Kuala Lumpur
Trip Start
May 23, 2011
1
11
Trip End
Jul 20, 2011
Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan, Malaysia
Friday, June 10, 2011
On June 10th we headed to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for our last stop before Manila. We really only chose to go here because it is a hub for AirAsia so it is a cheap way to get to Manila. A little plug for AirAsia. It is a really great cheap airline and much better and efficient than the cheap airlines in Europe like Ryan Air, Easy Jet etc. We think maybe this is because there is more competition for the cheap airlines in Asia and therefore they provide better services. It is a good thing that we liked AirAsia because we flew many flights with them.
Kuala Lumpur was my least favorite city so I will keep my description a little more brief. Our first day was taken up quite a bit by travel. We checked out China Town, which unfortunately was a place to buy fake goods and did not really have a lot of food like we had hoped. We also visited the central market which sold everything including silk goods. The market was fun but it was definitely not as exciting as Bangkok. We also visited the national museum and learned a lot about the history of Malay. We would later find that I was very similar to the Philippines in that it was conquered numerous times. Malay was also a very big trade port. That night we went to the mall to get dinner and tried some sushi. Unfortunately the sushi did not taste anything like home since they do not have avocado here and they covered it with mayonnaise!
On June 11th we set out to tour the city. Unfortunately we chose to walk because everything seemed pretty close to our hostel which was pretty centrally located. This was unfortunate because it was really hard to find our way around and the roads were not very well situated for pedestrians. It was frustrating because we would be walking on a road and all of the sudden it would turn into a highway!
We went over to the National Mosque and Islamic Museum. At the national mosque they gave Brandon and I full robes to wear. I was excited because this would be the first Mosque I had ever visited. Unfortunately we wandered the wrong way and ended up in a service of which they angrily shooed us away. It is hard to understand because my religion accepts everyone but I tried to keep an open mind. However, it only got worse from there. There was a lady (possible some sort of guide) sitting with a group of people and also a stand with propaganda pamphlets. Brandon and I read some of the pamphlets and listened to the lady for a while. It made me so angry! Although Muslims believe in both the Old and New Testaments this Mosque was very adamant in proving how Christians are wrong. They kept explaining that Jesus was not the Son of God and all of the people who think so are wrong and will be punished.
It just seemed so defensive. I completely respect the fact that everyone has different beliefs but I don't agree that speaking badly of other religions is the reason to do so. I was mostly disappointed because I know that this is not representative of all Islam by any means but it is sad that it is what is being presented to visitors. Fortunately, the Islamic museum was very interesting and we saw some old Korans and drawings of early astronomy. We also visited the planetarium.
Later, we headed over to see the twin towers. It is the city’s famous structure and as the nap suggests it consists of two large towers that are joined by the bridge. Unfortunately we could not get tickets to walk across the bridge at night and see the city as we had hoped but we did get some food inside and some good pictures. That night we went over to the sky tower instead to go to the top. At the top we got some great views of the city! KL really is a city of lights and it was fun to see all the lights lit up.
The next day we would head to Manila. I was sad that Brandon and my trip would be over but we were both very excited to get to Manila and start learning about the legal system and our jobs and getting to know the others. WE are both so thankful that we got to go on our 18 day trip through Southeast Asia and want to thank everyone for their support!
Comments
HI Jessica this is from Mamer- I hope you get this. I have really enjoyed your travelblog- love, Mamer