Forty Five Hours in Kuala Lumpur

I recently spent forty hours in Kuala Lumpur to speak at the 16th World Congress on Information Technology. Wow, what city KL is. I hope you enjoy my pictures.

Kuala Lumpur means “mouth of the muddy river.” The city is located at the confluence of the Sungai Gombak and Sungai Klang (rivers). It was established in the 1850s and has a population of approximately 1.6 million people. It’s sure different from Dublin.

Malaysians must like tall things. This is the world’s tallest statue of the Hindu deity called Murugan in front of the Batu Caves

This is the Petronas Towers. It was the world’s tallest building from 1998 to 2004. Counting the antenna, it is 1482.9 feet tall. It encompasses eighty-eight floors and 4,252,000 square feet.

This will give you an idea of just how big the statue is.

This is what it looks like when you start climbing those stairs.

272 steps later, you reach the top. Notice that the guy next to me did it without shoes.

This is what the inside of the cave looks like. During the Thaipusam festival, 1.5 million people visit the caves.

If you’re in the middle of the main cave and look up, this is what you’d see.

At the top of the steps, you can handle an albino snake.

And get your picture taken.

Various sculptures around the caves.

I think this says that there is a two-minute penalty for high sticking.

This is a temple near the base of the steps.

A vendor’s cart in front of the cave.

Shirley and C. P. Ng, the kind people who took me to the Batu Caves.

Next stop: the Thean Hou Temple.

This is my favorite picture from the trip.

This is the restaurant under the temple.

Next stop: the Central Market.

What’s up with this?

This is what $17 (US) buys you in Chinatown: three cans of soda, two beers, one barley drink, fried rice, two noodle dishes, sweet and sour pork, and roast pork.

However, you do have to stare at the ear candling sign the whole time.

Malaysian traffic signal. I swear this is an icon as from the PowerPoint library.

At some point, I took a picture with almost everyone in KL.

Getting makeup applied before a television appearance. Lots of people asked me if I was Jackie Chan.

A Toyota mini-van that’s not available in the U.S. Think: Lexus meets Sienna.

Press this button and a waitress appears at the Nikko Hotel.

The best seat I’ve ever had on a commercial flight: Cathay Pacific 747-400. I’d like to see what Jet Airways offers to Mumbai.

This is where your feet go. That’s another seat at the other end so that people can sit and chat with you. There’s nothing like fresh orchids at your seat on an airplane.

And this is the nicest bathroom I’ve ever seen on a commercial flight. Total time in KL: forty-five hours. Total time in transit: forty-five hours. Something is wrong with this logic.