Once borders opened up, however, our friendships took on a new dimension. Instead of just reading their texts or hearing their voices (and occasionally seeing their faces on video call), some of them dropped by in Singapore and we met up. Instead of just hearing them groan at my bad puns, I could now see them cringe in person. They were pretty enthusiastic abut the idea as well. There was actually a WhatsApp group created back in June just for this!
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| That's dedication! |
And therefore, at the tail end of 2022, it seemed appropriate to take that passport out for a spin. To Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where most of them operated. The last time I was in Kuala Lumpur, it was in 2016. I was at a very different place mentally, professionally and financially. This blogpost is as much exploring the differences, as it is chronicling my little vacation.
December 29th, 2022
Upon arrival at Kuala Lumpur International Airport, I got stopped by a guy who offered me a ride from the airport to my hotel in Kuala Lumpur. He showed me his ride-hailing app which displayed a distance of about 55 KM. This threw me for a loop - the size of Singapore, from West to East, is just above 50 KM. After years of parking my ass on this tiny island, I had forgotten how large the rest of the world is. This was a timely reminder. |
| Wow that's over the length of Singapore! |
I was wondering if I was about to be scammed. He quoted me a price of 190 MYR, which was about 60 SGD or so. Considering the ride from my west-lying residence all the way east to Singapore's airport had cost me over 40 SGD, I thought it sounded about right. Besides, it was just money. I was too tired to care.
Later on, one of my friends informed me that I had paid more than twice the actual rate, which is about 80 MYR or less. I had been scammed. What was noteworthy was my reaction to the revelation. Years ago, I would have been pretty upset at being scammed for more than 40 SGD. Now, I earn enough that this is a drop in the ocean. 40 bucks? Pffft.
Upon arriving in the hotel room and connecting to the WiFi, I was bombarded by emails and messages from the workplace, all asking me for responses even though they knew I was on leave. Back when I was a mere grunt in a team full of software developers, no one would have bothered me. Now, I manage an InfoComm department. Vacation or no vacation, people are going to disturb me for stuff. That's the price I have had to pay for my modest success.
Later in the evening, a local friend took me out for dinner. We each had a bowl of noodles before going for an interesting walk about town. I thought I would be able to eat more than that, but no, my 45 year old body refused to rise to the occasion. The fact that I had woken up so early this morning, in tandem with the dinner, had put me in a bit of a food coma and ensured that I would be turning in early.
December 30th, 2022
The day started with a buffet breakfast at the hotel which I didn't enjoy as much as I'd hoped I would. Maybe it was the fact that I just couldn't eat as much as I used to. And then I went off on an aimless jaunt. There wasn't really much of a plan. I was just going to wander around until evening and then meet up with my friends for dinner. I started with the area northeast of the hotel.Boy, that turned out well. To be fair, I wasn't expecting much.
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| Food street and interesting architecture. |
I passed through Jalan Alor, which was a food street packed with vendors peddling all manner of Asian cuisines. It was an interesting visual, not really for the food itself. At the end of it, I ended up at a tall building, Plaza Low Yat, which turned out to be an IT Mall in the vein of Singapore's Sim Lim Square. But it was far more satisfying. Where my complaint about Sim Lim Square has always been how diversified (and consequently diluted) its offerings have been in recent years, Plaza Low Yat was almost entirely dedicated to computer and mobile products. There was something beautiful about the single-mindedness on display there.
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| Inside Plaza Low Yat. |
I decided to progress on to Plaza Sungei Wang because Google Maps had recommended a few tattoo artists at this location. This seemed like a good time to re-ink skin art that hadn't been touched for decades. I got sidetracked by a very interesting miniatures exhibition, aptly named "MinNature". I won't say too much about this one; go check out their website.
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| I took so many pictures but this has got to be my favorite. |
Finally, I made my way into the first respectable-looking tattoo shop I encountered, and got the attention of the dude at the counter. Now, the job I had in mind was filling in the outlined letters on my knuckles, in Liverpool red. Seemed like a quick five-minute job, but one of the things I really hate as a software developer is people who presume to know how long a job will take me despite never having done it before. So I asked about the job, and he quoted me a price and said he could take care of it right now. Again, because I hate it when people try to bargain me down for a programming job, I did no such thing. What followed was probably the most professional five-minute tattoo jobs I've ever had.
