Bento Box Bits of everything

10Nov/111

Malaysia

Landed in Kuala Lumpur after flying for 23 hours: Aus -> LAX -> HKG -> KUL. Brutal. Cathay was especially uncomfortable- the seats don't recline, they only slide into a slouch which is terrible for the back. Getting to the hotel was a simple matter of a few trains and a monorail. Took tons of pictures (269!) so check out the flickr set.



Studio room at Frasers Place

The hotel was really nice- new and contemporary with great amenities. Rested up and went to the city Petaling Jaya outside KL to meet up with the food guide. The experience was awesome- we got to see how regular Malaysians live in the burbs and see what daily life is like: night markets and outdoor eateries. It was also a convenient way to ask a local questions about their culture and daily life. One thing that stood out is that KL had a diversity of people (Malay, Chinese, Indian) but it didn't seem to be a melting pot. People tended to stay with their own, at least in KL. In Petaling Jaya there seemed to be more mixing. I also had a hard time understanding when people speak Cantonese or English to me.



Nasi Lemak - the national comfort food here: coconut rice with chili bean paste and other condiments - often self-served, and eaten as breakfast


Food guides. Sam is of Southern Indian heritage but speaks Cantonese, Malay, and Tamil fluently


Salted duck yolk fried calamari


Slice of stingray


Typical night market in the streets of Petaling Jaya


All sorts of stuff sold here


Jalan Alor street - an outdoor eating area popular with locals for Chinese food - we had smoked chicken wings here


Next day I had my feet tickled by fish at the Central Market- a shopping bazaar. Got a ticket on the KL Hop-on-hop-off tour bus. Great way to see the city, it hit up all the major tourist sites in a short time. My main destination was the KL Bird Park


Birds at the bird park


'sup bro


Merdeka Square


Obligatory Petronas Twin Towers pic


I learned that most locals don't take public transportation. Everyone drives despite the brutal traffic. This was gridlock at 9pm in the busy shopping area Bukit Bintang


The stairs to the Batu Caves


Lots of statues and shrines at the Batu Caves grounds


Macaque monkeys roaming around, one even stole my drink! (it was empty)


Entrance to the caves


Various shrines built into the limestone caves


Shopping malls were ridiculous here. I explored a few and I swear I walked a few miles in each. They are simply HUGE. Can't wait to see how Singapore compares. Next time I visit a place known for shopping, I'm going to pack super light and bring an empty suitcase. I went a little nuts at Uniqlo and I think I need to get a duffel bag now.

Here's some pics of various food court meals - America needs to step up their food courts:



Dry style pork noodle with soup


Malaysian fried rice and soft shell crab

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10Nov/110

Austin Fun Fun Fun Fest

Austin was fun fun fun, and not just because of the fest. Interesting city- reminded me of a flattened Portland with less water. There's so much sprawl - all the roads look alike, no major visual landmarks besides the capitol building. Took a lot of pics so I'll just sum up each category with a few pics.

Food:



Delicious mushroom burger at the Hopdoddy burger bar


Feasted on BBQ at Rudy's


Brisket ordered 'extra moist' was awesome


Music:


The highlight of the festival for me was seeing Turquoise Jeep. Love that cheesy half-parody R&B/rap.


Flynt Flossy is my favorite rapper


M83 melted my mind as well


Sights:


Went to the UT campus - we all told ourselves we blended right in


The best thing on campus kekeke

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23Oct/110

Blackalicious, Freestyle Fellowship



Freestyle Fellowship

Freestyle Fellowship opened for Blackalicious. Hype performance, didn't know Aceyalone was in the group. Blacklicious was awesome as well.



Blackalicious

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22Oct/110

Robyn, YACHT, USF



Robyn


It was hard to see her, she's short, I'm short


What it looked it from where I was


Opening band, YACHT

Thursday and Friday shows. Got 3 day all-access pass to the CityArts Festival with friends. Robyn @ Paramount Theatre. Didn't know Robyn had such a huge gay fanbase. Her music was very electro-ravey-dancey. Next night, Katie and I went to Chop Suey- ran into Matthiew and friends there too. Was looking forward to Blue Sky Black Death the following night but they cancelled last minute. USF was good. Big Spider's Back performed but I missed him. His new album is great too.



USF (Universal Studios Florida)

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17Oct/110

Fishing Mukilteo



It was cold

Thuan and I went with Peter and Kat to the Mukilteo fishing docks. Bought some beginner fishing gear and Peter taught me how to fish. The crabbing was better than the fishing though. Caught about 7 or 8 crabs, mostly red rocks. Peter got pinched by a crab bad- broke skin and wouldn't stop bleeding. Note to self to bring thick gloves next time. Saw some gnarly sea stars too.

My fishing only yielded small flounders and one lucky crab snag (female though). Friendly Korean fisherman there was very chatty and taught us a bunch of stuff and helped me untangle my line a bunch of times. I think he mentioned he owns the Yummy Teriyaki in Lynnwood. Fishing gets pretty nasty after handling guts, bait, and sea water crap.



My first catch


Female with eggs


The tentacle broke off shortly after this pic was taken :(


Hair turned into fro-pubes from wearing the wool cap all day

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13Oct/110

The Naked and Famous @ Showbox



The Chain Gang of 1974

Great concert- venue is even better than I remember. Last time I was at the Showbox I saw Stars - back then I was big into taking photos of bands so I'd go early and get a spot up front. Ear drums paid for it, but the photos were worth it. Lately, not so much... more important to be closer to the bar and a respectable distance from the loud music. Ima40yrold.

The Naked and Famous were great. 200 guys fell in love with Alisa the lead singer tonight I bet. I know I did.



Signed poster came with the Giltcity ticket

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11Oct/110

Chromeo



Mayer Hawthorne

Mayer Hawthorne's performance was good but the music was mediocre. I'll listen some more and see if it grows on me. Chromeo was awesome. The mix was really good- vocals crisp and the music loud. Annoying high school raver-girl with glowing lights on her skirt was terrible.



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8Oct/110

Rattlesnake Ledge



Quick hike at Rattlesnake ledge. Wiz Khalifa on the way up, Weezer on the way down. Wasn't passed up or down- so I knew I was making decent time. Passed a ton of people coming down; payed for it with blistered feet though.



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