Malaysia! Truly Asia … but different

It was a very nice ride from the airport to our hotel. I was quite amazed at the beauty and infrastructure in Malaysia, and started wondering why it was taking India so long to get to this level. One of the monuments caught my attention, and I asked the driver about it.

He told me it was a mosque (it was quite big for a mosque), and also mentioned that Malaysia is 70% Muslims. My first learning about this country.

As we neared Kuala Lumpur (I also realised that there are more ‘u‘s than ‘a‘s in this word), the twin towers became visible. In fact the towers are so tall, that they were visible from almost any part of the city – including our hotel room, from where we had a very nice view. I was quite intrigued by a green arrow on the ceiling of our hotel room, but when I saw a similar one in another hotel room, I could figure it out myself. The arrow must be pointing to Mecca, to help Muslims align themselves for their prayers – how thoughtful! (I confirmed this one only after coming to India though).

The local cuisine was mostly sea food and you could smell it from quite a distance. After some hunting around, we decided to catch a taxi and asked the driver to take us to a good Indian restaurant. The driver was apparently Chinese, but to our utter delight, he suggested Saravana Bhavan, and that too with impeccable pronunciation! We treated ourselves to some authentic Indian food and coffee. Otherwise, coffee in Malaysia is quite boring. Apparently Teh Tarik (‘pulled’ tea) is more famous. But, the one I had at the airport, tasted more like a chocolate drink. However, the ultimate treat to our taste buds was at Annalakshmi restaurant, which had a very calm ambience with mellowed lights, classical music, and the occasional clink of cutlery on plates. It was an all you can eat buffet and pay as you wish.

Malaysia was a very interesting mix of India and US. The roads were like US, but the driving was like India 🙂 One could drive anywhere on the road as long as there is space to squeeze your vehicle in, and park almost anywhere too. And yes, on a busy street you can hear enough honks. People could smoke just about anywhere. At a bus stop, at restaurants, inside a mall, at theme parks, and even in Underwater World! I just realised what a good move it was to ban smoking in public places in India.

Apart from the twin towers, there appeared to be not much in KL. There were a few other places of interest, but the highlight of our city tour definitely was the National Mosque. It was my first ever entry into a mosque. And the ladies were allowed too – provided they wear some kind of robe or scarf over their dress – and unlike what you might imagine, the robe and scarf were not black. There was a choice of pink and light blue. In fact, the head scarf was quite a fashionable accessory for many of the local women. There were not many people around at the mosque and I really enjoyed the calmness – just as in a Temple or Church (when they are not crowded). The main prayer area was breathtaking.

I first thought it was a spelling mistake or someones ignorance when our hotel address said ‘KL Sentral’. But I soon realized that it was not Central, but Sentral everywhere! And my surprise soon turned to amazement when I started noticing some of the other words on road signs and other banners. I’m sure you’ll recognize some of these. Teksi, Tol, Tiket, Telefon, Notis, Stasen, Klinik, Polis. They have actually simplified the spelling! 🙂

Check my Facebook profile for photos : https://www.facebook.com/bhaskarns.

Update: This post has been imported from https://bhaskarns.blogspot.com.  A few pictures from my Facebook album have also been included.