Saturday, May 8, 2010

Kuala Lumpur-Day 2

We got a late start on day two, but we had some breakfast and headed out to the National Mosque.

Here is the lavish subway station:

We arrived a little early for non-muslim tourists to enter and so we busied ourselves checking out the Islamic art museum.

When we arrived at the mosque, we had to cover our clothing and our hair with purple cloth. the woman assigned to help us loved me especially and fussed over the length of my dressing, tying it up for me and offering to take our pictures. We saw smoke billowing across town and she informed us that the Central Market had caught fire. She said so with such a straight tone and face that we weren't sure if she was kidding..


We wandered into the building, definitely not the most beautiful in KL, but it was interesting for me since I have never been inside a mosque.



We came downstairs and while the other girls were removing their gowns, the lovely old woman started fussing with my hair and taking my picture. She went so far as to remove my hair clip and redo it for me, before teaching me to cup my hands properly for a picture.
We wandered over to the Central Market (which was not on fire) for some lunch and souvenirs.

We found a fish spa and were surprised at how unpleasant it was. The fish were large and terrifying and the feeling was in between a tickle and pain.


We went over to the Patronus Towers and watched the lights come on, saw another mosque, and grabbed dinner at a restaurant in the fancy mall attached to the towers. Despite the fact that the women were covered from head to toe, you knew underneath they were dressed in the best luxury brands. You could get the occasional peak or shoes or a watch.

After dinner we stopped and had a cup of tea and dessert with Johnny. He's been missing me since I've been traveling.
We stopped by SkyBar for a quick drink before heading back to the hotel for a quick 3 hour nap before heading to Cambodia.

Kuala Lumpur-Day 1

The plan was to meet up with two friends from school-Sarah and Vannesa in KL. On the line for check in, however, I met another girl from school-Annemarie- who was traveling to KL alone. We joined forces and spent much of our KL trip together.

We arrived late in the evening, and rode into the city by bus, then by train, with a lot of loud Indian music to keep us company.

We had dinner and wandered in a bright, busy neighborhood in KL. Found a nice market, peered in on some fish spas, and then called it a night.