KL

I hate shortening words, terms, names down to a place where you have to be 'in the know' to decipher what is being said.. but that is what I am doing, because to call KL Kuala Lumpur would just be.. well.. long winded.  So KL it is. 

KL..a city where the simple act of swiping your "Swipe and Go" card opens the gates to Starbucks.. Body Shop.. the works.  "Swipe and Go" lets you through the fast lane on the toll highway.. for less than about 50 cents, and leaves you to make your way through a miriad of concrete, cars and overpasses.  I don't have a clue where we are.. but we keep looking for signs to Petaling Jaya.. and we get there.  "There" being the Shah Hotel. The hotel  in Petaling Jaya.. a town.. a district, on the outskirts of KL

Yes... I am back. 

But this time it is different.  First of all I know, understand, that the Petaling is important.. it is the name of the town where the hotel is located.  Jaya means street in Malay.  Bahsa Malay.. maybe there is another kind?  Not sure..

The train stops just down the street.. at Taman Jaya.. no longer some wierd phonemes, awkawardly stuck in my throwat.. now they roll off my tongue.. but Taman, as in subdivision.. as in where I live.. Taman Wawasan.. and Jaya, street.  Finally.. I can remember the name of my stop. The stop accessed with my "Swipe and Go" as I get on and off the LRT.. the sky train. 

We need meaning if we are going to remember something.  When I was here just a month ago... the words meant nothing.. now they make no sense, Subdivision Road?.. but still.. it has become real.. I can remember now. 

Everything is more familiar.  I have grown.

And so has my world.  I have used my "Swipe and Go" to get myself downtown on the LRT.. shopping for a swim suit to enjoy the pool here at the hotel.  "Swipe and Go" takes me to the worskshops at the base of the "Twin Towers" in downtown KL  I can listen to speakers sharing their wisdom.. a Canadian that travelled across the Sahara and still likes to share the story.. a fellow that compares the Malay culture with Western Culture.. Democratic, Autocratic..teacher centered/ student centered..Listen to me.. I am listening.. : Some good stuff. 

Conferences are great fun.  Interesting.. you get to meet people.. you eat really well.. but, the best was the proximity of the leg wax place,, the pleasure of the pedicure.. the quality of the clothing at the British India shop.

And of course the Irish Pub.. KLCC.. KL City Centre..

                         ... and it isn't even Wednesday.