Kuala Lumpur by Andre Neyrey

Kuala Lumpur is the capital of Malaysia. Its modern skyline is dominated by the 451m-tall Petronas Twin Towers, a pair of glass-and-steel-clad skyscrapers with Islamic motifs. The towers also offer a public skybridge and observation deck. The city is also home to British colonial-era landmarks such as the Kuala Lumpur Railway Station and the Sultan Abdul Samad Building.

After Singapore we arrived the next day in Port Klang which is the port for Kuala Lumpur and about an hour and 1/2 away by bus.

There were not really any local excursions available for the city so we decided to take the ship excursion. We met our friends Erik and Collette at the back of the very jazzy bus and headed off. We really do not like taking excursions with the ship for so many reasons... we like deciding when and where we go, shop, eat and sight see. Plus this ship has been filled with some of the worst people we have encountered on any ship but this MSC Line has had the worst. But that's for another post....

So after a long drive we started out at the Batu Caves. Now I thought Batu Caves meant Bat caves but evidently the word Batu means "rock". I did find it amusing as it was discovered by people searching for guano which is bat shit!!!??? For fertilizer.

The cave is one of the most popular Hindu shrines outside India, and is dedicated to Lord Murugan. The limestone forming Batu Caves is said to be around 400 million years old. Some of the cave entrances were used as shelters by the indigenous Temuan people (a tribe of Orang Asli).

I first noticed one of the largest gold statues I have ever seen right next to these massive multicolored steps. There are a TON of steps to hike up to the top but it was well worth it. I left Sam at the bottom because as she said “I’ll die if I try and climb up those… go and take pics!”

So she explored and got pictures of the surrounding area statues and shops. On the way up ran across a few other suffering friends from the ship as well as some of the coolest monkeys yet. Once at the top of the many steps littered with all the other sweating and out of breath travelers I went inside to find an incredible rock formation/cave and various Hindu temple areas. Some ceremonies were taking place and after a few photos and prayers I climbed back out and down the stairs.

Once at the bottom Sam and I hiked back to the bus and headed to see the rest of the city. It was HOT/HUMID/HIGHLY UNCOMFORTABLE OUTSIDE!

Next we went to the Independence Square.

Independence Square (Merdeka Square) is the square where during British Colonization everything was centrally located. It is situated in front of the Sultan Abdul Samad Building. It was formerly known as the Selangor Club Padang or simply the Padang (meaning "field" in Malay) and was used as the cricket green of the Selangor Club (now the Royal Selangor Club). It was here that the Union Flag was lowered and the Malaysian flag hoisted for the first time at midnight on 31 August 1957. Since then, the Independence Square has been the usual venue for the annual Independence Day Parade.

The Sultan Abdul Samad Building

is a late-nineteenth century building located along Jalan Raja in front of the Dataran Merdeka (Independence Square) and the Royal Selangor Club in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The building originally housed the offices of the British colonial administration, and was known simply as Government Offices in its early years. In 1974, it was renamed after Sultan Abdul Samad, the reigning sultan of Selangor at the time when construction began.

The bank, government offices, the pub and even the cricket club was all in close proximity around the square.

We then stopped at the most well known building in Malaysia-

The Petronas Towers also known as the Petronas Twin Towers or KLCC Twin Towers, are a pair of 88-storey supertall skyscrapers standing at 451.9 metres (1,483 feet). From 1998 to 2003, they were officially designated as the tallest buildings in the world until they were surpassed by the 2004 completion of the Taipei 101. The Petronas Towers are the world's tallest twin skyscrapers and remained the tallest buildings in Malaysia until 2019, when they were surpassed by The Exchange 106. The Petronas Towers are a major landmark of Kuala Lumpur, along with the nearby Kuala Lumpur Tower. It’s also where Michael Jackson and Presidents stay. Our stop there was for lunch and again the MSC cruisers didn’t disappoint their pushing and shoving to get food- you’d think these savages had not eaten in weeks. As I was trying to put chicken satay on my plate- some guy shoved his arm over me to the point where I just grabbed the chicken sticks and threw them on his plate- animals these people!

As I said we really don't like taking ship tours but after a long ride back the sleeping passengers were awoken by one of the best tour guides we have had singing like he was Tom Jones in a Vegas show. He definitely would NOT have gotten a chair turn on The Voice but A for effort!

We realized our jazzy bus was actually a karaoke bus- with disco ball and all! He belted out tune after tune and it was a great end of day!

At the cruise terminal there were vendors selling shirts/batik art and fabric. Sam left Colette at one store and went to another.. her husband Erik went back to the ship- after about 15-20 minutes of not seeing Colette- Sam sent me to find her. I searched everywhere but no Colette- to which Sam freaked out “Great! We’ve lost her! The only port where Erik went back to his room and we’ve lost Colette” and honestly I was kinda worried too but where could she have gone. With no Wifi we couldn’t text her so we walked back down this insanely long pier which Sam renamed the “Batam Death March” and the ship Wifi picked back up and a text from Colette saying she was safely back in her room. We were grateful we did t have to tell Erik she’d been kidnapped! Lolol!