The Chinese New Year celebrations continue to haunt us. From the time we moved out of Singapore – first to Malacca, then in Kuala Lumpur, now in Ipoh – most everything has been closed. It’s getting better; yesterday it seemed as though maybe 60 percent of stuff was open, but it’s been a challenge finding interesting stuff when things are shut up tight.
We went to a bird park in KL where there were lots and lots of peacocks and other beautiful birds. For me, though, this Scarlet Ibis stole the show.
We spent three days in Kuala Lumpur (known to all as KL), the capital of Malaysia. We stayed at a nice hotel with a great view of the Petronas Towers, from 1998 to 2004 the tallest buildings in the world (and still the tallest twin towers in the world). And then for some seemingly random reason we got upgraded to the “Club Floor” or whatever it’s called, where you can get free drinks in the early evening with even better views of the Towers. But while we loved the hotel, the city was a little hard to enjoy with so much stuff closed.
From there we moved up further to Ipoh where, contrary to legend, Steve Jobs did not invent and name the first iPod. Supposed to be a great old colonial town with great food … but a little hard to tell when most things were closed. We couldn’t quite figure out why people say it’s such a good place to stop for a while.
So today we’re moving further north to George Town on Panang island. This should be the highlight of our Malaysian trip; a UNESCO World Heritage Site, cultural center, and most things are opening back up. We’ll see.
Meanwhile, here are some pictures of KL and Ipoh, all courtesy of John P. Sullivan. When you’re traveling with an expert, no need to take your own pictures! Sadly, though, there are no pictures of Lidd’s pork knuckle that made up dinner last night. I mean, when you’re in Malaysia you should always go to an Irish Pub that serves German food, right? That’s what we did, but we forgot to memorialize it. Sad.
The architectural highlight of KL is the Petronas Towers. Designed by César Pelli to reflect Islamic art, they’re stunning. This was the view from the lounge at the hotel.
As evening rolled in, the sky changed and the towers changed. Amazing.
Lots of street food in KL
…and more street food
And lots of colorful nightlife in one neighborhood. I know this doesn’t look as though everything was shut down but take my word – this was the exception, not the rule.
This is a memorial in Ipoh to the first British resident. The amusing thing is that the British built it with 44 historic figures, like Shakespeare, Moses, and Mohammad. When the Malaysians got independence, though, they whited out the picture of Mohammad, since you’re not supposed to draw pictures of him! You can see over on the left side the now-blank space where he had been.
John and I took a walk in the afternoon heat along a small river in Ipoh. To our surprise and delight, it was a pretty little park along the river.
Flash alert! John just posted a picture of Lidd and his pork knuckle. Here it is!
Lidd and the famous pork knuckle!