Two of the guys I went out with the day before took me to a truly KL experience. Bak Kut Teh - a dish created originally about 20 minutes from where we were eating(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bak_kut_teh). It was basically a soup dish with beef in it and a bunch of other things. I had no idea how to tackle it and one of the guys started laughing because I was trying to not make a mess. I looked around and saw making a mess was basically mandatory. One of the guys kept telling me "There's no reputation here - eat however you want." I was prepared to dig in - they did ask me if I wanted a fork and spoon but I kept with the chopstick and soup spoon (you know - the cup/spoon you get to drink Miso soup with). The basic idea was to use the chopsticks to put stuff in your soup spoon and slurp it all up. By the end I had it mastered more or less - the food was delicious but I kept thinking how sanitary can this really be. There was no way a health inspector has been here. The lunch conversation was dominated by me asking questions about Malaysian life and the such. It was great and we laughed most of the time.
During the day I'd b0oked a flight to Hong Kong and a hotel near the airport - everything was booked solid. The next day I'd transfer to a hotel in Quarry Bay in North Point.Eventually it was time to head back to the office and finish up. I had a flight to catch at 6:45 and needed to leave about 4pm to make it. About 4pm I said my goodbyes and made it to the hotel to catch a taxi. The hotel told me it'd be 160 RM and I laughed at them - I paid 75 RM to get to the hotel. They told me across the street there was a coupon taxi system (like at the airport) and it'd be 80 RM. I went over there and what a great idea - half off. We hit a lot of traffic and I was running a bit behind but not in danger of missing my flight. I was a bit worried though because I didn't have a flight leaving Hong Kong and it caused some issues getting to Malaysia - although I'd done some reading and it's just the airline that cares - immigration really doesn't give a crap. I got checked in and by the time I made it to the gate the plane was delayed 2hrs. They announced over the speaker to head to the transfer counter so I did and they gave me a 20 RM coupon for dinner - jackpot. You don't find that in the US - hell if your plane is canceled your lucky if they put you on another flight sometimes.
Eventually we took off and the flight was interesting. All of the seats were different colors and it was laughably colorful on Malaysian Airlines. Eventually they came by with the meal and I'm not 100% what it was but it sucked - all of it. Not just a part of it but the entire thing was crap. I got a glass of wine to get the taste out of my mouth and went back to typing. Before too long I got so tired that I basically fell asleep at the keyboard. Next thing I know we're landing and I'm ecstatic but tired. It's about 1am now and I clear Customs with ease and make my way to the hotel shuttle area. I went and checked in - he said it'd be about 10 minutes and I asked him where I could buy a SIM card and find an ATM. He said the 7/11 sold SIM cards so I went and bought one - it was 60 HK for a starter pack (I converted 38 of it to unlimited internet for 7 days). The conversion rate for money here is 1:7.8 officially but after fees it's closer to 1:7 - I'm going to have to be on top of my math - Malaysia was 1:3.
After the SIM card was taken care of - the shuttle arrived shortly thereafter and it was a quick 5 minute ride to the hotel. I got checked in - checked email and quickly went to sleep. I didn't wake up until noon the next day - checkout was at 1pm so I needed to get ready quickly. I caught up on emails and then got my stuff together to head back to the airport shuttle. I was going to ride it back to the airport then get another shuttle to my next hotel. After talking to the shuttle guy he told me to take the train then a taxi to get there about an hour quicker. I headed to the train area to buy a ticket and it was painless. There was an express train that took 25 min. to get me pretty close that was 100 HK and then it'd be another 70 HK to get to my hotel.
The train ride was easy and painless. The worst part was waiting for a taxi - there were tons of people waiting in line for one and they came very infrequently. It took me about 30 minutes to finally get a taxi and then the ride to the hotel was about another 15 minutes. I checked in pretty quickly - the whole hotel smells like some sort of herbal tea and it's great.
After getting settled I headed out for food as I was starving. I didn't look at a map and just figured I'd find a place. I stumbled upon a place eventually that had English on the menu and ordered Spicy and Sour Chicken. While waiting for me food they came and gave me western silverware because I'm American I assume. They also placed a cup of warm water with a small leaf in it. I assumed it was herbal tea and took a small sip - it wasn't good. Later I read online that this warm tea was to wash my utensils - awesome! The food was very good but the chicken didn't look that great - I was hungry tho so I ate as much as I could. At the end there was about half of a bowl left and the bill came - it was 40 HK which seemed about right for the bowl I was served.
After lunch I headed back to the hotel because I needed to get some more work done. Along the way I stopped by a small bakery and bought some small danish type bread - very delicious. It was just outside my hotel and I'll definitely be back. I also saw the train station on the way back and I'm heading there tonight - my plan is to go to Wan Chai to have some dinner and drinks later.
I've done a little reading and it looks like I need to buy an Octopus card (like the Oyster card in London if you are familiar with that). The main difference is small shops take the Octopus card as a form of payment as well - kind of interesting.
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