!\u00a0 His welcome was a bit chilly but never mind.\u00a0 We went into the gym and nobody took any notice of us at all.\u00a0 We chose 2 treadmills and easily figured out how to use them and began to warm up. \u00a0After 5 minutes we began to run and still no staff member took any notice of us at all.\u00a0 I mean, we could be overweight grandparents with no idea what they were doing and on the way to killing themselves!!!\u00a0 Oh, wait!\u00a0 We *are* overweight grandparents!!! \u00a0ROFL\u00a0 Fortunately we do know what we\u2019re doing on a treadmill and running but nobody there cared to check!<\/p>\n

In all the buildings and rooms we\u2019d been into in KL we\u2019d discovered that, the colder the aircon, the more of a status symbol it appeared to be.\u00a0 The motto of KL could be \u2018We\u2019ll freeze you best!\u2019\u00a0 But in this gym where you need some cooling, the air was still and warm.\u00a0 Not a single breath of air moved anywhere in the place and it was stifling!\u00a0 We were having to alternate walking and running whereas we usually run without stopping for 30 minutes or more!\u00a0 By the time we were as hot as anyone would ever want to be, the machines told us we\u2019d burned about 200 calories each.\u00a0 But we never had told it our weights.\u00a0 Or age!\u00a0 And when we looked at our own heart rate monitor readings we\u2019d actually burned more like 600.\u00a0 Part of that would have been coping with the heat more than anything else.\u00a0 The equipment, as I\u2019ve already said, was really outstanding, but the supervision was dangerously lax and the temperature better suited to a sauna.<\/p>\n

We went back to our room for a shower \u2013 the first thing all day at a temperature of our own choosing LOL\u00a0 Here\u2019s one thing I loved about the bathroom though.\u00a0 The tap on the basin looked like a dog \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

\"Dog-Shaped

Dog-Shaped Tap<\/p><\/div>\n

We dined at The Club again and had our third different waitress in three days.\u00a0 This one delivered incredibly slow and uncaring service, the air conditioning was even more freezing than usual, and when she took David\u2019s plate she did not offer any dessert.\u00a0 Now in this instance he\u2019d chosen a \u2018set\u2019 which meant that he automatically got a main course *and* a dessert but there was no sign of it showing up.\u00a0 I finished my meal and my plate sat there in front of me and the waitress was nowhere to be seen.\u00a0 Not only this, but, as we\u2019d gotten towards the end of our meals, the same stink as last night began to permeate the place.\u00a0 Even if the waitress did show we did not fancy continuing to eat with that smell.<\/p>\n

We decided to go find the waitress so that David could sign the tab and found her hiding behind one of the mirrored pillars.\u00a0 A waiter appeared also and I told him that David\u2019s meal should have included a dessert.\u00a0 He apologised and asked if we would like to take it with us to our room and I said yes please.\u00a0 I was not too happy that they would not produce David\u2019s dessert as they should, and at not being given the opportunity to get one of my own.\u00a0 The waiter was away for about 5 minutes and when he came back he gave us a huge cling-wrapped piece of date cake that I happen to know was the \u2018dessert of the day\u2019 yesterday.\u00a0 When we got it to our room we found the cake to be quite dry, which I suppose was no surprise.\u00a0 I think it had been out on the counter uncovered since yesterday!\u00a0 Explains the large slice – they were getting rid of it.<\/p>\n

Fri 18th<\/sup><\/strong><\/p>\n

I know that I never write a story without mentioning toilets and this one is liable to be worse than normal.\u00a0 The toilet in our bathroom included instructions on the lid telling us not to stand on the seat \u2013 yes, truly!!! \u2013 and showed how to turn a small knob on the side so that it became a bidet.\u00a0 I decided I\u2019d be brave rather than regret never trying this for the rest of my life, but got David to stand by in case water sprayed everywhere.\u00a0 As I gingerly turned the knob David said that a little arm came up from the back of the bowl and water sprayed gently from it.\u00a0 Obviously it was cold water so didn\u2019t rock my boat, but I\u2019m pleased that I tried it.<\/p>\n

After this riveting experience we decided, after much research on Google again last night, to go to the one and only Tourist Information Office in KL to find out what exciting things we could be doing with our remaining days.\u00a0 In order to get there we had to catch the train.\u00a0 The station was right outside our hotel and we just had to walk a short distance and then go down the escalators.\u00a0 The girl in the ticket kiosk was really friendly and sold us our tickets for 5 stops for the mere price of 2 ringits and 70 sen for both of us.\u00a0 That\u2019s less than $1 Aussie.\u00a0 The train, however, was quite a shock!\u00a0 We could see straight out of the front of it \u2013 and the back.\u00a0 There was no driver!!!<\/p>\n

