Tuesday, July 01, 2008

Back in Kuala Lumpur







Last weekend I felt like going somewhere in Malaysia, just to get out of Singapore for a couple of days (as if I did not do that all the time), and I first thought of going to Tioman, an island on the east part of Malaysia. But when I arrived at the bus station, they told me all buses going there were full, and after going to another bus station I realized my only option would be to go back to Kuala Lumpur. And I am just so glad I did!

My first visit there was last year with Jose and Hector (you can see a post about it here on my old posts), and it was really cool, especially being with my very dear friend Jose. But this time I was by myself and maybe I also knew Asia already a lot better, so I could explore the city in a different perspective, and I think I saw many things I did not see last time.

It was mainly great to go through the popular markets of food and clothes, and to see that mix of colored covered Muslim women and Indians in some other parts of the city, and especially to walk through the Arab district. This time I realized there are many Arabs in KL, and I have always been very attracted to their culture. To make my experience more complete, I met Mostafa, and Iraqi who has been living in KL for less than one year. He came with his family, escaping from the war. As most of Arabs, he is fascinated by Brazil and he was super nice and took me around the city and made my weekend really worth it.

Other things that caught my attention this time was the mix of old/modern, traditional/trendy things (you can see it on the pics), there are very trendy shops and coffee places, with the most exclusive brands, at the same time you can find very typical street markets where people are selling fruits and clothes. Also I visited more of the park area this time, and it is really impressive: it is huge area with a lot of nature and lots of parks and museums (Islamic Arts Museum, Botanic Gardens, Bird Park, Butterfly Park, Deer Park etc).

See my pics of Kuala Lumpur (and others) at:

www.flickr.com/photos/gibin/sets

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