from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur

I'm preparing for a tour of the Petronas Towers - the iconic twin buildings in Kuala Lumpur that were the tallest in the world from 1998-2003 - at 3:15, so this entry is going to be short.

We arrived in Singapore on Monday at 3:30 am, and checked into the cheapest hotel we could find - which just so happened to be in the red light district. It was a pretty scummy place, as most of the area hotels were, but there was one advantage: in hotels designed for prostitution, you pay by the hour. Since one night = 12 hours, we had a very relaxed check-out time of 4 pm.

The stereotype of Singapore being incredibly clean held true; even in the trashiest district there was minimal (visible) pollution. And although I'm not sure how strictly they are enforced, there are signs everywhere informing the public of the national laws. Some of the fines we saw posted: spitting = $500, eating/drinking in the metro = $500, urinating in lifts = $1000, not flushing public toilet = $500, chewing imported gum (funny law since there is no "domestic gum"; it's illegal) = $1000. I chewed a piece of gum, and Andy spat twice (he's a little too accustomed to life in China) but thankfully we came out fine-free.

Somewhat ironically, one of the coolest parts of Singapore was Chinatown, which made me a bit homesick. It was still decorated for the Chinese New Year, and the temples were packed with Chinese people having their New Years' fortunes given. Also the food was fantastic - both the Chinese food for lunch and Italian for dinner.

We took a night train to Kuala Lumpur, which was comfortable - actually roomier than the Amtrak car I rode in in the US, or the bunk I had from Brussels to Barcelona - although freezing cold. After a short 7-hour ride, we got to KL at 6:30 am and explored the city with our backpacks until stores started to open around 10 am. (Side: They celebrate Chinese New Year here also, so it was technically a holiday when we arrived and many stores were closed all day.)

KL is a clean and rapidly growing city, and also very different from most I have visited. It seems to me like a great planned party where no one showed up; there are lots of shiny tall buildings, great restaurants, and super-efficient public transportation, but even on workdays the sidewalks and buildings seem mostly empty.

The layout is perhaps the strangest. This morning Andy and I walked from Lake Titiwangsa, several miles north of the city center, all the way to the Petronas Towers. We got within several blocks of the gleaming towers before we got out of the very poor housing area. A large divider separates the old-style - ahem, crumbling - Malaysian housing from the brand new city center (we actually had to take the metro 1 stop to get across), but still their proximity allowed us a very odd view of the towers through underwear flapping in the breeze in the foreground.

Time for the tour! More to come.