Update 6 - Kuala Lumpur

KL began life as a swampy staging post for Chinese tin miners in 1857 – Kuala Lumpur means, "muddy estuary" in Malay – and blossomed under the competitive rule of pioneering merchants. But as fights over tin concessions erupted across the country, the British used gunboat diplomacy to settle the Selangor Civil War and the British Resident, Frank Swettenham, took command of KL, making it the capital of the state and, in 1896, the capital of the Federated Malay States. Swettenham imported British architects from India to design suitably grand buildings, and thousands of Tamil labourers poured in to build them; development continued steadily through the first quarter of the twentieth century. The Japanese invaded in December 1941, but although they bombed the city, they missed their main targets. Following the Japanese surrender in September 1945, the British were once more in charge in the capital, but Nationalist demands had replaced the Malays' former acceptance of the colonizers, and Malaysian independence – Merdeka – finally came in 1957.

Now KL has a population of approx 2M. Malaysia’s population is made up of Indian, Chinese and Malay.

We arrived in KL on Saturday 5^th December night and went for an exploratory walk. Couldn’t wait to see the Petronas Twin Towers at night! KL was buzzing and we walked up Jalan Alor (‘jalan’ means street although some of the Jalans should be classed as mortorways!), well known for its outdoor hawkers food stalls. 

Saturday Night KL top of Jalon Alor looking at monorail

The majestic Petronas Twin Towers avec sky bridge

Whoops fell over..

The following day we were up early to visit the Menara KL (‘menara’ means tower) it is another radio/tv tower – many of these across Asia and we won’t waste any time getting up as many as possible! Menara KL was built in 1995 and reaches 421 metres and is currently the 5^th tallest in the world. 2^nd tallest in Asia after the Oriental Pearl in Shanghai (done it!) giving fantastic views over KL…

Menara KL from the Orchid Gardens

View from Menara KL looking down on skyscrapers

KL landscape with palm laden hills in the distance

Traditional Malay dancers at Menara KL

 

Stef and I did the 'Flying Fox' cable run at Menara KL

Silly hats were obligatory for the Flying Fox

Our tickets to ascend the tower also gave us access to an F1 simulated drive around the KL motor circuit and access to the small zoo. The 2 laps around KL motor circuit were excellent and I’m sure I won my race! The small zoo was a shock to say the least, especially for someone who is afraid of all creatures great and small!

Stef -  'The Monkey woman' 

Nit picking

Little nibble on the ear

 

One BIG python - and there were plenty more..

 

So what does Stef do?

Half of the animals were out of their cages and those that weren’t looked extremely dangerous. I was glad to get out of there alive. Unlike Stef the snake and monkey woman!

You lookin' at me? 

 

Tired after eating a small crocodile

In the afternoon (from 2-8pm) we did an organised tour of KL by mini bus seeing The Palace of Malay Rajas, Dataran Merdeka Square (once a focal point and cricket pitch replicating Tudor England) it was at this square that the Union Jack was lowered in 1957 and the Malaysian flag hoisted signifying their independence as a nation – the 95M flag pole is one of the tallest in the world. We also saw the National mosque, Batu limestone caves and many other tourist spots. Our guide was David Marshal ‘a font of Malaysian history’ (he seemed to blame me for the British handing Malaysia back in 1957...) – none the less a very good guide!

Palace of Malay Rajas - now the Kings' residence

  Men in skirts

The old Railway Station

Merdeka Square complete with Cricket pitch and mock Tudor buildings

Merdeka Square with large flagpole

 

We visited the pewter factory - Royal Selangor

We visited the Hindu shrines at Jalan Batu Caves

There are 272 steps to the caves/shrines

 

Impressive gallery non?

Stef takes a coconut break

Night draws in on Batu Caves 

This guy asked to have his picture taken with me.. I don't even look famous!

I know we say this in every blog, but the people were incredibly friendly. People would just stop you in the street and their first question would always be 'Where are you from?' - the correct answer of course is London. This made them happier and in awe. Street vendors would shout hello at you (or at least I think that's what they said). We saw very few westerners on the streets, which obviously made us even more exotic.  

