Kuala Lumpur and the Search for Free WiFi

The search for free WiFi goes on…just as soon as you begin to assume that it’s free everywhere, you find so many different place that charge for it. Our hotel, the Boulevard, in mid valley, just outside the center of Kuala Lumpur, has WiFi…but it costs. Then I brought the computer downstairs to San Francisco Coffee…again, you gotta pay for a card. A man next to me on his own sleek little laptop told that Starbucks was, gasp!, free, it’s right down the street. Problem is I’ve already bought this expensive ($1.75 or so) coffee, and I’m not gonna want another one from ‘Bucks, when I get there.

Slept off the jetlag in my 18th floor hotel room, down in the courtyard I watched a woman swimming laps, slowly crossing the blue pool while a man swept up leaves nearby. I went to a shopping mall, a subterranean oasis of mostly food shops, offering a staggering array of intriguing baked goods. I bought some hotdog bread and chicken curry bread in a crowded little shop for less than $1.00. And a cold can of ice nescafe. The people here seem relaxed and happy, going about their business of shopping, and many of the restaurants had huge posters looking for help. One of the more common stores offers gleaming cases of nutritional products, beeswax and other remedies. I am heading for the ‘Bux to blog but gotta chug this strong coffee first.