The first impression of Kuala Lumpur for me was Grey and Blurred. It’s reasonable considering the fact that we arrived there around 4:30 in the morning. Even as early as that, LCC terminal was already crowded with holiday travelers. After being pushed both backward and forward by hurrying people to make flights, I began to feel lightheaded with fatigue. The short nap I had managed to catch on the flight was certainly not enough to offset the toll that had taken on me. Red-eye flight was indeed called for a reason.

  Restaurant at LCC terminal. We grabbed a bite before we headed to the hotel. To be honest, I forgot what we actually ate there or what they tasted like because most of time I was fighting with the fatigue that dragged on like lead weights.

Strongly recommended by JY, we chose Crowne Plaza Mutiara Kuala Lumpur as our first stay. Its location was perfect; everything we possible needed was within walking distance. Even without this advantage, my points were still given to Crowne just for one reason:  They arranged early check-in for us. What a surprise! When I reserved this hotel a month ago, I was informed that it was fully booked and its standard check in time would be 2.00 pm. Just imagine wandering around in a strange city for hours when I could barely open my eyes! I guess it was really our lucky day.

Bed, in my entirely life I never thought a bed could be so tempting…. Three hours later, feeling much more human and able to handle the world, we started our little venture in Kuala Lumpur.

With Mr. Big’s help, we paid visits to almost every famous site in this city. Mr. Big is our boss, a Malaysia-Chinese.  As a manager, he makes things and people move. Occasionally his display of temper could actually send people scurrying for cover. But there is time we simply forget that he is Mr. Boss man. During this journey along with the customs of his home country, we were also impressed by the other side of his personality: generous and gallant. I don’t know how many managers in desperate need for sleep would still spend a whole time driving his men around to visit his homeland. As far as I know, he probably was the only one.

Famous Bak-Kut-Teh, very tasty.

Like all the China-town around the world, Malay’s is also crowded and slightly shabby.

Queen Temple. It is also the place for marriage registration. Very strange, isn’t it? How could a temple have anything to do with marriage? The locals even hold their wedding dinner here! Not like the temples in China, it remains sacred and untouched by the mammonish. All the religion activities, from joss sticks burning to casting lots, are for free. I tried fortune-teller by dice and it said that I have a shining star on my shoulder---aha, very promising. The divination was written in both Chinese and English---simple and easy to read.

City mosque. Not as beautiful as the one in Sabah, but still very impressive.

Royal Palace: This place was once owned by a Malaysia Chinese and he sold it to the royal family later. It’s a pity that we couldn’t go inside and get a close look. After all, it is a palace, grand to look at in distance but not inviting to the touch.

Petronas Towers, the landmark of Kuala Lumpur. We never managed to get up the twin towers and therefore missed viewing the breathtaking views of Malaysia streets from the skybridge. You have to line up early to be able to get tickets for that day, but our time was too short for that luxury. However, it was still a great place for shopping.

I can’t believe a whole month has passed by since my last trip to Malaysia. Now sitting in front of my computer, I realized what I miss most about this place: the people, the sunlight and the slowness of the time. It’s good that I finally had some time to write down this journey and relive everything about it. In my next blog, I would write our venture in Redang Island. So be patient, and wait...

To Be Continue