It's going to my head ~ Petronas Towers
April 5, 2002

Did you know that the world famous Petronas towers are actually only about 5ft7in tall? I was disappointed to say the least.

The Petronas Towers (collage)
April 7, 2002

There is actually some controversy as to whether the Petronas Towers are indeed the world's tallest buildings. Take the spires from the top and they would certainly not be. Beside the point say Julie and I, who both agree that the towers are amongst the most beautiful in that category of buildings called skyscrapers.

KL's Weather
April 6, 2002

There are only two seasons in Malaysia. Hot and dry or hot and wet (though with humidity percentage averaging in the high 90's, you are always wet). We were in Malaysia for the hot and wet season. At least this was the case for the capital where we had torrential downpours every day. Not a day of rain in the rest of Malaysia for the 4 1/2 weeks we were there. This poor sidecar drink seller didn't stand much chance of doing business in the brief but violent thunderstorm that flooded the streets and washed forlorn looking rats out of the storm drains and into the paths of startled pedestrians.

Muslim Schoolgirls
April 8, 2002

Muslim girls in their school uniforms looking down from the elevated train.

Modern city in Muslim make-up
April 4, 2001

Malaysia strives to become a modern and wealthy developed nation. To do so it walks what it perceives to be a fine line between learning from western economic and scientific superiority while avoiding the corruption of western moral and social inferiority. To show that it is succeeding in this endeavor, it puts national make-up on imported ideas. Build skyscrapers but give them an Islamic motif. Build SE Asia's only domestically produced automobile but get the plans from a 10 year old Japanese model. Everywhere you look, Kuala Lumpur is a modern, vibrant and bustling city with exactly the same chassis as any modern city in the world. The body though, is distinctly Malaysian

KL's Skyline (panoramic)
April 4, 2001

The Petronas Towers are not the only striking piece of architecture in the city that, like the country, strives to make itself modern in it's own image of what a modern Islamic capital ought to look like. The telecom tower is the fourth tallest in the world, lording over a mixture of old Chinese shophouses, modern skyscrapers (some though, have stood half finished since the 1997 currency crisis) and British colonial buildings. All this makes for an interesting skyline which is particularly true when viewed from Merdaka square where this picture was taken. The Merdaka (Independence) square was originally a colonial Penang and as such was the center of administrative life in the colony. The beautiful building in the center is the seat of the high court, indicative of the Moorish influences many of the British buildings exude.

Local Color
April 8, 2002

I have read recently that Indian and Muslim women in England tone down the colors of their traditional costumes to avoid drawing attention to themselves as much as possible. The same is obviously not the case in Malaysia where entire markets are devoted to eye-poppingly bright swathes of silk, batik and songket These colorful ladies are commuting on the spotless elevated light rail transit system - the pride and joy of KL.