Malaysia Diary, Day Three: Tires, Traffic, Bugs

Today was my day to meet a fellow I've known online for a while: Mohamed Azman, owner of the Ultra Racing Proton Satria you see above. He's my co-driver for tomorrow's event. What kind of crazy guy lets some even crazier American just show up out of nowhere and race his car?

We started the day by having me try out the "Red Baron" for myself. It's turning 90hp at the crank to push what's basically an old Mitsubishi Mirage hatchback. Compared to the Megane RS265 I'd been driving the day before, it's dreadfully slow --- but compared to a stock Satria, it's a rocketship.

Our first order of business was to track down a vibration in the front end. We ran over to a long line of dusty garages off the freeway where we had the tire remounted, shifted, and balanced, which fixed the issue. Then we had two more spares mounted and balanced. Total price: 30 ringgit ($10).

Next, it was off to get the seat swapped out. To Mohamed's amazement, and mine, I was able to squeeze into his Bride race seat, but he'd ordered a locally-constructed one that was about two inches wider. So now I'm comfortable and he's positively lounging in the thing.

Traffic in Kuala Lumpur, of which we saw quite a bit as we went around to different shops, is difficult for Americans to understand and negotiate. The painted lines on the streets are merely suggestions and every available space between cars on the road is constantly filled with a stream of cheap scooters, often carrying two people. As with New York, there's a kind of continuous merge taking place, but it's far less aggressive. People will let you in with a signal. And the cars are far, far smaller and milder. The dominant vehicle is the Perodua Kelisa, which is somewhat smaller than the old Geo Metro. Mohamed's daily driver is a Corolla with a wooden steering wheel, a center-dash color screen, and ultrasonic sensors on front and rear bumpers. Camrys, when seen, are considered luxury cars.

I'm still adjusting to how completely different Malaysia is. There's no American experience to parallel it. I suspect that by the time I have any understanding at all, it will be time to leave.

But for now it's time to try to sleep. I'd been told that my hotel was notorious for bugs. Last night I didn't see any, but so far tonight I've seen, and killed, seven. All small ones, thankfully!