I was not sure what to expect and from what many folks in Singapore told me, I was thinking it was more like Venezuela in the late 90's. I was told it was dangerous, and people would try to steal my bags and pickpockets were everywhere. Kind of reminded me of what people are told about the US. So - while I am sure those things do exist - we had no issues. Everyone we came across was very nice and we were never hassled.
Instead, we found a city that is is growing like mad. There is a hunger for knowledge, a hunger for "stuff" and just general energy and buzz that the US population does not carry.
RANT START. Jereme and I both came to the conclusion that the US is quickly falling to "2nd World" status. The complacency, satisfaction with the "status quo" and belief that we do not need to change our ways is undoing the US. If anyone needs a shining example - just look at the US educational system - a system which USED to be #1 in the works has fallen to about 22 or so globally...depending on the source!
Why?? Because we use techniques that may have worked over 50 years ago - but technology and society have changed! People in the US are not driven to succeed - but why bother when entitlements are king, the wealthy and successful are penalized and there is NO INCENTIVE to be great in the US!!! Instead, we want everyone to be taken care of from cradle to grave, we want to penalize the wealthy for being, well, wealthy and ensure that anyone who does not feel that they should have to work hard get anything and everything they want. RANT OVER.
Back to what we saw in Malaysia! Again - this is a country that was not even on the radar in terms of busiest airports 10 years ago. Now, Kuala Lumpur is the 14th busiest airport for international passenger traffic! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World%27s_busiest_airports_by_international_passenger_traffic
When we were in KL we went to the Petronas towers and this pictures sums up the country in a great way:
Overall, KL is a neat place and we would like to go and explore areas of Malaysia. The roads of KL are windy and confusing - having a good map and GPS are a must! We managed to find our way around very easily by train, taxi, foot and monorail!
We flew Air Asia from Singapore to KL - they were super efficient and it was a lot like Southwest or Frontier Airlines in the US. No frills - but the seats are bigger and more comfortable than the dang United Airlines seats from Tokyo to Singapore. The airport is about an hour drive outside of the city.
From the LCCT (Low Cost Carrier Terminal) in KL we took a bus for about 20 minutes to a train station. Waited about 10 minutes for the train - rode that for aver 30 minutes until we arrived at KL Sentral. From there we took a taxi to the hotel (about 25 minutes). The bus and train was really clean and comfy. The taxi is prepaid for at a kiosk so there is no worry about being over billed. The currency is the Ringgit.
It poured on Tuesday afternoon upon our arrival at KL Sentral.
It poured again on Wednesday afternoon - so much so, there was localized flooding!
Thursday - we were greeted by a completely sunny day and evening.
The food was good - less expensive than in Singapore - the hawker centers were about half the cost of Singapore (3.50 USD vs. 7USD) for a meal.
No comments:
Post a Comment