Kuala Lumpur, or KL as the locals call it, acted as my initiator into the hustle and bustle of Asian metropolises, the wonderfully different food and beautiful temples. And not forgetting the sweltering HEAT. Quick dashes into the various shopping malls to revitalise with their aircon became second nature.
The city itself has some stark contrasts, for example the high-tech, skyrise sleekness of the KLCC area (the city centre with the Petronas Towers) with the low, colonial-era houses of Chinatown or the Indian district, where the narrow streets are flooded with the overflowing produce from various shops. Peppered throughout the city are numerous mosques, Hindu temples, and Buddhist shrines, making KL fascinatingly multicultural 🙂 Malayan food reflected these different influences, but I had to scout around for quite some time to find fish free dishes. And always remembering to say “no spicy”, as my stomach needs to adjust first before it can take the Asian chili heat 😀
My KL highlight: attending a Hindu wedding! Yes, you read that right. Day 1 in KL and I had the great fortune of visiting a Hindu temple just at the right time. After being wrapped in a sari type thing by the friendly temple “manager”, we were allowed in and watched the priests bless the couple, present offerings to the various shrines for the different gods around the temple and then ringing bells and lighting incense sticks at the altar. All accompanied by drums and flutes. Awesome!
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