Kuala Lumpur….Or KL to those in the know

 We woke up this morning in another port. This will be the reoccurring event for the next four days. Our journey through the straights of Malaca between the Java Sea and the Andaman Sea will include Kuala Lumpur, Langkawi,Georgetown,and Phuket. Each morning we will awake ready to tackle the extreme heat and high humidity. Nothing drags you down more than that combination! Anyway, Today’s picture have a tint as the bus had deeply tinted windows. It also has Bordello curtains and carpet on the rood in a brilliant red and blue pattern ….Im wondering about the decor for bus companies in Malaysia….Every bus looks like a party bus for a college frat house! Anyway,here goes with our day. The architecture here is similar to Singapore in that there’s lot of high rises and although there doesn’t seem to be quite the feng shui feel, the innovation is quite interesting. 

The port was an hour and a half outside of KL and as we got closer to the city this tower, PNB118 became visible. This is the world’s second tallest tower. The first is in Dubi. The immensity of this tower became apparent with each km closer to the city we got. 

Our first stop in KL was the Veteran’s War Memorial Park. 

The coat of arms for Malaysia. Our guide, Miss Ho, explained all the meanings of this to us. It was based on the British coat of arms system ( remember the British were here also. Im just now realizing how far the British empire really extended!!!)

The memorial is inside the circular area. Remember that Malaysia is an Islamic country so most of the symbols are typical of Islamic faith.  Arabic is used in addition to Mayla and English. The onion top is a prominent feature of many buildings.

The usual selfie. Im trying to get better at these.  I really think I need to get one of those stick things…

The bronze sculpture was made in the US using models from the Malaysian embassy there. There are seven figures. The man hiding the flag symbolizes the leader of the country, and the three soldiers symbolize something I can’t remember… the two lying dead are soldiers of the communist resistance that tried to take over the country.  All of this is also wrapped up in the history of the Japanese invasion during WW2.  Again, many Chinese were put to death as in Singapore just for being Chinese. I never realized how much involvement with their neighbors Japan had during the war. I only learned about the involvement with Pearl Harbor, but wow, Japan was really taking advantage of the distractions in Europe to try major empire building. 

The hibiscus is the national flower. Symbolizes prosperity and future.

Along side the war memorial is also a lovely sculpture garden. Each region of Malaysia was invited to send a plant and a sculpture to make this Peace area. 

It was a very quiet place with hardly any visitors..guess everyone is more interested in honoring the sea from war than quietly contemplating Peace…

The front entrance of the Arabic-Asian Museum as we drove by. The Mosaic front was a deep blue.

The British built Railroad Station. It takes up an entire city block and across the street is the business headquarters of the railway owners.

Owners building a strong Moorish influence

Center of the owners building

Our next stop is the National Mosque 

A beautiful fountain near the entrance

The interesting thing about this building is that there is no onion domes. The tall tower is the minaret made to resemble a closed umbrella.

The mosque was very interesting. Even from there , the iconic PNB118 building has a presence

Looking from the Mosque steps…

Independence square is where the flag of Freedom from the British Commonwealth was first flown.

This was the Cricket ground when the British still controlled Malaysia. On one side is the long government buildings and on the other side the cricket clubhouse. 

This is an area where many brides have their wedding pictures taken. When we were there a non conventional bride was getting hers done here.

She was beautiful!

 Our last stop of the day was for many of us the most exciting…Petronius Towers.. The twin towers that until recently were the highest in the world.  Owned by the Petronas Gas company, the towers were build by two companies. A Japanese company Hazama and the Korean based Samsung. Each has 110 floors and can sway as much as 12” . The Japanese tower is tilting 10” more than the other tower. They are connected by walkways on the 41 & 42 floor.  And exciting for Albert, in the lobby is the F1 race care driven by Louis Hamilton… it was a great visit!

From a distance through the bus windows

 

Up close and personal

Amazing 

After our Petronas tower visit we headed for our last stop of the day, the national Museum. It was a great stop and had four great galleries that had artifacts from past till present. I didn’t take pictures but simply enjoyed my time wandering around. But.. as we left I took a picture of this lovely woman selling all types and flavors of roasted nuts  ( chickpeas & beans)

When you buy some, she makes a cone out of old newspaper, computer paper or magazines and fills them with your beans.

It was a delightful day, although the heat and humidity here is much higher than in Singapore. Since we are used to desert humidity, we are finding it zaps our energy easily. 

Tomorrow we are in Langkawi, Malaysia and heading to the Mangroves for our day.. expecting more heat, humidity and maybe bugs!