What did you learn in Kuala Lumpur?

There is A LOT of sugar in the street food.
Moist soggy squishy burgers are delicious!!
The buildings are a hodgepodge, colorful, mixture of decades and cultural architectural styles, mostly covered in a bit of grunge and wild fauna.
The people here had to use all their savings to survive through COVID and they’re still barely getting back to normal work, not yet able to save, still surviving and looking for jobs.
Serving rice and curry on banana leaf will improve aroma and flavor; the heat of the rice releases fragrance from banana leaf.
Rainbows and colorful buildings are speckled around town and will guide you on a fun spontaneous follow-the-butterflies tour around town.
Heavy rain falls every afternoon, following a sunny morning with puffy clouds.
This city and country are actually quite young, their independence from British Empire declared within the past century. It’s still in the air.
The Petronus Towers are the tallest twin towers in the world and they were built in a race; one tower constructed by a Japanese team and the other by a Korean team. The Korean tower was completed a few days earlier.
Malaysian people eat whatever they feel like throughout the day, not adhering to western patterns of breakfast first and dessert last. My tour guide said he often eats dessert first. Our tour included 13 dishes in a mixed up order; dessert, appetizer, main, dessert, main, appetizer etc…
The green roof and my beloved red lanterns hanging in the Petaling market street in China Town, we’re only recently hung. Before they were installed, the market street would receive the full force of the daily rain showers.
There’s a little old man who flirts up a storm in China town as he cooks Chinese pancakes with peanut butter and coconut. My tour guide called him “Malaysia’s James Bond” because he’s so smooth with the ladies, including me. Hot pancake in my hand, he spoke quickly and smiled, “You’re so beautiful. So much beautiful should not be covered up! So beautiful!!” — all the words he spoke were translated for me from Kantonese
I drank freshly made soy milk for the first time! YUM! Rich flavor soooo much more vibrant, gloriously flaviforous, than what I’ve tasted from the box.
If you mix coffee and black tea together, your tongue might wonder if you’re drinking chocolate. There was probably a heap of sugar contributing to this effect as well.
Steamed bread is freaking soft and sexy in the mouth!!! Way better than toasted bread. Life changer.
If you become a food tour guide you will likely become obese from eating and tasting and reviewing street food all day. Many Malaysians have diabetes and obesity issues because of the high sugar, grease and salt in the diet.
The Grab app (their version of Uber) works…expect delays when ordering cars. The traffic in the city can be hectic, slowing down journeys.
Apparently outside of this city there is a healing river, glowing blue plankton in the ocean, fireflies in the first, an elephant sanctuary with cheeky baby elephants, waterfalls and ancient temples in the caves. The nature surrounding this city is inviting me back to Malaysia. Come play in the green jungle, the magic jungle outside of the concrete jungle. My tour guide promised to take me to the special spots onto next visit to Malaysia.
Chinese and Indian people were brought to Malaysia by British to work. Three generations later their descendants are living here and China and India are not their home and they are treated as second class citizens in Malaysia because they aren’t Malaysian either.
Some traditional Chinese people (Leon’s grandma) don’t wash their hair on Chinese New Year because they think it’s washing away the good luck that has fallen on your head that day. Leon’s grandma would hide the shampoo on Chinese New Year to make sure the kids didn’t use it. The tradition doesn’t matter as much to him.

These are the paintings I created in this big city, in the window seat and little desk of the Exsim Ceylonz Suites near Bukit Bintang.

What did you learn about yourself in Kuala Lumpur?

