Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 3

Day 30

I arrived to Kuala Lumpur around 1am. I walked to nearby hostel and went to sleep in there. In the morning I was feeling fresh again after shower and nice breakfast. Mason had arrived home and I met him there. We had lot to talk about and most of the day we spend talking about everything you could talk about.

Finnish presidential elections were going on and I went to give my vote in the embassy of Finland. It was quite difficult walk from the nearest metro station to the embassy. I had to cross highway and walk along it without any sidewalks. I got quite many looks from locals; stupid tourist on the move. After I entered the embassy I felt like I just came in small Finland in the middle of Malaysia. It was also weird to talk with Finnish persons. After I voted I went back to Mason's home.

Day 31

My last full day in Malaysia. Jon came back from Penang and joined us. I went to buy bus ticket to Singapore for the next day. In the evening we went to have my last dinner and then me and Mason wanted to go clubbing. Jon also came but they didn't let him in because he didn't wear shoes (he had flip flops). So he had to go back home but me and Mason partied hard. It was very nice last evening in Malaysia.

I liked Malaysia and Mason was very big help and one of the reasons I liked the country. Malaysia is very developed so it was also totally different from Indonesia. This time I only visited in West Malaysia so next time is maybe the time for Sabah and Sarawak on the island of Borneo. But I'm definitely going back there again. Malaysia is probably the easiest country to start a trip in Southeast Asia (well, Singapore is easy too).

Day 32

I felt little bit hangoverish when I woke up. Me and Mason said goodbye to each other and in the afternoon I took the bus to Singapore. Bus ride was long but I was already used to sit in the bus in Malaysia. What I like in Malaysia is the places where buses to stop so you can buy food and go to the toilet. Well, there is same kind of places in Europe too but these places have the Asian feeling with open air kitchens and much better food.

Bus only stopped in Johor Bahru bus station on the way and the next stop was the border between Malaysia and Singapore. Malaysian side went easily but then I had lots of problems at the Singaporean side of the border. We had to take all our stuff from the bus because of the customs check. So I took my backpacks but I left my Indonesian hat in the bus with my food and drinks. So first I had to fill the immigration card but I didn't have my own pen so I had to wait to somebody to borrow it to me. Then at passport checkpoint the lady asked me some questions which took time. Then there was the line for customs check where they checked the luggage. So when I finally arrived to the bus waiting area I didn't see my bus. I asked from guard if he happened to see the bus. He answered that the bus just left. I almost stopped breathing.

I called to my Singapore host and asked if he could go to the bus terminal and see if my bus was there and pick my hat. He was living next to the bus terminal so it was ok for him. Meanwhile I was running around like a headless chicken asking how I can go to the city centre. Local buses had huge lines and I had no brain functions left to start to understand where they are going. So I decided to take a taxi but then I had a problem again. I had no Singapore dollars yet. So I went for the taxi and I begged the driver if I could pay with Malaysian ringgits. He agreed (mostly because my smallest note was 100 ringgits and the taxi trip was only 15 Singapore dollars) and he took me to the bus terminal. I went to the bus company's office where I met my host Kuni and his friend Jen. They already had a fight with the people in the office and I was continuing it. They finally gave us contact number to the Johor Bahru bus station where my bus was located. Then we went to Kuni's home and I tried to calm down. Jen offered me dinner and then she called to the bus company and they promised to call back next day. That calmed me down. But thinking back it was quite a big fuss over a souvenir hat but hey, I don't know if I can ever go back to Indonesia to buy a new one. :D Finally it was time for sleep.