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Surprised by Rain in Kuala Lumpur
Since yesterday evening I am in the capital of Malaysia. Kuala Lumpur, which seems to be somewhere between East and West in its development, has countless major and minor attractions.
For the first day, I decided to visit China Town. I love those kinds of districts in any city. The smells, the colors, the hassle, the noises (among other things loud karaoke transmitted over shaking speakers in the afternoon...). Since I did not really need anything in particular, I decided just for the sake of it to find a protective cover for my Kindle.
So here I was, being shouted at from all corners of the market at the same time about all sorts of products. Sellers who are trying to get me to buy anything from the seemingly never-ending selection of fruits, watches, bags, towels and wool hats (!). With every: "Yes, lady, this way, here!", I ask: "You have cases for e-readers?" and then I get to watch a slightly perplexed facial expression...
"For Samsung or Apple?", only one salesperson asked me back. He did not have or did not know Amazon.
With all the action going on, it's easy to forget about time, until at one moment my tired legs were calliing for attention. So I bought something to drink and looked for a place in the shade to answer some emails.
At some point, a loud thunder crash pulled me out of my thoughts. A look into the almost black sky as well as repeated thunder did their part to get me worried. Unfortunately, I was a long way from home.
"Get a taxi", I thought, "and get home in time before the tropical rain". Taxis can be found everywhere in Kuala Lumpur.
The first one wanted 20 ringgit from me. When I insisted that he turned on his taximeter, he refused. The second taxi driver wanted 25 ringgit from me and use my cellphone's GPS to find the way. But he, too, refused to turn on his taximeter. Since after my experience in the Philippines I was determined not to repeat the error of a fixed price, my only option was to walk. That's when the first heavy raindrops started to fall.
A few hundred meters further on, the saying "Rain makes beautiful" took on a whole new meaning, as I stupidly, stupidly decided this morning to wear a white t-shirt, which was now completely transparent. And this in a predominantly Muslim country... I cursed my choice of clothes and my pride, which had previously stopped me from just taking a taxi. Luckily, Heaven sent a taxi during uninterrupted downpours, which also turned on the taximeter.
"You have no umbrella?", the driver asked me. "With weather in Malaysia, you always need umbrella." Well, thank you, I know that now, too. But my umbrella stayed in the hotel room this morning.
Kuala Lumpur is full with one-way streets, so it was not easy to drive to where I wanted to go. Therefore I let the taxi drop me off two streets earlier and went back into the rain. At least I could enjoy the comfort of having paid only 4 Ringgit for the ride.
Surrounded by skyscrapers and thanks to my non-existent sense of direction I was unable to find the right skyscraper. So first of all, I looked for shelter. Once there, I turned to my phone's GPS to help me find the correct address. Only then did I realize that my previous email checking was enough for dead batteries. Incredible how dependent I am on the comfort of technology. Without it, all that's left is to walk around, hoping that at some point I would be able to spot the right building.
It occurred to me that a little over a year ago, I had said that I would love to go outside in the rain without an umbrella, just enjoying the rain drops on my skin. Stupid, stupid idea to implement this in Kuala Lumpur. In my flip-flops, I found only little support and the t-shirt would not have to be washed anymore. When I finally found the right skyscraper and entered the lobby soaking wet, I just wanted to take a hot shower.
During my shower I wondered why, why on earth, I did not have the idea to just buy an umbrella...
© 2018 meshelled