journeys into the unknown: Kuala Lumpur

Showing posts with label Kuala Lumpur. Show all posts

Thursday, December 27, 2012

Hello KL

A couple of months ago, I joined the Association of British Women in Malaysia (ABWM). They are a fun group of women who get together at different venues throughout Kuala Lumpur for coffees, Mahjong, dinner socials, charity events, running clubs, book clubs, photo clubs, and more.

This past month, I was lucky enough to take part in a 4 week (once per week) introductory tour around KL with two lovely British guides from the ABWM-Mandy and Pauline. Our group consisted of seven expats from Australia, America, Scotland, and England. Together, we traveled around different parts of the city including Chinatown, Central Market (Pasar Seni), the light rail, the Taman Tun Dr. Ishmael (TTDI) wet market, a traditional Malay house, the Bangsar neighborhood, and a variety of stores and shops that a new expat might find useful. A good time was had by all.

first day of Hello KL tour

popular expat store for home decorations

our lunch at the Malay house

Jalan Alor area

gorgeous mahjong set at Ambiance

LRT at Bangsar station

stopping for a drink at an old salon-hotel

Central Market

not quite my idea of Christmas trees, but very colorful!

fish balls cooking?

TTDI wet market

the baking store at TTDI

TTDI veggie stands

more veggie stands at TTDI

fish stand at TTDI

florist at TTDI

poultry area at TTDI

the spice lady at TTDI

beautiful displays at Allison's

loved this acupuncture family (at Ambiance)!

some of our group in Bangsar neighborhood

Saturday, October 20, 2012

Megamalls

As far as shopping goes, I feel like a fish out of water. When I moved to Chicago many years ago, I had the same feeling. Then, I had been a non-meat eater, moving to the meat packing capital of the U.S. But I found my way and found some great food along the way.

In Malaysia, where there are more stores and megamalls (200-500 stores under one roof) than I can count and shopping is the country’s major past time, I have not yet found my comfort zone. I continue to look for likeminded individuals to participate in cultural events and I look for more modestly sized malls to do my shopping in.

Here are two megamalls in KL:

www.midvalleygardens.com.my 430 stores

www.suriaklcc.com.my ???stores, 6 floors of stores

KLCC

in front of KLCC and the Petronas twin towers

Saturday, October 6, 2012

Masjid Negara, the National Mosque

Joe and I visited Masjid Negara, the National Mosque in Kuala Lumpur. It is the main place of worship in KL for the Malay Muslim population. Muslims make up >60% of Malaysians, around 17 million people. This mosque can accommodate 15,000 people for prayer and welcomes non-Muslims at other times. There are many mosques around Malaysia and although you may not see a mosque nearby, you are likely to hear the call to prayer which happens 5 times a day from loud speakers at the top of towers at all mosques.

To visit a mosque, you must time your visit not to coincide with prayer time. We lucked out and entered the mosque just before the midday call to prayer. We left our shoes at the bottom of the stairs as requested and then I put the purple visitor's gown on. This gown is required clothing for all women (and men in shorts). A tundung or hijab (headscarf) is also required apparel for all women. Fortunately, I had brought a head scarf with me so did not need to borrow one.

Below are some of the pictures of our visit: