Kuala Lumpur, not a Koala Bear in Sight

Kuala Lumpur is a city unlike any other. One that sits, nestled into a vast valley, casually basking in endless sun. With the charm of a people very recently at home in the jungle and the sophistication of a Western colony cum independent powerhouse, Malaysia chose KL for it's capital over the more historically important Melaka or Georgetown. From that decision came the ability to start from scratch. Build a city from the ground up, so to speak. It shows in the wide streets replete with 'teksi' lanes and ample sidewalks. The infrastructure is superb and it needs to be to support the mega load of towers.
Neither Bangkok nor Phnom Penh, Ho Chi Minh nor Hanoi, Vientien nor even Seoul have such a collection of skyscrapers in such close quarters, and certainly none as impressive as the Petronas Towers. From every angle they shimmer and shine like diamond-studded beacons. Their unique design alternates between rounded and right-angled corners. This comes from a design scheme of two squares and 4 circles interlocked. Each tower has way more than 4 "sides," which leads to a rounded and minaret like appearance. In fact "minar" means tower in Malay (from Arabic I'd assume).

The equally charming KL Tower (or Minar KL) is near enough the Petronas twins that you can see all three at one from the north or south side of the city. They literally tower over the other buildings of KL. And although it's hard to look good standing next to twin supermodels and their Iranian-decorated older sister, the other buildings of KL impress in many cases as well. Some are new and some are not, but they all come together to give their city a magnificent skyline.

On arriving in yet another Chinatown we found a decent place to stay with more shared bathrooms. The Oasis Inn is well-run and quaint with pretty good facilities and very fair prices. The fourth floor has a TV lounge and a kitchen equipped with free tea and coffee. FREE COFFEE!!!!! Someone has been very happy in the mornings :)


It was early afternoon when we arrived so we decided to walk to the KL Tower before dinner. We made it to KL Tower in our roundabout way but didn't go up because it was a lot of money and we decided that views from the top of towers are never as cool as views from directly under them. We were able to watch a video about the tower's construction while we were there. Interesting facts that now escape me about it's design and decor (like that the interior metal work was done by skilled craftsmen from Iran). Then we walked back toward Chinatown. 

We wandered through he two-block-long Petaling Street Market here in Chinatown and were rewarded with many eager hawkers and European buyers bumping into us every three seconds. But hey, isn't that what Asia's all about? We ate some delicious food and hit the sack early.

The next morning we woke up sweaty and a bit tired, but there was coffee!! We decided to go straight to the towers and see what there was to see. 
We quickly retraced our steps toward KL Tower and then veered toward the MATIC... I didn't get it either, which Leighton found hilarious. MAlaysia Tourist Info Center. Get it now? This was like a tourist info booth on steroids with a minor in art and landscape architecture. Pretty doesn't cut it. It was stunning! So wish that other cities had as much initiative. The information we got was super helpful and we even found a magazine with local event listings. We missed the MGMT concert but heard about a interior design expo called "Perfect Livin'". Then we walked to the towers.

We ended up in the mall that makes up the entire footprint of the towers and their connecting bits. It was massive and fancy. We got some soup called 'curry mee' from the food court. It was similar to our favorite Thai food, Kao Soy. Noodles and nibbly bits in a curry-like soup broth. Mmmmmmmmm

After shopping around for 5 hours (no joke) we found ourselves out the back and staring at a massive park that flanks the towers. This is the KLCC or City Center. Over 100 acres of public space right in the heart of the city. We meandered through and eventually made our way the Bukit Buntang shopping district. We skipped through it, only stopping for a cookie from a bakery. We got back to our hotel and collapsed.

We couldn't give up though because it was Saturday and Little India had it's night market! We set off toward it and found a frenetic street packed in both sides with stall after stall of scarves, clothes, books, gadgets, sunnies, knicks, knacks, and best of all: food!
We munched on something called popiah. It was similar to a spring roll but was wrapped in a pancake like a crepe and covered in a sweet and spicy sauce and topped with peanuts. Only 0.70 cents Malaysian each, roughly $0.25 USD. Could have eaten a hundred! So delicious and pretty healthy, too! Not to mention cheap and huge!

We ended up eating at an Indian street food stall. A cup of curry was only 2 ringgit ($0.66 USD) an naan was 1 ringgit. We each had a chickpea curry and split a chicken one with a naan each. Eight ringgit later dinner was done. Less than $3 for two hungry boys!