\"Driverless

Driverless Train<\/p><\/div>\n

Not a brilliant photo, but this is looking out the front of the train at the tunnel as we went along.\u00a0 Quite entertaining for us I assure you!<\/p>\n

Once we got off the train I could not recreate the route that we walked for all the tea in China.\u00a0 Up steps, down steps, would have gone across a bridge but it was closed for maintenance, through a multi-storey car park, up high kerbs, across busy roads, across the huge forecourt of a big mosque and, finally, we were sure we were on the right road.\u00a0 Along we went, looking for the Info Centre and it began to drizzle so I put up my little umbrella which brings joy wherever we travel.\u00a0 It\u2019s a kids umbrella, black at the back and white at the front with 2 penguins drawn on it and it has a bit sticking up at the top with a cute penguin face on it, and 2 big black ears sticking out to the sides.\u00a0 There\u2019s a photo about 3\/4s of the way down this page<\/a> if you wish to see it.\u00a0 As always, \u2018pengy\u2019 produced smiles from everyone that passed us on foot and even from some people in cars as they drove by.\u00a0 I love pengy!<\/p>\n

We walked and we walked and were positive that we\u2019d gone far enough for the Info place but there was nothing even remotely looking like anything helpful.\u00a0 Turns out that the building must have been flattened some time ago and was now a building site.\u00a0 And do you think there\u2019s a sign telling you where the Info place has moved to?\u00a0 Absolutely not!<\/p>\n

Disappointed after our train journey and long, difficult walk, all we could do was turn back.\u00a0 After a while we reached a hill that apparently contained many points of interest so we climbed up the steep road to see which of these we would be able to find.\u00a0 The sign posting was vague in the extreme but we managed to find one that pointed to the Planetarium and after first almost accidentally going into the admin building, which was not welcomed LOL, we climbed an increasingly steep hill and then many steps and got to the spot where you pay to go in.<\/p>\n

Security was showing a list of things you could not take in so I checked that did not include cameras or handbags before we committed ourselves \u2013 I am not parting with either of those!\u00a0 We could keep them, so went to pay and were amazed at how cheap it was.\u00a0 I seem to remember it was 2 ringits each \u2013 60 Aussie cents.\u00a0 And just as well too.\u00a0 Admittedly we did not try every exhibit, but over half of those that we did try didn\u2019t work.\u00a0 The coolness of the aircon was worth 60 cents though after the steep climb to get up there.<\/p>\n

Now I\u2019m going to need to take some time-out here to explain something before I introduce you to the next item.\u00a0 The public toilets (or Tandas in Malay) were usually 50\/50 squat toilets and western toilets.\u00a0 However, the chances of there being toilet paper in the western toilets was about 10%\u00a0 After donating many of my tissues to a worthy cause we had learned to take sufficient toilet paper with us in David\u2019s backpack.\u00a0 The other issue, and probably the worst part, was that even in the western toilets, in place of toilet paper were water hoses \u2013 sometimes literally sections of garden hose attached to a garden tap.\u00a0 Now I don\u2019t mind if people choose to use these instead of paper, that\u2019s personal choice, but when I go into a loo and the seat is completely swimming in water, I am not too happy!\u00a0 Two or three tissues to dry the seat, my trusty loo seat disinfectant spray and another tissue to dry that and then another for the usual purpose and I\u2019m starting to have to walk around with a family box of Kleenex under one arm!!!\u00a0 And how do they dry themselves after they’ve used those hoses – do they have a towel layer under their long skirts or do they drip dry?<\/p>\n

So, having filled you in on that, one of the exhibits in the Planetarium was a space toilet \u2013 truly!<\/p>\n

\"Space

Space Toilet<\/p><\/div>\n

And look.\u00a0 No toilet paper!!!\u00a0 ROFL<\/p>\n

As we left the Planetarium, walking down their hundred (at least) steps with their signs saying \u2018slippery when wet\u2019 (well duh!\u00a0 if you will make footpaths out of ceramic tiles they *will be* slippery won\u2019t they? *And* it\u2019s a tropical country that has monsoons so \u2018wet\u2019 is going to happen a lot!), David glanced back and saw that there were people in the tall telescope tower.\u00a0 We\u2019d seen a lift door but the sign on it had only been in Malay so we\u2019d presumed it was staff only.\u00a0 Almost every sign everywhere else was in Malay and English.\u00a0 So because we didn\u2019t speak Malay we had missed out on going up the tower.\u00a0 We\u2019d have happily paid another 2 ringits to go back in had we not been half way down the steps by now.\u00a0 We did *not* have the energy to climb back up there!\u00a0 I might add at this point that almost all of the footpaths in KL were tiled and many of them had \u2018slippery when wet\u2019 warnings.\u00a0 I found this very strange but I guess they have their reasons.<\/p>\n

