So, I tried to go to the National Museum today. I got over there………………………but I couldn’t figure out which building was the museum. There were about 50 buildings, half of which had tarps or DO NOT ENTER (i think) signs on them. It was so confusing. So, I just started wandering around, trying to figure out if I was in the right place. I was, just not entirely. I was in the museum ‘compound’, but in the wrong area. I never did find where I was supposed to pay to go in.
As I wandered, I found a building that had some historical information about the Orang Asli, which was pretty interesting. Though, none of the exhibits really said what or who the Orang Asli were (maybe it was in another building??). Google has been my friend and says that Orang Asli means ‘original people’ and that they are the indigenous Malaysians, though it doesn’t say when they settled Malaysia. Wikipedia doesn’t have a ton of information on them, either, so that’s pretty much all I know about them, aside from how their ethnic groups are broken up. The building I toured had exhibits that described some of their musical instruments, hunting and fishing equipment, burial procedures and carvings. Not too much about he history of the people. There was a video that showed a bit about daily life in an Orang Asli village and even showed the birth process. It was………….interesting. lol.
While I was there, 4-5 Chinese (I assume) tour groups came through and really zipped through the building. I’d say each group was in there for about 5-10 minutes. I was there for about half an hour until I sat down for about 10 minutes to watch part of the video. It was frustrating trying to watch it with all the Chinese people sitting there and talking really loud. I couldn’t hear much from the video other than something about rubbing cooked corn against sticks to get the kernels off and then pouring them all into bamboo stalks and placing them over the fire for some kind of bread-like substance. Mostly I got that from watching it. lol. It was interesting. I really wish I could have heard more of it.
When I left that building, there was nobody outside! There were tons of Chinese people one second and then they were all gone! There was a tour bus parked right outside the building, so I wonder if that building was the end of the museum? I don’t know. So, I wandered some more.
While wandering, I came across this nifty little house in stilts. It is called the Istana Satu, which means First Palace. From what I’ve read, the building in the museum compound is the actual building that used to reside in Kuala Terengganu. It was moved to Kuala Lumpur and placed at the museum in 1974.
It’s a really pretty little house. I have a hard time calling it a palace because it’s one room. At first I was wondering if it was just supposed to be a replica of different areas of the actual palace, but everything I’ve read says this is the actual palace. It’s pretty, even if it’s just one room.
After I left the palace, I saw these really cool little gravestones inside a cage.
After looking at those, things started getting weird………………………………
As I was walking around the back of this little exhibit, this group of Chinese guys (older, about my dad’s age) walks up and starts talking to me. In Chinese. Uh, do I look like I speak Chinese? lol. It took me a minute, but I figured out that they wanted pictures. Not of them, but of me. With them. One at a time. Oy. Let me tell you, that was one of the strangest experiences of my life! It’s really hard to say no to having your picture taken with a bunch of super excited Chinese people who keep repeating the word ‘beautiful’ over and over while pointing at you. Even the women were doing it. So, I said yes. I was thinking it was going to be like all the other times when I’ve had people ask for my picture here: they just stand next to me or they ask for permission to link arms or put their arm around me. Uh, no. These guys had no qualms about being all chummy with me. I’m kicking myself for not having them take pictures with my camera, too, but the battery was almost dead, so I’d put it away. I’m sure when they look at their photos, though, they’re going to laugh hysterically at my facial expressions as they hug me like I’m their daughter and squish my face up next to theirs and pat my face while having their arms around my neck. Yeah, it was crazy. I think by the time I leave Malaysia, I will be over my fear of strangers. lol.
Don’t get me wrong, it was hilariously funny at first. The first guy was really short and my being on an incline made him even shorter, so he made me switch places so he wouldn’t seem so short. I bent my knees to make myself seem even shorter and everyone busted up laughing. None of them were disrespectful or inappropriate, but by the fourth guy, I had had enough. I don’t like people I don’t know touching me (who does?), so I made a stealthy escape while they were all looking at the camera.
I found my way back to where my taxi driver had dropped me off and walked towards the main road. I was trying to decide if I wanted to call a cab or try to walk back to the apartment. It’s not far at all, only about a 3-5 minute drive, and I’d mapped it out before I left. I was thinking about pulling my phone out and looking up the map when a guy walked up to me and asked if I wanted a cab. Yay! Decision made! haha. Not. I told him where I wanted to go and he shook his head and told me just to walk. He said it would cost about RM20 to take me back to my apartment and that it would be a short walk back since we could see the building. Uh, okay, then how come it only cost me RM6 to get there? And that was with the driver taking a wrong turn and having to backtrack. I told him it only cost me RM5 to get there and asked why it would cost RM20 to go back. He just shook his head and told me to follow him and he’d give me directions back to the apartment.
