KL
It's really nice to be back home from Kuala Lumpur, and was especially good to hold our Munchkin this morning after a few days away. While I didn't have much time for sightseeing, here are some limited observations based on what I did see:
--I've always heard KL is one of those places that isn't bad, but also isn't worth going out of your way to see, and that pretty much sums it up. It sort of struck me as feeling somewhere between Singapore and Bangkok, but without the character of either (and Singapore doesn't have much character as far as I'm concerned).
--One thing that makes Malaysia interesting is the cultural (and culinary) mix of the three major ethnic groups: Malays, Chinese and Indians.
--Lots of good (and cheap) food, although I think I ate something that threw my digestive system seriously out of whack. That meant that while I luckily ate lots of good Malaysian noodles, I never felt well enough for Indian food, which was one of my primary objectives.
--I'm kind of getting into Dictator Princess territory here, but essentially all of the Malays are Muslim (which makes for really interesting relations among the various ethnic/religious groups), with the women wearing quite distinctive headscarves (I was tempted to try to take some pictures, but wasn't sure if that was religiously/culturally legit, so played it safe). Interestingly, a colleague at my meeting said that when he started coming to Malaysia 10 years ago, it was very rare to see headscarves. Now, it's rare not to. Also interestingly, I saw a number of what appeared to be teenage girls in headscarves walking hand-in-hand or arm-in-arm with guys walking around the mall. I guess I thought that kind of thing was verboten, although it could very well be that they were older than I thought and were actually married, or maybe things are a bit more relaxed there (I don't remember seeing teenage boys and girls hanging out together in Cairo, for example). Or maybe I don't have a clue what I'm talking about, which is also a fairly viable option. Anyway, here is the famous Masjid Jamek (I was careful to heed the sign and not actually enter the interior):
--On a related note, KL seemed to be really popular with folks from the Middle East this time of year. This seemed odd at first, but given that Malaysia is Muslim and that what felt to me like stifling heat and humidity is probably child's play compared to the heat in the Middle East this time of year. It was really distinctive to see the contrast between the colorfully dressed Malays and the visiting women wearing all-black-head-to-toe-with-only-eyes-showing. And I have to say, while I've never really understood the idea of being covered head-to-toe (and then again, they probably didn't really understand why Western teenagers were wearing skimpy little miniskirts), what struck me this time was seeing women at breakfast trying to eat while wearing the full covering. I suppose you get used to it, but it looked like a real headache (I would personally be covered in food if I tried it).
--This was the view of the Petronas Towers (formerly the tallest building in the world) from my hotel room. It was an impressive building, I suppose, but frankly didn't do much for me:
--It took longer to drive into KL from the airport (an hour with no traffic) than it did to fly from Singapore to KL (45 minutes). That's just wrong.
--I had been warned that this time of year KL tends to be shrouded in smoke from fires in nearby Sumatra, and it was true. Then one day the wind shifted and I was pleasantly surprised to find there were actually mountains in the distance (these are before-and-after shots from my hotel room):
--I forgot how much jet lag sucks.
--It's really good to be home.
--I've always heard KL is one of those places that isn't bad, but also isn't worth going out of your way to see, and that pretty much sums it up. It sort of struck me as feeling somewhere between Singapore and Bangkok, but without the character of either (and Singapore doesn't have much character as far as I'm concerned).
--One thing that makes Malaysia interesting is the cultural (and culinary) mix of the three major ethnic groups: Malays, Chinese and Indians.
--Lots of good (and cheap) food, although I think I ate something that threw my digestive system seriously out of whack. That meant that while I luckily ate lots of good Malaysian noodles, I never felt well enough for Indian food, which was one of my primary objectives.
--I'm kind of getting into Dictator Princess territory here, but essentially all of the Malays are Muslim (which makes for really interesting relations among the various ethnic/religious groups), with the women wearing quite distinctive headscarves (I was tempted to try to take some pictures, but wasn't sure if that was religiously/culturally legit, so played it safe). Interestingly, a colleague at my meeting said that when he started coming to Malaysia 10 years ago, it was very rare to see headscarves. Now, it's rare not to. Also interestingly, I saw a number of what appeared to be teenage girls in headscarves walking hand-in-hand or arm-in-arm with guys walking around the mall. I guess I thought that kind of thing was verboten, although it could very well be that they were older than I thought and were actually married, or maybe things are a bit more relaxed there (I don't remember seeing teenage boys and girls hanging out together in Cairo, for example). Or maybe I don't have a clue what I'm talking about, which is also a fairly viable option. Anyway, here is the famous Masjid Jamek (I was careful to heed the sign and not actually enter the interior):
--On a related note, KL seemed to be really popular with folks from the Middle East this time of year. This seemed odd at first, but given that Malaysia is Muslim and that what felt to me like stifling heat and humidity is probably child's play compared to the heat in the Middle East this time of year. It was really distinctive to see the contrast between the colorfully dressed Malays and the visiting women wearing all-black-head-to-toe-with-only-eyes-showing. And I have to say, while I've never really understood the idea of being covered head-to-toe (and then again, they probably didn't really understand why Western teenagers were wearing skimpy little miniskirts), what struck me this time was seeing women at breakfast trying to eat while wearing the full covering. I suppose you get used to it, but it looked like a real headache (I would personally be covered in food if I tried it).
--This was the view of the Petronas Towers (formerly the tallest building in the world) from my hotel room. It was an impressive building, I suppose, but frankly didn't do much for me:
--It took longer to drive into KL from the airport (an hour with no traffic) than it did to fly from Singapore to KL (45 minutes). That's just wrong.
--I had been warned that this time of year KL tends to be shrouded in smoke from fires in nearby Sumatra, and it was true. Then one day the wind shifted and I was pleasantly surprised to find there were actually mountains in the distance (these are before-and-after shots from my hotel room):
--I forgot how much jet lag sucks.
--It's really good to be home.
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