Time Machine #5: White Mah-El in Kay-El

Flying from Europe to Australia is hell. Lets not beat around the proverbial bush. You have a 12 hour nightmare of a flight, a few hours at an airport, then another 8 numbing hours till you get Downunder. Actually to be honest I'd prefer a 12 hour anal probe, but enough about my fantasies.. basically it sucks. How to make it good? Why not stop over in Malaysia's capital, affectionately known as 'KL', and wash away that jet-lag, poolside.

Thats what I did. Service at the Impiana was impeccable - free iced tea and cool towls upon arrival, a grand foyer with classical trio's playing for your listening pleasure, and the best buffet breakfast I've had, period. All you can eat roti - cooked fresh on the spot, bacon, pasta, noodles, and pink guava juice are just what I had in my left hand. Okay you get the idea. The pool was great, Baby & I stared at the unbroken water surface which just flowed over the side of the building before diving in with grins on our face. Nothing like having a swim-hole to yourself, if you exclude a few pervy tradesman-types.

So whats Malaysia like? Well I only saw the city obviously, and I cant help but draw conclusions to my time in Singapore. Which would probably irk residents of both countries. I know if someone said 'Omg Australia is JUST like New Zealand' it would ruffle my feathers, even though it just might be. So not mentioning that again, MY has great cheap food, crazy motorbikes that swerve between cars like a scene out of Matrix Reloaded, markets that sell all kinds of food that scare poor innocent white bois like me, and more than enough shopping malls to satisfy your inner consumer-whore.

In my short time the highlight was definately Batu Caves. This Hindu site is the setting for the yearly Thaipusam, a hardcore religious pilgrimage-type thing where many devotees perform many 'acts of faith' including crazy face/body piercing. Theres certainly nothing like it in our country and definately has some big culture-shock elements. Unforuntely it wasnt on when we went, however it let us just relax and take in the site itself.

As you climb the many steps, the biggest danger is falling backwards as you watch the local monkeys take leaps of faith from tree-to-tree. Like a Japanese tourist watching kangaroos in awe, I stood around going 'hee hee! monkeys!' - fighting the overwhelming urge to grab a fluffy tail (which probably would have ended in me contracting rabies).

Inside you got a real sense of being somewhere special, from the light that poured in from above, the lush greenery that provided home for more monkeys, to the incense and prayers that people were offering which made it one of those places you just naturally lower your voice in. We sported 'red dots' on our foreheads [/end ignorance], which was definately cool too. Something I forgot to remove before hitting the mall later which drew a few confused looks from randoms.

KL has some groovy modern architecture and its somewhere I hope to spend more time in soon - so put the local Starbucks on alert, this fiend shall return.