
Ok, so let me start my babbles about my travels.
I landed in Kuala Lumpur around a quarter to 6am Monday the 18th. You're immediately confronted with about 50 taxi and limo drivers wanting to offer you "good deals" to the city. My favourite was the guy who figured the train and then a taxi from the train station to my hotel would cost me 60 ringgit, but as a favour to me, he would take me for 65. Haggle down stupid! As it turned out, I got there for 36, so he was having me on anyway. That was once I found an ATM that accepted Visa, you think there'd be more of them at an International Airport.
I caught the KLIA Express, a train that takes you the 75km into the city in just a half hour. This pic is of my first view of the city from the train.

Stepping off the train onto the platform was my first taste of Malaysian humidity, and it was to stay with me for the next 2 weeks. If anything it only got hotter! I found my hotel, checked in and then hopped on the tube to go see some tall buildings. These one's to be exact...

This is the view when looking from the ground up at the tallest twin towers in the world. You may recognise them from the movie 'Entrapment', all my friends did. LOL! After that I took many pics from the top of the KL Tower (the tall thing in the first pic), visited caves, bird parks and orchid gardens and had close encounters with casino frauds (a story for another time) before thankfully leaving KL behind and heading for Melaka. Melaka the beautiful, historical and friendly. It was initially a trading port between China and India, before being "discovered" by the Dutch, sacked by the Portuguese, then the English, and finally given back to the Malaysians early last century. And in Melaka, there is but one way to travel...

My Trishaw driver was an absolute legend, and he was a personal tour guide to boot, which made him worth the 40 ringgit an hour I was paying him. The hotel I stayed at in Melaka was the former manor of a local plantation owner who was an original Chinese settler of the town. He later moved to the newly established Singapore and his house became the Hotel Puri. This model of a Kampung (traditional Malay house) was in the hotel courtyard. Stop and look at it for 5 seconds and the cleaning lady will come and tell you all about the design, how it denoted the social status of the owner, how it kept cool in the heat, how the pillars were square so that snakes wouldn't climb up and the banisters of the balcony were ribbed so that they gave a good massage during long family meetings where everyone stood for hours. Very interesting.

That takes us up to Friday, about the half way point. I'll show you more pics of Johor Bahru and Singapore next time. There's plenty more to come and I've only brushed the surface. This trip could fuel my journal entries for a few weeks yet! Lol, and I've not got around to sharing Tibrogargan pics yet either!
I went back to work this morning, for about a half hour, it wasn't very busy, so I took the rest of the day off. By tomorrow I should be well rested again. Travel takes it out of ya! I think it's time I went journal hopping, so long for now!
Josh! xoxo
WOW JOSH! What a Joe Coolish place!!! Great pictures too.
I thought your driver was a girl at first. That trishaw is so great with all the flowers, it makes you look like you are in a parade!
Anyway I would love to hear more about your trip so post away!
*dies laughing at the photo of Josh riding around in a wagon covered with flowers and butterflies* It's a very good thing your sexuality was never brought into question or that photo would be damning!