KL 5 of 5: Miscellaneous

At one point we took a taxi to a giant craft store (another Spotlight store) located in Ampung Point. We were repeatedly urged to only use metered taxis, not taxis using negotiated rates.  At the hotel you would go to a counter, pay a small fee and they would get you a cab. That meant they handed you your receipt and pointed 10 feet away to a waiting cab. In other places, like at the airport, you prepaid the whole amount, got a receipt then went outside to find a cab. Anyway, we got to the Spotlight. It was more difficult to find a metered taxi on our return, but we managed and back to the hotel we went. We were able to chat with the taxi driver in a combination of English, Malay and Bahasa Indonesian. There is a lot of cross over between Malay and Bahasa Indonesian. One of the questions he asked us was where we were from. We always say Jakarta which gets a puzzled look. We explain that we live in Jakarta. We may volunteer that we are originally from the US or wait until they ask.

At Spotlight I spent some time staring at the cross stitch department so I would have some idea as to what might be available. I decided on photographic documentaton. They had a lot of stuff—probably everything I might want or need.

We didn't leave empty handed. We bought some jersey fabric and some denim,some thread and some yarn (bits and bobs according to my friend from New Zealand).

Are you wondering about KL currency? It's called Ringgit (RM). The word ringgit means "jagged" in Malay, referring to the jagged edges of Spanish silver dollars circulated in 16th and 17th centuries.
The hibiscus is the national flower of Malaysia so it adorns the bills. (At the time of writing, there are 3.57 RM to 1 USD).The feel of the bills is in between the 100% paper feeling Rupiah and the plastic feeling Singapore Dollar.

We also saw giant hibiscus flowers on light poles along a major roadway. 

Lastly, I tried aloe vera yogurt for the first time. Pretty good. Tastes lemony.