arrived

Today I got to Malaysia in one piece.
It was a really good flight with heaps of leg room. I ended up next to a drunk Japanese guy who reeked of alcohol and seemed to want to sleep off the effects so it was a great excuse to catch up on some sleep.

There was a heavy thunder and lightning storm when I left Taipei so was delayed a little but I got there, particularly cheerful at the thought of skipping the storms this week.

We stopped in past a kindof relative's shop on the way into KL. They greeted us with curry and bread so after that they could do no wrong. Ironically, this was the first time I had properly spoken Mandarin to anyone in ages. Whenever I try in Taiwan they don't understand a word I say, but as soon as they found out I learn it (despite my protests that I can only speak very little very badly) they insisted on helping me. It was pretty fun actually and left me feeling a lot more confident that there may be hope yet for me.

From first impressions Kuala Lumpur seems really nice. It's clean and organised. My uncle's house is in Petaling Jaya which is town on the edge of KL. I got out the car and was attacked by a rug on legs that thinks he's a clown - this funny little dog called Yati. I was later greeted by Sushi, his more timid friend. It's lovely here. Nothing fancy but really relaxing and warm, in the homey sense, and most appealingly, it's quiet. Other than bug and animal noises it's quiet.

His son also lives here with his girlfriend so the four of us headed out to a fish restaurant for dinner. I was in a bit of a daze and didn't realise that fish actually meant fish until after I realised I had agreed to shrimp. It was way past too late to change my mind (although I'd like to know what I thought the fish tanks full of fish, frogs and fridges of lobsters were for) so I kept quiet, I always wanted to like shrimp so figured I could maybe acquire the taste.

It tasted great. Goes to show you can't write off every shrimp just because 90% of them taste like cack.