Day 2 we went on another organised tour, this time to Malacca (100 miles away on the coast), again with David Marshall. I’ve created a separate blog update 7 for this.

Day 3 was my birthday and after a hectic couple of days we struggled to get up to be at the Petronas towers for 08:00 to pickup one of the free 1,200 tickets for the sky bridge that day. So when we arrived at 11am to the ticket desk where people were being continually turned away, I decided on a different tactic... 'It's my birthday' and then became a nuisance! It worked! The ticket lady shook my hand and said wait in the other room. After 5 minutes of this I continually showed my face in front of her until she said ok you can go on the 11:30 visit!  Some quick facts: Petronas towers are 88 storeys, 452M tall has 29 double-decker high speed lifts and the footprint for the towers is based on simple Islamic geometric forms of 2 interlocking squares to create the shape of 8-pointed stars. They were officially opened in Aug, 1999.

25 people allowed on each visit to the sky bridge - I was 1st!

Proof! 

Featured in the film 'Entrapment'

Taken from the 33rd Floor of Traders Hotel

Afterwards we had lunch on 33rd floor of Traders hotel overlooking Petronas towers/park. Then we took the monorail to the Orchid gardens and Museum of Malaysia. We saw plenty of monkeys beside the road!

A Gharry from 1910 Melacca at Museum of Malaysia

Monkeys eating bananas just down from Orchid Garden

Day 4 we just had the morning before getting a death defying taxi to the airport. So we walked to the soon to be demolished Jalan Hang Tuah prison and took too many pictures to publish here - I had to 1st get permission from the site foreman who only wanted to know where i was from - the password was of course London! Then we walked down to China town, Little India and Central Market area only for Stef to pull one final stunt..

Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah Mosque

Guess where?

China Town

Stef's final stunt!

A famous central mosque

And that was it. Our flight with Malaysian airways was delayed an hour due to technical difficulties hmm.. We eventually boarded the plane and waited a further 50 minutes. Once we finally got on our way, after 20 minutes the pilot announced a problem with the navigation equipment and could everyone ensure all phones, laptops and electrical equipment was switched off. A further 40 minutes later and he came on again and urged 'for the safety of all passengers on the flight please switch off any electrical equipment as the navigation was still playing up'. We arrived 2 ++ hours later with our stomachs in our mouths, landing at Chep Lap Kok, HK (nowhere else!) - home safe!

See blog update 7 for our day in Malacca

Update 5 - Ev in Hong Kong

For the past 6 days we’ve been entertaining Ev in HK. For the first day we figured he’d be tired so we stayed local and I drove him (in my brothers family car!) to Tai O on the other side of Lantau Island from us, to see the dolphins and the stilted village - yes it was only the 3^rd time we’d been there and worryingly it probably won’t be the last…. the only thing that changes is the mood of the dolphins, this week they must have had a quiet Friday night in and all the fish they could eat, as they were in an exceedingly good mood – dancing around on the waves and doing back flips! Too quick for the digital camera and I have 21 pictures of splashes in the water..

Ev, Stef and giant Budha on the hill

Tai O boat to the dolphins

After the Dolphins we had lunch at the Thai restaurant on Cheung Sha beach - 24c brilliant sunshine - nice and relaxing…(apart from the 20 x aussie’s in the next restaurant having a sing song/swing-a-long-on-the-rafters-athon..).

Sunday we decided to liven things up a bit and got the boat into HK. We went to see the History of Travel in Canton exhibition in Tsim Sha Tsui (TST), Kowloon side, then for some lunch at the newly opened Stable Grill at 1881 Heritage (see Oct blog).

No pictures in the museum please!

