Advertisement
Published: August 8th 2007
Kuala Lumpur
We loved KL... ...almost as much as we hated it. On the plus side, much of the modern architecture is truly impressive, of which the Petronas Twin Towers and National Mosque are shining examples (pun absolutely intended). KL is developing at an incredible pace, fueled by two very different types of oil : that of the mighty Petronas and the palm oil plantations, and also led by a government clearly well on its way to the 2020 vision of the future KL set out by its previous prime minister. Construction sites are apparent at almost every turn. This is a city in the fast lane to developing South East Asia's leading modern city. The purpose built 'new-towns' of Putrajaya and Cyberjaya just south of KL being built from scratch, underground system upwards to brand new hi-tech Government offices, are further impressive examples - all part of an objective for a Multimedia Corridor. Amazingly all these new structures manage to architecturally capture both the predominant religion of Islam (albeit a more liberal form) and the nation's multitude of other religions.
That's the good, now the bad. KL is full of contradictions. A stones throw away from pristine, cutting-edge
KLCC is Kampung Baru, which looks strikingly impoverished when compared to the overlooking Petronas towers - but was far more welcoming than other parts of town. KL's sights are compact enough that you should be able to manage the city on foot (if you can bear the humidity!), but life is very hard and trecherous for the pedestrian in KL, with seemingly unpassable highways at every turn, a lack of decent/any walkways and the fact that motorbikes use the pavements as much as they use the road. The biggest contradiction of all is a well publicised drive to attract tourists by the double-decker Jumbo load. As part of celebrating its 50th year of independence from us Brits, Malaysia wishes to attract more tourists than ever before. Certainly, having the F1 show in town has boosted this massively (an inspired move by the powers that be to put this place on the map a few years ago) - the place was buzzing with tourists as we arrived. This was a good thing, because as soon as the crowds left after the Grand Prix, we were largely left with the locals, many of whom were the most unwelcoming, ill-mannered people we've ever
KLCC Park in the midsts of the city
Overlooked by the KL Tower, amongst others.had the misfortune to meet. There seems to be a complete disconnect between the powers that be wanting to attract more tourists and what the locals actually wanted/were ready for in their city. We felt most unwelcome most of the time. There were, of course, ocassional exceptions.
We frequently experienced the following : people barging past us, deliberately choosing to move away from us on the MRT (Monorail) / LRT (Light Rail) systems or at restaurants, having a good snort then spitting it out in front of you. And what ever happened to letting ladies go first - Sally was barged out the way on a regular basis. Perhaps I'm too English, but some hellos, pleases and thank yous wouldn't have gone amiss either. This is a city where you would stand with a 15kg rucksack on your back in the sweltering humidity waiting at a crossing as the heavens opened and no one would let you pass...in fact worse than that, the traffic would jam and they would stop and inch up bumper to bumper so you couldn't cross anyway.
Although I find this slightly hard to accept, perhaps there was an element of culture shock here.
Certainly we were careful to dress modestly and conduct ourselves in a way that wouldn't offend (avoiding various other social taboos) - we'd done our research on some of the unintended ways we could easily cause offence (I am also pretty sure my deodrant was doing what it should in this heat!). But I do find this hard to stomach - this is far from our first big city visit in Asia : we've mixed with the locals in Colombo, spent time in Bangkok, ate at the Hawker's stalls in Singapore having a great chat with the locals (Blog:
Singapore).
The guide books would throw in the phrase "cultural melting-pot" when descibing KL. This fits perfectly if you take that a step further; I would say the ingredients in this melting pot sit uneasily together. Somehow there was an uneasiness not far below the surface. This was evident in the newspapers, where I read a story about Muslim men not being comfortable with being pressed up against women on the LRT system, so they are trying to push for a separate train for men. Cetainly there seems to be moves towards a stricter form of Islam. Rant over...until we
get to the F1 Grand Prix!
The Petronas Towers This shiny, stainless-steel, status symbol of Malaysia soars serenely to the top of the KL skyline. Incredible and even more impressive and beautiful than we expected. The only challenge is on fitting the entire structure into a photo! After taking in the full view of this magnificent structure from both the fountains out the front and the park area (and more fountains) out the back, it was time to get closer. The next morning we took our place in the queue by 8:30am to be make sure we made the cut for the day's quota of visitors to the skybridge (disappointingly, only the 44th floor of this 88 floor structure). Refreshingly, admission is actually FREE to this landmark. We returned when it was our alloted time slot.
The tour itself is more than just a climb in the elevator and back. Whilst you wait you can learn all about the building of the towers, some of the design thinking and problems that needed to be addressed : like how to deal with a thunderbolt - rather critical as this is a building clad in stainless steel, hawling itself to
The Petronas Twin Towers
Just as stunning at night 452 metres above street level, in a city where there was a thunder storm almost every one of the 6 days we were there. There is also a bit of self promotion by Petronas during a short 3D film, but I have to say it was both appropriate and interesting. The views from the bridge are okay, but the KL skyline isn't the most interesting I've looked out on, so doesn't really do justice to the sky bridge tour.
KLCC A brief word on this, the KL Convention Cente is based at the foot and basement areas of the Petronas twin towers. It is a huge shopping centre with food courts, amongst other things (such as home to an Orchestra and a Medical Centre - where we managed to get our anti-malarial tablets for the next stages of our journey). For anyone that likes their shopping, this is a good place to start with all the big, expensive names to be found under one air conditioned roof. Also, you can eat ridiculously cheaply here - GBP 2 would buy you a good meal/Malay dish if you go to the right places. We also found the spotlessly clean park out
The skybridge
44th Floor, The Petronas Twin Towers the back of KLCC a good escape from the hustle, bustle and sometimes filth and smell of KL...this brings me nicely onto China Town.
