Late evening. The rain is pouring down like a wall. We’re sitting in the metro car in pitch darkness (in Kuala Lumpur, the metro runs above the city, not underground). The walls and windows are being drenched, and we’re not moving. And then we hear an announcement that due to technical problems (power outage), the train is not going anywhere.
Passengers exchange glances, but there’s no panic. The doors are closed, which is quite unpleasant. It turns out we’re completely locked in the car and can’t get out, even if we wanted to. And there’s such an apocalypse outside the window. A mild case of claustrophobia is developing).
Water is dripping on us. It’s cold in the car — as usual in Asia, the air conditioners blow too cold. We don’t know if this is a normal situation for the city during rain or if we just got lucky. I’m thinking about a dry bed, green tea, and “Godzilla” on the big screen of our TV. Our son’s feet are soaked — we’ve walked 23,000 steps today, and he’s thinking about taking off his shoes as soon as possible. And our daughter… well, she’s always thinking about something).
And suddenly — miracle of miracles! — we start moving — as unexpectedly as we stopped. Apparently, such stops during a downpour in an open-air metro are okay. And everyone is used to it. Except us. And yes, “Godzilla” did happen on that day after all. But nobody watched the movie… Because every minute, we were taking turns jumping out onto the balcony to admire the view of the metropolis. We sat right on the floor, drank tea, and watched the twinkling lights. Oh, how romantic!
In three months of living on the island, we’ve missed the atmosphere of a big city a bit. We’ve missed the desire to dress up, buy new things, and look cool, instead of just “whatever’s more comfortable, as long as it’s not too hot.”
We’ve missed the opportunity to choose Instagrammable spots on the map to drink coffee in a beautiful place and take good pictures.
We’ve missed noisy shopping malls with colorful crowds where everyone looks and behaves so differently.
Like, for example, this Indian girl-saleswoman who… has her pet on the counter! Later we found out it’s a sugar glider, and she’s just adorable. If we didn’t move so often, we’d probably get one for ourselves, right… when did that ever stop us?)
Anyway, Kuala Lumpur is quite a convenient city. There are drinking water fountains in the parks here. But it doesn’t taste very good — it’s like drinking raw pool water.
But when you’re thirsty, you agree to anything) There are often paths with canopies overhead on the streets, which save you from both the sun and the rain — in our case.
You can rent an umbrella in the metro. And, by the way, use the restroom — we’ve never seen restrooms in the metro before. But you can’t kiss. And carry durians with you — either) And build a campfire! In short, all our plans for the evening were mercilessly ruined. And we so wanted to devour some durian while kissing by the campfire in the metro car.
Can you imagine an open-air swimming pool right in the city center? No? Well, Malaysians can! However, the fun is overshadowed by the fact that swimsuits are not welcome in a Muslim country, and everyone sits in the water fully clothed. Even children. Perhaps Leia was the only one to flash her undies that day. Or maybe for the entire history?
And the water is ankle-deep — so that no one drowns. But what waterfalls! We just wanted to stand under them and not move. Because outside — it’s hellishly hot.
But with road crossings, truly strange things happen here. Like at every traffic light, there’s a button you can press to turn green, but… it only works after you — 1) have sat 2) have stood 3) have sipped water 4) have answered all messages 5) have posted all stories on Instagram — finally decide to cross on red. And then, seeing your back on the other side of the street, the traffic light immediately turns green! We decided that there are scanners on all traffic lights here that amuse themselves at the expense of clumsy tourists.
After getting nicely baked in the Malaysian sun, we felt like having a cold beer. And then a quest began. We didn’t find it in regular stores at all. And only discovered it in the refrigerators of local bars, but the price wasn’t too friendly. We decided it wasn’t worth it and washed down the spicy local chips with green tea brewed in a pot. Because there was no kettle)
And then, from the impressions and distances we’ve traveled, our eyes began to close. So as not to repeat past mistakes, we finally closed the curtains and locked the balcony. And, as it turned out, not in vain, because… Right under our windows in the middle of the night, Malaysians decided to hold Formula-1 races.
And then… but wait, guys! to be continued in the next part)
