JessiccaThe Eyes of A Visitor
February 15th 2007 09:27
Recently my old friend whom I met in USQ Australia had a brief stop to meet all of his uni friends who are currently working in Malaysia. It was tough to get in touch with him, as he wasn’t online all the time and to know that he hasn’t booked for accommodations got me worried.
We were quite worried where he’d be going as all of us were busy working and we couldn’t take leave because of the coming long holiday already set for Chinese New Year for the following week, nevertheless he managed to hop around and took a daring, yet a little scary adventure without being able to converse in the local languages besides English.
The Horrifying
Through the eyes of my visitor, we realised that Malaysia still needs to improve a lot more on the major tourist sites such as Chinatown, as we all knew that every stall and every merchant work really hard to earn the living. Yet the desperate for a bowl of rice at the end of the day has pushed the merchants a little off when they encounter tourists. And another thing that my visitor had trouble was everyone thought that he was local (as he’s Asian) and before he knew it, he was lost in the local languages and offers that were handed in front of him to purchase. It was a good experience for first time visitors without a local guide because it is never easy to comb around local markets to shop without having the ready heart that he / she might be mistaken as a local or could be “slaughtered” by tourist prices. But then, that’s life in tourist attractions, regardless of country and location.
Or perhaps, he has been too pampered in Australia.
The Good and the Friendly
Besides the horror of “The attack of the Merchants” my visitor still manage to enjoy his adventures in the city. The shoppers in the Sungei Wang mall was rather helpful for his price enquiries on IT products and he did manage to grab some good stuffs by the end of the visit.
All smiles, the visitor & the locals
The friendly gesture of the simple locals welcoming him to my friend’s little gathering with our unselfishness to share our culture and knowledge has helped him to feel more at ease.
Yummy Hong Kong Style French Toast in Malaysia
And the local food that has to offer here also surprised his taste buds and it is always a true satisfaction to see that your visitor is enjoying himself / herself with food. The only thing is… the variety is so huge you just can’t squeeze everything in your tummy at the same time. It just won’t work and you’d just end up in the toilet after overwhelmed by the great variety of choices.
This looks like alien ships... ?
The Things We Took for Granted
Sometimes when we stayed so long in one city / country, we have forgotten the interesting places we are living in. After showing the photos he took during his visit, I only then remember that there are actually a few interesting places that we have never visited in our lives and ironically, we didn’t even know the available places to visit, the services available for site seeing at the moment, and even how to get there. When your country starts to host a major tourism event it’s truly both an eye opener for the foreigner and the locals.
To my visitor, every single thing that happens here in Kuala Lumpur, from the old temples of worship in the city, to the tiniest scenes like the wipers lifted up from the glass to avoid over heat of the rubbers on the wiper, the great refreshing of the ice blended “ABC”, is unique and has never experienced in his life. I have even forgotten that Kuala Lumpur is truly a city that never sleeps! This shows that what every city can offer to a curious visitor who mingles around in our midst, and that’s how beautiful the world can still be.
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