Off To India..

We're sailing along now through the Indian Ocean to our next port of call of Cochin, India. We just left Malaysia. Despite my frustrating morning in Port Kelang in Malaysia, I had a delightful day. A few of us got off the ship later. I was able to go out into port at the misery of some of my cast mates. They were quarantined with the ship virus known as NLV. Well, one girl got it a few days before, broke fever, but had to be quarantined for 72 hours. Her roommate was also quarantined although she wasn't sick just because she was exposed. Both girls were fine and not sick on the second day of quarantine, but had to stay there due to protocol and keeping the ship clean from NLV. Since they were stuck on board in their rooms, I was able to leave. We took a taxi into the city of Kuala Lumpur. It was about an hour's drive from port, but well worth it. I was in Kuala Lumpur 20 years ago, but I think we just stayed there and performed and went sight seeing elsewhere because I don't remember much of this city. It was a beautiful and bustling city and very clean. There was an architectural marvel there called the Petronas Twin Towers. They're connected by a bridge about halfway up that was unfortunately closed on Mondays (the day we were in town). It was fascinating and eerie at the same time. The plaza reminded me of what the twin towers at the World Trade Center in NYC must have been like before they collapsed. These twin towers in Kuala Lumpur didn't seem as stupendous or as large as the ones in NYC, but they claim it to be taller than the trade center buildings and the largest in the world. They may not seem so extraordinary because they come to a point unlike the trade center towers that were square all the way up. We did a bit of window-shopping in the mall below before heading to the Kuala Lumpur tower in the center of town. This radio tower is the 4th largest in the world. The CNN radio tower in Toronto being the tallest. We went up to the observation platform, which was about level with some of the top floors in the twin towers across the way. In the twin towers, the only place visitors were allowed was in the middle bridge, and that was not nearly as high as the observation deck in the Kuala Lumpur tower. The city spread out over the landscape and it was so peaceful up there. We could see everything and it was beautiful. We didn't have much time so we spent some time up there for a while before heading down and back to the ship for the evening.

The next day was in Georgetown, Penang, Malaysia. It was a small port and I only had 2 hours there. I just walked around town by myself and had some time alone. It was soooo hot that day. Whoa. It was in the 90s and humid. Just walking around my shirt got soaked. There was a much different feel here than in the bustling city of Kuala Lumpur. I found a lighthouse near the beach on the other side of town and climbed all the stairs to the top. I got some good views of the town and the ocean from up there. The climb was steep though. I followed the beach and caught some pictures of the City Hall and of Fort Cornwallis. The fort was interesting, but mainly an attraction for the evening since the whole inside was a stage arena set for jousting shows. I was running out of time since I split shifts with another friend, so I had to head back after this. Apparently there was some good shopping if you got into a taxi and went about 45 minutes away. Next time I'll have to do some research before heading into town and splitting shifts. Next stop is India. I still can't believe all the sights I'm getting to see on this adventure.