KL

I think KL is a very multicultural place. And it's such a fun place too. People are very western, but polite, and friendly too!

Having arrived in penninsular Malaysia from Malaysian Borneo, the difference is massive. Borneo is still far more developed than i imagined it to be but Malaysia is so western I can't get over it. They all speak english, even those who have nothing to do with tourists speak english. I was having lunch today in a sushi restaurant in the food court of a very posh shopping mall at the foot of the twin towers, watching the sushi float past me on the conveyer belt and listening in to four Malaysian women out for lunch and some shopping. They all looked Malaysian, one had a muslim head scarf, and they were all chatting away in english they could have fitted in anywhere, London or New York, it was like they were from sex and the city, four girls out for lunch! They caught me smiling at them as they were laughing and said that they had been on a shopping spree, they didn't plan on it but it just happened! How familiar!

The population here is 70%Malaysian, then Chinese, then Indian, and a fair few westerners and blow me down there's some black folk here too - I stared like it was the first time i'd seen a black man! Didn't mean to but I was sure he must be just a very dark Indian! It's been four whole months since I last saw a non-white, non-asian!
70% of the economy however is in Chinese hands. And I think I have met as many Chinese as I have Malay.

Everyone dresses very well, and very western - leg warmers in 30degrees and high humidity anyone? And shopping seems to be the national sport. The malls are the national stadiums. There aren't really shops along the streets like we have on our high streets, there are just huge big shopping complexes, bigger than I have seen in the UK. And the nice ones are really nice! Beautiful lavish entrances and the lovely breeze of a/c as you walk in. I accidently found myself in one just after arriving in KL at about 2 in the afternoon and didn't find my way out until it was dark! 7 o'clock i made it back out to find it dark and raining. But i'll tell you what, it's good exercise walking round those places, I was shattered. Whoever says shopping is not a sport was a man who had never shopped in a Malaysian mall.

I was also hugely excited to find TOPSHOP!!!! But less excited to find that the biggest size they stock here is a size 12 and that having enjoyed all the fab food on my travels, i am no longer a british size 12. Oh shit. And I was even less happy to discover that in Malaysian shops a size 12 is an XL, and asking for an XXL is just way too humiliating an experience, so I'll drown my sorrows with a latte and a muffin from the food court, yum!

Guess I'd better mention Borneo! What an adventure, and what a lovely place. It is more developed than I thought it would be, but the transport links are rubbish! People seem to have a fairly good standard of living in the cities but outside the cities everything is very basic.

But the real attraction of Borneo is the Orang-Utans, the people of the forest. Orang = people, utan = forest. And they are such fun to watch. I went to the sanctuary in Sabah, the northern part of Borneo, where they raise orphaned babies and then try to rehab them and release them back into the jungle. When they are old enough they stop living in cages and are put back into the jungle and fed twice a day. As they get more comfortable fending for themselves they are moved further into the forest until they no longer come back for food or shelter. In Sepilok rehab centre the orang utans were waiting for the keepers to arrive with the food, one even came and sat on the railing just in front of all the tourists! They are quite slow-moving and this makes them appear very graceful. I also went to another sanctuary in Sarawak, southern malaysian Borneo, just outside the capital city of Kuching. Yes, I went 3 times to see the Orang-utans, I got a little obsessed! And I loved this other centre. The keepers called the Orang-utans with an orang-utan styleeee call, and in they swung on the trees. First two small females, who grabbed some bananas and then scarpered as they heard Big Ritchie approaching! Big Ritchie, or just Ritchie to any non-Scots, is the dominant male at the centre, and the poor trees were giving under his weight as he made his way slowly to the feeding platfrom. He is about 100kg, about 1.4m tall, but with an arm span of more than 2m! And dominant males have more than 7 times an adult male humans strength, they could literally rip you in two. He has these large skin flaps on his cheeks to make him more handsome to the lady orang-utans, but how he ever gets close enough to them for the girls to be impressed is a mystery if he continues to make an entrance like that and scare them all away!

Anyhoo, am feeling tired so will write more about Borneo another time, off for a wee walk before bed. Night night, x