Kuala Lumpur Hotels
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sprawling cultural mix
Entry 37 of 57 | show all | print this entry |
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Disclaimer: the rant in my previous entry was not a criticism of Singapore specifically (after all it's been a trading port/city since it's founding) but the spread of materialism in general. The shops and prices present there are everywhere- in fact any big city has these areas- to the point where you can be in these stores and not know you're in Singapore, Sydney, Kuala Lumpur, L.A., or New York. Kind of sad really.
I made my way by train to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia's capital and largest city for a few days. The city was very large and I spent hours walking around, despite there being three train companies (sharing tracks) AND a monorail. Useful, but there was still a lot of walking between areas. I checked out the major sites- the Petronas towers, the KL Tower, Chinatown, the Central Market. The Central Market and Chinatown were bustling markets adorned in red lanterns in prepartaion for Chinese New Year- the KL Tower is a very tall (5th or 6th tallest) communications tower with excellent views of KL's sprawl, neighborhoods, and unfortunately the layer of smog, at least that day.
The Petronas Towers were at one point the tallest buildings in the world (now fourth) and are very impressive, not only in size (although difficult to compare since the buildings surrounding it are not very tall) but in their design and architecture. I was hoping to go up to the Skybridge, but it was Monday, and it was closed. I then tried to go to the Islamic Arts Centre (closed), the National Planetarium (closed), the Butterfly Park (closed), the National Mosque (closed to tourists), and the Bird Park (finally something that was open!). Tip: don't go sightseeing around KL on a Monday.
The bird park is the largest enclosed free-flight aviary in the world (I think they really like doing things that are the x-est things in the world) and had a great variety of birds from all over southeast Asia and the world. Very colorful and very attractive birds, but even though many were enclosed by the tree level net enclosure, most were in cages, and it always is tough to see birds in cages. But without it would be impossible to marvel and be awed at their beauty and variety.
They seemed very well taken care of anyway. Despite aching feet I spent a few hours but had to take a taxi to the nearest train station ( a 15 minute walk) when I was finished. I had hoped to make it to the Batu Caves (a Hindu shrine) but unfortunately ran out of time, but could see a the rock formations and a giant gold statue from the Tower, which was quite a ways away- evidently the caves are the site of one of the biggest sites for the festival of Thaipusam, a Hindu festival. Interesting rites during this festival, and unfortunately I missed it by a couple of weeks but it would have been interesting. Malaysia is a mix of predominantly three cultures, Malay, Chinese, and Indian, yet the people are predominantly Muslim, and English is very common. The mix makes for a variety of dress, language, and appearance that is very interesting- from full length burka to revealing modern dress. I was initially struck by how everyone seemed more somber but people have been friendly and do smile often.
Malaysia recently sent it's first astronaut into space with the Russian space program, and he stayed a couple of weeks on the ISS. There were posters everywhere and much enthusiasm for the occasion, which came about as part of Malaysia's purshase of some SU-30 MKK's (a new version of the Su-27 fighter). It was neat to see so much excitement (at least on the posters) and an interesting benefit of what was essentially an arms deal.
I've been meaning to mention books I've recently read on this blog as an aside (feel free to ignore)- I just finished 'Too Soon Old, Too Late Wise' by an author who lost two sons in 13 months. Great book, full of life lessons learned the hard way, not very comforting but very truthful and forthright. Also 'The Medici Effect' on how combining fields of expertise can produce exciting ideas for business, products, inventions, etc. Interesting reading. It took a while to find some good prospects at the book store, so any suggestions for follow-ups are appreciated. It was also painful to see the prices for new books, and that's true anywhere- if you're as tired as I am of paying that much on a risky purchase, try your local library, it's a big money saver. I'm all for browsing in Barnes and Noble for hours, and maybe I'm just getting even cheaper than I was before, but I could spend a lot of money on books if I let myself.
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