It was a free day. We started off by going down to the zoo (buffet breakfast). We saw one family of three sitting next to us, after having gorged and left a ton of food on their table, send their 10 year old daughter to cut a loaf of bread in half and bring both ends to the table. They proceeded to hollow out each half of the loaf, then stuffed them full of meats and pastries. I guess that was their food for the day (or the week?). How bizarre...
We set out on foot towards the market area. We passed this nice looking Christian church - a reminder how harmonious the various religions are here (no right wing Christians, no radical Muslims, no angry Hindus (are there such things?)).
Near Chinatown, we came across a large Hindu temple and decided to explore.
There was a lot going on at the temple - Hindu worshippers, priests doing different tasks and a bunch of tourists. The Hindu temples have as many colours going on as the tacky Chinese temples, but somehow it works.
We watched one of the priests dumping water and milk repeatedly over a statue before coming out to bless the waiting worshippers. There's something very peaceful about watching Hindu and Buddhist ceremonies.
On the edge of the inner temple, two guys struck up instruments and began playing a mesmerizing tune - one using a hand drum, tapping away with fingers covered with some kind of ivory or bone devices, and the other with a horn that droned that familiar Indian tune.
We continued on across the river - what a mess walking can be in KL. Between sidewalks that end abruptly at a fence, incomplete (sometimes derelict looking) construction sites that block entire roads that were on the map, and numerous sharp object and sidewalk potholes, it's no wonder that Mimi told us Malaysians just don't walk very much. If they did walk, they'd see that the city needs a lot of work for pedestrians.
We made it over to Merdeka square which has a number of really nice Islamic style buildings - here's the textile museum...
And the Sultan Abdul Samad Buildign which houses a number of government ministries.
We caught a subway to the KL City Centre stop where we had lunch at the gigantic shopping mall that sits at the bottom of the famous Petronas Towers.
They were running the first annual KL Grande Prix (or as Abby kept calling, the Grand Pricks) so a lot of roads were closed down. Outside the Petronas Towers we could here the roar of the engines as the cars wove their way through the city.
We managed to see the cars on one section - pretty cool.
We ended up at Times Square Bergaya - the newest mega mall in KL that has a full amusement park with looping roller coaster near the upper floors. We grabbed dinner there and finished it off with Teh Tarik,the delicious hand pulled sweat tea that is a staple for locals.
The amount of cool modern and traditional architecture, fantastic restaurants, ultra modern super sized shopping malls, wonderful parkland and attractions and an exciting melting pot of cultures makes Kuala Lumpur one of the cities that should be on a travel bucket list. However, if it wants to edge into the category of "great cities of the world" according to the Tyndall family index, it needs to pay attention to details - fix the walking problem, clean up the derelict construction sites and make the river that runs through the city an attraction, not a polluted eyesore that is ignored as it currently is... And if I'm going to make a wish list, how about making every cab in the city metered, build an express airport train line and provide clean drinking water for all. Thank you!
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