I have come across a realization...
There is a vast world of difference between an old city and a newer one. As an example, New Delhi encompasses 7 ancient cities and the area has been inhabited since 300 BC. That is an old city. On the other hand Kuala Lumpur the capital of Malaysia was founded as "early" as 1857.
I had always thought that older cities were more interesting as local cuisine, culture and architecture would have had greater time to mature and develop. That said, I was pleasantly happy to delve into life in KL if only for a few days.
One most helpful person was Vinaa our guide. We had the most interesting conversations about politics, religion, culture and food. Having grown up in Kuala Lumpur, he knew the city very well and we were very lucky to have his inputs as we would plan our trips. As the rains were unpredictable, he would always try and re-arrange our itinerary to maximize what we could see. He always tried hard to please, which is a rare thing nowadays when most people just want to earn a living and go home.
Oh, having a guide is very helpful and being friends with the concierge of your hotel has its benefits, but travelling around KL is quite easy with taxi cabs too. Just be sure to use the blue cabs which are usually found at hotels and malls. Most locals use the red cabs, the blue ones are usually for tourists. They are a bit more expensive but you know that the meter is being used and the driver won't try to cheat you. they are also bigger and can fit more people.
As you hay have read from the previous piece about KL, you would know by now that there is time for a leisurely breakfast and a relaxing swimming in between seeing the sights and shopping. That is what I loved most about this visit and this city. It's like time hovered and gave you time to catch your breath. A vacation should be like this, not the frenetic schedules that constantly see you rushing in and out the hotel door.
Our first trip out the hotel to see the city started at 11 am. As we had a late breakfast and there were lots of places to find food, lunch wasn't an issue. The first day would be spent combing the city's more famous landmarks.
First stop was the National Museum. The compound was just 10 minutes from the Hilton KL. This is the facade of the main building that houses a collection of artifacts showing the history of Malaysia. Photography without flash is allowed.
This mosaic pattern on the steps leading up to the entrance caught my attention. It appeared to mimic some sort of woven cloth.
Next up was a quick look at the National Monument... (I apologize for not getting a front view, it was just too hot.)
and the National Mosque...
60% of Malaysians are Mulsim and a lot of them come to the Masjid Negara to worship. They observe strict visiting hours and women must cover up if they want to enter the premises.
After a quick drive by of the Aviary and some government buildings, we next visited the KL City Gallery which was just on one end of Independence Square.
The Gallery is not your typical tourist trap. They have a very beautiful small scale mock up of the city complete with LED lights in the second floor. Work on this project still continues as they add more buildings and features. They also make use of hard woods to fabricate scale models of KL's prominent architectural landmarks like the Petronas Twin Towers. We missed out on walking in Independence Square because of a sudden downpour. We were told that this used to be a cricket field.
The Gallery is not your typical tourist trap. They have a very beautiful small scale mock up of the city complete with LED lights in the second floor. Work on this project still continues as they add more buildings and features. They also make use of hard woods to fabricate scale models of KL's prominent architectural landmarks like the Petronas Twin Towers. We missed out on walking in Independence Square because of a sudden downpour. We were told that this used to be a cricket field.
No, this is not a close up of a model of the world famous twin-towers. This is the real thing as seen under overcast skies. It is a real sight to behold, especially up close, as it's diamond faceted facade of stainless steel extrusions never fails to impress.
The last stop of the day was to a chocolate outlet. I was surprised to find out that Malaysia has a large chocolate industry with a number of brands available. The quality of their chocolate is comparable to the better brands (Believe me, I know what I speak of) from Europe. I thought that Beryl was from some place in Western Europe...uh, uh...it's Malaysian!
The next day we started our explorations mid afternoon and this day's outing would take us into the night. I really looked forward to our first destination, The Royal Selangor factory.
Growing up, I remember always looking into the store windows of Royal Selangor shops in Hong Kong. I was enamoured of the name and the material they used to manufacture their products. Pewter!
Traditionally composed mainly if tin, the manufacture of pewter grew because of the accessibility of this material from the mines of Kuala Lumpur. KL originated from these mines that soon grew into a frontier town. The name Kuala Lumpur actually may come from the words Sungai Lumpur, which means "muddy river and Sungai Klang, Klang River.
Pewters most interesting property is not it's light weight or its ease in polishing, it is the way it can maintain the temperature of drinks longer than other metals.
This photo below shows how coins were made. This "money tree" was actually used a currency in the past. You can see the contract between the polished and unpolished metal.
This is a giant replica of a cast that is used to fabricate the "coin tree" you see above.
In fact, Royal Selangor puts a lot of premium on the abilities of its workers that once someone has reached the 5 year employment milestone, am imprint of his hand is put up in the showroom walls as a badge of honour.
Should you feel a touch of stress coming on and maybe find an excuse to bang something hard, maybe the "School of Hard Knocks" is worth a visit. Here they teach you how to create a bowl using a wooden block and mallet.
Next on the agenda was an out of town trip to the seaside town of Kuala Selangor (no relation to Royal Selangor) with a stop over to see the Batu Caves.
