ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

Surprised by Rain in Kuala Lumpur

Updated on January 10, 2018

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.

Source

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.

Source

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

working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)