Kuala Lumpur
Trip Start
Sep 30, 2011
1
19
63
Trip End
Apr 18, 2012
Where I stayed
Hotel Anggun
Anggun Hotel
Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan, Malaysia
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
From being a modest settlement in it's early days, (Chinese tin miners founded the city in 1857) it is now one of the most progressive metropolises in the world.
Here's some amazing facts about KL -
*It is home to the tallest twin building in the world - the Petronas Towers, made famous perhaps by a film starring Catherine Zeta Jones and Sean Connery, the name of which eludes me.
*KL achieved 'city' status as recently as 1972!
*It is home to 66 shopping malls and some of them are huge!!!
*The name Kuala Lumpur means 'muddy confluence'. The city has grown up around the confluence of two rivers - the Gombak (formerly Lumpur) river and the Klang river
Kuala Lumpur or KL as everyone round here seems to call it, is a very cosmopolitan city with many nationalities from around Asia present. We are staying right in the heart of the city and can see the KL tower from our hotel. There are many restaurants here that overflow onto the streets, many of which are Chinese. We ate on the street last night- we gave the mixed pork entrail porridge a miss, and likewise the cod's head soup, but found some other delicious things.
There are so many different styles of cuisine from around the world here I think everyone, even the pickiest eaters, could find something that they like.
We've done the usual touristy things here like going up the KL tower which was interesting as you got a bird's eye view of the whole of KL. The architecture here is fascinating as it contains ultra modern like the Petronas Towers and Old Moorish. The whole city looks so well cared for too. There are beautiful parks and green areas, trees everywhere, street lighting often made into works of art, and most noticeable people are proud of their city. Not in an arrogant way, but in a way that says they are so pleased that you like their city. The Malay people are some the nicest we have met. So genuine and friendly, nothing is too much trouble.
We visited Chinatown here which is really much the same as Chinatown anywhere. In fact we were a little disappointed in it as it was just filled with trashy or fake stuff. Quite the opposite of the Central Market which was full of Malay crafts. We thought that would be trashy but it wasn't at all, some of the art we saw in there was beautiful. I would have very much liked a painting of many grasshoppers, not a good description I can see, but the painting was delightful. Too difficult to get home though.
There is a very good Thai massage place next door but one to our hotel which is fab. We've had lots of foot massages at the end of a day tramping around, an hour for £10 or £6 if you go before 5pm. (not as good as yours, Suzanne!) It's great and very refreshing -although they do your neck and shoulders too whilst your feet are soaking, and that's nice when it stops!!
We move on to Cameron Highlands tomorrow for 4 nights, still in Malaysia, then on to Australia on Thursday.