You know you have arrived at the historical Batu Caves when you see the giant golden statue of Murugan.
Murugan is a Hindu deity more popular among the Tamil of Southern India. This Hindu god is a son to Lord Shiva and a sibling to Ganesh. This statue, which stand guard outside the 272 steps to the entrance of the caves, is considered the tallest Murugan statue in the world.
There are also a number of beautiful Hindu deities carved on the rooftops of shrines that are found at the ground level of the complex. Some depict the other incarnations that Murugan is associated with like the multi headed figure sitting atop a peacock.
Having some "seniors" with us, we decided not to venture up the steps to test their cardiac stamina. The falling rains eventually forced us to ditch any last minute mind-changing and we proceeded to our next destination, the fireflies of Kuala Selangor.
The highways were quite impressive. Thick rain forests lined both sides of the concrete strips and traffic moved briskly. The rains were still falling but Vinaa our driver cum guide reassured us that it may not be raining where we were headed.
It was such a quick trip and there was too much daylight to catch the fireflies. We had heard of this place nearby where you can see eagles being fed that it intrigued our group enough to check it out.
You need to get on a river boat that will take you a few kilometers out to where the river empties into the sea. The muddy river was wide and had lush jungle on both sides. The boat driver stopped in the middle and emptied a bucket full of raw chicken meat. Well, you can see that happened next...
It was fascinating watching the eagles fly in from their nests atop the trees in the forest and soar around before gliding down to grab a chunk of meat to take back home. There were maybe up to 60 or 70 of them flittering and flapping their wings.
This was going to be a busy day...we next went up a Melawati Hill to try and feed some monkeys that were known to loiter around the area. The rains prevented us from seeing any monkeys but the arriving darkness made for a great background for a photo op with the Altingsburg Lighthouse.
Dinner time was upon us and the venue for this repast was a quaint seafood restaurant beside the river. There were some convenience stores across the road that we perused after our meal. There were all sorts of dried sea food as well as an assortment of shrimp crackers that we bought to bring home with us.
I shall have to disappoint you again at this time because I did not anticipate the lack of lighting in the river when we went to check out the fireflies (and my camera had no infrared mode)...but let me pain you a picture.
The light from the moon isn't too bright tonight. I was surprised that we also went to the same place where we got the boat to see the eagles. Before beginning this trip, we were advised to apply some mosquito repellent. Soon we were on our way...the big outboard motor at the back of the boat creating a riotous roar in contrast to the lack of light. We navigated the river in the dark, our only light coming from the highway off to the far left of us. The cool wind whipping our faces and the gentle bobbing of the boat created a very relaxing and calming atmosphere. After about 15 minutes the boat started to slow down, the might roar softened into a rhythmic putt-putt. We drifted towards the left bank and soon, our eyes adjusted and we beheld what looked like hundreds of LED christmas lights blinking on and off amidst the mangroves. This went on for a kilometer or so and the sight of a "lightning" bug up close was amazing. Just to prove to us that these were not some form electric trickery, the boatman stopped to reached out to capture and place one of these quirky insects in my hand. It sat there for a few seconds and flew off.
The weather gods were really kind to us that evening, not 5 minutes after we got in the van that took us back into the city the rains started to fall in torrents (so that's where the download term came from...duh).
As we arrived back in Kuala Lumpur, Vinaa decided that before calling it a night, we had to check out the City's more famous landmarks lit up to the nines. Here are some of them...
The Old Railway Station...
Telecom Tower...
and again, The Petronas Twin Towers...
The last day we were there, the kids decided they wanted to check out some avian creatures over at the Bird Park. This is considered the worlds biggest open park in that most birds are not kept in cages but instead are allowed to roam and fly under a giant mesh canopy. Here are a few of them...
Lastly, we were fortunate to be in KL while they were celebrating the Deepavali or Diwali Festival. Known as the Festival Of Lights, this five day Hindu festival is one of their most important occasions of the year. It is common to see beautiful works of art made from colored uncooked rice around various malls and shopping centres.
The flight home offered a glad respite from the past days activities. It gave me a chance to observe the terrain in the jungles of Malaysia and as is usual for me I was able to snap a final photo of a snaking river cutting through dense vegetation.
I consider this trip to Kuala Lumpur unfinished business as there is still so much to see and experience. I look forward to a return trip one day soon to sample more of the sights, tastes and sounds of this bustling, modern, and energized city!
The next day we started our explorations mid afternoon and this day's outing would take us into the night. I really looked forward to our first destination, The Royal Selangor factory.
Growing up, I remember always looking into the store windows of Royal Selangor shops in Hong Kong. I was enamoured of the name and the material they used to manufacture their products. Pewter!
Traditionally composed mainly if tin, the manufacture of pewter grew because of the accessibility of this material from the mines of Kuala Lumpur. KL originated from these mines that soon grew into a frontier town. The name Kuala Lumpur actually may come from the words Sungai Lumpur, which means "muddy river and Sungai Klang, Klang River.
