hi there folks...i know, i know, i know...its been way too long....but i fell in the black hole of work here in shanghai....plus for the past month and a half i have had a problem with my vpn....what's a vpn you ask....its the way i get on blogger and facebook from china, where they are not allowed....what a vpn does is scramble my ip address and make it look like i am really in seattle or seoul or somewhere other than china....so then i don't get blocked....but china is cracking down on vpns....so you never really know when yours will work....
no excuse i know for not updating....so i apologize and i decided i better get this one out before the end of the world in a few days and before my trip to india, a few days later.....things here in china are finally getting to vacation...life has been crazy busy with school and fun stuff...even had two ice friends come and visit since i last wrote....and we went a visited somewhere new for me in china....more on that later....
but the pictures below are from two months ago now....and my trip to kuala lumpur (KL) to visit anka and family, who have moved there this year from croatia....so some of you will know the other folks in the pictures and some of you will not....i have to say i enjoyed KL quite a bit....much more colorful and diverse compared to china...also, not as perfect as shanghai....it had interesting sites, smells, spices and people...plus the food was quite tasty....i made it to china town and little india while i was there and it was interesting to visit both....but i get ahead of myself...on to the pictures...
for those of you who don't know, KL is in malaysia...and it is well known for its pewter....its royal selangor pewter at that....this is the place that makes all of the pewter glasses, dishes, tea pots and such for the royals of malaysia...and of course they have a version of the famous petronas twin towers....made from pewter....way coooooooooool.....
while in the pewter factory, we were allowed to have a cool beverage in a pewter drinking glass, just to show how cold they keep the drink you have....this is me and nikola cheers - ing each other with the pewter...they came to visit the factory with me and we even got to make our own pewter bowls at the "school of hard knocks"....lets just say no one would want to buy the one I made, except maybe my parents...because parents always want the things their kids make ;)
one of the days while i was exploring the city i was at the cultural craft center...the center itself was okay, but while i was waiting for my bus this guy from india pulled up with this motorcycle filled with snacks...yes, everything hanging form the bike is edible...from chips to candy to baguettes....it was a crazy ride....
one of the stops on the bus route was the royal family's mansion/palace....its on the outskirts of the city....yet looks at the twin towers....this is the main gate with the palace in the middle section...this was a close as we got, and i never did meet any of the royals....
for those of you who don't know, KL is a mecca for shoppers...it has been called a shoppers paradise...but then again, so have most of the SE asian cities i have been to in the last year and half...who knows which one is the best...not my specialty...but i did like all of the t-shirts at one of the markets i stopped by...this was at the central market...one of the biggest...and the food court on the top floor here is amazing....tons of different types of food....
this shot above was my favorite store....yep...its the engine of a train and they have refurbished it to be a clock store...hence the grandfather clocks at the front....you actually went inside the full sized engine and could look at clocks and watches from all over the world...this was a very creative store..i loved it!
the building above is one of the arts centers in KL...specifically for music and theater....the roof is really interesting and its light blue...this is made in the same style as a traditional malay house with the peaked styled roof....this is on the outskirts of a great park with two lakes and boats and such....the parks in KL are really impressive....
this next shot is of the KL tower...i was very sad...i missed the free base jumpers my first night in town....that means they jump off the this building with a parachute in hand and it deploys when they throw it to the side...i guess this happens twice a year in KL and i missed it....i didn't go up into the KL tower, because i decided to go into the petronas towers instead....they are much more shiny and new...however....this tower is located directly in the center of town, in a rainforest....very cool parks as i said before...they really like their green space in this very polluted, traffic filled town...
as i wrote above, KL is a shoppers paradise....this is the street sign announcing you have made it to mecca for shopping....the malls are HUGE and sparkling and new looking and they have every chain you can think of for clothes, jewelry and food...its just insane...
i really liked this building because it kind of gives you the idea that not everything in KL is shiny and new...this is located just outside of china town and is an apartment building that is well lived in...it just looks so different from buildings here in shanghai....it definitely adds to the flavor of KL....
