Trip to Malaysia

Fruit Vendor in Malaysia

The trip to Malaysia posts were delayed as I struggled for the name of the hotel in KL. It was Citrus.
We reached the hotel at about 6 PM and Mr. Homi, our Indian guide from Cox and Kings was waiting for us. He had already taken the room keys and started giving instructions immediately. "At 7 PM I want all of you in the lobby as we will be going for dinner. The way he barked his orders I was reminded of the short time I spent at the hostel in St. Michael's, Patna. It sounded as "Be on time or no dinner".
We were ready at 7 PM and down in the lobby. The hotel was located in a side lane and the big bus could not get in so all of us had to walk down to the main road. Mr. Tanwar, did not give up his late coming habit and we had to wait for him. "from tomorrow no late coming and please leave the front seat vacant for me. Today I am making a general announcement but from tomorrow I may be direct", Homi threatened Mr. Jain, who had occupied the seat in the front of the bus.
The restaurant was good. The food was South Indian and Chaach was unlimited. It was good too. The buffet spread was OK and the vegetarian stuff was acceptable to our fellow tourists (my wife included).
So just after a drive through the city we were back at the hotel.
There was no drinking water bottles in the room and when we asked we were told you can use the tap water in the bathrooms. Not many of us relied on the assurance that the water from the toilet was good for drinking and therefore all of us were making a trip to the local seven eleven store for drinking water.
My wife wanted detergent soap to wash the undies but could not get it. Luckily we were carrying spare sets for the entire tour.
What we had forgotten was tea bags, milk powder and sugar. It was an issue as the supply in the hotel room was just enough for a single cup of tea each and we could have it either in the evening or in the morning.

Anyway, we were dead tired and had a good night sleep. Homi had told us that he would wake us up at 7AM for breakfast at 8AM and departure for the tour at 9AM. We set our alarm for 6AM knowing well that we would need more than one hour to be ready for breakfast.
As expected we were late and started breakfast only at 8.20AM. The hall was crowded as we had other groups from C&K and also SOTC staying in the same hotel.
The breakfast had variety. In fact we even had rice and chicken curry in the breakfast buffet. Fruits are tasty and juice, bread, eggs suffice for us.

The 9AM trip starts a little behind schedule but the Headmaster is happy. He says he had a cushion of 15 minutes. So no punishment for anyone. But Mr. Jain (he belongs to Lucknow but an original resident of Viraatnagar, Rajasthan) did not listen to what Homi had said the other day and was seated on the front seat again.
Minor problem that got sorted the next day.

We started our day tour with a visit to Petronas. This is actually the highlight of the tour. We make a stop for a photo shoot and we choose a professional to take a family pic. Cost us 15 RM but is one of the good family pitures we have. So it is worth it. I notice that our group does not want to spend anything extra. No one else opted for the professional photo shoot. After everybody had taken pictures, the group headed back into the bus and then we entered the Petronas Tower. The ground floor and basement and the mezzanine are reserved for shops of the best brands in the world. So you have the Gucci's, Gap, Versace and other brands that have the ability of creating a hole in your pocket. Anyway, such stores are everywhere now and not much of an attraction for us. Went around marveling at the architecture.
The towers were built by two sets of engineers. Japanese and Koreans and they raced each other to complete the project in time. The outer structure and the star shaped design is said to be Islamic. (Malaysia is Islamic- The girls near the tiniest of mini pants on the streets as well especially at Genting Highlands). It is unique in the sense that a country like Malaysia could even think of such a structure. After all it is just a 50 years old country. But the beauty of it is lost as it is in the heart of the city surrounded by only by concrete structures takes the charm away from it. The structure therefore remains commercial in mind rather than becoming a marvel like the Leaning Tower of Pisa, Qutub Minar, Taj Mahal or the Eiffel Tower where the ambiance adds to the allure.

After the visit to the Petronas we made a trip to the kings palace. The king is a decorative position and shared in turns by the families who had ruled the various smaller states than combined to become Malaysia (Singapore had joined Malaysia but then opted out after being a part of the country for two years in the sixties. Nobody talks of this in Malaysia as the recreation of Singapore happened mainly because of the ethnic tensions created by the Malays)

However, they have done well for themselves even after the tensions in the sixties and the 90's. Should add here that the roads were wonderful. It is said that the Al Nino has brought excessive rains to Kuala Lampur. But the planning has been in advance and we saw a broad three lane road in the heart of the city which is actually a drain used to take away the water from the city roads.

And then we went to the chocolate factory. Another money making racket. This is the place where all foreign brands of chocolate are made with the help of palm oil instead of animal fat. 100% vegetarian they said. The chocolates were supposed to be cheap here but turned out that it was available at cheaper rates outside.

Malaysia was a country of tin prospectors and the house were all made of wood. Kuala Lampur means muddy river and mining was the main activity. Two clans fought over the control of trade and had burnt down the entire city in 1881. An entire heritage was wiped off. Malays are 50% of the population and are very particular about their dominance. The Chinese 23% and Indian 7% are the other communities.

After the visit to the Chocolate factory we visited a beautiful Chinese temple. As it is difficult to describe the temple I am pasting a picture alongside. There were these boat like structures at the top. It is understood that the Chinese like to have two things to be part of their construction. Water and bats (Not the cricket bats but the flying ones). Both are considered lucky. The interior of this temple was also equally colorful with dragons and warriors painted on the wall. The Chinese also use a lot of Jock Sticks for their prayers. The temple had a park which had all the animals representing the years of their calender and a pond full of turtles. Again for luck and prosperity. None of the Indian temples can match the colour and cleanliness of this temple. And although water is considered a required feature they do not throw water around as we do in India. This chinese Temple is next to China Town. The place where you get genuine duplicates and Tee shirts that can be worn by three generations. Grandfather when it is new, father after one wash and grandson after the next wash and before it gets torn.

We were taken to see the National Monument. The world war I and II soldiers, mainly British and Indians are honored here. Wonderfully clean and absolutely green. In fact the whole country is green. I always liked the India Gate memorial and the vast spread of open land around it. Really made the India Gate stand out. No such structure here.
Interesting story of the statue is that the British sculpture commissioned for the work had seen just one Malay, the then President so although there are six people in the memorial statue all of them look the same.

The Merdeka was our next stop. Can you believe it nobody got down. Merdeka is the Independence square with beautiful british structures all around. An old cricket club pavalion reminds you of the pictures you see of the county grounds in England. I was reminded of the Merdeka Cup football. I went out and took a few pictures. Mayank got excited when he saw that Liverpool coach Arsene Wenger was expected there and wanted to stay back/come back. But his idea was vetoed and we had to get back into the bus and head for our lunch at Sagar.

Sagar was a restaurant in the basement next to Little India. Just like China Town it is a place where you have narrow lanes and small shops. I failed to understand why people of India, who have the Chandini Chowks, the Johari Bazars and the Chor Bazar, were getting excited about these places.

We sat for lunch and unfortunately shared a table with the Jains. This made Mayank & Ruchra uncomfortable and they hardly had any Non Veg. I hogged as usual but could see Mrs. Jain look disapprovingly at my plate as it got piled with bones of different variety.

Anyway this brought us to the end of our City tour.
We had the remaining half day free to do what we wanted and we went shopping (window shopping).

To be continued...