We also visited our tailor Phirrip (as we/he calls himself..) nice guy and over the past 3 years has tailored many a good suit and shirt for us. He told us that the building he was in (ground floor of the 8ish story New World Centre in TST next to the Intercontinental Hotel) would be demolished next year and replaced by a 64 story shopping centre/office block – sure it's prime real estate on the water front over looking the ‘Avenue of Stars’ – but not sure we need that kind of progress? Kowloon used to have a height build restriction many years ago due to the incoming planes landing at Kai Tak airport- but that’s all changed now. Phirrip advised that he would have to find new premises himself and that the developers didn’t provide for the current inhabitants, he’d been there since 1963.

Stef, Ev and Phirrip

Will you all just cheer up a bit - you do it like this!

We took the boat back to Mui Wo and waited excitedly until midnight for the Arsenal vs. Chelsea – 2 hours later we drove home…nothing more to say!

On Monday after lunch on the quayside at the China Bear in Mui Wo we got the boat into Central and Star Ferry over to TST. Ev checked into our favourite hotel The Intercontinental for 3 nights – which we used as our base for the following 3 days. He was upgraded to a suite with spectacular views.

View from the shower over TST, Kowloon, Space Museum and Peninsula Hotel

..and to the left a bit..

We spent the afternoon by the pool and in the 20c, 36c and 40c Jacuzzis overlooking the South China Sea with a G&T – no more than we deserved ;o)

In the evening we had dinner in Indochine 1929 (excellent Vietnamese restaurant) in Lan Kwai Fong and a few beers in the Balalaika bar.

Tuesday we visited the Aviary in Hong Kong Park, followed by the tram up to Victoria Peak for spectacular views over HK and some lunch outside at The Peak restaurant. Then a taxi down to Soho and a walk up the elevators on ‘the Stairway to Heaven’ in mid-levels. We met up with our mate Andrew to have dinner at the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club (the only institution left in HK that has kept the ‘Royal’ title since the handover to China in 1997) Followed by some beers in Wan Chai – this is the life!

A Lorikeet in Hong Kong Park

Spot the bird in HK Park Aviary (clue: she's on the bridge with her boyfriend)

The Peak Tram

Hazy Hong Kong

A cone marks a tree - a bit like Arsenal at the moment..

Soho - that car's going nowhere!

Finally on Wednesday after lunch (more food - what else?) at ‘BLT steak’ in the Ocean Centre, TST we got a Star Ferry to Wan Chai (Hong Kong side) and a tram up to North Point (maybe somewhere to live in the future?). Then the MTR (Mass Transit Railway – underground to you) to Mong Kok and some cost effective Christmas shopping in the markets there. It was then that we realised that we hadn’t eaten for at least 5 hours and needed one last restaurant to finish off Ev’s trip! So after a wash and brush up at The Intercontinental we had some good traditional English fare at ‘The Gaylord Indian Restaurant’ – great food, service and live band!

If Barbie lived in Wanchai

North Point, Tram destination

Last night in the Indian

Oh forgot to mention that it’s ‘The East Asia Games’ in Hong Kong (held every 4 years since 1993 being in Shanghai, 1997 in Busan, South Korea, 2001 in Osaka, Japan, 2005 in Macau, China) starting this week and the opening ceremony tomorrow night (Saturday 5^th December).

The rehearsals for tomorrows opening ceremony in Victoria Harbour have been taking place all week and it’s going to be impressive! Here are some photos to finish up on…

Victoria Harbour lights up!

View from Intercontinental Hotel

Award winning picture taken on the hoof to Star Ferry

Award winning picture taken at the Star ferry

East Asia Games will have a spectacular ceremony tomorrow night!

I'm speechless!

etc, etc...!

Tomorrow lunch time (meals - the new unit of Gary Blog time*) we fly to Kuala Lumpur for 4 and a bit days and that will be the next blog subject. Weather forecast 30c and thunderstorms  - now where have we heard that before ??

* Believe it or not I have lost weight – just don’t have a watch..

