Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

It't not very often that my work takes me internationally, actually, prior to this past week, never. Not that I mind that, but when this opportunity came up to travel to Kuala Lumpur, I would have been crazy to turn it down. I have never been to this part of the world and really had no idea what to expect. Its a long trip, 12 hours to Tokyo, 6 hours stopover, then another 6 hours to KL. Long day, and it crosses the international dateline. I left DFW at 11:30 AM on Friday and arrived in KL at 4:30 AM on Sunday. The airport is about an hour out of town and it was still dark so I didn't see much, and the driver was virtually speechless. My trip back was much better, still dark as it was the evening, but the driver an I had an hour long conversation. He was a local, born there, and very talkative. Made for a much better drive.

So on very little sleep, I finally got my room, showered and headed back out to explore the city. I found this little "walking tour" map that outlined several tours and decided to map out a route that covered parts of at least 3. About 7 hours and one blister later, I finally crashed back at the hotel. Renaissaince Kuala Lumpur, nice hotel by the way.

Kuala Lumpur is a not a poor city, with lots of corporate presence. I was surprised I guess, at how clean and safe it was. Mind you I did not get an opportunity to walk around much at night, as its rainy season and it rains every day, every day, from about 3 pm to 6 am. The city is also very green, both from the many, many trees that line its streets, and the moss that grows in rainy season!

The worst meal I had was essentially American food, at the Hard Rock Cafe. Not that it was that bad, but I should have just had the beer, and got some more local food.

My tourist day was a Sunday, so I am sure I did not get fully immersed in the local culture, and to be sure, on the workdays, the city was much busier, and noiser, and full of life.

I took quite a few shots on my walkabout. The Petronis Twin Towers, the KL Tower, Chinatown, specifically the Petaling area.