Traveling with Michelle: Day 12: I don't think we're in Singapore anymore, Toto!

Today we had to get up early to catch a bus to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The seats in the bus reclined and mine had a massage in it! Joshua's and Randy's had a foot rest that raised up. There were screens in the seats in front of us, but they didn't work and there was no wifi despite the bus saying there was wifi and entertainment. Joshua and I had taken the last of our Singapore money ($20) to the 7-11 last night to buy snacks and bottled water for the bus trip. Thanks to a great clerk, we were able to get down to 15¢ left. The bus stopped three times during the 6+ hour ride. The first was right before the border for leaving Singapore, then a bit further down the road we had to take our luggage with us to enter Malaysia (our bags had to be scanned). Then one more stop a little further on with food and toilets. The driver warned me when I got off that he was going to lock the bus, but what did he expect me to do? So I used the toilet, then sat outside near the bus with some of the other travelers until he returned. Randy and Joshua just stayed on the bus. Everywhere in Malaysia were palm trees. Forests and forests of them. Everywhere. Until we entered the city of Kuala Lumpur.

The first billboard we saw--from McDonalds. It
makes the Petronas Towers from two cones connected
with a French fry!

In our family we have a joke. My oldest was studying for a test on world capitals when she was in middle school and I was helping her create mnemonics and mental images to remember. Our mental image for Malaysia was a lumpy koala (Kuala Lumpur) climbing the Petronas Towers (she knew those were in Malaysia because my youngest loved them at that time because they were the world's tallest towers and talked about them all the time). So I texted her as we entered the city that I didn't see any lumpy koalas (despite it being 2:30 in the morning in New York). But she was awake and sent back a laughing emoji. The actual towers are pretty amazing.

We had to walk to our airbnb which is in the Platinum Suites building. We are on the 29th floor which requires a key card to get to (as did our place in Singapore). The top (51st) floor are the pool, observation deck, gym, and bar. Our apartment is all white and black, very modular and modern. We have a kitchenette with stove, microwave, refrigerator, and washing machine, a bedrrom with a sliding panel to close it off from the living space, a walk in closet, and a very large bathroom. Joshua gets an air mattress which he chose to move out of the bedroom into one of the window bays of the living room to have more privacy and to have the night view of the buildings lit up to fall asleep to.

We hung out at our apartment for a short while, settling in, then we were going to head out to find dinner and look around. Randy noticed a mist, but it was actually rain. It was pouring out. So we waited until that ended. It (plus the sun going down) made the temps go down to the upper 80s, but the added moisture in the air still had the heat index near 100. We walked to the Petronas Towers and took photos, then went into the mall part of the towers.

This tiny building is the Pakistani consulate.

Reflection in the building

The Petronas Towers

Litter and weeds everywhere--definitely not in Singapore!

Crazy people on motorcycles are everywhere! They even drive in the bike lanes!

We're going in!

We found a place to eat and an ATM, then went outside to find a light show going on in the fountain behind the towers.

After that we walked back to our apartment, stopping at a 7-11 along the way to pick up stuff for breakfast. We still have our bottled water--tap water in Malaysia is not safe to drink. We bought a huge amount of bread items and juice for only the equivalent of five US dollars. Lots of litter on the sidewalks and weeds growing. Disrepair, and beggars. Not Singapore.