Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

My last few days were spent in the capitol of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur. I took a bus down from the Cameron Highlands and was dropped in China Town, the backpacker district. I after securing a room for myself, I went on a wander, as I am wont to do.

The city is massive, as most capitols of a few million people are, but easily navigable and with a fairly competent public transit system. After taking a brief lap close to my hostel, I returned. And lo, on my return visit I stumbled upon a parade. And quite the parade it was. It was clearly for religious reasons, and I assume it was a combination of Buddhist and Hindus.

Mixed of mostly equal parts Chinese and Indians, the parade had several distinct stages. First came several floats with small, temporary shrines on them. Next were Chinese dancers/actors and Chinese dragons, then Indian musicians and actors, followed by more floats.

The floats were very elaborate, papier-mâché and stone statues with garlands and incense. The Chinese dancers were some sort of warriors; they carried swords and other weapons. Most amazing was their self-mutilation. During their performance they repeatedly struck their own backs with the weapons. One man cut himself severely and was bleeding quite badly – only a three inch long gash across his back.

The Indian musicians were mostly drummers. They played a fast beat on their drums and sang to accompany it. With them was a man dribbling vermillion from his mouth (it looked like blood). Worshipers would come to be blessed by him.

Wandering amongst all the dancers and floats were a variety of characters dressed as mummers, fools, and, I assume, angry ghosts. They ran up and down the procession alternately scaring and joking with the observers.

To even greater luck the parade came to a halt where I had bumped into it and began setting off fireworks. It was not a great production, but made all the more impressive by my proximity to it. And the fact that the fireworks exploded literally feet from the surrounding buildings. After the parade I returned to my hostel for the night.

The following morning I went on a much longer wander. I encountered a preserved rain forest in the middle of the city next to the KL tower (KL=Kuala Lumpur). Years ago the government decided to create a national park within the center of the city; it’s strange being in the middle of a rainforest, but being able to hear all the sounds of the city.

I did not venture to the top of the KL tower, as it cost an exorbitant rate to ride the elevator, but I did take some photos of the impressive structure. And then, slowly, made my way back to the hostel.

That night I ventured over to the Petronus Towers; they were the tallest buildings in the world for six years. Taipei 101 overtook them in 2004. Lit up at night, they are truly stunning. The lights play against the night sky and their sheer size astounds. The overall image looks surreal.

The next morning I ventured to Little India, not much to comment on, but the food was great. And then finally to the airport where I spent the night before returning to Singapore. And here I am now, a week later and just now updating. I still don’t have internet at home. Mid-autumn festivals, terrorism on the subway, and more coming soon.

Bangkok, Thailand

Bangkok has been an adventure, a great adventure. First and foremost, Bangkok is very different from any other Asian city I’ve been to. It’s a combination of Hong Kong or Beijing with Phnom Penh or Ho Chi Minh City. It straddles the line between a developed cosmopolitan city and the capital of a developing nation. Traffic, for example, is horrendous and traffic laws are all but nonexistent (stoplights being the only consistently followed signage so far as I’ve seen). On the other hand it has an excellent public transportation system, high rises, and all the amenities a major city could desire.

In the three days I’ve been here, I’ve visited, possibly, the largest market I’ve ever seen (including the markets in Morocco), and had drinks in an exclusively Thai bar, wandered around Wat Pho and surrounds, and taken the river taxi. I’ll start with the market.

Chatuchak is a weekend market that covers 35 acres of space and has more than 15,000 stalls. Anything and everything you could possibly imagine is probably for sale in some corner of this market (yes, I’m including the less savory things as well). A few of the highlights of my trip include live monkeys, fighting cocks, sugar gliders, giant sea turtles, knives, guns, and all manner of other things. I have been told that it is home to the world’s largest black market for endangered species. I don’t doubt.

In addition to all the illegal stuff, all manner of cloths, food, knickknacks, trinkets, jewelry, incense, art, statuary, and anything else are also available for purchase. To my disappointment, the prices were not as good as I had hoped, but experiencing the smells and sights of the market were incredible nonetheless. And hey, for 75,000 Baht (30 Baht to 1 USD) I could have brought home my very own endangered monkey.

Finding the local bar always proves to be an interesting experience. Fortunately for me, I have friends in Bangkok who have lived here for a few months and know all the good hangouts. Not only does it provide a distinctly local experience, it’s usually much cheaper. For 500 Baht a bottle of whiskey I think we did a good job.

The music blared over speakers that couldn’t quite handle it, a combination of Thai music, western music, and western music sung poorly by Thai cover bands. I even went and danced with the table of Thais next to us; they had no idea what to do with me, but I enjoyed myself immensely.

Wat Pho is notable because of its reclining Buddha, the largest in Thailand. This Buddha is simply massive. I mean that in the truest sense of the word, it stretches at least two or three football fields in length and goes up a solid 30 or 40 feet in height. It’s very impressive. Still, I found the restoration work around the temple more interesting. Home to roughly 1000 Buddha images, many of them are in poor states of disrepair. Local artisans were in the process of restoring many of the images around the temple. Wat Pho also claims the origin of Thai Massage some 200 years ago; apocryphal stories would place its origin 2500 years ago and credit it to Buddha’s physician.

Finally, my journey up and down the river on the tourist river taxi was quite an enjoyable and cheap way to see the city along the river. 30 Baht covers your fare as far as you care to go up the river. An English-speaking guide points out sights as you pass them, and sings western songs to boot. A very enjoyable and cheap way to see the city in an hour.