People watching!!

While sitting at Zecks today chatting to other guests, a guy called Bill from Singapore said "Birds of a feather, flock together", "I've been watching". He's pretty much correct too. The Germans, French, Swiss, Dutch, Canadians etc all seek out the company of their own kin. I do it too. I find it easier to talk to and form friendships with other English folk. Why is that? That's not to say I don't speak to other nationalities, I do, but the better their English is, the easier I find it to talk to them - how uncultured am I?
Now that leads on to the friendship issue. You meet lots of folks while travelling. Some can be tolerated for a very short period before you feel the need to distance yourself from them. Others make good company for an evening or two while some become friends that you spend several days with. These folk all invariably move on at some point. Either you or they are going in a different direction. It's hard when you've got to know and consider as a friend these folks - then they're gone. The cycle starts again......
Now, Malaysians are pretty friendly on the whole. I've met loads who are pleasant & accepting. Some will go well out of their way to make you feel welcome and generally Malaysia is a safe place for westerners to be. I've no doubt that there are some dodgy happenings here occasionally but Malaysia is a great place. I for one have become increasingly fond of it since I've been here and would definitely come back.......I have several invites in KL for food & tea tarik that I feel i should attend!
However lots of Malaysians working the tourist circuit tell lies - there's no local bus, the guesthouse you want is full or closed or has bed bugs etc etc. Occasionally it's the truth but rarely as the entire system works on kick backs. The taxi driver gets a commission for taking you to a particular guesthouse, the guesthouse owner gets a drink for getting you into a particular taxi, boat or minibus. Tickets have an uplift built into them so as the seller gets a commission. The entire system works on commission's, don't believe anybody that tells you different. Use the local government run transport whenever you can, you'll pay the same for your seat as a local and try to sort out your own tickets.