In my 20s and early 30s I was an avid traveler, and I spent a lot of time working my way through South East Asia and the surrounding pacific islands. About a decade ago I was doing some software work for a company in Malaysia and I was supposed to attend a series of meetings followed by a conference in Kuala Lumpur.
The flight from my hometown to Narita and over to KL left me exhausted. I'm unfortunately unable to sleep on flights so I was awake during the entire 15 hour ordeal with only a few winks of un-restful sleep to hold me over.
I was picked up directly from the airport and in a complete blur, I met my contact; Hans, and was ferried directly to the office in the heart of the city. The first meeting which was already underway with my new work associates was a hellish affair, I could barely keep my eyes open and I'm sure they noticed. They understood that I was horribly jet lagged, but my performance was underwhelming at best.
"Hey man, it's okay, " Hans said, with his thick German accent. "You get some sleep and we'll see you in the morning."
He dropped me off downtown in the heart of chinatown where I booked a cheap hotel for myself a week before. I said goodbye and as Hans drove off, I checked my phone. 2pm local time. Hell. I'd be at least 5 hours before I could legitimately go to sleep and not completely screw myself over. I shook my head and popped open my maps app to figure out where my hotel was.
I walked down a crowded street. Covered stalls almost completely filled the road. They sold everything from fruit to watches. The buildings that lined the streets also boasted a battery of shops on either side and my brain reeled with the sheer amount of information being displayed to me. I made my way down the gauntlet of commerce until the dot on my phone matched my position.
My hotel entrance's only indication was a narrow concrete staircase with a small sign above it. This was it. I walked up the stairs and into a medium sized lobby. There was a rug, a table, four chairs, and a window in the wall at the far side with a woman's face behind it. Another staircase disappeared up to the next floor on the opposite side of the wall.
"Hello." I said as I approached the window. I never know what level of English to expect when I visit these types of places, but I was pleasantly surprised.
"Hi there," she replied. She was a middle aged Malay woman with typical glasses and a dark blue uniform. "Checking in?"
I gave her my info and she slid a contract to sign through a slit at the bottom of the window. After I signed it and slid it back to her, she slid a key card through the slit and told me my room number.
I walked up the staircase on the opposite side and found my room easily. My hotel accommodation consisted of a single room with a bed, a desk and a chair in it, and an adjacent room with a toilet, sink above that and showerhead above that. A drain sat in the center of the small bathroom. Some hotels in the region combined all of the bathroom functions into one small room so you could theoretically sit on the toilet while you have a shower as you're brushing your teeth. It's highly functional, but everything is unfortunately constantly wet. I dropped my bag, used the hell out of that bathroom, took a quick shower, changed into some fresh clothes and decided to head out to get something to eat. I just needed to stay awake for 4 or 5 more hours.
As I descended the stairs out into the street, a small restaurant across the road caught my eye. Winding my way through the crowds of people, I snaked over to see what kind of food they were serving. The smell of fried fish, noodles, and seasoned veggies filled my nostrils as I approached. Malay food is awesome, so I grabbed a Styrofoam container and hungrily served myself a heaping serving from the array of square metal troughs. They charged by weight so I dropped the requisite currency in the cashiers hand and found a place to sit near the entrance so I could finally take in my cacophonous surroundings.
The stalls in the street were wholly ignorable. I never found watches and trinkets compelling. Some of them were selling snacks and I made a mental note of that, but on the other side of the road, near the back something else caught my eye. A small covered area with a little white sign said "Massage."
I finished lunch, wiped my hands and made my way over. The plan I'd formulated was that I'd book an appointment for sometime the next day after all of the meetings were done. My neck was killing me from the flight and so I figured I'd be entitled to a bit of relief.
I pushed the canvas tarp to the side and ducked under the flap to reveal the massage parlor. A little desk and chair sat to the side by the entrance and a row of little rooms were created with sections of the tarp material affixed to the ceiling somehow. By moving the tarp to the side I'd inadvertently rung a door bell which was tied to a string by the doorway.
An attractive dark skinned Malay woman poked her head out of the first room. I opened my mouth to speak but she excitedly ran out of the room and, giggling, she grabbed my arm and began pulling me back into the first room.
Another woman poked her head out of one of the rooms to respond to the bell and she smiled and blushed when we met eyes. She was tiny and pale. I smiled back at her.
"Eighty." She said pointing at her palm.
I fiddled in my pocket for whatever cash I had. I had a hundred on me so I handed it to her and shrugged. At the time it was around $20 where I came from. I figured I could spare the expense.
A dim lamp sat on a small table in the corner of the room and struggled to illuminate the space. A massage table rested at a little lower than waist height in the center of the room. A small box of tissues sat on the table next to a small bottle of massage oil.