the KL 3

tim and i arrived in kuala lumpur on friday afternoon. i, of course, was grumpy and nasty because we had to get up at 6 and then we had to fly coach AGAIN (imagine!). we got something to eat, and then my old roommate joy came to pick us up. we all waited at the airport for a while for her sister tricia (whom many of you met in new york) and then we all drove into KL together.

let me tell you something about my old roommates: they rule. they are without question the most generous and hospitable people i have ever met. joy, jee, tricia and pei fen (of spicy noodles fame) all bought us return tickets to go to kuching, in borneo. do you believe it? THEY LOVE ME SO MUCH! (i always said they were very smart girls.) joy, tricia and jee have also taken us out for every meal we ate outside of the hotel, and they were all delicious. on friday, we went to a place in petaling jaya, their suburb, and we had this amazing tofu and the house specialty: crabs. i have never seen tim have so much fun with food. whack, bam, smack with the hammer, with crab ALL OVER his face. ah, to be married to a 3 year old...they took us to lunch on saturday, to a chinese-malaysian restaurant outside the city with even more good food! let me tell you that the girls have done all the ordering at all the restaurants and it was DAMN FINE. at the saturday lunch place, we had some very interesting desserts, one which prominently featured shrimp paste. then they took us to batu caves, a hindu temple inside a cave at the end of about 47987395874398 stairs. it was very cool, except for the MONKEYS OF DOOM. these monkeys didn't try to kill us (which was fortunate, b/c the stairs almost did), but they were pretty stinky. i think i am liking monkeys less and less every day! after batu caves, we went to KLCC, the huge mall, to get me some sandals, and then we went to chinatown. in chinatown, we ate at yet another place we would never have found on our own (most of these places didn't even have menus, so we wouldn't have even been able to order), and despite what they say, i am pretty sure the girls ordered us earthworms for dinner. they were tasty, but i KNOW they were worms. (don't try to trick me, girls, i am too smart for you!) then, yesterday, joy came out alone and took us to have an indian meal, which i think was my favorite (tim's was obviously the seafood feast on friday). again, no menus, and we ate with our fingers off of banana leaves on the table. it was friggin' DELISH! i never want to use utensils again!! then, joy took us to see the national temple, and to buy us tickets for the NICE bus to singapore on friday.

can you believe these girls? tim and i think we might move here just so we can be fat and happy and never pay for anything!

and, our hotel. we're staying at the ritz. i love the ritz. i want to live in the ritz just like manny ramirez and have cake on my bedside table every night. we had a lovely butler named dorothy who did our laundry for free (sweet action!) and the people at the hotel were so nice. i am in love with our waiter from breakfast, savi, who managed to get the 20-minute eggs benedict for me in only 7 minutes this morning.
we're staying there again on thursday and finally, we will be taking the girls out for dinner--at the hard rock cafe, so we can eat some fine american food of their choosing.