Kuala Lumpur.

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So I spent my real birthday, October 9, on a jet plane flying towards Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. A couple of minutes after 12, we landed. Hảo and I, carrying all our luggage onto the plane, immediately went to get a teksi to our hotel, Radius International. The joys of no excess luggage. My head was pounding after the flight, so I came in and out of consciousness on the hour-long ride to our hotel. Thus, just within the hour upon arrival, my birthday consisted of a migrane headache and sleeping on a teksi.

The main reason why Hảo and I even went over to KL was because of the mix-up of our visas. Instead of a student visa, we had a tourist visa. Normally, getting visas and paperwork done through anything Vietnamese is a hassle, but this time around, I was lucky. Within one hour, our paperwork was finished and our student visas were completed. Perhaps it is birthday luck. Not only that, as we were sitting in the embassy, groups of people crowded in as raindrops started pouring down. As I walked out the door, the sun was shining and the rain had halted.

Kuala Lumpur, like Singapore, is very consumer oriented. The only difference is that they have more shopping malls that are much more friendly to the budget shopper. Hảo and I went to some huge mall and walked around for a couple of hours. I purchased some souvenirs, clothes, and other items. Afterwards, we hit up Chinatown for some food and night market window shopping.

The next day we decided to do some touristy things so we went to visit the Petronas Twin Towers and the Menara Tower. Petronas was free, Menara was not. Unfortunately for us, Indonesia each year burns its jungles, causing smog to creep over to the skies of KL. That time of year is now. Thus, the view from atop was quite foggy. But despite this fog, it is quite a sight.

Chinatown for lunch and it was time for us to head back to the budget terminal. 5:00 flight from KL to Hà Nội. On the plane I basically slept. One thing I observed on the plane-ride was that many of the Vietnamese flyers, either due to lack of flying experience or the inability to understand Malaysian peoples’ English, they do not know how to follow rules when on the plane. As we were taking off, the plane on an angle, one Vietnamese man decided to take off his seatbelt and walk to the bathroom. As we were landing with the plane on an angle, three to five individuals decided to take off their seat belts, open the luggage compartment and take out their things. It is good to be back in Hà Nội.
Until next time.

Trần, Qúy-Hạc.

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