Breezing On A Malayan Float - Kuala Lumpur

Ok... I guess I can't put this off any longer. It's harder to get started because of all the pictures I have to aggregate...

And also there's been a lot that has happened since my last post, including the passing of one of my heroes, the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew, which is why I start my recollections in KL. In the Singapore High Commission, to be precise. We had tried to queue at Parliament House but media reports said waiting time was up to 8 hours. Given the uncertainty of my health, the atmosphere in Singapore was just to overwhelming so we headed to Kuala Lumpur. Significant as well, for this is where Mr Lee, for all his triumphs, fought for one of his most cherished dreams - to see Singapore happily as part of a big Malaysian family - and lost. Hopefully in years to come, the people of the two countries will draw closer nonetheless....

Pre-Travel Notes

1) Ok... Those of you who read Floating on a Malayan Breeze know that it is as much socio-political commentary as it is travel book. My series will be more travel book, I hope. But if and when I feel the urge, I will not shy away from stating my views, so bear with me.

2) At first we thought it would be fine to just pop into a state and say we have been there. But then we figured it would not be fair not accurate. In the most extreme case, one could say one has been to Johor, Malacca, Negri Sembilan and Selangor just by driving to KL without stopping because the North-South Highway runs through these states. At the same time, it would be very misleading to say that one has been to the state of Kedah just because one has been to Langkawi, the same way Genting is in no way representative of the state of Pahang. So we set ourselves a higher standard - we would visit the capital of each state in order to get a more descriptive cross-section of the area.

3) Most of the time, we drive in Malaysia, in which case we are indebted to these little trinklets....

 For the uninitiated, the top picture is that of a Touch & Go as well as a loyalty petrol card. The petrol card comes in handy in that it gives one free miles over the long run but the Touch & Go cards are absolutely essential. For one, you need them to get across the Causeway. Once inland, they save a lot of trouble at highway tolls as well as at car parks at major cities. They are also widely used in the KL public transport network.

Kuala Lumpur - Malaysia's Nexus

A bit hard to start on KL. Difficult also to think of noteworthy pictures because we have always been travelling to the capital of Malaysia. In our younger, more energetic but financially less secure days, it was a nearby getaway, an exciting change of scenery. It was a place similar enough to Singapore but still different - reasonably safe yet at the same time possessed of an indescribable tang of unpredictability and laxer rules. And of course cheaper prices. Those days we would typically cross the Causeway on a Friday night, head to the Larkin bus terminus in JB and then pick out the cheapest late coach (RM25?). We would arrive at Puduraya at between 4 to 5am and then hang around at the roadside coffeshop waiting for daylight to check into our budget hotel. It was only much later when we were told that this was known to some as a rough area (which, had we known earlier may have made us more jittery when we wandered around in the cooler wee morning air in our executive work clothes of the previous day).

Nowadays, Puduraya has lost much of its zest, catering only to buses on the Northern circuit (South-bound buses now operate out of Bandar Tasik Selatan), a Southern satellite town. In any event, KL nowadays is not so much an exciting getaway but more a haven to recharge for many a weekend. Gone are the budget hotels. Nowadays we stay in the Hyatt, not for ostentation, but because of the level of comfort one can get for a price that one would almost never find in Singapore. And yes, nowadays we drive. Tiring, but it gives us the flexibility to go where we want when we want, as we use KL as a base to explore the surrounding environs...

Some views from the oasis...

Truth be told, to many, KL is far too alike Singapore. As we have seen, same high end hotels with killer views, similar historical colonial landmarks in similar settings... Like former courthouses and important buildings in front of big fields...

Similar mega, upmarket malls...(if not even more mega)... This is the atrium of Pavillion...

And who can leave out mention of well-known street food stalls at remote locations in the heartlands....

 This is San Peng Prawn Noodles at err... Jalan San Peng near Jalan Loke Yew....

 

And of course there is the nightlife... Hard to explain though... But a walk around Bukit Bintang at night is not the same as one at Clarke Quay in Singapore... Different kind of energy.....Less... sterilised?

Love their city green belt though... Tasik Perdana is a few minutes drive from the heart of the city...Similiar to a certain Botanic Gardens in Singapore?

And nearby, one can lunch or dine with the birds at the Hornbill Cafe at the Bird Park...

So I guess you could say we love KL for its similarities.... at cheaper prices...

To be sure, this city is in no ways representative of the rest of Malaysia. In fact, KL is just about the only place in Malaysia able to support upmarket accoutrements such as megamalls and five-star hotels. In fact, a recent study has shown that the average income in the Klang Valley is up to 7 times that of the average in Malaysia on the whole, and 10 times that of the average in Kelantan. People are talking about growing inequality in Singapore but I guess we see that in Malaysia as well...