day 1

(what begins is a cliche travelog of my emancipasian 2006 tour whose meandering and oft updated entries will make my weblog even less cohesive and consistent than usual. fotos to come when cyber cafes permit. onward!)

because thats how koreans do it, joon carted my ass to lax instead of letting me take the metro train that was just 10 feet from his loft. i had butterflies as we approached the terminal, which made me think about how i seem to always like such reminders that i am living, breathing and feeling.

i arrived at the airport count em 6 hours early to minimize my chance of being stuck between two fatties in a non-reclining seat on a 14-hour flight. victory was mine. strangely enough, neither the airport stay nor the flight itself seemed particularly long. its funny that my oft remarks on the sheer absurdity of a 14-hr flight made the real thing a piece of cake.

now that im in kuala lumpur, all of a sudden this solo traveling gig (punctuated by arranged rendezvous with heretofore strangers) seems perfect. i was never particualrly apprehensive about traveling alone, more mindful that bouts of lonliness were inevitable. but this feels right.

kl's airport was shiny and efficient. the ekspres train took me to kl sentral in just 28 mins. as i walked around town, i saw about an equal proportion of muslim malay women in colorful hijab, chinese and indians. according to faisal, my warm and kind host for two nights, the govt has done a decent job of keeping intra-ethnic strife to a minimum.

i love those american moments... similar to korean bathrooms, faisal's shower head just comes out of the wall and water sprays on the toilet, floor, sink and everything else. i sat there for a good minute or so running my hand under the stream waiting for it to get warm. ummm no. i dont know why id want a warm shower in this sticky 'humidity so thick u can eat it' heat anyway.

i did a quick walkabout in town, taking random turns here and there along not-quite pedestrian friendly streets clogged with cars and mopeds, using the collosal glittering petronas towers as my point of reference. outside the twin monoliths is a water fountain and pool where lovebirds gather at dusk while the muslim call to prayer echoes behind them.

faisal and his wife jun meet me there and we head to KLs kampung, a sizeable area of the city where people living in more traditional stilted wood homes on narrow dirt streets resisted selling off their parcels for urban sprawl. we pick and choose tasty foods, including an especially spicy eggplant number and some very yummy curry fish sauce over rice. i eye my glass of water suspiciously. tummy was puzzled, shifted back and forth a bit, but is still in tact. strangely enough tho we all ate the same thing, i was the only one who didnt get sick. thanks, childhood kimchi.