Kuala Lumpur Day 1

After an hour delay for our flight, in which Drew continued to raid the Cathay Pacific lounge, and an hour and a half delay on the plane, we finally got in the air and made it to Kuala Lumpur safely. The reason behind all of the delays was heavy rains in the morning backed all of the flights up, and apparently they had shut down a runway in Hong Kong for some reason, so they planes couldn't leave at the normal rate. Anyways, we got to KL, a driver from Brian's hotel picked us up, and we arrived around 11:30pm. We will be staying at Brian's hotel for the weekend, the Shangri-La, and it is absolutely beautiful.

The following morning, we got up and had breakfast at the hotel. They do a really nice morning buffet. One thing I have noticed both here and in Hong Kong is an obsession with breakfast juices. Not just orange and apple juice, but grapefruit juice, mango juice, tomato juice and sugar cane juice!!  In Hong Kong, we've even seen carrot juice. "Get me a juice box, &@$*#!" (Inside joke with Leah). 

After breakfast, we put on our sightseeing clothes and hit the streets. First, we took the tram which was very slow and above ground across the city in an attempt to walk around the Lake Gardens. The map we were using was not exactly to scale, nor was it accurate, and we took a less than popular route to the park. In general, I don't think KL is a very pedestrian friendly place. It was quite hot and humid, so the park walk was short and sweet. I definitely plan to go back there on my own to see a few more exhibits, like the Orchid park and the Aviary. We did, however, see a wild lizard hanging out near a marsh and a native bird. I've never seen a wild lizard that large. 

After the park, we grabbed a cab and headed to Theun Hao Chinese Temple, one of the largest Chinese temples in the city. It was stunning, with so much color and detail. That is Drew and his dad on the temple steps. Plus, it was on the top of a hill, and you could see the city beyond. The temple is also supposed to be really beautiful at night, as there are lots of lanterns all lit up. Lots of incense, lots of candles, and even fortune telling sticks. You pull out the sticks and make all the heights uniform. Then you drop them into a tall can, and one is supposed to get stuck and stick out higher than the rest. That stick has a number on it, which you then match to a pre-written fortune. We didn't try it, but some people were taking it very seriously. 

After the temple, we went down with the same cab driver; we essentially hired him to drive us around for a few hours. He took us next to Merdeka Square, which is where all of the old gov buildings are. Malaysia has only been out from under British rule since the late 50's, so the buildings really weren't that old. But the architecture was pretty.

The last stop of our little tour was to Beryl's Chocolate Kingdom, where you can find really good chocolate mixed with everything you can think of: mango, durian, nuts of all sorts, tiramisu etc. And they let you sample EVERYTHING. I was in heaven. Sorry Karen, wish you were there. 

After that, we went back to the hotel for some pool time, then went out to dinner at a very nice place serving traditional Malaysian food. Lots of prawns, and lots of meats in spicy sauces with rice. Plus satay, this green vegetable that was very branchy but delicious (I have no idea what it was), and chicken wings. All in all a great meal.