Update 4 - Shanghai

On Tuesday 17th November we took a flight from Chek Lap Kok airport in Hong Kong (well actually on Lantau island same island as us Mui Wo-ians - I just made that up…sorry I don’t think we’re called Mui Wo-ians) to Shanghai for 4 nights. We flew with China Eastern and prior to the trip every time we mentioned this to people they rolled their eyes and said their goodbyes to us like they’d never see us again. It should be noted that none of these people had flown with CE before! CE turned out to be excellent a newish airbus and great service incl. Haagan Das for desert and all on time for the 2 hour flight north.
We had a brilliant trip and really enjoyed Shanghai – although we didn’t think we would when we arrived as it seemed more like New York than Asia. Not that we don’t love NY, but we wanted something less global brands and sky scrapers and more Chinese colloquial.
Anyway the important thing is, that we arrived on Tuesday night and got a taxi from the airport – the driver didn’t brake for anything and drove at 100mph (may have been less – but this sounds more dramatic) all the way to the hotel door from Pudong airport 30 minutes later – more worrying for me than Stef, as I was sat behind the driver and I couldn’t see why we were swerving so erratically as he had one of those plastic screens – additionally we couldn’t get the seat belts on as they were trapped behind the seats (probably on purpose ;o)) – anyway we made it ok (NB: Stef wants me to say that actually it was more worrying for her, because she COULD see what he was swerving for!!). GET YOUR OWN BLOG STEF!!
We got un-packed and went for a walk around at 10:30pm.
Avoided getting run over many times – we hadn't realised that the traffic lights were only guidelines for slowing down a bit – but not stopping regardless of what colour the lights were on. Additionally, many of the bikes and motorbikes have electric motors (cunning…no sound) – so they come at you at reasonably high speed with the perfect element of surprise. We didn’t see one blind person there the whole time and could only assume that they perished on the advent of electric vehicles.
At each road interchange there were traffic lights with a BIG wide zebra crossing – these aren't for people, but for all the bikes, motorbikes and tuk tuks to accumulate – if you want to cross there you have to weave in and out of them trying not to show fear and sometimes that’s not enough…! Anyway by the 2nd day we were confident about running, weaving and stopping dead in our tracks on the roads and it became a lot more fun ;o)) In fact we now miss it – but still do it in HK anyway..
Shanghai was 4c each day when it warmed up in the mid-day bright grey skies. Now, although in London, Paris and ski resorts at this time of year we could expect this, our warm clothes didn’t anticipate it and therefore didn’t fly to Asia with us. So each day we would wear 4 layers of thin summer clothes in top of each other….i don’t think this trend will make the catwalks and hence there will be fewer photos of us to follow for fear of being remembered as weird.
So we arrived at the hotel and then went for a local walk up to the Huangpu River, but couldn’t see it as there is so much building work going on there to ready it for the 2010 World Expo from May to October – whole areas were being re-built including the main river front aka The Bund.
All of the above is minor and we really enjoyed ourselves and we will happily go back there.
Our hotel was great – the **** Central Hotel really was located in the centre of town!

The Bund being rebuilt 24x7 in time for 2010 World Expo - pictures won't get any more boring than this!

On our first full day there – we walked up to the Bund (yes again!) the waterfront home of many 100 year old banks and institutions. We went underground at the Bund (seemed like the only thing we could do there) to take the ‘Bund Sightseeing Tunnel’ under the Huangpu River to the financial/business district called Pudong. In the tunnel there was a map which less predictably stated, ‘ Your Excellency’s Present Seat’ rather than ‘You are here’. We went up the 468M Oriental Pearl TV tower for great views over Shanghai!

The Bund Sightseeing Train Time Wharp Tunnel

 

The Oriental Pearl TV Tower bigger than the Eiffel Tower by a km

 

At least the boats know how to drive uniformly.. shame really..

 

Yes The Bund 

1955-92 Vouchers to buy clothes, food, well everything..