Chinatown So, yet again we found ourselves staying in Chinatown, reliable in most cities as home to budget accomodation. On top of the above ill-manner aspects, I think this is what broke our spirits in KL. Don't get me wrong, to visit Chinatown is a must - it would be too easy to come and stay in KL in the Golden Triangle, visit KLCC then go. Anyone doing just this would not see the real KL at all. With it's hectic, lively market, Chinatown is well worth a visit. But that's my point, it's great to visit, but you wouldn't want to actually live in that environment for a week. The filth and smell really started to wear thin about the time I stood on a ripped open, dead rat. Perhaps the windowless, box room we had here also got to us.
The one saviour of staying in Chinatown was the Old China Cafe. We ate like kings in here for under GBP 10 for the pair of us, drinks and everything. The traditional
Jason on the skybridge
44th Floor, The Petronas Twin Towers Malay food served in inviting surroundings was superb. We went back time and again to try to work our way through the menu. Apart from the Nasi Larmak, Mee and scrumptious Laksa this place produces, the chicken ginseng soup was one of the hidden gems I discovered here.
The Golden Triangle Bukit Bintang MRT was our frequent entry point to what is known as the Golden Triangle area of KL. There are various shopping centres open to 10pm here, internet access, restaurants (the Lebanese is particularly good), bars, cafes etc. This place was buzzing at night time and again provided welcome relief from other parts of KL.
KL Bird Park We caught the train then walked here. As ever, walking anywhere in KL is not always as direct or easy as it could be. We made it in the end, but desperately needed some air-con to cool down from the intense humidity. The reasonably priced Hornbill restaurant at the Bird Park obliged - a good lunch, and again you can easily eat like a King for less than GBP 5 each. It comes complete with real Hornbills (a variety of Toucan?) on the loose if you sit outside
on the balcony. We'd almost cooled down enough by the time we actually went in to the bird park. It was well worth the visit, although Sally did have expectations of many more birds being free roaming than there were. The bird show was entertaining, with parrots performing various hijinks.
Sepang - The Petronas Malaysian Formula 1 Grand Prix
Our first two days in KL were all about F1 (qualifying and race day). It was no mistake we were in town at the sametime as F1 - this was to be one of the highlights of our 4 1/2 months travelling. The on track action itself was amazing to be at, with the cherry on top being great results for some of the Brits : Tim Sugden (I hadn't heard of him either) winning both Porsche Super Cup races with ease and popular with the crowd new boy Lewis Hamilton coming second in the F1. All I will say is we had a great view of the circuit, I'd forgotten how loud these cars scream (I actually needed my ear plugs this time) and, okay, it wasn't great racing (Bahrain one week later was) and poor Jenson had
Contrasts : Kampung Baru with the Petronas Towers overlooking
A slightly impoverished, Malay village like atmosphere in the middle of the city, but almost stranded by the highway between it and the Petronas Towers. However, the people were far friendlier here. a miserable weekend, but it was fab to be there. Well, it would have been...
Behind the scenes of this modern F1 circuit being held up as an example to some of the older circuits, the organisation for the average paying spectator was farcical and bordered on corrupt. I can only think those that rate this place highly are the VIPs/hospitality people who see the race through rose tinted glasses. Everyone around us in our grandstand were genuine fans who had travelled a long way (mainly from Europe) and found it just as farcical as we did. And these were not the cheap seats.
Examples :
1. There were tens of people in our stand on race day who did not even have tickets - sitting in seats of genuine fans who had paid good money for their seats and travelled a long way to be here, but hadn't yet taken their seat. When I challenged the boy who sat next to me, he claimed he worked for the Government. Someone had knowingly let at least a couple of hundred of these locals (allthe boys dressed in Navy blue shirts) in for free. Needless to say, as the
Jason at Old China Cafe
Our favourite restaurant in Chinatown, KL actual, paying specators arrived to take their seats, arguements broke out. This didn't stop them though, they then all sat in the only walkway in and out, two-deep most of the way down. This made it very difficult to exit the grandstand in case of emergency or to simply go to the toilets.
2. No food or drink from outside the circuit was allowed, so we were searched on the way in. It was a 34 degree humid day and our water was confiscated. Food and drink inside the circuit was well over the odds, which is fairly normal and what we expected. However, we then discovered the food/drink facilities were so inadequate they were practically non-existent. Also, there was no vegie option for Sally at all. On top of that, we soon discovered all the locals had managed to get through with whatever they fancied bringing, where all westerners were the ones being searched. However, we did manage to sneak food in the next day, we weren't going hungry again!!
3. The buses to/from/around the circuit were a joke. After events finished on the Saturday we waited for a circuit bus, with our morale dropping as empty bus after
empty bus went straight on by. We waited 45mins in the scorching heat when there appeared to be no need for the wait other than poor organisation. We then had to join the crowds, risking our lives to cross a busy highway to wait...and wait for the aerobus back to KL. Arguements were breaking out all around, with some managing to get refunds and getting taxis instead. Oh, we also had to change buses several times too for no apparent reason.
4. Toilets were a disgrace. Disgusting.
Needless to say, I will never be going back to this farcical event and would advise others to steer clear. The Malaysian GP is amateurish compared to Silverstone, whose organisers really know how to put on a proper, full weekend's well organised show. It's just a shame that Sally's first experience of F1 was completely overshadowed. It was time to escape Kuala Lumpur, we'd stayed too long...
Escape to Paradise - Langkawi.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.221s; Tpl: 0.018s; cc: 10; qc: 25; dbt: 0.0951s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
