Fri 27th March: Kuala Lumpur

Didn't do a whole lot today. Went back up through the Golden Triangle to visit the Petronas towers. A limited number of tickets are allocated free to the public each day to visit the skybridge which links the two towers on the 41st floor. In all there are 84 floors on each tower. The towers were the highest in the world until 2003, standing at 490m high. The sky bridge which we visited hangs at 170m above street level. I was quite lucky to make the visit, arriving late and being given the last available ticket by a passer by as I searched for the ticket counter. During the visit you are given 10 mins on the bridge. It just so happened that a thunderstorm coincided with our time on the bridge.

The storm cleared shortly after we got back down so I went in to an adjacent public park. I had my new camera with me so I thought it would be a good location to spend a while familiarising myself with its features. I've been treating like a delicate ornament since I got it. Like the proverbial new shoes I've been afraid to take it out in case it gets dirty! Unfortunately the camera began to attract peoples attention in the park. Two women, one a park security guard, came over and started asking about the camera. Then a guy came over to look at it. I wasn't enjoying this. I'm still have paranoid walking around with this brand new camera and here I am in the centre of Kuala Lumpur attracting strangers like moths to a light. The guy stayed to chat and when he found out I was from Ireland he claimed his sister was going there to study. He invited back to his home for lunch where I could could give advice to his sister about life in Dublin......."Yeah, deadly buzz man, its bleedin rapid. you go down to the pub and get langered. Ya know whar-I mee-an"......... I was already feeling uncomfortable with him eyeing my camera now this invitation set off alarm bells inside me. He may well have been completely genuine with his invitation but there wasn't a hope of me going to anyones house with this new camera. No chance.

By early afternoon I was back at the accomodation just before another big storm was unleashed on the city. This lasted for a number of hours so I lay around and read, listening to the rain hammer on the roof. The thunder claps here tend to explode rather than rumble and they can fairly lift you out of it. Twice today I thought car bombs had just gone off, the bangs were so loud and violent. I met a couple from Connemara who are staying in the guesthouse. They were a lovely couple, fluent Irish speakers from the Gaeltacht area. They're slowly making their way through southeast Asia towards Australia. Tomorrow they fly down to Sumatra where they plan to stay for about a month. Their ability to live cheaply is admirable. They are managing to live within a eu20 a day each so far after 4 months of travel. They are moving slowly and staying in the cheaper regions and thats the way to make your money last.

In the evening the rain cleared for a while so I had another wander to see the Golden Triangle at night. It was busy and the streets lit up with all kinds of neon glowed. However I did get caught out as the rain came down fairly heavy again and I arrived back into the room with my clothes sodden. Tomorrow I fly to Bagkok. I've been mulling over what to do over the next couple of weeks. I have to be back for cousin Johnny G's wedding on April 17th. I've been considering travelling overland up through Malaysia and Thailand for the next couple of weeks taking in some of the islands but it would be very rushed. I don't think there would be much point rushing through the islnds simply for the sake of just seeing them. I don't think I would enjoy that. Deep down I think I just want to get home now and get ready to be back on the bike in early May. Right now I'm happy to simply fly up to Bangkok have a look there for a few days and get home in the first few days of April. So, thats the plan.