Pewters most interesting property is not it's light weight or its ease in polishing, it is the way it can maintain the temperature of drinks longer than other metals.
This photo below shows how coins were made. This "money tree" was actually used a currency in the past. You can see the contract between the polished and unpolished metal.
This is a giant replica of a cast that is used to fabricate the "coin tree" you see above.
This is the factory where craftsmen create the beautiful products that get sold in the factory store and elsewhere around the world.
In fact, Royal Selangor puts a lot of premium on the abilities of its workers that once someone has reached the 5 year employment milestone, am imprint of his hand is put up in the showroom walls as a badge of honour.
Should you feel a touch of stress coming on and maybe find an excuse to bang something hard, maybe the "School of Hard Knocks" is worth a visit. Here they teach you how to create a bowl using a wooden block and mallet.
Next on the agenda was an out of town trip to the seaside town of Kuala Selangor (no relation to Royal Selangor) with a stop over to see the Batu Caves.
You know you have arrived at the historical Batu Caves when you see the giant golden statue of Murugan.
There are also a number of beautiful Hindu deities carved on the rooftops of shrines that are found at the ground level of the complex. Some depict the other incarnations that Murugan is associated with like the multi headed figure sitting atop a peacock.
Having some "seniors" with us, we decided not to venture up the steps to test their cardiac stamina. The falling rains eventually forced us to ditch any last minute mind-changing and we proceeded to our next destination, the fireflies of Kuala Selangor.
The highways were quite impressive. Thick rain forests lined both sides of the concrete strips and traffic moved briskly. The rains were still falling but Vinaa our driver cum guide reassured us that it may not be raining where we were headed.
It was such a quick trip and there was too much daylight to catch the fireflies. We had heard of this place nearby where you can see eagles being fed that it intrigued our group enough to check it out.
You need to get on a river boat that will take you a few kilometers out to where the river empties into the sea. The muddy river was wide and had lush jungle on both sides. The boat driver stopped in the middle and emptied a bucket full of raw chicken meat. Well, you can see that happened next...
It was fascinating watching the eagles fly in from their nests atop the trees in the forest and soar around before gliding down to grab a chunk of meat to take back home. There were maybe up to 60 or 70 of them flittering and flapping their wings.
This was going to be a busy day...we next went up a Melawati Hill to try and feed some monkeys that were known to loiter around the area. The rains prevented us from seeing any monkeys but the arriving darkness made for a great background for a photo op with the Altingsburg Lighthouse.
Dinner time was upon us and the venue for this repast was a quaint seafood restaurant beside the river. There were some convenience stores across the road that we perused after our meal. There were all sorts of dried sea food as well as an assortment of shrimp crackers that we bought to bring home with us.
I shall have to disappoint you again at this time because I did not anticipate the lack of lighting in the river when we went to check out the fireflies (and my camera had no infrared mode)...but let me pain you a picture.
The light from the moon isn't too bright tonight. I was surprised that we also went to the same place where we got the boat to see the eagles. Before beginning this trip, we were advised to apply some mosquito repellent. Soon we were on our way...the big outboard motor at the back of the boat creating a riotous roar in contrast to the lack of light. We navigated the river in the dark, our only light coming from the highway off to the far left of us. The cool wind whipping our faces and the gentle bobbing of the boat created a very relaxing and calming atmosphere. After about 15 minutes the boat started to slow down, the might roar softened into a rhythmic putt-putt. We drifted towards the left bank and soon, our eyes adjusted and we beheld what looked like hundreds of LED christmas lights blinking on and off amidst the mangroves. This went on for a kilometer or so and the sight of a "lightning" bug up close was amazing. Just to prove to us that these were not some form electric trickery, the boatman stopped to reached out to capture and place one of these quirky insects in my hand. It sat there for a few seconds and flew off.
The weather gods were really kind to us that evening, not 5 minutes after we got in the van that took us back into the city the rains started to fall in torrents (so that's where the download term came from...duh).
As we arrived back in Kuala Lumpur, Vinaa decided that before calling it a night, we had to check out the City's more famous landmarks lit up to the nines. Here are some of them...
The Old Railway Station...
Telecom Tower...
and again, The Petronas Twin Towers...
The last day we were there, the kids decided they wanted to check out some avian creatures over at the Bird Park. This is considered the worlds biggest open park in that most birds are not kept in cages but instead are allowed to roam and fly under a giant mesh canopy. Here are a few of them...
Lastly, we were fortunate to be in KL while they were celebrating the Deepavali or Diwali Festival. Known as the Festival Of Lights, this five day Hindu festival is one of their most important occasions of the year. It is common to see beautiful works of art made from colored uncooked rice around various malls and shopping centres.
The flight home offered a glad respite from the past days activities. It gave me a chance to observe the terrain in the jungles of Malaysia and as is usual for me I was able to snap a final photo of a snaking river cutting through dense vegetation.
I consider this trip to Kuala Lumpur unfinished business as there is still so much to see and experience. I look forward to a return trip one day soon to sample more of the sights, tastes and sounds of this bustling, modern, and energized city!
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