After my whirlwind tour of Singapore I decided to take it
easy and spend a weekend in Kuala Lumpur. To make the most of this time, I
headed out to the Batu Caves on Saturday to see what all the tourist hoopla is
about. These “caves” are natural caverns that have been converted into Hindu
temples. I say “caves” because they were not actually fully enclosed: rather,
it was like an extended archway in the rock up in the sandstone cliffs. In one
cave they had figures representing different major events in Hindu lore,
illuminated with artificial light and enjoying a natural waterfall within the
same cavern. The other had over 200 steps leading to it and required proper leg
covering for women who were wearing shorts. The kicker is that the leg
coverings were because of the sacred nature of the site, yet there were
countless tchotchke salesmen and obtrusive music at the top, eliminating all
feeling of serenity and making me wonder how sacred the site truly is. Either
way, the monkeys were quite amusing!
In the evening I visited the Heli Bar, a site that is a
helicopter landing pad by day and hopping bar by night. While it was not the
most thrilling hour of my life, I did enjoy some incredible sunset views of the
Kuala Lumpur downtown area while appreciating the aerospace themed interior.
Sunday my boss from the US and coworker from Australia flew
into town (to spend a week on site with a client in KL.) In an effort to
entertain them (and myself) we went on a walking food tour in the Chow Kit area
of Kuala Lumpur, an old section typically scoffed at for its history of
prostitution. We did not see anyone engaging in such degenerate activities, and
instead ate our way through an outdoor food market, fruit/vegetable market, wet
market, and meat market. The fruit market was a nice change because I got to
sample fruits I would not otherwise know how to eat, but I was successful in
avoiding the dreaded Durian fruit. (The slinkiest of foods, rivaled only by
stinky tofu.) The meat market was also a bit shocking, as you may see in my
photos!
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