Day Two

Kuala Lumpur is a very noisy city. I always forget, and it takes me a day or two to adjust. I expect that by tomorrow I will have adjusted completely, and then I will be leaving on the next leg of my trip the day after that. How inconvenient.

It is a great relief to be sitting down in this dodgy Internet cafe. (I think a cockroach just ran up my ankle, but I kicked myself and it seems to have gone. Is this why they keep the lights dim?) (It was just a small one.) I have been walking all day, as I usually do when I'm on holiday. Well, I took the train as well, and the monorail, but mostly I walked. My legs ache.

Just now I went back to my hotel to put my feet up for a moment, and switched on the TV to see what was happening in the world. BBC World was showing ads for their next thing, so I switched to Vision Four, whatever that is, and - you WILL NOT BELIEVE THIS. I COULD NOT BELIEVE IT MYSELF - there was my BROTHER, picking a skull up off the ocean floor. On TV! In a hotel room! In Malaysia!

You see, my brother once turned up in a Discovery documentary about diving for sunken treasure. He was one of the divers, and he did NOT give his permission to be filmed. However, he turned up in the documentary twice, as I discovered when I watched it wondering if he was one of the divers on that particular job. He had not told me about the documentary, so actually it was a surprise when his face turned up for just a moment. Later he saw the documentary and told me that he was also the unidentifiable diver picking up the skull. (He was disappointed that they didn't keep the next bit the filmed, when he found the jawbone as well, and fitted the skull and jaw together and clanked them humorously. I can't IMAGINE why they cut that bit, can you?)

This is not a new documentary, and it is a long time since I saw it first. I have no idea why it should suddenly turn up in my hotel room when I just happened to turn on the TV. That was kind of weird. But it also reminds me that I didn't actually tell my brother I was going away. He doesn't have email, and I intended to call him, but forgot in the last minute rush. I emailed the brother who has email, but as I may have mentioned before he rarely bothers to actually read his email, so there is no guarantee that any of the family even knows I'm away.

It was all last minute rush, though. The time between booking the tickets and leaving was just over a week. I had meant to leave much later, but suddenly had a fit of disgust at the weather WHILE I WAS TALKING TO THE TRAVEL AGENT, which was why I ended up having to rush everything so badly and nothing seemed real. We finished the translating job just in time, and I left a few non-essential things undone. It was worth it, though - I have managed to give myself FIVE WEEKS.

I will try to answer people's comments when I have time and opportunity - and will try to post when I have time and opportunity - but can't guarantee that I will, always.

I am meeting a friend in London on Monday, and after that I'm not QUITE sure what is happening. We have made several conflicting plans so far, so it's anyone's guess.

Other news: I met an old acquaintance today. The last time I saw her was three years ago at her 16th birthday party. (Or was it 15th?) She is now working as a receptionist at a hotel, as I discovered when I chatted with her parents, who have a tea/food stall. It was fun to see her again. I found out that I have been getting her name wrong since she was about 12. When I asked her why she'd never corrected me she told me she thought it was funny.

Hmph.

So far I have discovered that the people here at this internet cafe will make a backup CD of my photo memory card. I think they'd probably also allow me to use the CD (or connect the camera directly) to post pictures, too, but I can't be bothered tonight. I'm too tired.