I prefer being in nature to the city, in places where people smile easily at strangers, and women can run around naked, or almost naked to their hearts delight. I prefer simple world close to nature. In the big city I can sense the chaos of the striving people.
The sugar and oil gives me pimples and my brain gets foggy and my body feels anxiety and self loathing sensations. Yikes. The tastebuds are happy for a hot second and then downhill crashing from there. Watch out for tasty street food tours and how they expand your food horizons )super fun!) and your waist. The food tours were special for me because I got to share food and meals with people — I’ve been eating alone a lot.
I can sense how far away from the earth I am when up in a skyscraper. The elevator rides feel like wasted time in a box. I prefer walking and immediately being on the go out the door.
I felt empathy for people who lived in high rise studio apartments during COVID, trapped in a tiny box.
I ordered delivery food for the first time and enjoyed the convenience.
My body really really really needs and craves vegetable and fruit nutrients.
I still want to work from my phone and only use the laptop for producing music. One solid day of computer work a week, in a cute coffee shop is acceptable.
I prefer to have a silent gym; no music playing while I workout or do yoga.
I love falling asleep with a view out my window.
I feel more self conscious about my body when it hold more fat, pimples and water and I still love myself and my body.
My confidence as a model being photographed has radically improved to the point of comfort and play from a decade ago when I was painfully shy to be seen posing. Now it’s fun because I know what I’m doing.
I actually enjoy Impressionism painting in my own way.
I’ve compromised a lot in relationships and now I am clear on what I want, the lifestyle I’m enjoying and the type of connection and communication I enjoy.
Rae is a fucking phenomenal friend thus far. Such great energy and reliable communication. From day one, we’ve been there to support each other through the shit and giggles. I’m thrilled to be going to Thailand with her!
I can call my mom anytime and she’ll help rescue me. I’m so grateful to have an adventurous mother with so much world experience, who allows me space to do my own thing while always being there without fail when I ask for help and guidance. Fucking amazing. I am truly blessed.
Overthinking travel plans (where to go and stay) causes a lot of tension in my body. It’s better to make a quick aligned decision and move on to spend my precious energy on other more important projects and states of being. I can agonize over which hotel is best for days and lose sleep over it. Perhaps it’s old trauma; fear of feeling trapped in a place I don’t want to be. My protector parts are overworking to make sure I feel free and happy wherever I stay. Im much more clear now on the type of hotel space I’m enjoy and can locate, identify and decide much faster now.

I can’t believe I’m finally ordering Matcha tea lattes! That’s something new that entered my life in KL. They mixed espresso into the matcha and I was sold. I even paid for one on the airplane —- wtf!? Who am I? Lol matcha used to be gross. Now it’s on my list of coffee alternatives I actually enjoy. I sipped the green foamy stuff as I peered down at Thailand’s island for the first time.

A little whirlwind off the plane with no cell service, no common spoken language and no idea where to go really. A man walked up with a sign that said “taxi”, I said yes and next thing I knew I was in a van with ten people gabbering away in Malay. My first impression of Thailand was worn down jungle vibes; somewhere in between Bali and KL. I didn’t fall in love at first sight. The cliffs took my attention though. I think it’s fair to say I came for the cliffs, the promise of turquoise magic water dives and a friend named Rae. Everything else…whatever.

Stop by stop, the van dropped tourists at their hotels. I was the last stop. Drop me at the palace please, in a land far far away from tourists and cars. At the end of palm tree boulevard, with a view of the long empty beach, there is an almost empty palace. Walk in the entrance passed Ganesha dresser in orange and rub the orange belly of a bird named Susi, trapped in a cage. The older Thai man owner went to university in Florida so his English is the only English I’ll be hearing from anyone for a while. He said the hotel would be displeasing to the king who would be very possessive over his palace’s blueprints which were unabashedly referenced. It took four years to build this hotel and perhaps it will take four more for it to recover after COVID. My body senses the bizarre emptiness. Is a murder mystery life game about to begin? Why are there only ten people in a palace built for thousands? I enjoy the surreal grandiosity of this moment.

What do I order when all I read are pretty scribbles? I’ll walk for miles for fresh vegetables.

and a poetic clip from the journal….

Who would fall in love with me like this? Would you fall in love with me in all this complication? Run for hills, leave me standing on the roadside with my baggage?

Love & Rainbows,

Cha Wilde

Goodbye KL, Hello Thailand