In KL

I was going to update with a cheerfully upbeat entry, but this dude in this internet cafe keeps saying in the most imaginally annoyable voice: "Hellooo? Hello? I can't hear youuuuuu. What are you eating? What are you eating? Helloooooo? What are you eating? Helloooo? I can't hear youuuu. Can you speak louder? Can you speak louder? I don't know. I don't knowwww. Hellaww? Hellooooo? What are you eaaatiiiing? Hellooo? I can't hear you. Uh, I don't know." I swear, this has been going on for the past 10 minutes!

I'm in Kuala Lumpur now, Malaysia, also known as KL. It's amazing what a salad bowl it is here. The US is truly a melting pot, all the more clear if someone comes to KL. As I waited in line to I check out of my hotel this morning, the receptionist was speaking in some sort of accented Mandarin to another customer, then spoke English to me, then replied in Mandarin to a dude asking for directions, then got a call and replied in Cantonese, and then spoke Malay to a Malay couple. That's 4 languages if you don't even count the accented Mandarin that was probably some other regional dialect.

And finally, he says "Byyeeee...byeeee. I love you...I love youuuu. Byeeee" 20 minutes of torture I tell you! And I was looking forward to this downtime to catch up on internet doings.

20 minutes of blogging laced with trying to change my flight...checking email, confirming invites on facebook, reading the bbc about Hugo Chavez, and reading Wikipedia about Sophie's World, one of my new favorite books. A bizarre, but clever philosophical fiction. I'll have to update my favorite books list on my righthand sidebar.