By drugs, Malaysian authorities don't distinguish between 'hard' and, er... hash. If you get caught, that's it for you, no matter what your nationality. A French national spent 17 years imprisoned because some was found in her luggage. It was proven that it had been planted on her, but she was still improsoned. Another thing: Smuggling drugs into the country: Beware of helpful porters and never leave your luggage unattented. Refuse to bring clothes for refugees across the boder: they might be drug-soaked. And never, EVER, accept to pass on packages for 'that great friend of yours' you met in Bangkok. You'll be turned over, while the 'great friend's' accomplice will get through with a bigger quantity. A famous 'package' is a smiling Budda, which is of course hollow...

For a sporting retreat, there is a 50 metre Olympic sized swimming pool at the foot of Stadium Chinwoo. It is a short 2 minute walk from Jalan Sultan in Chinatown up the hill along Jalan Hang Jebat. You will be able to see it on your right after a couple of hundred metres. In the background you can see the National Stadium (Stadium Negara) which is worth a look if stadiums interest you. Unfortunately for all you swimmers, the lanes are width ways not length ways, which turns a fantastic pool into a bit of a headache. Woman can wear whatever bathers they wish but men can only wear proper speedo bathers (or budgie smugglers as they are often called!). If you don't have these 'sausage hammocks' available, you can rent them from the kiosk for a few ringgit.

Bahasa Indonesia was derived from Malay, or Bahasa Melayu, which is the country's national language. With the diversity of population in Malyasia, from the original Indian and Chinese gold traders, Tamil and a little Hindi, as well as Mandarin are spoken by the respective communities. There are dialects of Bahasa Melayu in other regions but in KL the standard form is spoken. English is the language that joins all these groups together and is compulsory in secondary school, so you will have no problem getting around with only English.

On Jalan Sultan in Chinatown is a classic old movie theatre called 'The Rex'. It has a great atmosphere, plays newly released films and is very cheap compared to some of the other cinemas in the city centre. Nudity is often cut for the benefit of the young Muslim audience but it is a good way to break up a day of walking around the sights of KL.