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| Five-minute job. |
In the evening, I was picked up by one of my friends in KL, this really sweet young girl. She took me to Thean Hou Temple, one of the more picturesque destinations in Kulala Lumpur, so I could do the tourist thing and meet up with everyone else.
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| This has to be the biggest temple I've ever laid eyes on. |
Now I was seeing all of them in person, at the same time. The dinner subsequently was overwhelming. I was experiencing what it was to be in that group, live. Honestly it wasn't all that different from being with them on the Clubhouse app, except that this time, there was food to go with it!
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| A banquet with friends. |
December 31st, 2022
The last day of the year started off brightly as one of my friends, a studly dude with a voice like a phone sex operator, picked me up from the lobby of the hotel so we could head to Klang for some of its famous Bak Kut Teh. Damn, the soup was more like gravy than anything, and it tasted so good but I was hesitant to drink the stuff - it would probably wreak havoc on my digestive system. |
| This was amazing. |
Then three of the ladies present, took me on a little road trip to Pantai Redang in Sekinchan where I was introduced to the Wishing Tree.
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| Interesting concept. |
The weather was gloriously hot. As I sat in a makeshift swing and smoked a cigarette, I dared to dream that this was what retirement would be like. One day, when I stopped writing software for a living, I would sit in a chair like this and bask under the sun.
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| Experiencing retirement. |
We also took other sightseeing trips to the Sekinchan Rice Paddy and the N16 Bus Cafe. The latter was especially cute, but there as regrettably no space to partake of the experience. Still, I'm very appreciative of the time these ladies invested in bringing me around on New Year's Eve.
The trip back to Kuala Lumpur took more than an hour. I was pretty much done for the day, but two other friends had other ideas. They took me out for dinner at a food truck place. We followed that up by heading to a rooftop bar where the countdown to 2023 was going to take place. All of us left well before 10 PM to beat the traffic. After the day I'd had, I certainly wasn't complaining. The day ended with me sitting by the roadside with a cup of tea, watching the Kuala Lumpur traffic.
January 1st, 2023
The morning of the first day of 2023 had me fighting metaphorical fires at the workplace that had sprung up during my absence. This was the day that the Singapore government raised the Goods and Services Tax. Being in the F&B sector, my company needed to reflect these changes quickly in the system.Soon, another friend came to meet me, taking me out for brunch. This was in a large sprawling food court. We had a nice chat and I let him go around noon because he had a family to get back to. On my part, I had some more aimless wandering to do. My meandering took me to Lalaport and Berjaya Times Square, two of the largest malls in Kuala Lumpur. This felt too much like Singapore and I soon discovered the need to leave, pronto. Lalaport had one nice feature though...
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| Creatively-designed seats! |
... resting seats shaped like its logo! Nice!
For the final dinner of my vacation, I met up with the first friend I'd had dinner with the first evening, and another friend working here from East Malaysia. The three of us ate a hearty meal and had dessert over cracking goofy jokes and conversations about nothing. This was followed by a long after-dinner stroll all around Kuala Lumpur which ended up at the hotel.
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| The aftermath. |
For a final night, this was a good way to go.
January 2nd, 2023
Got up early, checked out, and had a cab ride (at a non-inflated price this time) to the airport. Kuala Lumpur International Airport's departure lounge was nowhere as opulent as Singapore's, but it was decent enough. Sometimes I think Singapore overdoes things. |
| Watching planes take off while smoking. |
In particular, their Designated Smoking Zone was pretty cool!
Final thoughts
Kuala Lumpur reminded me strongly of Singapore 30 years ago. I saw things I hadn't seen for years, such as ashtrays in bars. In some cases, I saw cars parked on curbs, something I hadn't seen since childhood. And many of the old-fashioned malls I see here, are fast dying out in Singapore. The sense of nostalgia was powerful.
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| Everywhere I went. |
All in all, I spent about five days here, and aside from the conversations I had with friends, no one else in Malaysia spoke to me in anything other than Malay and Cantonese. That's right - I used not a word of English or Mandarin getting around Kuala Lumpur. Malaysia is looking increasingly like a good place to retire.
Plus, there's good coffee without needing to look too hard.
Malaysia boleh,
T___T
T___T
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