Kuala Lumpur

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Kuala Lumpur is a city you need to get to know fairly well before you can appreciate it. In spite of its modern aspect, we think maybe they forgot to hire a city planner. Old, run-down buildings are scattered amongst sparkling new high rise office towers, WISMAS interrupt the flow of new shopping areas. My Eyewitness guidebook refers to this as a “blend of old and new” and “urban clutter.” There is hardly a straight road in the city, and most are one-way. We would hate to be driving here...even being a pedestrian is harrowing. Our first full day we walked, then as exhaustion threatened, we found the Hop on/off to give us a better understanding of the city.

Having said all that, Kuala Lumpur does shine. In spite of an excellent transit system, we spent hours walking the various crowded streets that reflect the multi-cultural population. It soon felt normal to see females of all ages dressed in their discreet Muslim outfits. Teenagers cover their hair, always, but wear jeans and blouses whereas older women wear glorious jewelled silk and brocade from head to foot. Beautiful! But not all are Muslim. There is a huge Chinese Buddhist population, a Hindu presence and the very occasional Caucasian. (We have met no NA’s but quite a few Europeans) All these cultures co-exist in what appears to be peace and harmony.

KL is a progressive, innovative city. Wally just told me that they are about to ban polystyrene...shouldn’t we all?? They are open to new ideas, have an outstanding health system, emphasize education, are encouraging outside investment (especially Chinese), are developing amazing new systems for purifying rainwater to be used domestically...and the list goes on. . Safety regulations are strict and are enforced. There is a police presence, but not an intimidating one. Drugs are not tolerated (death penalty for trafficking), alcohol is not consumed by Muslins (we could find beer in the international restaurants), but tobacco is omni-present. Wally reads the paper and is amazed by the number of unfamiliar products. The economy is flourishing, having segued from agriculture and mining to manufacturing and exporting (mainly electronics) in the 70’s. People seem to be happy with their Constitutional Monarchy democratic government, although we did get a sense that Muslims receive more government perks and concessions than other Malays.

KL is a shoppers’ paradise. If you should want high end, brand name clothes, shoes and electronics there are magnificent shopping malls. If you want the fake variety, there is plenty of opportunity to browse Chinatown and the Indian Night Market for watches, belts, shoes, leather goods, purses and enough head gear to supply every woman in India and KL for life! I was wondering why I couldn’t find a pair of silver earrings to replace ones I lost....there are no earrings, because there are very few ears showing! But wow, is there bling!! Pins, broaches, bracelets....all in glistening gold and glass rhinestones. These women are feminine in their own way.

Once we found easier routes from the Maytower Hotel, which is so central that we could walk to all the main sights, we were able to negotiate the curves and corners and find the highlights. Merdeka (Independence) Square is Tudor-colonial on one side and Mughal on the other with a English Gothic Christian church at one end and the Moorish style National History Museum at the other. In the middle a huge grassy field (once a cricket field) surrounds the tallest flagpole in the world. And flags? Every building, every street, every light pole was draped in the Malaysian flag because we had arrived just days after Malaysia’s 55^th Independence Day. At night, these streets are alight with strings of blue and pink and orange lights, hanging in profusion from the trees. Buildings are lit up....the night markets are ablaze of colour, Chinese lanterns string across other streets. Gorgeous!

We rode the elevator to the dizzying height of 905’ on the Menara KL...the 5^th tallest communications tower in the world. We could walk the perimeter of the observation deck and see the entire city laid out at our feet. At the base of this tower is Butik Nanas, the 27 acres of natural jungle that comprise the largest city park, of which there are many. This deck is higher than the Skybridge of the famous twin Petrona Towers (so named for the national petroleum and oil company) so we by-passed that expensive activity. But the twin Petronas towers are so beautiful, rising out of the centre of the city, surrounded by the KLCC gardens and dominating the skyline from every angle. Built in 1998 in a modern style of stainless steel and glass their floor plan is star-shaped, reflecting Isalm principles of harmony and unity. At night they are glorious! At ground level we enjoyed a state-of-the- art aquarium with hundreds of school children.

We engaged a driver, Mr. Veloo, to take us outside the city. He was so gracious, waiting patiently for us, describing various aspects of KL life. One notable morning he took us to Batu Caves, the gigantic caves dedicated to Lord Murugan, a Hindu deity. A 141’ golden statue of Murugan stands beside the steep 306 stairs we climbed to the entrance. Once inside, shafts of light from hundreds of feet above spotlight shrines and temples. Richly painted Hindu shrines line the caves. We received a blessing from a monk, complete with spots on our foreheads and bracelets for good luck. We were given packets of incense to burn as we said our prayers...I am sure God, no matter what name you give Him, is present in these holy places. As we walked back down the stairs, carefully!, we were entertained by the considerable antics of dozens of monkeys. A very memorable morning indeed.

The weather was hot, perhaps 30-32, and reasonably humid, so we were especially appreciative of the large pool at the Maytower Hotel. We could cool down mid-afternoon, have a nap, and set out again in the early evening. The hotel staff was excellent, answering questions and requests promptly and efficiently. They had a new fridge in our room in 20 minutes when ours malfunctioned. They stored our luggage free when we checked out for two nights when we went to Taman Negara, a well appreciated service.

We are not impressed with Malaysian food. We tried, we really did. We couldn’t find street food that looked appetizing but being a cosmopolitan city, we could find German, Thai and NA restaurants. We ate two meals at the Hard Rock Cafe and man, did those lamb burgers taste good! There was little rain, but one of those evenings we watched an incredible, torrential, noisy electrical storm while we ate. Our best Malay meal was north of the city with our birding pal friends, Ronnie and Mr Tan. Great, spicy neighbourhood lunch.

So, our last day here, after we returned from Taman Negara (separate blog entry) we hooked up with Ronnie and Mr. Tan and went birding. We drove to Selangor, about 50 km north of the city, to Taman Alam Nature Park. We spent 5 hours walking, found 27 bird varieties, all lifers for us, and got to know these two Malay men. Ronnie is a R&D scientist with the University, Mr Tan, all 90 lbs of him, is a retired teacher who now spends much time trekking in Nepal. He just returned this week from an eleven day trek at very high elevations. He is definitely the fittest 67 year old we have ever met! We want to thank them again for the wonderful day...maybe one day they will visit Vancouver or Mexico.

We won’t be going back to Kuala Lumpur. We saw as much as we could hope to see and it was enough. Now we move on to Penang....some R&R!

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