The Trouble With Kuala Lumpur, or Trying to Find Something Interesting There

Kuala Lumpur is quite boring. I remembered it differently from the last time I was here. Perhaps it was because I was so impressed with Cambodia that I transferred that impression to Kuala Lumpur as well. Maybe it was because I only had a few hours in the city at that time and so I got to see the towers and that was about it. In any case, this time around it was difficult to find much of real interest in the city.

I started out by going to Batu Caves. The name of the place sounded intriguing. It was also just outside the central area of Kuala Lumpur and was at the end of one of the LRT lines. So I thought I would head there, thinking that could take a couple of hours of my time. Off I went, with the fare only costing 1 Ringgit.

The caves are in a limestone formation that just rises out of the landscape. Much of the surrounding area is flat, and then this small limestone 'mountain' appears. As soon as I saw it, I knew I had reached the destination. I got out and headed into the area. There was no entrance fee to the caves themselves. There was, however, a Hindu place of worship at the base. It did have an entrance fee. I didn't bother entering. The main attraction of the temple seemed to be the hordes of monkeys around the area. They weren't particularly aggressive, which I found a bit surprising as people were doing what people always seem to do when there are cute little animals about; they were feeding them chips and fruit and all sorts of processed crap that monkeys are not really supposed to be eating. (And I suppose if one really wants to get technical, we oughtn't to be eating so much of that stuff ourselves.) In other areas where the local animals get fed, they seem to get quite aggressive, but that didn't seem to be the case here.

Then I faced the mountain with the cave. Outside there was a big statue, apparently the biggest of whatever god was depicted in the world.

Then it was the daunting stairway to the cave. I didn't count the steps on the way up, but I did on the way down. There were 255. Then at the top there 43 that went down a little bit.

And then a final set of 66 steps to the temple area at the top. In a tropical climate, I'm not sure the devout do it, going up and down those steps to make their observances. I was bushed after the one time.

But then, the view out over the city is quite nice from the top of the first set of steps.

On the whole, though, the cave left me underwhelmed. It seemed a bit tacky. So I headed back down to try again to find something of interest. I got back on the train and headed to a stop that was one stop closer than my original starting point. The fare? 2 Ringgit. Hmmm. One stop shorter, and double the price. I couldn't quite figure that one out.

The reason I got out at that station is that it was the former Kuala Lumpur train station, from the colonial times. Its architecture was quite impressive. It was also at the entrance to the central government building area and celebration area for Malaysian independence.

Across the street from the station was the National Mosque. It was visiting time and I would have liked to go in and look around, but in my shorts, I wasn't appropriately dressed. So I had to make do with some photos from outside. It's quite a nice structure. But because I was unable to enter, it didn't really count as something interesting about Kuala Lumpur. I forged ahead.

Beyond the mosque is a huge park area, at the end of which is the national parliament and a monument to Malaysian independence as well as all those who gave their lives fighting in the various wars and other conflicts of the last century. Along the way though was the former residence of the second prime minister of the country. I would have thought the first prime minister would have been viewed as more important, given that he was the one who declared independence, but the second one gets all the attention and has all sorts of stuff named after him. Go figure. However, as it was a Monday and Monday is something of a universal day for museums and museum-like structures to be closed, it was closed. Insufficiently dressed and the wrong day. I was on a roll.

So I continued along and reached the Independence Monument. It is quite elaborate. I quite liked it.

Alongside the monument is a sculpture garden representing artists from the Association of South-East Asian Nations, or ASEAN. I found this one sculpture to be a bit strange. The description said that it was to convey how stainless steel, while functional, could also be turned into something of beauty. I wondered where the beauty was.

By this time, I was getting tired and so I didn't bother trying to find the parliament buildings. Actually, truth be told, I had forgotten about them being nearby. But I was tired and getting hungry. The previous day, I had seen an A&W in town. This was likely going to be my last chance to have A&W root beer in a frosty mug (something which I have found a lot of in Indonesia and Malaysia, which is weird), so I figured I would go and have some lunch there. When I got there, they had a new sort of menu, just starting that day. It was August 1^st, the beginning of the Muslim holiday month of Ramadan. The owner of the restaurant had worked a new menu meal in honour of the holiday. There was fried chicken, rice, curry, some kind of vegetable, some soup, root beer jello, and of course, root beer as well. It sounded good, so I ordered it. And I was the first one to do so. So the owner gave me two mugs of root beer to celebrate my being the first one to order the set. Bonus!!!! And it was delicious. I really enjoyed the meal. While I was eating the proprietor came out to find out how I liked the meal. And we got to talking. I was curious about Ramadan. I knew that Ramadan is a time of fasting for Muslims. And I know it's month long 'holiday.' I was curious if they fast for the entire month or if they get to eat at all. (And I am not a complete idiot. I knew that a month of not eating would have dire consequences, but I just didn't know how they managed it.) The woman explained that for 29 days, Muslims fast from dawn until dusk. The fast includes water, so for the entire day they cannot even drink any water. Nothing. In a tropical climate, I think that must be especially difficult. I don't know that I would be able to do it. I would make a lousy Muslim, I think. She told me that as a Muslim, you get used to it. It's what you do. I suppose so, but still...

And there, in the end, I found something interesting about Kuala Lumpur. Even though it had nothing in particular to do with Kuala Lumpur itself. And it was in a restaurant that comes from North America. But I guess I have to take it. Nothing else about the city seemed to be that interesting.