This photo was taken by the Kuala Lumpur City Gallery some weeks back. Forgive the "Gwiyomi-ish" pose. I thought I would try to be "touristy" for five seconds.
Five seconds is a long time. Would I survive five long seconds of this? I suppose so. I think that a steady supply of Char Kway Teow and Fried Rice should make me tough enough to go through any kind of storm. My friend, Sharon, who was nice enough to have shown me around KL, helped cushion the blow of being in a new city a little bit.
Having just been the proverbial stranger in a strange land, what is the difference between being "touristy" and being a "tourist"?
Well being a tourist can mean being an explorer, an adventurer, a full on expeditionist. It can made going all Andrew Zimmern on the food on your menu, or, going high end yet being tasteful and artistic about doing it. Being a tourist can speak of being a romantic, being true to your innermost desires for seeing and being seen, for staring at a painting for 2 hours and then saying, "Okay, I can die now." Being a tourist can mean making friends, and being one with 10 different cultures, motiffs, and modes of understanding all at once. Being a tourist, ultimately, means being yourself, and sticking to your perceived notion of your spirit set against a backdrop that screams, "far, far, away".
Being "touristy" can mean being unbelievably tacky. This is when you tend to equate the true meeting of your trip with the number of keychains you buy, or the amount of M and M's you manage to stuff into your fake Louis Vitton suitcase without being stopped by the Feds. Being "touristy" is walking in Vatican City, or in Tsim Tsa Tsui, or Rio De Janeiro with blinders on. It can mean being all too focused on the small stuff- who you are with, what you are wearing, what you shriveled up map says, etc., to notice just how beautiful your surroundings are. Imagine putting so much effort into doing a silly "jump shot", or spending so much time trying on a blouse at an outlet store, or going the "uber practicalis" route for what to eat, what route to take, etc. to the point that you forget the fact that you are ACTUALLY in Las Vegas, in Florence, or in the Amalfi Coast. Why travel at all if you refuse to observe? Why travel at all if you only consume and refuse to "give back" to the places you visit by being competent enough to speak highly of the places you go to post-trip?
You might as well stay in a box and watch re-runs of Gossip Girl and wallow in sorrow.
Well, no need to really stress the sorrow part because being hooked on to Gossip Girl is pretty sad in itself.
So yes, I Love KL, but, I do so much more than the sign could ever convey. I love KL because of the food, the temples, the mish mash of cultures, and yes, my dear friends and loved ones who live there and in places near it.
I'd rather sink deep and drown than simply "exist" on the shallow end of the pool and be eternally dressed in a monotone ensemble. It just wouldn't-feel-right.
MC
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