Kuala Lumpur

Our stay in Malaysia has been great so far.  We’ve spent a few days in Kuala Lumpur and then a couple off on the island of Borneo in Kuching.  If you go to Kuala Lumpur, you can’t help but see the Petronas Towers – twin towers that were the tallest buildings in the world from 1996-2003, but are now just the largest twin towers in the world.  

Side Note: We’ve realized that with enough conditions, you can make anything the biggest or greatest.  In Singapore they boast the largest man-made waterfall in an enclosed bird sanctuary.  Since then, we’ve been saying “What do you have the largest/biggest/best of?”  We’ve been commenting on much of what we see in these terms now.  For example, “This is the fastest train with a women’s only coach that travels through Kuala Lumpur on a Tuesday.”  It’s a great car trip game.  Try it on your next road trip.  You’ll be seeing the most amazing sites! 🙂

 Anyway, naturally we had to visit the worlds tallest twin towers.  We took a tour to go up inside to both the bridge that connects them on the 41st floor and up the observation deck on the 88th floor.  They really added some nice touches to the experience. We especially liked the hologram-like tour guide at the beginning (made using a projector and misty air) and the elevator with large screens for walls that had moving images to make it look like you were in a glass elevator when really it was all enclosed. 

We also visited the Petroscience Center expecting a little more science and a little less advertising for the oil industry…but then it is called Petroscience, so we probably should have known better.  Still, there were some fun exhibits and it was air conditioned, so we can’t complain. We also learned how to make an instrument that will sound like a gecko using a styrofoam cup, some string and a toothpick!  (Unlike the rooster crowing, we have grown to really like the gecko call.)  There was also something really great about seeing a monk sit down in his big red robe to play with one of those backhoe toys like they have on many playgrounds in the US.

In preparation for some snorkeling and scuba that we hope to work in later in the trip, we decided to take a trip to the aquarium.  They had a long section that was tube through the water where you could experience stingrays and sharks swimming right over your head.  It’s like the one in the Mall of America but longer.  We got there just in time for the otters to be fed and Rachel is now (jokingly) trying to convince Colin that when we redo the bathroom downstairs, we should do it in a way that allows us to house a pet otter.  After seeing them do all sorts of tricks including play catch with the trainer, Colin admits that he can see the appeal now, but really we just miss Oreo.

Also in Kuala Lumpur, we visited the National Mosque and had a nice chat with Normah, a Muslim woman there who talked to us about her faith and gave us some info on the building – like the fact that it can house 15,000 worshippers at once!  

Kuala Lumpur also has a very big blind community.  All over town, they have texturized sidewalks to help with folks using guide canes and there is one neighborhood where many blind people have settled where many of them work giving massages.  We found a place that was owned and operated by a blind man who was very involved with the Malaysian Association for the Blind and was a former special olympian so we went there. Unfortunately, the massages were terrible!  It’s the first time for either one of us that we seriously considered asking them to just stop a few minutes in.  

A much more positive experience with the Malaysian blind community was a touring exhibit called Dialogue in the Dark.  We were lead by a blind guide through exhibits meant to mimic a national park, a street market, the city streets, and a cafe – all in complete darkness.  We ended at a cafe where we sat down with our guide to talk about our experience in the exhibit and also her experience as a blind individual.  We both felt like we got a lot out of it.  

Malaysia seems very focused on preserving its traditional crafts with educational programs geared toward teaching the next generation to become craftsman and give awards to master craftsmen.  The main crafts we encountered were woodworking, rattan, batik, silverwork, weaving and pottery.  Our last day in Kuala Lumpur serendipitously fell on the opening day of HariKraf 2014 – a large exhibit of local crafts from around the country.  We really enjoyed walking around to check out all the impressive displays and even got to try our hand at batik!  They had cloth with various wax designs on them already, and we got to paint them in.  We both enjoyed making our designs come alive, but Rachel especially thinks she just found a new hobby.  Check out our work below: