Life is an amazing thing! Just a few months ago, we were breathing dust in a rundown apartment in Kazakhstan. And now we wake up with a luxurious view in fancy apartments on the 30th floor in one of the coolest megacities in the world. Hello, Kuala Lumpur, we know nothing about you. Will you tell us?
The first thing we saw upon arrival was the smog over the city (probably polluted air), gigantic road interchanges, and, of course, skyscrapers — just wow. We probably entertained the taxi driver a lot because we sat with our mouths open, spinning around ourselves 360 degrees. Well, it’s interesting, isn’t it? We dream of being amazed and inspired 24/7. New experiences cause addiction stronger than drugs, sex, and rock’n’roll!
Arriving at the pre-booked apartment network, we continued to hold our jaws with our hands. Swiss, security, the size and design of just the lobby impress even the impressionable us. And all this for only $37 per night!
There are no 14 and 24 buttons in the elevator. Instead, there are 13A and 23A. In China, 4 is considered an unlucky number and a symbol of death, and Chinese culture has a huge influence on Malaysia. But there is a 4th floor in the building, which is quite strange. We didn’t understand why. And we were too shy to ask.
Checking into the hotel, the first thing we did was rush out to the balcony and have a photoshoot there. Our heads spun from the height. And from fatigue too. It was 1 a.m., we quickly threw our things into a pile and lay down in bed without closing the curtains or the balcony. We felt as if we were under a spell! Falling asleep with such a view — a fairy tale, friends.
Early in the morning, the sun blinded our sleepy eyes. We wanted to sleep a little longer, but sleep was out of the question. Sunrise on the 30th floor… We urgently need coffee!
We’ve never had such a breakfast for four in our lives. We’ve had breakfast in the jungle, on islands, hiking, but at bird’s eye level — never. Now we have that experience too! We are so happy that we envy ourselves.
We found sachets of 3-in-1 instant coffee in the apartment and went down to the nearest 7/11. After Thailand, the selection was disappointing. Everything seemed a bit more expensive, and the range was quite limited. Later we found out that the Japanese Family Mart chain here is much cooler than 7/11. We took a pack of vanilla cupcakes and sandwiches. We ate the cupcakes right away, and took the sandwiches in our backpack. Because we couldn’t wait to go for a walk before the midday heat set in.
Local color surrounded us from all sides. Here’s color, there’s color, hey, hey, easy there! The large number of homeless people sleeping right on the pavement was unpleasantly surprising. No one pays any attention to them among the locals. But they paid attention to us, on the contrary. There aren’t that many tourists of European appearance in the city. Mostly people from neighboring Asian countries come here. So we were being looked at, to put it mildly. And we were looking at them! And taking pictures at the same time)
It’s 7 a.m. on the street, and all the tables next to the street food stalls are already full. Malaysians eat fried fish, stewed vegetables, rice, and even some soups for breakfast. Not like us with our cupcakes 🙂
The country is Muslim, so women are dressed from head to toe. It’s +35 degrees on the street. I felt a bit uncomfortable in my open top, short shorts, and flip-flops. Men also sometimes threw disapproving (curious?) glances and even turned around. But I doubt I could bear such heat in clothes.
But Malaysians can. We liked how local young people dress. They wear cool sneakers, stylish pants or jeans, cool socks that you can see. It looks great, but jeans? Closed shoes? And even socks? Tell us, people, what’s your secret? We want to know it too.
Somehow we felt strange at that moment. There’s a stereotype in Asia that Europeans are rich, well-dressed people. But compared to the local population, we sometimes felt like ragamuffins. In our sweaty tank tops, beach shorts, and without any hint of style. Style — nothing, thirst — everything)
Asians look stylish. And there are many stylish things around them. Stylish cafes, shops, markets with craft items. We photographed everything that came to hand. And wanted to buy everything. If we had a “home,” we probably would. But while we live this way, “home” for us is the world, so… we can only take pictures!
And the secret of warm clothing, by the way, may be that Malaysians almost never go outside. We, wild ones, went for a walk at +35, and even on foot. We probably got a sunstroke. And with backpacks. And they — from the metro or taxi — to shopping malls. Or to some hangout places. And there it’s normal even in a sweatshirt because the air conditioners are probably set to +15)
That’s how it turns out. You go out — it’s hot. You leave the street — it’s cold. But after lunch, there are often life-saving downpours here. With thunderstorms. And they are so strong that you can’t see anything around. It seems we’ve experienced them all)
The rain started unexpectedly, with thunder and lightning. We were near the subway and thought we were saved. But no! At the height of the storm, the subway doors were blocked, and the lights went out. The train stopped… Interesting moment, isn’t it? That’s where we’ll stop by the law of meanness. The continuation of the story — in the next part!”
see you)