Guess where I am? Yes The Bund! 4-Layers of clothes 4c

This is a link to a great website with a map of shanghai and if you select an area it will give you facts and video from people visiting it.. http://www.funtouristattractions.com/m/shanghai-china-attractions-map/2

The Nanjing Lu with Radisson Sky Dome Bar in yellow

 

The Sky Dome cocktail bar

On our 2nd day – we walked to the Yu Yuan gardens not because we couldn’t afford a taxi (they’re very cheap) but to keep warm. This is more what I wanted Shanghai to be like! It was a great place and we went back there on the 3rd night to see it all lit up in the dark! Lots of great markets around this area. We also had a ‘negative ion meridian stick massage’ (coming your way soon!). A very slightly built female hits you repeatedly on the head, neck, shoulders, back and bottom for 40 minutes it felt great once she stopped. Very nice people and they gave us a lot of help and advice on where to get the wounds treated.
 

Yu Yuan Gardens - that's more like it!

 

 

 

 

Now it's my turn! 

 

 

We walked down through Fuxing Park, which was established in 1909 and was inhabited by retirees. Amazingly, they were jogging around, flying kites, juggling with devil sticks, walking backwards, tai chi and dancing!! The dancing is televised! What a great place and there is hope for old people yet! Such a happy park which had rose gardens, rock gardens, lakes, band stands, restaurants, tea rooms, shrubbery’s, trees and grass ;o)

Old people dancing...

 On our 3rd day – we went to the Shanghai Museum in the rain (note to self: must stop being so English with this fixation on weather..), but didn’t make it in! A couple of girls asked me to take their picture, we got talking for 5-10 minutes (may have been 8 minutes, I don’t wear a watch any more) (second note to self: must stop this employee fixation on time) and they asked if we’d like to join them to watch a Chinese tea ceremony. So the 4 of us went and had a brilliant time! Xiao Bei works in Shanghai in marketing pharmaceuticals and Shiang Ya (or Fiona as she re-named herself) is an English teacher from Xian (home of the terracotta army)! They translated everything from the tea tasting ceremony to us and also taught us to count in sign language and Mandarin amongst other things..They were very knowledgeable in Chinese history. We swapped emails and have stayed in touch – we invited them to come and stay with us in HK and we’ll look up Shiang Ya when we go to see the Terracotta army in Feb 2010. Nice genuine people.

Xiao Bei, Stef and Xhiang Ya

Sensibly dressed Xiao Bei and Xhiang Ya

During our days in Shanghai there were loads of occasions when young women came up to speak to us and basically wanted to spend their time with us. I could only think that they wanted to improve their English further, maybe as World Expo will be in Shanghai next year, maybe just to improve their global knowledge. They were all very positive about what they wanted to do in life and thought it was perfectly logical for us to spend time out travelling and do different things in our life! Such nice open people with no hang-ups.

Shanghai Museum

View from People's Park

After the tea ceremony we went our separate ways. They showed us back to the museum where we spent 3 hours – fantastic museum – well presented – not overpowering – split into sections such as calligraphy, china, furniture, paintings, sculptures and so on over 5 floors.

On our last day we only had the morning to walk down the main shopping area just outside our hotel called the Nanjing Lu, down to Peoples square and Renmin park. The park was so peaceful. It had areas with Nordic trees, which reminded us of skiing and also woodland walks and lakes. Typically the sun came out for the last day and the city looked great!
We walked back to the hotel and took a taxi to the airport train. Not just any airport train though. It was a magnetic monorail (coming your way soon..) with one of the fastest trains in the world! It hovered on the track and got up to a massive 430km/hr (yes, sadly we all took a picture of the digital read out on display) or 267 miles/hr – it takes just 7 minutes to cover 35 km to the airport! The fastest we’ll ever travel on land?

 

Maglev 430Km/hr train to Pudong Airport

So that’s it for Shanghai – great people and by next May will have a lot more to offer amongst other things, a walk down The Bund with a view on the river.

Back in Hong Kong, I’ve booked another concert – we’ll go and see The Killers at the Asia Arena in January.

Finally, we’ve booked our next trip – 4 days in Kuala Lumpur

In the meantime, we’re entertaining Evan for 6 days from tomorrow.