Rosheen and Nazreen
Butterflies are easily bribed with fruit slices!
Jamek Mosque reflected in one of the surrounding high-rises
20 November Kuala Lumpur
Last March at Niah Caves in Malaysia’s Sarawak
state, I met two women from Kuala Lumpur area, Rosheen and Nazreen, and today we
joined up for a visit to KL Butterfly Park, said to be the world’s largest
butterfly garden with about 100 species of Malaysia’s 1,100 butterflies. This
was the first time here for all of us, and we greatly enjoyed watching the
butterflies flit about the lush jungle vegetation. A few of the critters even
posed for our cameras. Afterward we went for a stroll near Merdeka Square until
a heavy downpour sent us hurrying for cover.
Rosheen and Nazreen
Butterflies are
easily bribed with fruit slices!
Jamek Mosque
reflected in one of the surrounding high-rises
21 November Kuala Lumpur
I dropped by the cavernous National Museum, which
traces the country’s history from far back in prehistoric times to modern
development.
This model
represents one of Malaysia’s largest tin dredges, first built in 1938 and
rebuilt in 1963,
with a pontoon 75 meters long and 19.5 meters wide. The
buckets could dig to a depth of 31.5 meters.
22 November Kuala Lumpur
Today I revisited Kuala Lumpur City Centre Park
to see the Petronas Twin Towers gleaming in the sunshine. Then I headed next
door into the huge Suria KLCC shopping mall for a look at Petrosains (pronounced
like ‘Petro-science’), a science museum. It turned out to be mobbed by little
kids, so I came back later for a visit. The national oil and gas company
Petronas sponsors the museum, and I found the reconstructed drilling platform to
be the most interesting exhibit; here workers explained how they did their jobs.
The company also has Galeri Petronas in the mall with suitably wacky
contemporary art.
Petronas Twin Towers are pretty day or night!
Just one
section of the immense drill rig exhibit at Petrosains
An infrared
selfie! I’m holding my camera center left, facing a video screen.
23 November Kuala Lumpur
I walked around the Brickfields area and visited
a couple Chinese temples.
24 November Kuala Lumpur
On my last full
day, I got an early start with a train ride southwest to Putrajaya, Malaysia’s
capital that is full of architectural triumphs. It’s a very spread-out place—too
vast for walking—so I took the morning bus tour from the train station. Only I
and a Chinese fellow had signed up, but the bus driver and tour leader were
happy to go despite the few customers. Putrajaya Lake, a large reservoir, adds
beauty to the planned city, and we began by crossing it on one of the showiest
bridges, Seri Wawasan. We went inside two mosques, first the contemporary-style
Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin or ‘Iron Mosque.’ A friendly volunteer here gave me a
tour through the vast structure, completed in 2009 and using pools and natural
air flow for cooling. Next we went inside the pink-domed Putra Mosque, built in
a traditional style with a five-tiered 116-meter minaret. The green-domed Prime
Minister’s Office stood grandly on a nearby hill at the northern end of the main
city axis. Next we stopped for a look at the imposing gold-domed Palace of
Justice, but we couldn’t enter it or any of the other government buildings on
this quiet Saturday. Lastly we headed south across the European-styled Seri
Gemilang bridge to the hilltop Putrajaya International Convention Centre. We
went inside the huge stadium-like structure for a look, but the best view was
outside back north across the main axis of Putrajaya.
Seri Wawasan has eye-catching geometry!
Entrance to Tuanku
Mizan Zainal Abidin, the Iron Mosque
Under the dome of
the Iron Mosque
The mihrab wall of the Iron Mosque has a 13-meter-high inscribed glass panel
imported from Germany.
Seri Wawasan spans
Putrajaya Lake and you can see the silvery dome of the Iron Mosque on the
left in this view from near Putra Mosque.
Putra
Mosque and the Prime Minister’s Office, from Seri Wawasan
Inside Putra Mosque
A newly married
couple pose for photos.
The dome overhead
Multiple levels
inside the convention centre create the impression of abstact art!
View north
along the main axis of Putrajaya from the convention centre
A train whisked me back to Kuala Lumpur, where I still had time for a jungle excursion. KL Forest Eco Park has preserved an area of forest with a canopy walkway—something one wouldn’t expect in the middle of a vast city!
The
canopy walkway had many sections connected by tower staircases.
A great way to get
back to nature in the city!
After climbing and descending the walkway, I headed to the nearby Telecommunications Museum, housed in a 1928 Greek temple-style building. I’ve long enjoyed learning about communications and electronics, so this was a good stop.
A section of a
microwave relay station, probably from the 1950s
And how better to
have speedy communications, than a telegraph delivered by a cyclist?
On to scuba diving in Thailand’s Andaman Sea Part 1
Back to Beginning of Southeast Asia Backpacking Nov.-Dec. 2018