this beautiful building is the train station....it is a mix of eastern and western designs....as islam is the most prominent religion in malaysia...many of the buildings have an islamic feel/design....this one is stunning with the white domes and staircases...and it was a busy place too...
one of the main parts of the city is little india.....this is the main drag of that part of the city....the city of KL is really made up of three types of people....the malay, the chinese and the indian....i am not sure if this is what india looks like, but i enjoyed the colors and smells of indian food in this part of town...i actually found this incredible veggie only buffet....yummy!!!! i should know more after my winter holiday if this is what india looks like....
as i mentioned above, i decided to go up in the petronas twin towers while visiting KL....and these were way cool....this first shot is from the center portion of the bridge between the towers....what's really cool about this bridge is that it is flexible and movable and not really connected to the towers...it is snug fit, but has the ability to expand and contract with the wind hitting the towers....we were not there on a windy day, so unfortunately i can't say what its like from personal experience....but really it is a flexible pedestrian bridge....these towers are 452 m (1483 ft) tall and are amazing to look at in the sun or lit up at night....so elegant....
as you look down onto the central city park from the bridge, you can see that the mall below you is powered by all solar cells....that's what the dark geometric designs are on the building are... the park as you can see, has fountains that get lit up and dance at night...its a really nice central portion of town....
this was the view from the towers looking out in the direction where anka and family live....as you can see, some cool buildings, with some green spaces sprinkled here and there....the school where anka works is in this directions as well...and even though she wasn't that far from downtown, the traffic made getting around quite crazy....
this is one of my favorite shots of the trip....the one tower taken from the other....i love the look and feel of these buildings and am really happy i got to go up in them....uber modern and cool :)
this next street shot is one the main eating streets in KL...just on the edge of chinatown....most of the people selling food from these stalls spoke chinese and malay....so i got to practice my chinese a bit...i think i did okay, but you would have to ask anka to be sure....we had a tasty meal one night here....
another night we went out for dinner we came across all of these different shake flavors...the first one on the left is a durian milkshake....GROSS!!!! if you have never had or smelled durian fruit...you aren't missing anything....but this is the king's favorite flavor in malaysia....so you can find places that will serve you durian-anything....personally i think they smell like stinky feet and the slimy texture makes it really hard for me to enjoy....definitely not one of my favorites...you can find durian here in china too...the last milkshake...the purple one...is a taro milkshake...which does not even sound appealing....needless to say, we did not get those flavors....
one night anka and i went out on the town....we stopped at the dancing fountains just outside of the petronas twin towers...there was no music, but the lights and dancing were quite nice....we actually went to a rooftop bar across the way, that had a pool inside of it....it was quite swank...
from that above mentioned bar, i was able to get this beauty of a shot of these super cool towers...they do not leave them lit all night by the way....they turn them off around midnight every night....so although this was a stunning picture...they did lessen the light pollution a bit later in the evening...which is something i can support....obviously they left the lights on for planes, but not the big spots and such...i love these buildings...
my last picture from the trip is of me and anka from the balcony of my swanky hotel i stayed in for my last night in town...i needed some down time and a spa day, so i sprung for the view, the lounge with the night caps and the amazing hydrotherapy pool....it was totally relaxing and great way to end my visit to this fun and culturally diverse and varied city....it was a blast seeing anka and family and catching up...plus, it was great to see another part of southeast asia....
so again...here you have it...another trip of mine....i am hoping to post pictures from my visit to guillin, china with wendy and shandra....because we stayed in a great guesthouse and had an awesome visit....but i am not sure that will happen before i head to india this weekend....i am heading there for a few weeks with a good friend from here and AM SOOOOOOOO EXCITED!!!! my first time...woot!!!!
i will post pictures from there....don't you worry....okay...off i go...hope you enjoyed this adventure...more coming i promise...i hope everyone has a happy and healthy holiday season and i wish you all the best in 2013!!!!
have a fab day :)
dani
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