More Kuala Lumpur Tidbits

Just a little more about our KL experience:

We enjoyed watching our fellow guests at the tea times and happy hours in the hotel lounge. At tea time there were small sandwiches, fruit, and little pastries. Happy hour got more elaborate with sushi and some hot dishes. And, of course, the happy hour crowd got happier and louder the longer they were there.



I was really happy to see that not all the overweight and poorly-dressed guests (really, isn't the bra strap sticking out of the halter top so 90's and never suitable for a 50-something woman?) were Americans. Many of them were Australian and British. Whew, sigh of relief that we aren't the only ones.

My favorite was the man who came in with a shopping bag. He sat down with a plate that was overflowing with food and pulled out a book. I thought we was settling in to read. But from under the book he pulled out four plastic food containers. He emptied his plate into these containers and then made two more repeat trips to the buffet. We were trying to guess whether he just wanted to enjoy his happy hour alone in his room, was setting supplies aside for dinner, or was homeless and had just wandered in from the street. Once he had his containers filled he skeddadled out of there.

Then we were at breakfast at the hotel and met an American couple from Texas. The man was working there for Exxon; his wife and daughter had recently joined him. We asked if he was enjoying himself there (who wouldn't?!?!) and he said, "Well, it can be hard. The traffic is crazy and the pollution can be bad."

That's it. Mr. R and I both had to hold ourselves back:

"Are you kidding? Traffic? Do you have 5 lanes' worth of traffic jammed in to two lanes? Do you share your lane with three-wheeled auto rickshaws, bicycles, motorcycles, and ox carts? Do you have to look out for cars driving the wrong way in your lane and people darting in to traffic without ensuring you can stop before you hit them?"

and

"What's the matter? Is it too hard to shop at your huge supermarkets with everything you could want to buy except maybe Coke Zero? Too many choices for clothes, furniture, knickknacks, every global cuisine, booze, and groceries? Yeah, that must be a hardship."

But we just smiled and said, "Yes, that must be difficult for you." :-)