Oops - I Feel A Tan Coming On
It's true, I might very soon be fired... Because I am getting tan! I tried my best to avoid it, with a surefire anti-sun routine, but it has surely failed. The 30 sport suntan lotion on my arms and shoulders, combined with the 20 on my legs and the 45 on my face has not helped at all, because today I am pink. OK, I have to admit I'm not too upset about this. Luckily in the show the only parts of my body that make contact with light are my face and my hands. Take into account that my face is covered with tons of old age makeup, and I'm looking pretty good. I guess I have other things to worry about... like planning a trip!
Since today is Sunday, and we don't open till Friday, I've decided to take a quick vacation. Although the weather and the pool here combine to make this paradise, there are some amazing beaches in Malaysia that are pretty close by and definitely worth seeing. My castmates Maria, Jessica, Nicole, Alissa, Dana, and I have decided to head to the tiny island of Langkawi for two nights and three days. Of course there was major drama (what world of theatre people is complete without it?!) because we don't have our passports, since they're off getting work visas put in them. Our company manager Walter, who is very nice but a little incompetent, told us that while traveling within Malaysia we would only need a copy of our passports, and this was echoed by our main translator here. This sounded ridiculous to me, and when I called around I discovered that it was complete baloney. So we almost left today, but we can't go till Tuesday when we get our passports back from the embassy or wherever.
However on Tuesday, we will enter paradise squared. I promise to write all about it! Until then I'm exploring the wonders of downtown KL, as Kuala Lumpur is commonly called here. Most of the company is still busy exploring the wonders of the giant mall next door, as well as the mall across the street and the one a block away. It's amazing how much shopping there is in such a small space! In actuality, we're located in what's called the "golden triangle", one of the best places to shop. However, there are places that are much cheaper, where the Malays shop, and we decided to head to one tonight!
We ended up in an area that sounded familiar, called Chinatown. Now it wasn't really like China, but there was some cheap shopping. It was a giant line of stalls, about five city blocks long. It's hard to explain the difference between an Asian market and one in the US. Before coming here I thought of the market that floated to different avenues every weekend in New York, but in reality it's very different. Here, the stalls are all about five by five squares separated by a sheet or a metal shelf. Stalls face each other going down a street that is very narrow, so when you walk down looking in all the stalls there is barely room for someone going the opposite way to pass. People are jostling you and yelling and bargaining and shoplifting left and right. It's exciting and a little scary, and you have to be on your guard at all times. You also have to be a good negotiator.
At every market in Asia that a white person visits, the price is marked up for them. You always verbally ask prices, and depending on where you are the price that they offer could be 2% to 200% higher than if you were native. Because of this, you should always wait and listen and never be pushed into buying. Because the dollar is pretty strong in Asia, it's hard for us to say that a watch that's being offered for five dollars is too high, but in Chinatown you could pay as little as a dollar for the watch if you bargained right. Sister Margaretta (Jessica, with her sweet innocent face) spent 30 dollars US on some scarves before realizing that others were getting them for a few dollars a piece. Eventually we caught on, and I'm sure when I go back I'll be especially savvy. At least they speak English here, so I'm not bargaining with numbers in a language that I've just learned!
After the market we stumbled on a tiny Chinese cafe for dinner, where we enjoyed traditional Shanghainese food. Since we spent so much time there last summer it's one of our favorite Chinese cuisines. We walked around more after dinner, and it's really amazing to see the architecture in KL. Malaysia as a whole is such a mixture of cultures and races that there really is a giant melting pot effect. Malays, Indians, and Chinese make up most of the people who are native to the land, but the influences in architecture are from all over Asia. It's awesome to walk down a street with giant skyscrapers, crumbling Moroccan storefronts, Chinese pagodas, and Indian decorations. This city is so beautiful and unique! I can't wait to see more of it!
If I have time between tannings...
Since today is Sunday, and we don't open till Friday, I've decided to take a quick vacation. Although the weather and the pool here combine to make this paradise, there are some amazing beaches in Malaysia that are pretty close by and definitely worth seeing. My castmates Maria, Jessica, Nicole, Alissa, Dana, and I have decided to head to the tiny island of Langkawi for two nights and three days. Of course there was major drama (what world of theatre people is complete without it?!) because we don't have our passports, since they're off getting work visas put in them. Our company manager Walter, who is very nice but a little incompetent, told us that while traveling within Malaysia we would only need a copy of our passports, and this was echoed by our main translator here. This sounded ridiculous to me, and when I called around I discovered that it was complete baloney. So we almost left today, but we can't go till Tuesday when we get our passports back from the embassy or wherever.
However on Tuesday, we will enter paradise squared. I promise to write all about it! Until then I'm exploring the wonders of downtown KL, as Kuala Lumpur is commonly called here. Most of the company is still busy exploring the wonders of the giant mall next door, as well as the mall across the street and the one a block away. It's amazing how much shopping there is in such a small space! In actuality, we're located in what's called the "golden triangle", one of the best places to shop. However, there are places that are much cheaper, where the Malays shop, and we decided to head to one tonight!
We ended up in an area that sounded familiar, called Chinatown. Now it wasn't really like China, but there was some cheap shopping. It was a giant line of stalls, about five city blocks long. It's hard to explain the difference between an Asian market and one in the US. Before coming here I thought of the market that floated to different avenues every weekend in New York, but in reality it's very different. Here, the stalls are all about five by five squares separated by a sheet or a metal shelf. Stalls face each other going down a street that is very narrow, so when you walk down looking in all the stalls there is barely room for someone going the opposite way to pass. People are jostling you and yelling and bargaining and shoplifting left and right. It's exciting and a little scary, and you have to be on your guard at all times. You also have to be a good negotiator.
At every market in Asia that a white person visits, the price is marked up for them. You always verbally ask prices, and depending on where you are the price that they offer could be 2% to 200% higher than if you were native. Because of this, you should always wait and listen and never be pushed into buying. Because the dollar is pretty strong in Asia, it's hard for us to say that a watch that's being offered for five dollars is too high, but in Chinatown you could pay as little as a dollar for the watch if you bargained right. Sister Margaretta (Jessica, with her sweet innocent face) spent 30 dollars US on some scarves before realizing that others were getting them for a few dollars a piece. Eventually we caught on, and I'm sure when I go back I'll be especially savvy. At least they speak English here, so I'm not bargaining with numbers in a language that I've just learned!
After the market we stumbled on a tiny Chinese cafe for dinner, where we enjoyed traditional Shanghainese food. Since we spent so much time there last summer it's one of our favorite Chinese cuisines. We walked around more after dinner, and it's really amazing to see the architecture in KL. Malaysia as a whole is such a mixture of cultures and races that there really is a giant melting pot effect. Malays, Indians, and Chinese make up most of the people who are native to the land, but the influences in architecture are from all over Asia. It's awesome to walk down a street with giant skyscrapers, crumbling Moroccan storefronts, Chinese pagodas, and Indian decorations. This city is so beautiful and unique! I can't wait to see more of it!
If I have time between tannings...
posted by Beth at 11:51 PM
1 Comments:
Bets - Way too cool. You are almost as funny in writing as you are in real life! So happy is is going great and wish I was there!
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