Today, we have been in Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia and it was an early start as the capital is some 90 minutes drive from the port. There is not much of interest along the route in although it is clear how much Malaysia is developing as a country as there are many huge apartment blocks and housing estates being built whilst the poorer neighbourhoods are being flattened. I suppose that it is the price of progress but I thought that the apartment blocks looked reminiscent of those of sixties Eastern Europe, albeit with a little more style.
The main attraction for us in Kuala Lumpur was the twin towers of the Petronas building. We had to pre-book tickets as visitor numbers are strictly controlled and have to align with the timing of daily prayers. Once through security, we were taken to the skybridge which links the two towers some 500 feet above street level. Following this photo opportunity we were then escorted up to the observation deck on the 86th floor. There were only about 40 people in the group so there was ample space and time to take in the views and height above street level, from every direction.
Following our descent we had time to have look around the shopping mall which is contained within the first few stories of Tower 2. Like the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore, the mall has all the high end and designer label outlets, but also contains other well known high street names such as Marks & Spencer and Body Shop. A home from home!
The afternoon then included stops at Independence Square (which was a cricket pitch during British rule), and the National Monument, a war memorial.
Overall, Kuala Lumpur is a busy and traffic choked city which is undergoing considerable change. But it was clean and much thought has been put into the redeveloped areas so that the many smartly dressed office workers have modern facilities and plenty of choice when it comes to food outlets and places to relax outside.
Thankfully the regular daily thunderstorm held off until we were on the coach on the way back to the ship. Ever watchful we spotted a small troop of monkeys by the roadside and also an extremely large lizard emerging from the swamps. Then safely back on board it was time for a coffee and an icecream.
Tonight has been the first formal night of the cruise and we were joined at dinner by a very friendly and chatty couple from Yorkshire. But then again, everyone from Yorkshire is friendly and chatty.
After dinner we decided to brave the show in the main theatre.....which proved to be, shall we say, interesting. On stage was a girl from China, of Mongolian parentage and who was brought up in Australia. She sang a number of standards but interspersed with jokes and anecdotes in Cantonese, Mandarin and English. Although she had a very good vocal range, we think she had been on some sort of Chinese herbal remedy as she was rather hyper.
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