Dispatches from Kuala Lumpur

It's been a almost a week here in Kuala Lumpur and I want to share some things about this place. I'd meant to write this sooner, but I usually have been falling asleep at the same time as my daughter.

Life here for the average KLer (that's what I'm calling residents of Kuala Lumpur) seems definitely different than the average Japanese person. Most people here are polyglots (bi- or trilingual) since the city is made up of primarily ethnic Chinese and Indians along with the native Malays. They all have their own language and all three groups also use English. With only 2 exceptions, every single person I've spoken with (asking for directions, etc) has spoken English. 

Though not everyone's English is the same as mine. For example, whenever someone addresses my daughter they call her "baby". We were on the subway today and someone very kindly gave up their seat for my daughter. As they stood up, the person said, "Here, baby, come sit down." They're not using baby like honey-sweety-dear-monkeybear, they just call even 7-year-olds "baby." 

One thing that's not so different is the weather. Being closer to the Equator, I was expecting the heat to be terrible. But it's really just as hot and humid as Japan, sometimes even a little cooler. 

That's all for now, but I promise more posts will come soon.

Bye,

Jesse