I was in Malaysia recently, working (well, sort of) at a golf resort in Johor and then holidaying in KL. The first part of my trip went off smoothly but the excitement started when I reached KL. A close friend who lives in KL had left the keys to her apartment for me with her security guard, Stanley. (She was in Africa at the time.) Unfortunately, Stanley was having a bad day (gastric problems, his colleague later whispered to me) and feeling low and scatty. He went home with the keys when his shift changed. So I found myself standing outside her apartment building at 10 pm facing blank stares from the other security guard. Now, communication not so good between these guys. Because when I got him to call Stanley, nothing came up. It took all night and frantic calls from Africa to jog Stanley’s memory. (“Ah, that key! Why didn’t you say so earlier?”)
Meanwhile, I had thrown myself at the mercy of strangers. It’s a long and blood-curling story but it included dumping my strolley with the security guards (I figured it was better to stay agile and inconspicuous and nobody would want a bunch of jeans and some rather snazzy shoes) and taking lifts from various harmless-looking people, including a pizza delivery guy, because there were no taxis in sight. Not a single one. Anyway, I ended up in a hotel for the night, without being robbed or worse, got the key from Stanley the next day (without killing either security guard) and spent the next two and a half days in relative safety.
I did all the usual things after that. The tickets to the Petronas Tower skybridge were sold out when I got there but I walked to KL Tower (which we are told has the better view anyway), went on a magical bus ride in the rain (the KL hop on-hop off), haggled at Chinatown, walked some 3000 miles of mall floor, and ate. There was something about the city that I found unnerving though. Maybe, it was all the warnings about thievery. Or the quiet swooshing of fast cars on streets empty of people after dark. Perhaps, it was just the way my stay in the city had begun.
Places affect us in ways we sometimes don’t fully understand until later. And I suspect that KL made me a more wary person than I usually am. Logically, there was no reason for this. Key mix-ups can happen anywhere and I would have probably felt as lost in any city if I was alone and temporarily homeless at night. Plus I keep reminding myself of all those wonderful strangers who helped me and did not, in fact, harm me.
But reactions to a place are driven by instinct and emotion, and logic has little to do with it. And emotion-wise, KL was the equivalent of the guy who spooks you on the first date. You may like him more when you get to know him better — but you can never forget that first cringe-inducing moment.
Plus, I have problems with places which don’t have a million people on the street at all hours. I used to find even Bangalore dismally deserted after living 22 years in Mumbai. I mean, I miss Churchgate station at rush hour. You know, the crowd of about two hundred total strangers who look like they may stampede any moment? And then you fall in step and realise the crowd has a rhythm. I always associate that walk with music in my head. Anyway, yes, it’s a good reason for me to not live in many places in the world.
Most of my pictures of KL (Petronas Towers and the like) reflect a starkness I was feeling, a tensing in the gut. Gigantic towers rising into the sky, grey and solipsistic. Cityscapes in miniature viewed from some abominable height. That sort of thing. But these, taken at the KLCC Aquaria, I like.
Tags: animals, kuala lumpur, malaysia, Shutterstuck
That grass snake is gorgeous!
And it sounds exactly like the kind of thing that would freak me out! Glad you came out in one piece.
Those absolutely stunning pictures almost made me forget my rising panic for a passing moment. Gosh, girl, not a happy scenario in the least. So relieved you ‘re okay. And next time around, don’t rely on people you’ve never met! Hug.
SB: Yeah, I like him/her too. He has such a composed air. Hmm, was a bit freaky. Thanks.
OJ: Thanks girl, glad you liked pics. I wasn’t so upset about it after it was over. But for a few moments there, panic had set in.
oh WOW…that’s what you meant when you said adventure ??!! Something like that can unnerve even in your own country in a diff city – this is incredible!
The starkness of KL…well, it’s real. Hate to diss one country or another but my dad lived there for a year and one thing he came away with for better or for worse, was a lack of reverence for nature and the natural. He once saw a wild bear running helter skelter in a wide open space on a highway. The space? A rich wooded forest that had been cleared for development overnight. Stark? I’d say so….
nits: Hmm…that is quite disturbing. Also, everything i hear about how the Malaysian Indians are treated.
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