Leisurely Jaunt Through China Town, KL

Apres my last update, I chilled out for a bit. Finally I was ready to crash again, at that exact moment I realized this lady from France I met in Koh Lanta was coming into town. She asked me where to stay etc, told her how to get to my place and we were going to meet up, have a drink, whatever. I have much respect for all solo travelers.

Being the gentleman that I am, I uproot myself from the bed in a near comatose state and went for a leisurely jaunt to the bus station. I love Kuala Lumpur, ok I just really like it but I`m a disheveled guy, with a moustache (sic), “he might be crazy” hair and a pair of aviators. (That said, who knows what’s around the next corner…)  I talked to some sisters from Sweden who do not like it, within 5 minutes of being here, this guy slapped her sisters `bottom` from the back of a motorcycle… They just don`t feel safe, I`ve heard that from a few ladies now, actually. On the topic of motorcycles, ladies, always keep your handbags on the shoulder AWAY from the street, many come by and snatch on back of motorcycles, if you’re a guy and your “murse” gets stolen, no sympathy here.

So I figure, hey, I`ll meet her at the station, I have nothing better to do and me being seriously `burnt out`at 5PM is no ones fault but my own. Cruise down there and start waiting, sit down, then the whole curb type thing starts to get packed, now I`m shoulder to shoulder with some local people, ahh this is traveling, this is living somewhere else. Most travelers I see here are in these huge packs, scared to look any which way. That or walking around like a total douche, reading their travel guide as though it was the holy grail for a guest house while almost getting smacked by oncoming traffic.

I have huge respect for travelers in the past, HUGE. The burly ladies and gentlemen who left with no maps, no way of calling home and no idea of what was safe or not. Today, so many people travel but I think they take these planned out routes, follow the same paths that some guide tells them and pay premium prices at guest houses that probably paid to get listed. That or the guy carrying the murse who wrote the book stayed there, the world is huge and every city is a world within a world. Why people follow these guides like some holy doctrine is beyond me.

I`d of thought Westerners would be more friendly here, after all there aren`t that many of us here in comparison, almost non existent in my age group. I pass by some and they just look freaked out like `don`t look anyone in the eyes`, really? I’ve been wandering around all over the place in proximity to my hotel. I’m going into strange food courts, at the top of shopping centers, a floor above the arcades where I stand out like a sore-thumb, gotten lost on the street at night and still, “no worries mate”.

So after waiting around for a while, I cruise through China town. Even during the day I’m finding myself disoriented, I can totally see how I got lost my first evening here, so many twists and turns. China Town is pretty cool and it has lots of good deals, if one were so inclined. It’s also a bastion of cheap street meat and cheap street eats, I love cheap street eats. Why pay $5US for this massive meal when you can get exactly what you want for say ~$2US? On that note, I’m hooked on fresh juice from the street, a decent size cup, orange being my favorite is only ~$0.33US.

In the China Town here you can buy anything from Prada shoes for $60US, Lacoste shoes for ~$25US(look below), movies like 2012 for ~$2.50US, designer handbags galore and everything in between. Remember, the quoted price is the “opening bid” don’t buy at market, throw your bid in and see if they accept. I saw the same pair of shoes in 2 locations. One was much superior quality and cheaper. I told the guy with the lesser quality ones I could get a better pair for cheaper around the corner, he replied “how much do you want to pay?” They also have tones of Hugo Boss, Gucci, Burberry laptop cases which appear to be a decent grade of leather.

On that note, trademarks are a joke these days. If you have a new company, don’t waste the registration fee, why?

• You have to pay to register a trademark
• You have to pay to enforce a trademark
• Most trademarks are only enforceable in country of registration
• Trademarks get no respect overseas
• Most things are produced overseas
• Trademarks are for say “Sony” with a $26.89 BILLION $ market cap on the NYSE.

As nice as much of the merchandise is, it’s still “expensive” and I’m not a mule. It’s expensive because it’s imported from China then marked up. Your “price” incorporates shipping costs as well as the vendors profit. I’m not a mule as in, why buy something more expensive in say Malaysia, then like a mule “carry it around the globe”, mules carrying things right? I’d rather keep my load light, if I were so inclined to purchase such said items, I’d do so in Hong Kong or China, 2 places I plan on attending on these travels anyways and much closer to / in the source.

Long story short, China Town is right near the bus station in the PUDU district and it’s worth checking out, if you aren’t traveling the globe and just hitting up Kuala Lumpur, yeah the deals are good, comparable to Thailand. Those Prada shoes I was looking at actually look really good and are made of leather, $60US(before performing the art of haggling) is much better than $590CDN+tax, yes? Then again if a shoe doesn’t feel comfortable, even $1US is too much to pay. The only time I can see a reason to buy “uncomfortable shoes” is if someone is an outfit freak and they need some specialized shoe to match some outfit they wear every now and then. If it’s for a daily wear, forget about it, seriously.

Right now, it’s ~11:30PM local time, I need to go buy tooth paste and a tooth brush. I just found my toothbrush on the floor, in the corner of the room, I’m no prude but I am prudent and the bristles are bent to #$@#. I think I’m going to go back to China town, peruse some movies and buy some cheap food, perhaps even have a drink at Reggae Bar. Come to think of it, If I were so inclined, I could eat and buy a movie for the night which isn’t released yet for less than a MacDonald’s Big Mac Combo, makes you think… On that note, the movie and meal will be less than 1 single beer here, also makes you think? Finally, I bought a round of tequilla shots(strongest I’ve ever tasted mind you) for myself and the 4 ladies I had the pleasure of partying with the other night, that was 50 ringgit, I could of bought those Lacoste shoes.

Good day,