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Published: September 21st 2007
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Since I was flying Air Asia, I had to fly through KL to get back to Thailand, so I figured I would stop off for a few days to check it out. KL is much like the other big asian cities I've been - big, shiny and new covering something old. It is not quite as shiny and new as Singapore, but it seems to be trying.
I arrived in KL in the evening of September 3 and took the budget bus (9 ringit) from the budget terminal into town. I didn't have a guide book with me and hadn't yet booked a hotel. My travels through asia have always been pretty casual and I tend to sort things out when I get there, with the aid of LP. I decided 3 days in KL did not warrant the purchase of a guide book, so I picked up a map at the tourist info point at the airport. Luckily for me, the map showed hotels, so I headed for the area that appeared to have the most hotels - Bukit Bintang - otherwise known as tourist central.
I caught the monorail with my giant backback from Sentral station, where
The Petronas Twin Towers
Tallest buildings in the world from 1998 until 2004 the bus dropped me, to Bukit Bintang. It was now pouring rain, but I wandered along Bukit Bintang looking for an internet cafe to research hotels. I had no idea how much hotels cost in KL - I had done no research on the place - and needed a reference point. Turns out I could get a lovely 4 star in the area for about 240 ringit. So I headed to the Royale Bintang sporting my backpack, hiking boats and drenched to the bone - looking for a nice clean, dry room. They took one look at me and told me they were full. So was the Federale next door. So, I headed to where I rightfully belonged, the Bintang Warisan - budget hotel with peeling walls, smelling of cigarette smoke and booked myself a room for 2 nights. I really wanted a nice place, but didnt look the part, I guess.
The rain cleared up through the night and after relaxing for the last few days in Bali, I was ready to properly explore again. I followed the signs and walked to the KL tower. I took the requisite photo but didn't go up. It is a lovely
pink and white - and somehow reminded me of Bermuda - the colours I suppose. I then followed to signs to the Petronas twin towers - KL's shining glory. The buildings are impressive - and I took another requisite photo. By this time I had been walking a good hour and was absolutely drenched in sweat, so took refuge in the airconditioned mall underneath the twin towers.
After cooling off in the mall, I headed out to the park behind the mall - spend about 45 minutes wandering and then drenched with sweat again, I headed back into the mall. My tour of KL wasn't going particularly well. It was too darned hot!! I headed back to my hotel and spent the rest of the afternoon reading in the airconditioned coolness and tried not to look at the peeling walls around me.
The next day, I was determined to see more of KL. I headed to the Lakes Garden - hoping the lakes would lend an air of coolness to the place. No luck. Again after 45 minutes, I couldn't bear the heat anymore, so headed back to my hotel. This was not going well.
I headed back out in the evening and wandered the strip watching people. Looking at the women was particulary interesting, as most of them wore headscarves, but they were dressed from jeans and blouse with headscarf to traditional flowing tunic and trousers with matching headscarf to the full black robes with headscarf and face scarf. Many of the women in the full black dress had their eyes lined with make-up, which seemed to me to contradict their dress. At one point I sat next to a middle aged muslim woman. She asked me about my travels, etc, so I figured I could politely ask her about womens' dress in Indonesia. A muslim women in Indonesia can dress however she wants, as long as the body and head are covered. Some women choose to dress traditionally in a tunic and trousers and some do not. The colour of the scarf does not mean anything - women generally try to match their scarves with the rest of their dress. I asked about the women who dressed in black and what that meant. Her response was "Ohhh - those are not Indonesian women - only middle eastern women dress that way". Hmmm.
I didn't see as much of KL as I would have liked and have now realized I hardly took any photos. I would like to see Penang and other parts of Malaysia, but that will have to be another trip - taken some time when the weather is cooler!
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