I didn't have much of a preconceived mental image of Kuala Lumpur before we arrived. Petronas Towers, big Southeast Asian megalopolis, yup yup yup.
And... that's what we saw! In between chowing down on lots of noodles and curries, of course.
The Petronas Towers are hugely tall, but seemed a little puny after the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. They're beautiful skyscrapers, all chrome and shine.
Fancy lobby, too.
We actually didn't go up to the observation deck, partly because you can't see the towers from within the towers (weird physics, right?) but also because the system for getting a slot to head to the top is poorly conceived and handled.
So, we went to the top of the KL Tower, instead, where the views are 360 degrees.
Nice view of the city on a relatively clear, HOT day.
AND, our ticket came with a free driving simulation! No, I'm not sure why, but like I'm going to turn down a racing game? Shyeah, right. VROOM VROOM, bitches.
Also to-do in KL: walk around until the heat gets to you.
Most of KL seemed pretty new, but there were some grittier, more picturesque bits near the Indian Bazaar, where we were staying.
It kind of reminded us of Cape Town, South Africa.
We also spent a nice afternoon at the Islamic Arts Museum, where my favorite exhibits were the large dioramas of mosques around the world. There were also beautiful textiles and some super-cool weaponry. How would you like this li'l number sticking out of your belt?
KL has some very spiffy traditional markets, too - more on one of those later - though we found ourselves in antiseptic Western-style grocery stores a few times. Individually wrapped sushi, anyone? (Turns out we Americans do not have the packaging market cornered, like I'd always assumed.)
Got Durian? Because Kuala Lumpur does.
More on Kuala Lumpur this week, including a market tour and a lot of eating! Turns out I like noodles stir-fried in pork fat. SURPRISE.
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