Seat of Our Pants » Malaysia http://www.seatofourpants.com An around the world travel blog Fri, 30 Sep 2011 04:55:09 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 Malysian Airline’s Aftermints http://www.seatofourpants.com/2009/09/14/malysian-airlines-aftermints/ http://www.seatofourpants.com/2009/09/14/malysian-airlines-aftermints/#comments Tue, 15 Sep 2009 06:04:55 +0000 Jaime http://www.seatofourpants.com/?p=1548 Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.]]> These were served to us with dinner on our flight from Delhi to Leh. I figured they were small breath mints but, to my surprise, something all together different fell out of the packet.

 

Check out the contents by

 

aftermint-opened  

They tasted like mint, but looked like and had the consistency of birdseed. I spat them out.

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]]> http://www.seatofourpants.com/2009/09/14/malysian-airlines-aftermints/feed/ 3 Bearded Bread, Anyone? http://www.seatofourpants.com/2009/09/13/bearded-bread-anyone/ http://www.seatofourpants.com/2009/09/13/bearded-bread-anyone/#comments Sun, 13 Sep 2009 08:28:03 +0000 Jaime http://www.seatofourpants.com/?p=1544 Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.]]> We ran across this sign in Kuala Lumpur’s Central Station. It’s a mighty bold statement.

 

I’m willing to bet that almost everything beats a tart covered in flossy meat. Just sayin’.

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]]> http://www.seatofourpants.com/2009/09/13/bearded-bread-anyone/feed/ 0 Censorship http://www.seatofourpants.com/2009/09/12/censorship/ http://www.seatofourpants.com/2009/09/12/censorship/#comments Sun, 13 Sep 2009 07:49:57 +0000 Martin http://www.seatofourpants.com/?p=1540 Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.]]> For the most part, traveling as a tourist involves meeting new people, seeing beautiful sights and immersing yourself in a new culture. Sometimes, you are awarded with new impulses and insights into other ways of life.

 

At other times, travel involves a window into what living under a different form of government means. I was browsing through a copy of The Economist, one of the most reputable and respected publications on the planet, when I saw this huge, black square. The lead image in an article detailing the financial plight of the Los Angeles Porn industry had been blacked out with a magic marker. Apparently, the Malaysian government doesn’t want their citizens to see whatever was underneath; probably a naked bum or two.

 

Interesting.

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]]> http://www.seatofourpants.com/2009/09/12/censorship/feed/ 0 Poste Restante http://www.seatofourpants.com/2009/09/11/poste-restante/ http://www.seatofourpants.com/2009/09/11/poste-restante/#comments Sat, 12 Sep 2009 07:48:31 +0000 Martin http://www.seatofourpants.com/?p=1532 Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.]]> If you’re on the road, receiving mail may be a problem. Enter the Poste Restante service – a system where you send your letter or package to a post office. They then hold it for the recipient till they pick it up. It is pretty cool that this still works – I haven’t heard of anyone using this service outside of 1930s books, but today I found myself at the Kuala Lumpur main post office.

 

Me: any poste restante for Martin Engstrom?

 

Malaysia Post: sure, here’s your parcel.

 

Me: Thanks.

 

Couldn’t be smoother. We like it.

 

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]]> http://www.seatofourpants.com/2009/09/11/poste-restante/feed/ 2 Kuala Lumpur http://www.seatofourpants.com/2009/09/11/kuala-lumpur/ http://www.seatofourpants.com/2009/09/11/kuala-lumpur/#comments Sat, 12 Sep 2009 04:00:45 +0000 Jaime http://www.seatofourpants.com/?p=1526 Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.]]> Thanks to that super lame movie Entrapment, starring Sean Connery and Katherine Zeta Jones (circa 1999), I pictured Kuala Lumpur as a very different place than it actually is. Rather than the ramshackle ghetto (plus fabulous twin tower) depicted in the movie, the city is actually modern and easy to get around. It has fast become our favorite Southeast Asian city – our little home away from home.

 

Air Asia, the discount airline that is responsible for making our flights around SE Asia so easy, uses Kuala Lumpur as their hub. It’s for this reason that we’re here for a third time in four months. That, and you can eat sushi here. And drink wine. And drink lattes. Really, the list could go on and on…KL (as it’s known here) is a place where you can let the food and wine snob come out for a while.

 

Fried rice be damned! It’s filet mignon with truffle shavings for me tonight.

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]]> http://www.seatofourpants.com/2009/09/11/kuala-lumpur/feed/ 1 The Daily Downpour http://www.seatofourpants.com/2009/09/11/the-daily-downpour/ http://www.seatofourpants.com/2009/09/11/the-daily-downpour/#comments Sat, 12 Sep 2009 03:54:24 +0000 Jaime http://www.seatofourpants.com/?p=1523 Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.]]> When it rains in Kuala Lumpur, it RAINS. We were caught yesterday by the deluge while on a shopping trip. This video is a clip of that downpour. It rained this hard for an hour straight.

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]]> http://www.seatofourpants.com/2009/09/11/the-daily-downpour/feed/ 0 Fish Eat Tourist http://www.seatofourpants.com/2009/09/11/fish-eat-tourist/ http://www.seatofourpants.com/2009/09/11/fish-eat-tourist/#comments Fri, 11 Sep 2009 11:38:10 +0000 Martin http://www.seatofourpants.com/?p=1512 Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.]]> Normally it’s the other way around. However, this is the latest trend in Malaysian spa treatments: You let 10,000 fish nosh on the dead skin on your feet. It is supposed to be the cure-all for everything from Corn Virus to Athlete’s Foot.

 

The owner of the feet on the picture said that it felt ‘weird but nice’ and that ‘you get used to it’. It’s not that we wimped out or anything. It’s just that we have perfect feet, the both of us.

 

No, really.

 

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]]> http://www.seatofourpants.com/2009/09/11/fish-eat-tourist/feed/ 0 Say What?? http://www.seatofourpants.com/2009/08/14/say-what-2/ http://www.seatofourpants.com/2009/08/14/say-what-2/#comments Fri, 14 Aug 2009 10:51:28 +0000 Martin http://www.seatofourpants.com/?p=1302 Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.]]> When traveling, you are constantly exposed to languages you don’t understand. For some reason, my brain never stops trying to make sense out of what I hear and read. Sometimes, though, you just have to shake your head and move on.

 

Nothing to see here, folks …

 

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]]> http://www.seatofourpants.com/2009/08/14/say-what-2/feed/ 0 Old School Time Keeping http://www.seatofourpants.com/2009/08/12/old-school-time-keeping/ http://www.seatofourpants.com/2009/08/12/old-school-time-keeping/#comments Wed, 12 Aug 2009 12:16:17 +0000 Jaime http://www.seatofourpants.com/?p=1298 Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.]]> Is it a watch? Yes.

 

Is it a calculator? Yes.

 

Is it super a super sweet blast-from-the-past gadget I bought today for $5? Absolutely.

 

That’s enough for this post. I have some numbers to crunch…

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