Day 2: KL heritage and culture

Wednesday, 8 January 2014
Location: Kuala Lumpur

This is the day of the most extensive city-tour we have in Kuala Lumpur. Accompanied by our host friend's girlfriend, who is also a SSEAYP alumna of another batch, we ride some LRTs and walk to different tourist attractions in the city. We start by going to Chinatown, stopping by a soya-milk vendor in the street. The drinks are really soothing refreshments under the scorching sun (I really feel it's pretty hot in KL). By the way, our companion is really a caring girlfriend: in Chinatown she gets inside a shop to buy buttons for her boyfriend--he may even not notice that his shirt's buttons have come off.

We then head to the Central Market, a blue-and-white building built in 1888 (you know it from the signboard). It is said that the market was once about to be taken down, but after being met by strong opposition from the locals, the demolition was cancelled. The market was then renovated and transformed into a cultural centre where people can watch regular performances. I don't expect that the market is also air-conditioned, giving comfort to sweating travellers. Along the sunlit alleys are rows of two-storey shops neatly organised, which sell handicrafts from Malaysia and other Asian countries. We aren't after shopping, though, as we don't have any checked luggage for all our flights.

The sun is still up there when we reach Kuala Lumpur City Gallery, located next to the historical Dataran Merdeka (Merdeka Square). The most iconic installation is the eye-catching red-painted 'I Love KL' structure. The medium-sized, two-storey gallery itself used to be the British colonial government's building; it now houses a number of miniatures of historical buildings in the city and also a giant scale model of entire Kuala Lumpur. This gallery seems to be managed by a private company; one supervisor, knowing that we come from Indonesia, asks us if we know historical-yet-abandoned buildings in Jakarta that they may preserve and curate. Besides, the first floor is mostly occupied by the souvenir shop in which the company display their 2D and 3D products made from pieces of wood.

When we go outside the gallery, a woman approaches us offering a traditional performance at Plaza Dataran Merdeka, just beneath the square. The performance is gratis, and it turns out to be part of an art venue's launch. We think it's a good idea to watch cultural presentations while in Malaysia, so we decide to attend. The funny thing, however, is that we seem to be the only audience inside the venue, while others are local journalists, the launch committee, and government officials. I like the wayang kulit (shadow puppet) show, which opens the programme, even though we can't understand the language. Unfortunately, the second performance is a dance involving minimal movements, repetitious chants, and string instruments, which I once saw in Jakarta and found challenging to appreciate.

In the late afternoon we visit an expo of 100 secret gadgets of Doraemon. Dubbed as the first in Southeast Asia, the expo is said to display the gadgets Doraemon uses in his life to help his bosom friend Nobita. We don't get inside the expo, though, because we don't think it's worth the ticket price. But in front of the venue are a cafeteria and a souvenir shop heavily decorated with Doraemon and friends. We try Doraemon's all-time favourite dorayaki filled with chocolate paste and the famous 'memory bread', which turns out to be garlic toast. Quite entertaining, eh?

Our Malaysian SSEAYP friends come in the evening and join us for dinner. Two dinners, to be exact. We enjoy noodles served at an OldTown White Coffee restaurant. Funnily, when we ask a waiter to take a picture of us, he notices that we are a group of different races (Chinese, Malay, Indian) in one seat, and thus he comments, 'Satu Malaysia, ha?' (One Malaysia, eh?). It seems that such a mise-en-scène is a bit odd in the monarchy. Finishing the meal, we go mamak-ing again for the last time before our flight to Chiang Mai the next morning. Unexpectedly, another friend offers to bring us around the city while waiting for the sunrise; that means we're not going to sleep tonight! So we bid farewell to our host friends and now join another group to a hillside where we get a beautiful city view while sipping teh tarik and munching chips, then down to Bukit Bintang for its night crowd, and finally Putrajaya for photo sessions in the middle of empty streets.

We get to the airport 15 minutes before the self-check-in counter is closed. Phew! The next stop is Chiang Mai, Thailand.