Day 32: Twin towers and Petaling Night Market

I awake at a reasonable time, 10:00am I believe. Head downstairs where Amy has left me a note, found in the hands of sweet Jackson, about a bagel and fresh cut fruit in the fridge, thanks Amy! She returns and Ryan and I head to the gym ... that's right ... I went to the gym, what? Their gym is at a resort with swimming pool, tennis courts, and an English Primary school to boot. My wrist guard holds up reasonably well, but none of the free weights go above 20kg (45lbs) so I am not worried about over-extending.

After a quick 45 minutes, we head back to the house, I jump in the shower, which, fortunate for me, the heating element is not working, nor the pressure, so really I just hung out under a dripping shower head, and waited for the soap to wash off. Head down to the first floor for homemade enchiladas, cranberry salad and mint tea. Eat way too much, converse not nearly enough, and solidify plans for the day. 

A little background, Ryan went to college with me and was in my fraternity. We shared many friends and acqauintances as well as were invited together to a formal by 2 girls in Phi Lamb. We actually have pictures of that event on my facebook album about A&M Date Parties. Anyhow, I had not seen him since shortly after I graduated in fall of '99, so it's been about 10 years. I had heard he got married but had never had the privilege of meeting young Amy. They met on a trip for The Company. She was an Aggie and it was an Aggie led trip in need of an experienced "trip" person. At this point Ryan had done some trips with The Company, and as an Aggie, was a great fit. They met, hit it off, but at the time he was in Michigan working in the engineering field and she was still in school. They became friends, she graduates and takes a job with The Company in Dallas, around the time he moved there as well. And y'all know how the classic love story goes: She falls for him, he's not in the same boat though his actions speak differently, he leaves to be on a trip in Afghanistan for 2 years, tells her he does not want to date her, her heart is broken, she moves on, he returns, decides he likes her, they meet, he fumbles his words and says he's still not attracted to her, she's crushed, he pursues, she's confused yet breaks up with a guy in GA, she deflects, he pursues, they date and get married, and now are full time with The Company in Malaysia with their 1 year old son Jackson. Classic story I tell ya!  So when I meet Amy, she's warm and bubbly, and definitely has my same gift of gab, so we become quick friends. 

Back to today, they want to show me two things, #1, the twin towers in KL, & #2 the famous Petaling Night Market. The towers at one time were the tallest buildings in the world, but now are just the tallest twin towers in the world. They are connected about 40 floors up by a skywalk as well as at the base by a mall ... Yeah, much like Singapore, Malaysia loves their malls. So we had coffee at a cafe outside the mall by the fountains and greenbelt. Inside they are doing a ceremonious dance because of the Chinese New Year and I capture a bit of it on video. We tried to visit the skywalk, but of course, they are not open on Mondays.  So off it was to dinner and Petaling Night Market. 

The market was less than 2km from the towers but traffic is in full swing. 30 minutes later we locate reasonable parking and head to Onando's for dinner. It's apparenly a South African Restaurant chain with a variety of options, most involving chicken. Jackson was being adorable, as always, so I reach in my pocket to pull out my camera and that's when I discover it's gone. Panic sets in a touch and I retrace my steps, convinced I left it on the seat in the car. I was more disheartened by the idea of not capturing the mayhem of the night market than reallly thinking it was lost. We departed dinner and headed into the chaos. It's pretty much a flea market with a ton of knock-offs for cheap cheap and wild food options. We walked through it in about 20 minutes, made a couple attempts at a bargain, fail, and took off for the car. I knew all of the stuff would be the same as in Thailand, but Thailand would be half the price. 

So we jumped in the car and headed back to the house. The internet was finally working so it was time to catch up on emails and facebook and all that good stuff. We hit the hay by midnight knowing tomorrow would lead to another adventure. 

Nite nite via the iPhone blogger.