WELCOME TO MALAYSIA

(Friday) We ended up getting a bus in the evening to Malacca, Malaysia. The bus driver was very sketchy, but everything turned out fine. We had to get off the bus twice to get stamped out of Singapore and stamped into Malaysia. Our bus got into Malacca around midnight and the taxis were mostly gone. This guy kept trying to get us to stay at his hostel, but we already had one booked. He still offered to give us a ride so we accepted. The car was a bit sketchy, and then Anastasia considered staying at his hostel. I did not care to switch hostels at midnight in some town in Malaysia. We checked in to our hostel and went to sleep.
(Saturday) This morning I woke up and had breakfast which consisted of toast and coffee. That was the breakfast that was included with the hostel. I am so tired of toast. I hardly eat it at home, but it has become a regular breakfast meal. I walked around the UNESCO town of Malacca. It was an extremely hot day yet the humidity was low. I stopped in a folk art gallery and enjoyed the paintings of local artists. They were incredible. Some of them were so detailed. There were fruits painted so well I wanted to reach out and take a bite. There were portraits that showed so much depth and emotion. It was also nice to enjoy the air conditioning for a while.
After the art gallery, I went and saw an old church and some other buildings. There were tuk tuks that were spectacular lining the street. Each one was so ornate and beautifully gaudy. They were decorated with different flowers, sparkles and pictures while blaring hip hop music. I went and saw a few museums. I also stopped by the mall and tried a dozen different types of Indian sweets. My stomach was more than satisfied when I left.
In the evening I went to the Portuguese Square with two girls from the hostel Julia and  Sioban. We took a bus there anticipating some good food and advertised traditional dancing. The square was pretty empty and many restaurants were closing down. When we asked about the dancing, we were informed that they stopped several years ago. Interesting to find that out after the fact. We tried to go to a recommended restaurant but that too was closing at only 7pm. The staff did show us the "Holy Crab." It's a certain type of crab that has the shape of a cross on its back and is caught around this time of year. They recommended us to the neighboring restaurant, and our food was delicious. I had two different types of green vegetables one cooked in chili and the other in garlic. I also had some roasted eggplant. I was so full and so happy!
There had been some complications with my travel buddy recently. In fact, I had hardly spoken to her today. For various reasons, I decided to change my travel itinerary.Although we had some good times together, I was not trustworthy. Trust is the foundation of any relationship be it a friend, coworker or lover. It is a simple term with such complexity. I had my reservations about our travels before the trip began and throughout the group trip we hit a few speed bumps. We both agreed to move past those and enjoy the next two months, but I found it better to move forward independently. I prefer not to speak about the subject anymore because it exhausted me. I don't want to sit here and say negative things. I will say that I made the right decision.
My dad has also been pushing the idea of me traveling to Qatar and Cyprus. This all sprang up when disaster struck Japan which was my original layover. I was planning on going to Qatar and Cyprus in August or September so the idea was very appealing now. I decided that it would be better to spend my birthday and Easter in the company of my family. Therefore, I completely changed my itinerary. I would spend some more time in Malaysia and then go to Bali. From there I would go back to Bangkok for the third time in order to pick up my baggage that I stored there. From Bangkok I would go to New Dehli, India for a layover before finally arriving in Qatar. I would spend a few days with my Uncle there and continue onward to Cyprus. I was so excited about this new plan. In fact, I was more excited about this plan than my original plan. I immediately started booking flights and rescheduling and canceling existing reservations.
(Sunday) I woke up and had breakfast. The previous night I picked up a memory card at the Internet cafe because I thought it was mine. I travel with two and had pulled a bunch of things from my bag and thought it fell out. In the morning, I looked at it and realized it was not mine so I placed it in my camera to see if I recognized someone in the photos. To my surprise, it was Anastasia's. When I gave her back the memory card she did not even say, "Thank you." Someone could have easily erased the hundreds of pictures from Southeast Asia and walked away with a new 4GB memory card. I would have been very thankful to have that returned. This is just an example of why I decided to travel alone.
The girls and I decided to go on a riverboat tour through Malacca. It was a fail considering the fact that it was all in Malay. About thirty people crammed into this small boat. The sites were still nice to enjoy like the rustic buildings that were all painted with scenarios of Malay people. There was also a Ferris wheel and great bridges. We saw a giant lizard in the water that looked like a crocodile. It was so long and a bit scary. After the boat ride, I took a taxi to the main bus station and made my way to Kuala Lumpur.
Four methods of public transportation later,  I was finally in KL. I checked into my guesthouse and stayed in a dorm. Some of the staff was really nice but others were not very helpful. The location was perfect. It was centrally located and near major shopping, nightlife, restaurants and the Twin Towers.
I walked to the central shopping area. There were designer shops and dozens of hotels. I was lucky enough to see an acoustic dance troupe performance. They were dressed in traditional clothing and played the drums with such enthusiasm I had a silly grin on my face. They danced and played vibrant music to help raise funds for Japan.
After the performance, I walked to the Twin Towers. They were lit up and glowing in the setting sun. It was quite the site. I marveled at the modern architecture for quite some time. Then I headed to an Indian restaurant nearby for dinner. My options were limited to some more vegetables and white rice. I treated myself to some gelato for dessert. It occupied my time as I walked back to the guesthouse. I was so exhausted from traveling all day, but it was a great day!