Sightseeing

Batu Caves

The hotel buffet breakfast was of the usual standard at good hotels in Malaysia, meaning awesome.  I had chicken curry, sambal, ikan bilis, peanuts and fruit.  I had to skip the omelette and Nyonya cakes.

I had a tour booked to visit Batu Caves today.  We could have done it ourselves but the tour wasn’t expensive.  We were picked up at 0845 making a stop at the Royal Selangor pewter factory.  It was interesting to see the intricate work done by hand in decorating the pewter-ware.  We were given an opportunity to make purchases and I guess commission helps keep the tour prices down.

Petronas Twin Towers in the background.

At Royal Selangor Pewter factory.

The monkeys on the handrail were aggressive.  One snatched a bag off some girls.  The fright caused her to drop two cameras.  I think they can smell the presence of food within the bags.

Hindu temples and Tamil-style ones aren’t new to me.  But I really wanted to see this one because of its location and its significance in Malaysia.  Once a year, it is the site of the Thaipusam festival where people with all sorts of piercings and burdens come and make offerings to Lord Murugam.  I hope to make it to the temple one year during Thaipusam.

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Shopping

After the tour, we asked to be dropped off at Suria KLCC, the shopping center under the Petronas Twin Towers.  We wandered through the mall and grabbed a Nasi Kandar lunch.  I was a bit shocked by the total price of MYR40 for two people.  I later realised the big prawns were MYR15 and we had two.

Once fed and watered we did a bit of shopping.  We stumbled on to the BMW Car Art World Tour which Kim enjoyed.

BMW Car Art World Tour.

After, we treated ourselves to a massage at Bukit Bintang Plaza closer to our area.  Unfortunately, the blind massage was disappointing this time and not to their usual standard.  At nearby Sungai Wang Plaza, we noticed from job vacancy adverts that department store sales staff get MYR4/h while cashiers MYR4.50/h.

Not feeling hungry, we delayed dinner till after 2000.  I had hoped for a light clear soup but ended up having a fiery, sour and fishy Asam Laksa.  Kim had dim sum (a bit strange at night) and it wasn’t as good as our regular in Auckland.  The workers at the eatery, BB Café (a canopy foodcourt) were all Myanmarese.  Kim felt sorry for the cleaner and tipped him MYR2.

I went to the nearby Low Yat Plaza to check out electronics and perhaps a camera for Mum.  It felt easy shopping in KL as it is a legal requirement to display price, unlike in Singapore where it isn’t.  Here, every prospective customer starts at the same price and can work downwards to an agreed price.  In Sim Lim Square, Singapore, the starting price may vary depending on how gullible the sales assistant thinks you are.  Foreigners would start on the back foot typically before working downwards to an agreed price.

It was a tiring day of sightseeing, shopping and walking.  We were pleased to be back in our air-conditioned room for sleep.