Venti bag ’o coffee anyone?

This is the preferred method of take-out drinks here.  Took a little getting used to, but drinking hot coffee out of a ziploc with a straw wasn’t all bad.  At least no styrofoam aftertaste. 

And here’s a shot of Chinatown for you:

I think it’s Chinatown Kuala Lumpur.  You never know though.  I could be mixing it up with the pictures of Chinatowns I have from every city I’ve visited so far.

Doesn’t matter where you are–name the city and there’s a Chinatown that the tourists are supposed to go check out.  I know there are a billion and half Chinese in the world, but it’s amazing there are any left in China given the ubiquitousness of Chinatowns.  I wouldn’t be surprised if they’ve even got one in Beijing…just so the tourists can be sure to know where to find the knockoff watches and nicknacks.

Runner up behind Chinatowns are Little Indias.  The two are the Coke and Pepsi of immigrant enclaves.  Which makes American enclaves the Energy Drinks in this analogy.  They’re somewhere there in the cooler, you just never find them all together.

I’m still waiting to come across my first Americatown or Little USA.  Probably just have to settle for a McDonalds.

Now this photo I know is Kuala Lumpur.  It’s the famous KLCC towers.  The one with the skywalk between them  and the tallest in the world until trumped by Taiwan or Dubai or whoever is currently vying for it.

It must be odd to work in an office building that’s also a tourist stop.  For the desk jockey, this place is no different from some office complex outside Toledo.  To him it’s just the place he has to show up for his 8 a day and get bitched out by some insecure middle manager, and here these people like me are lining up to take pics and videos of the place.

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What I know of my father’s time here is he visited at least twice.   Once with a Time-Life guy named John Doriss to meet with the Tunka (Malaysian Prime Minister), and a second time when a Time-Life edition was banned because of a photo reproduction of a nude statue.  He didn’t have much luck with the post-master general who stood firm and said that since God is the only one who can decide if a nude is a nude, that he’d allow the magazine just as soon as Hector Senior could get God to come down and decide.

Speaking of nudity, the big uproar in Malaysia right now are the ‘racy’photos of a female member of the opposition party.  She’s gotten a lot of public support, but the fact she’s single, the photos were taken while she was asleep, and they were sent to the media by an angry ex-boyfriend still wasn’t enough keep her from having to resign. 

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My last night before heading for Thailand I spent over a fun convervastion with Naomi and Rick, a British couple who make my trek look like a day trip to the Hamptoms.  They’re out on the road for a couple years. 

It was great hearing their adventures so far, and even better getting to talk football (the American one) with Rick who lived in DC years ago.  I’m all for cultural open-mindedness, but I don’t have a whole lot to bring to the table when it comes to talking cricket and soccer, so it was a nice change discussing the reason the Skins have sucked the past decade rather than wickets and popping creases.

We were also talking about the expectations the world has for Obama.  Whether in Manila or KL or Japan, when I mention to a local that I’m American, inevitably the response is something along the lines of, “You Obama!  Obama very right man!”

If you think the expectations for Obama in the states were high, you gotta see it out here.  As Rick pointed out, a lot of the world sees him almost as a superhero who is going to fly in and solve all the world’s problems. 

Anything less than the invention of time travel, end of war, and free cold beer for all is going to be a major letdown.

The prez has his work cut out for him…