Why on earth does this keep happening to me? Seriously??! Every time I’m out by myself and am travelling by taxi, I either get denied a taxi back or my taxi doesn’t show up. Every. Single. Time. One time I waited for a freakin hour before Troy got in a cab and came to get me. The cab driver had even called to tell me he was 15 minutes away and then called me 10 minutes later to say he couldn’t find the place (at that point I had him talk to the receptionist of the office I was in for directions) and then said he’d be there in 20 minutes, but never showed up. The other time, I tried to get on several buses and asked taxi drivers for a ride and nobody would give me a ride. I showed them I had money, but they all said no. I don’t know why this keeps happening to me. Is it because I look scary? Do they think I’m going to cheat them? Or is it because I’m a foreigner? I have no idea. But, really, it would be nice if it stopped happening.
So, the guy walked me down to this driveway by the museum and tells me to walk down there and I will see some stairs on the left. Take those stairs up the the freeway, cross the freeway and walk towards the building. Can’t miss it. I was a little nervous about all this, so I started texting Troy. Well, I’d been texting him all along periodically and decided I should probably let him know that I was wandering off in the direction I hoped would be towards home. As I was walking, I went through a few construction-looking areas (still inside the museum grounds) and these guys asked if they could have a picture with me. Really? Again? These guys were Malaysians and so far I’ve had positive picture experiences with Malaysians. And Indians. These guys were no exception. They were very polite and didn’t touch me at all. They just stood next to me and smiled and teased each other. And told me I was pretty. lol. That made me feel a little better, but at the same time I was still nervous because there were a lot of laborers wandering around and I felt a little bit like I was going the wrong way. In the midst of all this, I saw a building with a lot of women. When I went over to investigate, I found a gift shop! lol. I wandered around in there for a little while and Troy suggested I ask one of the workers in there for directions to KL Sentral, which I know how to get home from. While I was waiting for the cashiers to help the 5,000 kids that were in there, I wandered around and found a bunch of fun bracelets. I figured that since I was supposed to have paid to get into the museum, but couldn’t find the place where I was supposed to pay, that I would buy something from the gift shop. So, I bought a bracelet.
After I bought my bracelet, I asked the cashier how to get to KL Sentral. She told me to go out the door, take a left and walk to the street. Cross the little street and I would see the stairs that would go up to the freeway. Cross the freeway and go straight. I left the gift shop and went left, only to find more construction. I’d opened google maps on my phone while in the gift shop, but it just wasn’t generating a map. It just sat there with the little circle in the middle of the screen. I kept walking through the construction, hoping I was going in the right direction. I finally decided to call Troy because there were just so many construction workers hanging around and they were all watching me walk through their area and I felt like I was completely lost. There was no road, just a bunch of metal walls making up walkways. When Troy answered the phone, I immediately felt awful because he told me he was in the middle of a meeting. He knew I was lost, though, because I’d texted and told him what was going on. He’d told his coworkers, so they were concerned, too, but he couldn’t stay on the phone long. Turns out, I was heading in the right direction, there were just a bunch of turns and buildings to walk through that nobody mentioned. So, I made it through the small maze of construction and buildings (still never saw the actual entrance to the museum) and got to the little street. Troy directed me across the street and there were the stairs! Behind a frickin tree! On the RIGHT! The taxi driver said the stairs were on the left. Good grief. Once I got up the stairs, I was on the freeway. The other little tidbit that everyone forgot to mention was that instead of crossing the freeway, I had to walk up the center lane. Yeah, the freeway split into three, so I had to cross one lane to get into the center split and walk up that lane until there was an opening into a parking garage. Walk through the parking garage and there was the hotel we’d stayed in for two weeks! Yay! No longer lost!
Once Troy was satisfied that I was able to make it back to the apartment from there, he got off the phone. I still felt kinda bad. Partly for getting lost so close to the apartment and partly for causing problems at his work by getting lost. He told me that it was just the ‘Fasties’ and none of the locals, so that made me feel a little better. Most of his coworkers are really nice. I still told him to tell them I was sorry for being such a loser. I feel so stupid about always getting lost and turned around and having issues when I go out by myself. But he was really nice and said that it had taken him a while to figure out that path and that everyone understood about getting lost around here. It’s so easy with how retarded the streets are. I just need to remember that I’m not the only one who is new here and that they all understand how hard it is to get around. We all know how crazy the streets are, so I just need to remember that the people who designed these streets did it intentionally to mess with foreigners. haha.
So, after I got off the phone, I decided that I needed some ice cream to feel better. I walked down to Little India and went to the little shop there and bought some ice cream and cookies and ate one of the ice cream bars as I walked home. Mangum ice cream bars are AMAZING! We usually just get the chocolate truffle (Troy’s favorite), but I bought two of each bar. lol. They just have classic, almond and chocolate truffle. I’d never had the almond one before, so I ate that. Mmmmmmm! So good! Totally made me feel better.
All in all, I think it went pretty well. The museum was interesting, if confusing as Hades, and now that I know the route there, it will be easy to get there and back. Of course, I think I’m going to wait a week or so before attempting it again, but I will try it again. The website says there are a bunch of other exhibits that are really interesting and I want to see them. I just need to figure out where in that craziness they are……………………………………………
