Kulala Lumpur, Malaysia

Kulala Lumpur (KL) is a huge city. Unlike most backpackers I enjoy most cities. However, KL is OK but nothing more.

The main thing to do in KL is to go shopping, which is not of interest to Shaun or myself. We walked around and saw a few sites. We entered a few malls but did so just to get out of the heat and soak up some free air conditioning.

Partially because they replaced the Sears Tower (not Willis Tower) as the world's tallest building in 1998, I wanted to see the Petronas Twin Towers. Though no longer the world's tallest, the Petronas Twin Towers remain the tallest twin towers in the world and are an icon of KL and a symbol of the city's skyline, modern economy, and progress. All that according to the 7.5 minutes brainwashing video I was forced to watch after waiting in line for 3 hours to go up to the 41st floor Skybrige to see the view. Yep, Petronas makes everybody watch a video informing you of how great Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, and particularly Petronas itself is.

The view from the 41st floor Skybridge is OK. While up there I heard somebody say, "So this is why its free." And she could not have been more right. If they charged for it nobody would go. Word would spread that it view is not that good, that it is not worth your time, and that you would be better off getting a few extra hour of sleep. Well, that word might spread even though it is free, but it certainly would if they charged admission.

Even from street level the building is not that impressive. I say this not out of resentment for the Petronas Towers supplanting the Sears Tower as the world's tallest. I have seen an uncompleted Burj Dubai and Taipei 101 (the two tallest buildings in the world by most measurements) and both are impressive and...cool. The Petronas Towers are neither. I think it is because there is no buildings of any stature nearby so while they look tall, they look tall next to buildings that you know are only five or whatever stories high. The Sears Tower look tall compared to the John Hancock Center, which is the 24th tallest.

So far Shaun has been underwheled by the food. I like spicy food and make an effort to try new, and often disgusting, foods. Shaun, not so much. Admittedly he has gotten much better since he arrived when he ate omlettes almost exclusively. But the region's preference for spiciness and his distaste for it limits the foods he can eat. Enter KL's Arabic area. Arabic food is Shaun's favorite. Problem (temporarily)
solved. We walked around the Arabic area looking for a place to eat. I stipulations were (1) not overly expensive, (2) had falafel, and (3) had hummus. We found a few places that looked good enough but also looked a little fancier and we figured we would be able to find a place that was cheaper. We went down a side street and than another. We say a sign that said "Kafeteria" (cafeteria in Malay) but it was right below a sign that said "Laundry." We glanced inside to try to figure out what was going on. A guy outside washing his hands asked if what we were looking for. "Falafel," we said. "Falafel?" he asked with disbelief. "Two white guys want falafel?" in Malay he no doubt was thinking. He said this place in fact had falafel. "Ohhh, we thought it was a laundry," we said, gesturing toward the sign. "It is." We were confused. "It is both," he continued. Shaun and I looked at each other, gave a little shrug, and went in. A restaurant and a laundry; what an outstanding combination. I cannot think of two more logical businesses to share the same floor space. We went in, ordered two falafel to which we got more disbelief. We also ordered hummus. The guy said it would not be like the hummus we were used to but we said it was OK and still wanted it. The falafel came out. It was OK, too much tomato and beet for me but the falafel part was good but also different than what I was used to. We finished them and waited for the hummus. We waited and waited. After awhile we realized there must have been some miscommunication with the ordering and discussed what would happen if we (A) continued to sit there waiting for something that may never come or if we (B) got up to pay and leave with the hummus still being prepared and on its way. We decided that there was no way hummus would take this long and that it was far more likely that there was in fact some miscommunication when ordering the hummus than any other explanation. We got, paid our just over US$1 each, and left...to go to another restaurant to get some hummus.

KL is OK and I will be back but only for functionality. To me, the city does not have much else to offer.