I'm not surprised

KL lure for Middle Eastern tourists. This is the title of an article in TheStar online metro section today. There has been more and more Middle East (ME) tourist here in KL and I personally sometimes think that I’ve just stepped into an Arabic Land . That’s how I feel each time I go out for lunch at Bukit Bintang (BB) area. There seems to be more of ME tourist from the month of June till August. That’s what the hotels here call it, the Middle East season. I’ve not gotten the chance to actually find out why they all flock to Malaysia during these few months, other than I know it must be some school holiday and probably because Malaysia is claimed to be an islamic country by many politicians here.

It’s funny how all these shops started mushrooming in BB area, are putting emphasis on the ME feel. I mean we’ve seen a steady stream of tourist from all over the world, bus loads of tourists from China and Taiwan but how come there aren’t any shops opening with the entire Chinese feel to it? I’ve gone shopping at KLCC too many times and it is hard not to notice the armful of designer shopping bags, on the arms of ME tourists. I’m beginning to think that the businesses out there are targeting the ME tourists because they’re not that conscious of their spending but just keep on spending and spending, hence more shops to target their $$ instead. I’m not that surprised if this is one of the reasons behind the mushrooming of increasingly popular ME stores. Well, I’m not complaining, as long as there’s no riot, or any bombings. They’re supporting the economy. I’m totally fine with that.

Another thing that surprises me though is when these ME women are all dressed to cover up; their children are totally the opposite. They’re dressed in skimpy outfits, spaghetti strap tops, or clothes that are too short that they show their belly buttons. What’s with that? I mean, is that how you do it? Just because they can’t wear these outfits, they dress their kids in all these clothes. I mean no disrespect. I’m just curious as to why they do so that’s all. All these cultures really fascinate me but at the same time I find them really weird. I can’t seem to understand the concept. A little help here maybe from anyone who understand??

Still it feels a little weird to be surrounded in all black hooded women. Scares the shit out of me, especially when you’re walking at night and then some hooded figure suddenly stands beside you, I mean waiting for the traffic light to cross the road. What were you thinking??