Strange People, Strange Place

I’m leaving KL for Thailand tonight, and I have to say I’m happy to be going. Yesterday, I walked all around the city seeing the sights. I walked for hours and saw Central Market, Dataran Merdeka (Freedom Square), Petaling Street, KL Tower, and the Petronas Twin Towers. I walked more than I had in months (mostly because I was lost half the time), and I was tired and filthy by the time I got back to the hostel. KL isn’t the cleanest of cities nor is it a place to walk in peace. I was catcalled, ushered toward a taxi, or asked to buy whatever goods were on the street three times per block. It was more of an annoyance walking around the city than a pleasure. If I ever come back, I’m going to wear a sign that says “NO…I don’t want ANYTHING!”

I have to admit I really wasn’t a fan of my roommates in KL, which put sort of a damper on the city as a whole. When traveling alone, the people you meet along the way can really make or break the experience. I met one of them my first night, a girl from Australia, who talked my ear off for over an hour, and the fact that I couldn’t stand her accent didn’t help matters. I barely said more than “uh-huh” and “mmm” the entire time. I had to finally, visibly, place my earphones in my ears for her to stop talking to me. Even then, she just couldn’t help herself and continued on, forcing me to remove my earphones so I could respond. I tried saying “Good Night,” aka end of conversation, but to no avail. After a bit, I think she finally got tired of hearing herself talk or else she wore herself out and left me in peace.

I didn’t get to meet my other roommate, an Indian man, until 4pm yesterday when he finally decided to roll out of bed. He was on my shit list before I even met him because trying to change and maneuver in our tiny room was frustrating without any light source whatsoever (there are no windows), and because he was still sleeping, I felt bad flicking on the light though it was 11:30am. I wanted to yell at him “wake up, lazy ass.” I finally did turn on the light because dressing in complete darkness is impossible. I left soon after and when I returned he had just gotten out of bed. He seemed nice enough until he started hardcore hitting on me. He asked for my email and phone number (though I don’t have a phone) within the first two minutes of meeting me. He then asked for a pen and proceeded to write down every piece of his contact information – name, phone number, email, address (just kidding; he didn’t give me his address). Then he asked me what I was doing the rest of the night, invited me out with him and his brother (he wanted me to meet his family already), expressed pity that I was leaving the next day because he would have liked to show me Malaysia and take me to dinner – all within the span of ten minutes. I’m surprised he didn’t ask me to marry him; maybe he was saving that question for after he’d known me at least an hour. Thankfully, after a moment of complete awkwardness, he trotted off to have dinner with his brother. Men in Malaysia have been exceptionally forward, bordering on harassment, and he was no different. I made a point to avoid him during the rest of my time in KL.

I unfortunately saw my Australian roommate again last night. I was hoping she wouldn’t be there when I got to the room, but what can you do when you share a dorm. I immediately buried my face in my book to avoid any chit-chat or in her case, lengthy conversation. It worked for about five minutes and then she unleashed her mouth on me. I felt like saying, “Do you not see me reading? Take a hint.” I tried to keep my attention focused on “Angela’s Ashes” as she blabbered on hoping she’d get the point, but she roped me into another half-hour of nods and uh-huhs. After a sweet, but brief, silence she said, “So I’ll turn the light off now?” which was said more as a statement disguised as a question than an actual question. I was still obviously reading. Was I supposed to pause mid-sentence, place my bookmark on the page, and go to sleep because she wanted the light off? Had she never stayed in a dorm before? There are certain unspoken rules of etiquette like “Don’t turn off the light when you’re roommate is still reading!!!” “Um, can you wait?” I responded rather curtly. “But it’s after midnight,” she said snottily. I almost laughed. Did her parents tell her not to stay up past 12 or something? “I only have five pages left,” I said. She huffed and buried her face in her pillow. Maybe she was mad at me for trying to exit the conversation at every opportunity. I read two pages, placed my bookmark on the page, and left the room more baffled than bothered by the incident. I was going to leave the light on when I left just to be a jerk but decided against it and flicked it off on my way out. I’m happy I’ll have no more nights in that hostel.