#1 - First Impressions of KL

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Welcome to our first travel blog entry. We arrived in KL in the early evening of December the 11th, in the middle of a giant, city wide traffic jam. Two days later, Julie's cousin, Benji, joined us. We had a ball and found getting around and everything really easy. After spending 3 nights there, I decided to write down my first impressions.

This is an interesting and mostly modern city. There is a huge variety of high tech infrastructure in the city centre, the most impressive being the Petronas Twin Towers. These towers symbolise not only Malaysia’s modernisation and success as an independent nation, but also the large part that petroleum plays in this success. Other modern highlights include the transport system, particularly rail, but also buses (which were mostly all comfortable, air-conditioned coaches). Despite the tropical climate and monsoon season, Julie had more trouble staying warm than staying cool, due to the predominant air conditioning everywhere.

There remain a few different levels of society in KL. The poorer people who inhabit the back streets of places like China Town look on the surface no different to the wealthy locals who browse the exclusive boutique stores in the shopping centres within the city centre. Their lives, however, contrast dramatically. Prices vary between these areas by whole orders of magnitude, and while dining as we did in China Town was very cheap (AUD$6-$12 for a full meal and drinks), the same meal in a ritzy city restaurant would make even a seasoned Sydney restaurant goer cringe.

A trip to the National Museum opened our eyes to the real Malaysia and to why everything here is the way it is. It explained the history of the region, from tribal origins to Portugese, Dutch and English colonisation (with all their inter-colonial fighting over several hundred years), followed by the Japanese invasion during WWII, then resettlement by the English and finally the nationalist movement and independence in 1957. 2007 is therefore an important year for Malaysia, being 50 years since independence. Malaysians are fiercely proud of their independence and their national identity, and this shows in the number of national flags and “Malaysia 2007” banners that you see everywhere. It reminds me of the 1988 Bicentenary celebrations in Australia. The 50th anniversary has coincided with the “Visit Malaysia 2007” campaign during which they are heavily promoting tourism.

The most interesting thing about KL is the mix of cultures. What Malaysia calls it's multicultural society is dominated by three distinct races; the Malays, the Chinese and the Indians. They are easy to tell apart and do not appear to mix much, marriage-wise. While the museum pushed the message of harmony and coorperation, this contrasted with the protests and demonstrations held by Indians demanding reconciliation on the night we arrived, was the cause of the traffic jams according to our Chinese cab driver.

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Photos

Arrival in KL
We dumped our stuff in the hotel and headed out for some food.

At the Petronas Towers
Too bad we were too late to get tickets to the view point half way up, but just seeing the towers was an experience.

Want to buy a watch?
Plenty of bargains to be had at the Chinatown markets. Just don't pay full price. And make sure the watch works before paying.

Breakfast
Coconut Jam Bread

Comments

[Helper]

Awesome!
Looks like you guys had an awesome time! By the way, the kebobs being sold on the street by the guy with the pinstripe chef's outfit looks so good.