Selamat Datang Kuala Lumpur

Before I could even mark Kuala Lumpur as a worthy travel destination, I was beleaguered by tales of a sodden and bedraggled city, no thanks to a picture well painted by my friends. And since I blindly put a lot of stock in what they have to say, no "Malaysia Truly Asia" commercial could convince me to go, save for the desire for a new stamp on my passport. So when my boss announced I was flying to KL, I was grateful for the fact that I didn't have to spend my hard-earned dough to get a Malaysian stamp on the clean and eager pages of my passport.

We flew via Singapore Airlines, but I didn't get to enjoy the service that cost us the extra hundred dollars, 'cause I was asleep 10 minutes after buckling up, and woke up just in time for landing.

KLIA (Kuala Lumpur International Airport) was almost as nice as Changi - spotless, organized and efficient. I find it impressive that 90% of the immigration officers were women in their hijabs; it altered the way I perceive conservatism in Muslim countries.

20 minutes after the usual baggage-immigration-customs route, we were on a train headed to the city. We checked in at the Hilton KL which sat side by side the Le Meridien. The room blew me away. Neoteric furnishing, a plasma TV, a luxurious bathtub and a magnificent overhead shower that sprinkles water like a refreshing summer rain. I got a daily supply of distilled water and two pieces of praline chocolates in cute silver boxes every night. The only strange thing I found about my room was a paper lining at the bottom of my rubbish bin that says "Throw it here!". I couldn't help but think, "But if not here, where?"

The trip lasted for three days, and it was unfortunate I did not have the chance to tour the city; my interactions were confined to the hotel and the convention center. With such limited experience, I may have a skewed impression of Malaysia. Nonetheless, let me share my three travel discoveries:

1. The cabbies will squeeze every penny out of you. The faster you can whip 10 MYR out of your pocket, the easier it would be for you to get a ride. In this town honey, money talks.
2. Traffic is bad, but a Manila girl is in no position to criticize.
3. Carbo load and cholesterol city matched with bad eating habits explain why some locals gravitate towards the pudgy side. Coconut, I discovered, was the key ingredient to the Malaysian cuisine. Coconut milk, coconut oil, coconut jelly - trust me, they've put every edible part of the coconut tree to use. And until I came to Malaysia, I didn't know supper could be different from dinner. I was told that dinner is the meal you take at 6PM, and supper is the meal you take four to six hours after. People who stay out late partying flock to food stalls/hawker centers for a supper of chicken wings before heading home to sleep and recover from inebriation. But then again, maybe it is not wise for a Filipino to comment on such things, with our own cuisine consisting of 'fried everything.'