Kuala Lumpur in a nutshell

Definitely more pleasure than business!

The past weekend in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - land of Ringits, knockoffs, actual weather (as opposed to "overcast and humid") and one hell of a monorail system.

In short it was a great and action-packed time. Some lessons I learned:

1. When the bus company says the trip takes 5 hours, they mean 7. At least. And when the bus company says they'll show up at 12.30 on Sunday to drive us back, they mean they'll show up when the goddamn want to, and most likely with a different bus with a highly substandard interior.
2. Never give the microphone to Pedro.
3. Never give the hotel your credit card. EVER! Especially if you've booked 20 rooms for 40 rowdy exchange students, who drink, run, scream, sing and, according to the CCTV, tend to steal powder fire extinguishers and spray them all over a suite. Unless of course your hotel has a policy like our hotel, where we were billed a whopping 150 ringgits for a used fire extinguisher, trashed hotel room, countless noise complaints and general obnoxiousness.
4. Security guards are retarded! Case in point: Me and Dan, rather intoxicated and soaked in water and white powder are running down the hall to avoid trouble regarding the fire extinguisher. Enter security guard walking in the opposite direction. Also enter Dan and Marianne's "OH SHIT" thoughts and feelings of impending doom. What happens? Guard nods at us and keeps walking. Hurrah!
5. If you put your mind to it, you can get up at 9 am, go see some Indian caves, go up the Petronas Tower (you know, the ones from Entrapment), see a fake capital city that is entirely empty but cost billions of Ringgits, go to Chinatown, bargain and buy lots of knockoff gear, take a cab, train and monorail, go to the top of the TV Tower, buy RM300 worth of booze, eat an iffy pizza hut pizza, have a preparty and sing (loudly), go out, hear about one of the others get hit in the face with a beer bottle, go to a public Malaysian hospital, go searching for a long distance calling card at 3 am in a random neighbourhood, have an afterparty until 6 am, and finally go to sleep with an extra person in your room due to the powderiness of his own.
6. Point 5 results in sleep on the bus.
7. When possible, hold out on going to the bathroom until you cross the border back into Singapore
8. ALWAYS WEAR SUNSCREEN (lesson from previous few days - I am now officially skin cancer waiting to happen. Lobsterhood does not become me)

[As a side note, todayI learned: Always check your schedule before going to class. Especially if you think you have 8.30 class. I am now sitting outside food haven at 9.12 in the morning, with 6 hours straight of class starting in almost 3 hours. Shitty.]