Day 174 - Shining City

We arrived at five o'clock this morning in Kuala Lumpur. We left India at 10:30 last night, but because of the time difference, and because the in-flight movie was good (Neil Gaiman's Stardust), we got no sleep. So the first thing we did was crash into bed and sleep until eleven thirty. We woke up and hit the ground running - we only have this afternoon and tomorrow before winging our way to the Philippines.

Our first order of business was lunch. Malaysia, and KL (Kuala Lumpur) in particular, is a hub of intersecting cultures - Malay, Thai, Filipino, and Chinese. Furthermore, it is surrounded by fertile waters. As a result, the food is largely seafood-based, and very well prepared. I read in a magazine that top chefs from the US and Europe were going to Malaysia to sample the street food for inspiration. Naturally we felt we should follow suit. Luckily our guest house is located in street food central - two stalls diagonally across the street, more (several streetfulls) just around the corner. We chose one on our street, and dined on veg biryani (rice dish), fried anchovies, fish steak, grilled, spiced squid, quail eggs, and more. The total bill for our two giant, delicious lunches was less than $4 US.

We decided to walk from lunch to the Petronas Twin Towers, the tallest twin towers in the world. Along the way we were struck by how clean and modern the city is. We paused under the monorail to wait for the perfect shot. Actually, we initially stopped here because it was the first glimpse of the twin towers - the monorail just happened to be a bonus.




A short walk farther on took us to the towers themselves where we couldn't resist taking some tourist photos of us "holding up" the towers.

The area around the towers is much like Seattle Center - green space surrounded by shops, museums, and conference centers. As it started to rain, we ducked into a shopping center. I am generally anti-mall, but it was sort of nice being in a brightly lit, effortless space for a while.

When the rain slowed, we made a dash for Aquaria KL, billed as the largest aquarium in the world. It was a little tricky to find, tucked away in the lower levels of the KL Conference Center, but once found, it was terrific. Room followed room with tanks and cages full of fish, amphibians, reptiles, even some rainforest animals. Every habitat was clean and well-maintained, each had a sign with information, and the animals all looked very healthy. One of our particular favourites were the river terrapins. They seemed to be smiling with round rosy cheeks. Sadly, they are endangered because people believe that drinking their blood increases 'stamina'.

The actual 'Aquaria' exhibit is a glass tunnel that winds under and through a model of a coral reef ecosystem. One side of the tunnel floor is a moving walkway that allows you to drift through the exhibit. The other side is conventional floor for stopping to take photos, or if you wish to proceed at one's own pace. Sharks, rays, and fish glide around and overhead, while crustaceans, moray eels, and sleeping parrotfish hide in the corals. It is, I think, as close as possible as one can get to scuba diving without getting wet.

After the aquarium, we ate (and thoroughly enjoyed) a sushi dinner. We felt a little guilty about it.

It was still drizzling after dinner, but we had seen photos of the KL towers lit up at night, and wanted to look at them ourselves. Floodlit in the misty clouds, they looked like something straight out of s a sci-fi movie.

Had we come straight here from the States, or directly from Europe, I think we would have been impressed with the city, but not as awed and delighted as we are after spending three months in India and Nepal. Every time we pass a sign indicating how to get to an attraction, or an information desk with actual people behind the counter, we elbow each other, and say "Look, look free information!" After my first trip to a public toilet I came out in raptures. "The toilet flushed, there was toilet paper...and the paper towel holder had paper towels in it!" I don't know if we can handle all this luxury.