what happens to you when you've been out of North America too long...

I just wrote this email. I re-read it and realized that i've gone nuts...THIS is what happens when you live in Korea for too long.

"ahhhhh!!!!!!!!!!
so, i'm in Kuala Lumpur and kinda bored cuz really it's just a big city and i'm only here for half a day and coming back later soooo i wasn't gonna do much. i decided to go check out the big-ass towers. so i did...but then i couldn't go up to the sky bridge cuz i was too late, all tix had been sold. that was sad. but THAT'S ok cuz there's a big mall downstairs...i'll go check it out.

holy f***
first thing i see is a Gap. This excites me as i have not been inside a Gap in a VERY long time and it was my favorite store. i go in, i browse and get ideas for when i'm home (not hauling Gap wear around with me right now...that's just silly) and head out.

I pass EVERY STORE you could think of. every expensive kind...way more than in korea. Think of a chain store you like...it's here. most of them don't register tho, i'm just blissfully happy

then it happens...

i'm looking at some necklaces in a kiosk when i turn left and run smack into a....LA SENZA!! Oh.My.God.
It's been 3 years people, 3 years...since i've been able to buy cute underwear and matching bra sets. little 'ol Campbell River does NOT have a La Senza...my underwear has come from ZELLERS these past years. ZELLERS!!!!!
Oh yes, Korea has the fun little sets, but they don't fit me...i'm a monster.
i figured that here too, i'd be SOL. but NOPE!!!
THEY ARE IN NORTH AMERICAN SIZES AND THEY WERE HAVING A SALE

I now have 2 cute bras and 5 sets of matching underwear :D

oh wait...there's more.

so i leave, i'm f***ing shit-eat grinning. I see a Dunkin Donut's . This also makes me happy because it makes me think of Korea awwww. but i keep going. i'm not hungry right now

until


i turn the corner and run smack into.....A&W!!!!!!!!

OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!

I order a cheeseburger and medium root beer...and then the kicker. she asks if i'd like to make it into a rootbeer float. I HADN'T EVEN THOUGHT OF THAT...HECK YES I WOULD!!!

I consumed and then immediately asked where a internet cafe was. imagine me. sitting in an A&W giggling uncontrollably to myself. dude, i stick out here anyways, i was a freakin spectacle.

phew...that was a lot of energy put into that email....i feel better now.
where were you guys?? i'm here ALONE left to my own devices??

i blame brooks."

so ya, i've calmed down now. but it WAS exciting.

p.s.....Korea doesn't have Root Beer. We found it a few times in Itaewon - we took pictures.

The rest of Kuala Lumpur isn't too shabby either!! This is what i've noticed and come to love in the past few hours.

1) It doesn't smell like garbage
2) That's because there isn't garbage everywhere
3) Heck, they even have garbage CANS everywhere
4) It looks like an actual city
5) The car drivers...wait for it...don't honk
6) The roads are paved and the cars - taxis included - are good
7) People don't heckle me everywhere. If I want to buy something they wait until I approach the item, they do not shove it in front of my eyes.
8) The people are wonderfully nice and helpful
9) Spitting is at an all time low

that all said though I've noticed one other thing...WOW is it expensive. All that good stuff comes at a price. literally. now, it's nowhere near north american expensive standards but it is way over a leap from what i've been used to. A day of adjustments is what this has been!!