The next day we went to the National Museum (Muzeum Negara) and a super discount mall so Leighton could look for bags and belts and whatnot. He bought a really great pair of jeans for just over $23 USD and I almost bought a sweet T-shirt with pastel images of Chicago, but it was too small. This surprised me because my underware is now falling off because it's too big. Sometimes I look at recent pictures of me and I see my clothes hanging if me like I just escaped the famine.

It just goes to show that sightseeing and shopping for 8 hours a day is a valid form of exercise. Lord knows I eat too damned much of the food!!!

The museum was really great. We caught the tour a little late but the guide ended up snagging us just as she was headed into the interesting bit of history. We learned about the early Malay people and how they came to be Muslim. We saw beautiful artifacts from hundreds of years of trading with China and Europe and Arabia. Then we went upstairs and learned about the "invasions" of the Portuguese, the the Dutch and finally the British. Oh, and the Japanese, who ride bicycles down from Thailand. 
Finally we saw exhibits all about the democratization of the Malay peninsula and how it became Malaysia. Very tidy operation, that museum. Very few questions left unanswered thanks in no small part to out tour guide (who had to run back to the hospital where she is a part time 66 year old doctor when she's not filling we role as a university professor).

Food, bed.

Sunday was the Islamic Art Museum with a brief but wonderful stop at the National Mosque (Masjid Negara). The art museum was, in part, a history museum as well as a museum on Islam. It was wonderful!! It started with an excellent exhibit on architecture of mosques throughout the world and how the designs spread with the conquering of various places and the rise to power of certain regions. Then we saw textiles, weapons, carvings, pottery, jewelry, and many gilded Quran open to beautiful light pages. It was one of the better museums I've been to in Asia. We were there for a long time and then decided it was lunch time. So we walked back to the GH to refill our water bottles and set off for the malls. 

We've become mall whores. They're so nice and cold! The food is only marginally more money but comes in far greater quantity and variety than on the streets. So there we ate and then shopped the whole of the afternoon. It was worth it. We burned so many calories an didn't have to be dripping sweat while we did it.

The next day, Monday, we headed to the Batu Caves via the "komuter" train. It was really cheap to ride (1 ringgit) and a very comfy and easy. We took it from the gorgeous train station, which is one of the earliest buildings in KL (circa 1900) and done up in a British-Mogul Indian-Arab-Malay style with lots of arches and towers. 

The caves are Hindu religious sites. They're okay. Kind of boring. A big huge staircase leads up to them and there is a recently added giant statue of... Shiva? Vishnu? I know it's not Gimesh because he's an elephant.

We stopped at another mall on the way back and ate some more food court food (hotplate chicken for me and a soup served in a little hot wok for Leight). That night I bought a pretty cool wallet at the night market by our place. 

Tuesday we woke up early by accident and then decided to run to the towers to try to get a ticket to go up to the skybridge. They sell out early but we thought they'd still have some. By 9 we arrived the line was really long and capped with a big sign proclaiming they were sold out. Boo!

We decided to walk up to the National Art Museum at the far north end of town. We found our way there and found out it was, wait for it, FREE!! It was pretty rad! The first exhibit was all about technology connecting underground music scenes and non-mainstream culture. It was interactive and exciting. The second was modern Malaysian art. I liked it. My favorite piece was also the only one I really understood. An office chair painted on a piece of glass overlaid against even and perfect rows of razorblades. Get it? The office is like suicide! So an art piece for people like us!

We walked back and hit up the malls for lunch and dessert before heading home and watching some TV in the lounge. We ate some gorgeous tandoori chicken from the same little Indian street stall and called it a night after an ice cream.

The next day (God, what day is it!?) we putzed around and went to some shopping places near us and then gave our weary legs a rest by watching some TV. Shwew. We needed it. 

Then it was Thursday, our last day in KL! We went to the Putra World Trade Center for "Perfect Livin' 2011," a home design expo. It was really fun to walk around and see all kinds of different furniture and carpets and lighting and appliances, etc etc. I even got a free cappuccino!

We even made one woman believe we had just moved here and she launches into her real estate agent pitch. Turns out KL is pretty cheap to live in...

Then we ate lunch at yet another mall food court and we walked back the long way and ended up in the massive park near Chinatown. It was sort of like Central Park. Very urban jungle refuge in the jungle. Haha.

Friday morning we were up and at 'em, had some breakfast and then jumped on a shuttle to the bus station. It was a bit of a cluster *%#€ but eventually we got to the RIGHT station and on our bus to Melaka! Thanks to our anonymous friend who helped us get there!

PS- this is the longest blog in the world. I am so sick of writing it, you all must be entirely disgusted with reading it.