Why jaywalk when you can run across freeways?

As I have learned from walking around KL, this city isn't very pedestrian friendly. This has made getting around a pretty wild and intense experience. Almost everyone here tells me I should get a cab to get around, but I've decided to always walk or use public transport because it'll let me experience in a more raw, intimate way (and it's cheaper...).

This morning as I looked outside my room at the hostel, I could clearly see the National Museum of Malaysia. I guessed it that it could have only been about a few blocks away so I decided to walk. It all seemed fine until I somehow ended up on a freeway. I wondered if I should stay on this course but I convinced myself that it was okay since there were signs that claimed that this was safe. SOoo, I kept going on...On the side of a four lane freeway, cars zooming past me a few feet away. However, I realized that I was fast approaching an end to the narrow path of safety on which I walked. I had to make a choice: Go back and give up, or cross to the other side where the museum stood so close, so mockingly...?
I decided to run for it. After I stood there for 10 minutes waiting, and thinking to myself how much of an idiot I am for attempting to do this, I made a run for it and made it out alive. I probably wouldn't have written about this at all if it weren't for this British woman who I ran into about a minute later who was trying to catch a cab on the same freeway. Apparently a local, the woman told me that it's not abnormal for people to run across freeways because there just aren't ways for pedestrians to get to certain places.

Maybe she was just as cooky as I am. Who knows. It just felt so good to have my extreme jaywalking experiencing be validated by a stranger.

It turned out that about 90% of the museum is under renovation so it was pretty lame. The only part I could see was the "Malaysia Today" wing which was a bunch of government propaganda about how great the 30 year regime was for the country. I always try to go to the National Museum of any country I visit because it gives me a good idea about how it sees and portrays itself. Anyways, I decided that I should probably eat so I went to the museum cafe. I didn't realize how hungry I was (I guess running across freeways gives you an appetite) so I got rice with cooked fish head, noodles, and a octopus/clam/squid dish.

After that, I was planning on going to see the bird park but it was so hot and humid outside I decided to go to THE BIGGEST MALL IN SOUTHEAST ASIA. 6 stories of capitalist, free market madness. Pretty much every brand you could think of from the States is at this mall. I walked around for 3 hours and I probably saw about 25% of it. The best part though, is that everything is SO CHEAP. Even designer clothes that would be $500 in the US is about $100 here. Anyways, I ended up just getting some hydrocortisone for all the bites I got last night (most likely bed bugs, not "mossies," I was told by the pharmacist) and some shampoo. Tonight, I'm gonna try to saran wrap the bed and wear clothes on every inch on my body.

For now, I'm going back to the hostel to read "Sophie's Choice" at the downstairs restaurant. Until next time...