Tag Archives: Kuala Lumpur

Malaysian Countryside

Malaysian Countryside

Malaysian Countryside

This is the Malaysian countryside as I traveled in a bus from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore. What I noticed was that the countryside, from the window of a bus, looks a whole lot like the countryside in many other parts of the world. However, when the bus moved on down the road to a more cultivated space of land, the scenery in the picture changed. Here, palm trees were the primary landscape. These palm trees had economic advantages over the wild jungle canopy.

KL Chinese Market

KL Chinese Market

KL Chinese Market

It’s the Chinese Market in Kuala Lumpur. It’s where I go to visit the man who sells 20 or 30 types of fresh fruit, each in a bag and each costing 30 cents. Usually I get one bag or even two and perhaps, on a bad day, three. There are other things for sale here. You can get a Rolex watch, a Ralph Lauren Polo shirt, a Gucci handbag or some really upscale tennis shoes. None of them are, of course, real but, all of them are at some really fantastic prices. How long will any of these products hang together? I don’t know, I just go there for the fresh fruit, the Kebabs and to watch the tourists and the locals mix-it-up.

Malaysian Lunch

Malaysian Lunch

Malaysian Lunch

This was my lunch at the Kuala Lumpur Central Market Food Court. I ate there reguarly. There were ten or so restaurants that offered all kinds of wonderful non-western dishes. No pizza, fried chicken or burgers. No beer. Just good old noodles and veggies and strange looking concoctions that smelled funny and tasted yummy, yummy, yummy. This was white rice and chicken curry, sans the chicken. It cost me 1 ringot, about 30 cents. Was it good? It was yummy, yummy, yummy. I almost wanted to give the guy 2 ringots for it, it was so good.

Bus Madness

Bus Madness

Bus Madness

This is what I call Bus Madness. This is the Puduraya Bus Terminal in Kuala Lumpur. There are slots downstairs for 50-60 buses to load/unload passengers. Upstairs, where this picture is shot , there are somewhere in the neighborhood of 60-80 bus companies. Each one has a ticket window with one or more people to sell tickets. The larger companies have ticket touts outside to steer the masses to the windows with ridiculously pretentious sales claims. The place is a seething sea of raw humanity. This picture is only one of the halls in the building. There must be thousands of people in the station during the day. I’m not claustrophobic, but when I find myself in a place where one cry of "fire" or a single gunshot can produce a stampede that could trample dozens of people, some never surviving, I get a little antsy…

Stairs – Batu Caves

Stairs - Batu Caves

Stairs – Batu Caves

These are the 272 stairs that must be climbed to get into the caves. I climbed them slowly. No sense in having any Gods think that "I’m in a hurry to get to Nirvana or Heaven or anywhere else where cheeseburgers and beer aren’t on the menu. In truth, I stopped periodically to snap pictures of all the monkeys on the steps and the fantastic views of the skyline of Kuala Lumpur, a mere 7 miles on the horizon. Okay, maybe I stopped once or twice to let a few ittle old ladies pass me.

KL From KL Tower

KL From KL Tower

KL From KL Tower

This is a picture of Kuala Lumpur taken from the dining area of the KL Tower. I took a lot of pictures from up in the tower. I don’t know anyone who wants to see them all. Including me. One thing to get from this picture is that there is a significant skyline in KL. The flip side to that is the fact that across the street from one of the high-rises may be a street or two of people living in corrugated tin shanties with no running water or electricity. Plus, for all the high-rises on the horizon it becomes painfully obvious at the street level that there is a lot of poverty in the city. I don’t know who works in all those high-rises, but they aren’t hanging out on the street corners after work.

KL – World’s Tallest Flagpole

KL - World's Tallest Flagpole

KL – World’s Tallest Flagpole

Somewhere, I read that it’s the world’s tallest flagpole at 100 meters. It’s located at Merdeka Square, the traditional Heart of Kuala Lumpur. The field where it flies is where the British used to play polo in the colonial era. Today, it’s a tourist sight and the flag flying is one that symbolizes the struggle for Malaysian independence.

KL Transient

KL Transient

KL Transient

So you didn’t know that Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia has transients? Well, it does. But, not a lot, actually. Or, if it does, they aren’t sleeping in my neighborhood. Or, it hey are in my neighborhood, they hide well. I’ve seen transients all over Asia, just like in the states. But, I don’t think they are condoned quite as readily as they are in America. In America, there appears to be an actual culture of homeless people. I don’t think that’s the case in Asia.

7 Dollar Whopper

7 Dollar Whopper

7 Dollar Whopper

This is the $7 Whopper Combo I allowed myself the luxury of having while I waited on my plane to Kuala Lumpur. I had done really well with my budget and my effort to not come to Asia to eat burgers, fries, pizza, KFC, Italian and a lot of junk food. I felt I deserved a $7 Whopper Combo. My only regret is that I didn’t supersize and make a pig out of myself.

Air Asia – Bangkok

Air Asia - Bangkok

Air Asia – Bangkok

This was the plane that took me from Bangkok to Kuala Lumpur. It was nice enough. When Air Asia says no frills, they mean no frills. I think they have pay toilets. I was afraid to find out, wondering if there was a "cruising fee" if I got up and walked around. Do I like Air Asia? You bet I do. I’d rank them higher than any airline in America just because the service staff is respectful. Not to mention the cost per mile to travel on their airlines. I’ll gladly pay a dollar for a coke and $5 for a meal to save $100 on an airline ticket.