The Kuala Lumpur Airport

Making my way through Malaysian customs in the Kuala Lumpur airport proved to be incredibly simple. If you have nothing to declare (you're not bringing a ton of cash, cigarettes, booze, etc with you), you can just grab your luggage and leave the airport. Of course, the lines are considerably shorter for first/business class. But even in economy class, I would've been off my plane and in a cab within 20-30 minutes.

My departure was just as easy. I've been in line for hours on end in airports in Manila, Bangkok, Lima, etc. KL is an entirely different story. As an American, I was ushered through security quickly and politely.

The customs agent looked at my passport, which contains a photo of me taken nearly ten years ago when my hair was quite short. She asked curiously "Were you in the Army?" For a moment, I thought this would affect which security line I would have to pass through. I assumed they had a different protocol for military personnel and veterans. I replied "No." She said, looking at the photo, "Your hair was so short." "Oh, yeah. That was a long time ago." "If you don't mind me saying so, you look much younger now." "Wow. Thanks. I'll take that as a compliment." She smiled and wished me a good flight.

At the gate at the KL airport, I ran into a fellow I met several days earlier on my flight into KL from Beijing. On the flight into KL, we discussed our mutual love of beer and he told me how much he enjoyed California wines, which surprised him. I didn't ask any personal questions on our flight into KL, but I could tell he was European. His accent sounded British to me, but with a hint of something different. Scandinavian perhaps.

He's a middle aged man, who wears jeans with hiking shoes and a sport coat. Very much a traveler. I guess the one thing that struck me about this guy was he was unapologetically guzzling the free drinks they deliver in business class. I had a few beers myself, in addition to the champagne. He then moved on to the California white and kept going. I was impressed.

So as I arrived at the gate for my departure from KL, there he was. I had some time to kill, so I continued our conversation from earlier in the week. "Here we are again." "Yes yes. So how was your stay in Malaysia?" I told him I was quite busy for the most part and didn't have much time for sightseeing. The same was true for him.

This time, I gave him my business card and explained what I do for a living. He gave me his as well. Looking at his business card, I could see that his company is based in Norway. But he explained that he is actually from Denmark. I told him my wife lived in Norway years ago. And somehow we got on the subject of seafood (even though I explained that I'm vegetarian).

He described the paradox of Scandinavian seafood. He says the fish is some of the freshest and most delicate in the world, but Norwegian chefs are terrible. They take an amazing catch and make it nearly inedible with awful seasoning and improper cooking. He says it's a different story in Northern France, where they can take an average catch and turn it into something extraordinarily delicious. He said the perfect combination would involve a French chef cooking a Norwegian fish.

The conversation turned toward China, where he currently lives. He owns a home in Denmark, but works in China for most of the year. His wife lives with him in China as well, but he said she is in Denmark for the month taking care of the house. And recently, his company decided to move him to Shanghai. He'll make the transition in a couple of weeks, which he seems very excited about.

He says "Shanghai is metropolitan and vibrant, with a thriving arts community and great restaurants." And the thing that he says he really loves about China is its rich history. People have called the country home for nearly six thousand years. He says the people in Denmark were cave dwellers as the Chinese built their first empire. I commented that I live in a country that has existed for less than 250 years. I thought about mentioning the fact that Kuala Lumpur has only been around since 1857, but I couldn't think of a way to slip that into a conversation about China without sounding awkward.

We boarded our flight and this time, he flew economy class. He told me business class tickets was sold out when he bought his ticket. It's probably for the best. Without being distracted by conversation, I got a lot of work done on the flight.

Read more about my trip to Kuala Lumpur here.