Anyway, we continued on around the hilly road and soon saw the net over the top of the Bird Park.\u00a0 We were on the right track!\u00a0 Along the way there was a fallen tree and I was so amazed at the size of the leaves.<\/p>\n

\"Giant

Giant Leaves<\/p><\/div>\n

The Bird Park was more expensive but not outlandish and in we went through the double doors to be greeted by gorgeous yellow Sun Conure parrots.<\/p>\n

\"Sun

Sun Conure Parrots<\/p><\/div>\n

There were peacocks everywhere and lots of different birds just wandering and flying around freely within the canopy netting.\u00a0 We were hungry by now and bought a drinking coconut to share and an ice cream each which one peahen in particular was determined to share.\u00a0 I spent the whole time with one hand virtually holding her beak while I tried to eat my magnum LOL<\/p>\n

\"Determined

Determined Ice Cream Eating Peahen<\/p><\/div>\n

The next thing we knew, the sky came over black \u2013 you can see in the photo how dark it was \u2013 and the heavens opened as the rain poured down.\u00a0 We rushed to the tiny roof overhang of the kiosk and huddled with others under there until we thought it had cleared and then continued on our way.\u00a0 But no, the rain had other ideas and it bucketted it down once more. \u00a0Poor pengy was not up to this volume of rain and I\u2019d bundled my cloth camera bag into a plastic bag and was more concerned about keeping this dry than myself.\u00a0 The water ran freely down my back and David didn\u2019t even have the pretence of an umbrella so he was drenched to the skin.<\/p>\n

We managed to find a small shelter that already had 2 couples in it and one pair moved up so that I could have a seat on the side where the rain was not blowing in.\u00a0 However, my thin cotton trousers soon told me that the rain had blown there at some recent time.\u00a0 Yuk.\u00a0 Now that was a cold surprise I could have lived without!\u00a0 We had to all shelter here for quite some time and there was loud thunder including one clap that made us all jump into next week, it was so sudden and incredibly loud!\u00a0 The western-looking couple appeared to be speaking a European language for the few words they spoke and the Muslim couple that had moved up for us did not say anything so we all sat there being individuals rather than interacting.<\/p>\n

After a while the rain slowed and the birds began to sing once more so we trusted that they knew what they were doing and began to walk around again.\u00a0 But no, the rain started up, heavily once more and back we went to the shelter.\u00a0 The other couples had not moved and the Muslim man said \u201cHello again!\u201d\u00a0 I laughed in agreement.\u00a0 Now \u2018hello\u2019 may be a word that many cultures know but \u2018again\u2019 was more advanced so I decided to see if we could have a conversation and asked where they were from.\u00a0 Although the answer was Saudi Arabia, it turned out that he had been studying in a Queensland university for the past 18 months so we ended up having an interesting chat that helped pass the time.<\/p>\n

When even the waterbirds look wet you know you\u2019ve had some rain!<\/p>\n

\"Bedraggled

Bedraggled Flamingo<\/p><\/div>\n

Finally, the rain did stop, though huge drops still fell from the trees for a long time.\u00a0 We were able to explore once more, but I suppose our hearts were not in it the way they had been to start with.\u00a0 At one point there was a man-made waterfall that I really liked and we took some photos from behind the water, which was fun.<\/p>\n

\"Behind

Behind the Waterfall<\/p><\/div>\n

And we saw this duck which made for an unusual photo with the position he\u2019d got himself into to preen.<\/p>\n

\"Jumbled

Jumbled Duck<\/p><\/div>\n

And I\u2019m going to leave this here for today.\u00a0 More when I can!<\/p>\n

Next page\/…<\/a><\/p>\n

Please feel free to leave a comment in the fields below before leaving this page. Email addresses will not be used in any way, nor displayed for anyone to see.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thu 17th I slept better on David\u2019s side of the bed \u2013 thank goodness for that! I\u2019m really a person that needs my sleep. And I was very relieved to hear that he had been fine on my allocated lumps … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":1840,"menu_order":2,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1856","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mayl.id.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1856","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mayl.id.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mayl.id.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mayl.id.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mayl.id.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1856"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/www.mayl.id.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1856\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3918,"href":"https:\/\/www.mayl.id.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1856\/revisions\/3918"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mayl.id.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1840"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mayl.id.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1856"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}