'Elisher X' wasn't too bad a ride for an no frills, fly by night, 'you pay for what you get' airline. I mean $750 return to Laos from Sydney is an insance result in anyone's books, although just checking on prices recently I've found that you can actually get into KL from Melbourne for $318 return !!? What the hell is going on with airfares, it's nuts ! Not that I'm complaining, just that I wish these airfares had been around earlier.
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In any case, JJ and I shared a three seater out of Melbourne, Jase and Audrey sat a row in front of us sharing another three seater. I few hours into the flight I made my way onto the floor underneath the seats, hijacked a bag for a pillow and 'hey presto', magical result. One of the most comfortable sleeps I've had on a flight for quite sometime. I've got to say, being 167cms has its benefits, not many, but this is certainly one of them.
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So Kuala Lumpur is considered to be a city of the world, or rather, an Alpha city. Basically its one of those cities that are deemed to be an important 'node point' within the context of the global economic system. I guess its importance is derived from its geography, financial linkages, its fit within the concept of globalisation etc. My first take on KL landing at the the Air Asia X budget terminal was what I expected, hot, humid and tropical in feel. Driving from the aiport into the city it was visible that there had been rapid expansion in the area for some time, there was distinct signs of urbanisation a fair way out of the city, as well as fairly large industrial complexes. I can't remember exactly when it was but I do recall sighting the iconic Petronas Towers a fair way out of the centre, considering that they were recognised at one point the tallests buildings on earth it's no suprise that they act as the 'beacon of KL'.
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The city centre visually is somewhat of a mixture of old worn, colonial style buildings, new modern tributes to consumerism and economic development, and then something else, an in between mixture that typifies that transition. We entered KL somewhere between 9 and 10 am, of course surrounded by vehicles of all sorts, traffic bountiful and I guess these days a 'right of passage' for a modern metropolis. Our digs for the next few days was to be the Swiss Inn in Chinatown. Relatively inexpensive, located right in the middle of the Chinatown action and close to most transport means it seemed to be an ideal location to do a little exploring before splitting for Lao in a few days.
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Our first task on arrival however was to negate the labyrinth of halls and doors that was the ground floor, and for that matter, the upper floors of the Swiss Inn. For the uninitiated it was quite confusing and could have been a potential frustration if we didn't have four minds on the orienteering task at hand....but hey, 'we're that good' and we sorted out our way in and to our rooms without anyone having a stroke. It was at this point that we chose to recover from our Elisher X experience, steal some Z's and rejuvinate our minds before hitting the streets to discover exactly what KL had to offer.
