Well, we've been in Kuala Lumpur two days now and still can't make out these crazy drivers. For a start, they all insist on driving on the correct side of the road, and everyone sticks to one lane at a time. Blowing of horns is almost unheard of, and traffic lights are followed likes it's the law (can you imagine that). We just can't get used to walking along the footpath without a motorbike wheel nudging the back of our leg. I tell you, those Malaysians are a strange bunch when it comes to using the road (I'm certain the Vietnamese style of road use will catch on with the rest of the world eventually, it's just a matter of time).
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| KL by night, a spectacular sight (hmm, that actually rhymes) |
KL, as everyone calls it, is a very modern and exciting city, quite similar in many ways to Singapore but, without a harbor or even a river, lacking Singapore's beauty, IMHO. It is quite spread out, with a number of distinct zones. The area we're staying in is very close to the entertainment precinct, which has shops and hotels to rival New York or Paris; very upmarket. There are also lots of restaurants and food markets serving a variety of cuisines, which largely reflect the ethnic and cultural makeup of the country.
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| The Petronas Towers |
Just like in Singapore, there are three major ethnic and religious groups in Malaysia; the Malays, the Chinese and the Indians. However, there do seem to be large numbers of middle eastern people here, with numerous Lebanese, Turkish and Iranian restaurants not far from our hotel (and all yummy). Of course, Malaysia is a multi-confessional country, of which Islam is the major religion (60 percent). It is also quite a tolerant country where you seem quite free to follow which ever god takes your fancy.
Yesterday we took the free city bus and visited Chinatown, Petaling Street markets, a Taoist and Hindu temple (we don't like to show any favoritism when we travel), plus KL's showpiece buildings, the Petronas Towers. At one stage (quite a while ago) they were the tallest buildings in the world but, to be honest, they don't look that tall when compared to the rest of KL's sky scrapers.
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| Taoist temple |
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| Hindu temple |
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| Alison went all weird on this trip and decided to explore hinduism. I left her behind in KL. |
Today we intend visiting the botanic gardens and the museum. It's quite warm here but not overwhelmingly so, which means we are able to walk a fair bit without becoming exhausted. There's only today and tomorrow left before we take our morning flight back home to Melbourne on Wednesday. But, with two days before we do so, there's still plenty to see and do.
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| One of the many markets |
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