A city that in many ways is similar to a mini Seoul but with one extraordinary difference. A pair of towers quite unlike anything else out there. We've seen some big buildings in our travels and throughout the US, but the Petronas Towers do take some beating. It's not just the height of them, but the structure, construction and finish that is so breath taking. Kuala Lumpur is dominated by the towers, Kuala Lumpur is so very proud of what the towers represent and Kuala Lumpur profits well from their very existence. The towers are owned and run by the petroleum giant Petronas and although the towers double as office blocks for the oil magnate, it also houses high end shops and restaurants with the Malaysian elite strutting their stuff around the granite and marble floors.
KL of course has much more to offer than just a couple of shiny stainless steel clad towers. Our venture commenced with a night in a hostel. We had a private room that was clean and spartan, a shared bathroom that proved "interesting" and complete with a breakfast of toast and a 78RM ($26) price tag one can find little to complain about. However, without second and third nights available we were on the move again in the morning. We'll miss Mickey and Minnie though.
The day started as we've started many of our days when we've arrived in a new city. Walk it. KL is one of those cities that can be walked. We were staying in the heart of China Town and moving in a westerly direction away from the towers and towards the National Mosque and Islamic Museum was a good decision. The National Mosque proved interesting but it did throw some doubts on the tolerance factor of Malaysian Muslims. I remembered during my best friends wedding, in Galway Cathedral, that some visiting muslims were permitted entry (Christian religious establishments are open to all, all the time) and remained throughout the ceremony. However, upon our Farangi whiteness reaching the National Mosque, entry was denied. Muslims only apparently. So much for open faith in Malaysia. It's open provided you're Muslim. I can't fault it though, nor did I really care that much. Our taxi driver the night before reminded me that in a modern world to a modern scientist, it's just a question of ignorance vs faith and for me, the jury is out.
Up past the Mosque is the Islamic Museum. This place is fabulous with sections on art, scripture, textiles, Indian and Architecture among others. The building itself is wonderful, a sense of spiritual space, Islamic art and aesthetiic promise throughout. It is very informative, seemingly impartial and historically intruiging. Here's a photo of one of the many ceiling domes that light the interior.
We enjoyed it immensely and can say the collections are well worth a visit. Here's a Blunderbuss from India. Not terribly accurate but who cares at close range.
Perhaps these chaps here would be more interested in it.
Yep, next stop was the "World's Biggest Aviary" and yet again, very impressive. Huge pillars held up enormous nets that permitted many of the avis to fly in the acres of park. Not all the feathery fellows had the luxury of freedom though, seeing eagles and owls in cages is going to be heart breaking. We told ourselves that they were let out at night to keep the mice population down. There were 2000 species within the park. Many we didn't see which is actually a credit to the freedom of the park itself, but the ones we did spy were fabulous. I had a very stimulating interaction with a certain Mr Parrot, a grey one, who would bow his head when I moved my finger toward the cage.....he then bizzarely scratched his head profusely after.
Wandering around the park we also met a few cheeky monkeys,
some chics,
a male peacock strutting his stuff at my plucky little bird,
and apparently someone who looks entirely out of place no matter what kind of zoo he ends up in.
OK, OK, I started with towers, lets leave with another. If you do find yourself in Kuala Lumpur and you do find yourself unable to stand inline for hours queuing for a ticket or two to the Petronas Towers, then head up the Kuala Lumpur Tower, or KL Tower. The view is as good if not better than the Petronas Towers, mainly because you do actually get the best view of the Petronas Towers from there....but in itself, it's pretty darn good. I'll leave you with these final few pics.
The Kuala Lumpur Tower in one of its many colours - I can't tell you how many times I tried to get this shot.
The view from the top of KL as sunset appproaches. There are a few reflections in the glass unfortunately, the result of the Malaysians taking a leaf out of the Koreas book to sell cheesy nik naks at the top of a very cool piece of architecture.
And here's the sun as it heaves its final rays over the KL sky.
And the last one....not in sequence obviously, but the effect of the Petronas Towers is pretty compelling to a shutterbug. I think Rin got this one spot on.
No comments:
Post a Comment