Days 133 and 134

Trip Start Sep 14, 2006

117

169

Trip End ??? ??, 2007

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Flag of Malaysia Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Friday, January 26, 2007

The last two days have been a bit of a non-event. Was hungover much of Wednesday after our little excursion in to KL's night-life. I bought a playstation portable or PSP for the hi-tech kids. It was a bit of an impulse purchase and now I'm a bit paranoid it will get stolen! It's just a little play thing that will help me while away the hours on long bus trips etc. It will also let me get online for free in wifi hotspots so that's an advantage too.
I moved into the hostel's dormitory and met a French guy called Leo and a Dutch guy too. I'd seen Leo in Butterworth and the Cameron Highlands so thought it would be proper to introduce myself since we are dorm-room-mates. It turns out he did the Trans-Siberian railway as well. The Dutch guy was off to Malaysian Borneo - very nice and totally impossible to get to without a flight so it's off my itinerary (for now at least).
Tomorrow I will definitely get out of Kuala Lumpur even if it's just a day visit. The city is a bit hard to get used to after the Cameron Highlands. It's a nice enough place and I like looking around at the huge buildings but I would like to get somewhere a bit less crowded again. There's a scam I read about before arriving in KL, it's a confidence trick where you are talked into a Malaysian family home usually on the pretence that you will go and dispel the family's fears about your country (the son or daughter is going off to live there - surprisingly close to your home town!). They soon get the playing cards out and without knowing it you're gambling for a lot of money and losing! When I read about that I put it to the back of my mind but I can report that this scam has been attempted on me no less than five times in two days!! All from different people mostly operating in couples. Each time I just said I had to go or "find someone else - ok!". Perversely with each attempt I wanted to see how far it would go (in order to confirm my suspicions) but they work hard to establish a rapport before suggesting the home visit and I can't build a rapport in the street with someone who I just know is going to rip me off!