Cultural KL
Kuala Kumpur, 20th and 21st March 2002
On the afternoon of the 20th, the first thing I did, was head back
to KL Sentral to book the train to Hat Yai in Thailand. I'd done a
bit of research on the web, and I found the official Malay Rail site
[www.ktmb.com.my] really helpful and well designed. I really liked
the page with photos of the various carriages on it, Rather than
just describe it, I could clearly see what the 2nd Class berths, the
1st class berths, the seats etc. looked like. The journey was so
cheap, I was tempted to take first class, but instead stuck with 2nd
class. At about 8 pounds to do the 11 hour KL to Hat Yai (Thailand)
journey, it was a bargain! Plus, I prefer the upper berth (the beds
are bunk bed style), which are even cheaper than the lower berths!
One strange thing, is the price for the journey KL to Singapore.
Coming from Singapore, the journey costs S$35. But going the other
way, it costs RM35! This made sense when both currencies were equal,
but now as the Malay Ringgit is only half as strong as the Singapore
dollar, its now half the price to go from KL to Singapore!
Unfortunately, I did it the more expensive way round.
Anyhow, back to KL. On the first afternoon, I took the long walk to
the Sculpture Gardens and the National Monument. The sculpture
garden was, um, interesting, but I was particularly impressed by the
National Monument, which is in remembrance of the Malaysian
soldiers.
 The only problem with KL city, is that the roads are jam-packed. The
LRT and the train make it easy to do certain journeys, but they
don't have extensive coverage, so I ended up doing lots of walking.
KL roads aren't designed for pedestrians. I had to make several
death-defying road crossings! I'm not sure how the 'time-challenged'
(i.e. old) people would cope!
I then walked back to the nearest LRT station and took it to KLCC
[Kuala Lumpur City Centre] (thank God for air-conditioning after the
long walk in the heat!) KLCC has a huge, impressive, modern shopping
complex right next to the massive Petronas Towers. I had a look
around the vast shopping complex. Again, I was excited to find a
Marks & Spencer (I know it's sad!). But when I tried to get into the
Petronas towers, it was too late in the day & they'd closed to
visitors. So I just stood outside, getting neck-ache while gaping up
at the sheer size of the towers.
I visited the amazing Chinese Night Market in the evening, too. It
was fantastic and was packed with all sorts of cheap goods, CDs
(copied), DVDs (copied), sunglasses (fake), labelled designer-wear
(fake) and more! And the stuff is cheaper than Bali! The street is
closed to traffic and the road is absolutely chokka with stalls,
Chinese vendors, tourists and locals!
The next day, I visited KLCC again, but the procedure to get into
the towers looked really complicated, plus you don't get to go very
high up. So instead, I visited the Menara Communication tower. It's
also really tall (plus it's on a 90m hill), it's only beaten in
height by the communication towers in Toronto and Moscow. I paid
RM15 (Malaysians only pay RM8!) to go to the observation deck, which
included a free audio tour. The views of KL are amazing and the tour
is pretty good too, so I highly recommend it to anyone who comes
here. Note that RM15 is less than 3 pounds!
 Recently, with the international media coverage, I've become very
interested in learning more about Islam. So I made a point to visit
the Museum of Islamic Arts (the only one in the world) and the Malay
National Mosque. The Islamic Arts museum has a decent sized
collection of works relating to Islam. Some of it isn't really art,
it's closer to a museum, but still it's a very interesting
collection. The scale models of mosques all around the world were
pretty impressive. As for the National Mosque, well that is VERY
impressive. It is a very ornate and amazingly designed building.
It's very unique and awe-inspiring. After a quick walk around, I
took some photos, then continued on my exploration of KL. Note that
you can only get in if you are properly dressed. If you aren't,
there are robes available for free hire at the front desk.
At only RM1 (about 20p) I thought I might as well visit the National
Planetarium, and, well, it was very...simple. I think it's targeted
towards kids mainly. There are a few 'hyperspace transporters', a
pretend 'black hole' and a 'food replicator'. There is some
interesting information in the small displays, but I'd already
learnt most of it from A-Level Physics.
All of this had pretty much filled up my time in KL. After spending
a couple of hours drooling over the technology in the SONY and BOSE
shops, I hurried back to the hostel to get my bags. I've got a train
to catch tonight to THAILAND!!
So I quickly grabbed my bags and said bye to the guys I got to know
at the hostel. Some of them are a good laugh, it's a pity we're all
going to Thailand at different times. But hey ho. I jumped on the
LRT and took it back to KL Sentral.
I got to the station about an hour early to give me time to get
something to eat. I decided to head to the convenient McDonalds
right in the centre of the station. When I got there, I saw I wasn't
the only backpacker who had this in mind! The place was packed with
lots of travellers including at least a dozen people with huge
rucksacks like mine! Anyhow, after a nice refreshingly cold McFlurry,
I went and changed my remaining Malaysian Ringgit into Thai Baht.
Unfortunately, without thinking, I changed all of it. Which meant I
couldn't buy any food on the 11 hour train journey (it's a Malaysian
company). Luckily, it's a night journey, so I'll be sleeping. Plus,
I've still got a couple of snacks I didn't use on the Singapore to
KL journey.
At about 7:30pm, I headed to the gate to find a huge crowd of people
gathered around waiting. A great mix of people to! Europeans,
Japanese, Malaysians, Thai, Singaporeans and more! Anyhow, a few
minutes later, the guards moved the gates back and everyone flooded
forward and down the escalator. I quickly located carriage V1, where
my berth was, and boarded the train. Onwards to Thailand!
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