Kuala Lumpur and Hong Kong

Getting from the Kuala Lumpur International Airport to the hotel was pretty easy. Once we decided where we were going to stay it was just a matter of figuring out the local mass transit. We've really been impressed with mass transit in southeast Asia so far. Dedicated high speed lines from the airport to downtown, light rail, affordable taxis, it makes getting around the cities very cheap and easy.

Once we got into the city we were faced with a half-mile walk to the hotel in light rain in 88 degree weather. The Garden City Hotel was nice enough, but apparently they suffer from chronic plumbing problems, we got two different rooms and there were bathroom leaks in both. It also took us a while to figure out the lights. Apparently you have to stick your key into a slot to activate the electricity in the room.

We picked the hotel because it was in little India. In particular, we were interested in eating at a particular vegetarian restaurant. We spent much of the afternoon walking around looking at the various Indian booths, and what was being sold. It was Saturday night and the weekly night market was in full swing. Add to that the Ramadan holiday, and you can see that as the sun went down the city really came to life. Streets were being closed off, and festive lights turned on everywhere.

Malaysia is a muslim country, and every once in a while we'd get a lingering stare as a local caught sight of two westerners dressed in shorts and tee-shirts. Overall, everyone was very nice, and everything went smoothly until...

We finally found the resteraunt. It was hidden on the second floor of a side street, and as we were ascending the staircase we both got that creepy feeling you get when you watch people go up empty staircases in horror films. And horror of horrors, the restaurant was CLOSED! [Insert creepy horror film music here.]

So now our quest to find a restaurant began in earnest. Another creepy staircase, a thunderstorm, an expatriate bar (and three beers) later, we decided to go back to our hotel and eat at their restaurant.

The next morning it was off to Hong Kong.

There is this strange phenomenon about asian vegetarianism - there is an amazing amount of meat involved. Vegetarian pork, vegetarian beef, vegetarian chicken. It's like there is this secret subculture of vegetarians in asia that don't like vegetables. Despite all of these sheep in wolves clothing, we really fell in love with Hong Kong. It really is an amazing city.

There is a beautiful promenade in Kowloon, where we stayed, which overlooks the strait between the peninsula and Hong Kong Island. As night falls, all of the colossal buildings in downtown light up and create a beautiful vista. We spent our first night on the promenade, and retreated to a (real) vegetarian Indian restaurant, which was excellent (no fake pork at all).

The next day we took the Star ferry to the main island. We were really excited about this because we are addicted to reality television, and the Star ferry was featured in the Amazing Race. Maybe not so exciting for you :) Once on the island we spent hours (and hours) on a walking tour. During the tour we got to see: a lizard on a stick, a old English mall, a mile long motorized walkway, lots and lots of dried up fish, really expensive baubles, some nice jade shops, a few Buddha stores, a food market alley, and so much more.

During brunch a few weeks back, someone told us that we just *had* to go to Victoria Peak. So the later half of the day was spent trekking to and admiring the peak. On the way -- boy are my feet sore -- we walked through the Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens. We saw lots of monkeys, a few birds, carnivorous plants and a YWCA.

The tram up the peak was just that, a tram UP. It was like San Francisco's cable cars, but instead of traveling around the city, the tram just went directly up (and down) the mountain. Sometimes it felt like we were literally going straight up. "The shortest path..." 

At the top of the peak you'll find McDonalds, The Hard Rock Cafe, Harley Davidson, Ripley's Believe it or Not, Madame Troussou's Wax Museum, and a Motion Simulator ("Honey! It really *feels* like we're MOVING!"). There are also several breath taking views of downtown Hong Kong, not to mention a San Francisco Top Dog hotdog stand.

We went to McDonalds (for the third time that day), and then went DOWN the peak.

The next day was spent recovering from our Herculean walking tour. After we checked out of our hotel, we "accidentally" fell asleep in a park, only to be awakened by the local security guy. 

Right now we're at the Malaysian airport getting ready for Cambodia, and the ruins of Angkor Wat. 

Until next time,

- Andrew and Kelly