On Stage at the Panggung Bandaraya

Today I made my acting debut. Today I entertained the masses. Today I performed on the stage of one of Kuala Lumpur's most famous theaters.

I sensationalise, a little.

To be honest, of all the above three statements only the last one is correct. What I did today would hardly qualify as acting and it wouldn't have been especially entertaining and "masses" isn't the appropriate word to describe the amount of people.

I'll start from the beginning. I had just visited Merdeka Square and was heading back to my hostel at around mid-afternoon when something caught the corner of my eye. A musical production was being advertised outside a theatre starting at 3pm. A quick look at the time told me it was 2:55pm, good timing. The musical looked quite interesting as it was advertised as a musical telling Kuala Lumpur's history. So I gave it a go. At the least, it would be somewhere cool to sit for a little while.

I snuck into the back of the theatre just as it was all about to kick off and took my seat alongside the other 12-15 other people in the audience. The production was better than expected. The young actors told the story well and some of their singing and dances was of a very good level. At various points during the show the actors got a couple of audience members onto the stage to do random bits and bobs. I was sat there hoping that each time they would look beyond me and onto someone else for the privilege. Each time they did and I thought I had got away with not having to embarrass myself on stage. That was until the last act. Just after the "great flood" scene. They got myself and two other audience members on to the stage, to do what? To dance, that's what. Fortunately the stage was packed full of professional actors and dancers so I hope the audience member's gaze was taken away from myself and the two other amateurs who were unfortunate enough to join me. So there I was, dancing to some Malaysian music, on one of the oldest and most famous stages in the city, making a right prat of myself!

Other than putting in a performance that will no doubt make me a favourite for next year's Oscars, I did also get up to a few other touristy things. In the morning I visited the Buddhist Maha Vihara temple. This was a little out of the main centre of Kuala Lumpur, so I took a taxi. The fare was 5RM (£1) for a ten minute drive! I gave him a 10RM note and told him to keep the change, his look was of utter amazement and joy. The temple was small but interesting. Monks were wondering around in their bare feet and orange robes and one was speaking some mantras for a group of ladies gathered around him.

After this I took another taxi journey to Thean Hou Temple. The temple's architecture is very eye catching. It is built with inspiration from Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism however it is mainly Chinese influenced with hundreds of Chinese lanterns hung around the temple, predominately coloured in red (a colour of luck and good fortune in China) and plenty of dragons engraved into the walls.

Plenty of photos tonight. Mainly from the Thean Hou Temple that was very photogenic. 

The above three are from the Buddhist temple

This one and the following are from the Thean Hou Temple

Merkeka Square

 

The theatre

Up The Petrona Towers and Chinatown

The woman to my left is drinking a can of Asahi. The woman has fine taste in beverages.

I promise I won't start every blog post about beer. Just most of them.*

This morning I woke up in Kuala Lumpur and headed off to the Petrona Towers nice and early. My plan was to beat the queues and head up the iconic sky scrappers. My plan worked and I was on my way up at around 10:15. You go up the towers in a group of around 20 other people and there are three stages to the tour. First of all you are given an introduction to the towers by a woman displayed as a holographic. Cool story bro.

Second, you jump in a lift that takes you up at a speed of 5/6 meters per second and before you know it you are at the first stop - level 43. This is the level of the Sky Bridge, the bridge that connects the two towers together. We had about 10 minutes here to walk along the bridge and to take in the views of Kuala Lumpur.

After we were done we entered the third part of the tour. Back in the lift we went and we were shot up to floor 83. This is very close to the very tip of the tower. Here the views were nothing short of spectacular. It was a clear day and you could literally see as far as what was possible. The only thing stopping you from seeing further were the mountains that bordered the horizon. It was fascinating to see the other tower from the windows of the tower we were in. It gave a great opportunity to see the design up close and in person. Pictures are below.

We then parachuted back down. **

I then decided to get some Kimchi from the Korean stall I went to yesterday. I had heard of Kimchi before but didn't really know what it consisted of, all I knew was it was a soup. What I didn't know, that I wish I did know, was that it was spicy. I am not good with food of spicy nature. The actual flavours of the soup were amazing but the spiciness is not for me. I tried to battle through it though much to the amusement of the young girl who was sat on a table opposite me. She was most likely an expert spicy food eater and was probably thinking what an idiot the English guy is who can't handle the mediocre Kimchi.  My head was hung low as I tried to embed myself in the Asian culture.

After the shame of the Kimchi I headed back to the hostel to freshen up. It's very hot here at the moment with temperatures around the 30C mark. A quick rest was needed. Reenergised I walked over to Chinatown in Petaling Street. This place was mental. So much going on with every street seller busy selling, tidying the stall or trying to lure in customers. The street wasn't massively long but a huge variety of goods were being sold, from sunglasses to handbags, to scarfs to footballs, to traditional Chinese ornaments and onto various types of wonderfully smelling food.

I then tried to find the Sri Mahamariamman temple that, according to my map, was close by. Instead I stumbled upon a different Chinese temple that was simultaneously mind-opening and mind-blowing. It was only a small temple that was partly open roofed but it was packed full of Chinese devotees practicing there religion. As I observed from the side of the temple, along with a few other tourists, I noticed each person followed the same routine. Enter the temple, bow and close hands together in the praying symbol, ring the gong at the entrance, and then go and light some incense and put it into these domineering bronze pots scattered around the room. I also noticed people picking up pieces of paper with Chinese scripture printed on them, literally setting them alight and then throwing them into this large furnace. I didn't understand the motives behind each act but I am sure that they are ancient traditions.

That's enough for today. The Capital One Cup final starts in about 45 minutes which will be midnight for me. Here's hoping Chelsea win and the game only lasts the 90 minutes!

I hope you enjoy the photos, of which you can click on to make larger.

* I am not an alcoholic.

** We did not parachute back down.

Day One

A pint of Paulaner always goes down well but a pint of the Munich brewed beer next to the Petrona Towers is something special. The barman poured it beautifully as well. Something a Munich native would have been proud of. As you can expect I was hovering somewhere in the vicinity of cloud nine. I was then given the bill to send me tumbling back down. 50RM. A quick bit of maths in my head as I handed over the cash told me this was expensive. Once I had sat down I opened my currency converter app and noticed 50RM comes to approximately £8. That's more than what you pay in central London. The most expensive pint I've ever bought comes in South East Asia, an area of the world that is notorious for cheap beer. Oh well, at least my dinner, a Korean specialty, only came to £3!

So as you may know I am now in Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia. I arrived early this morning after a long day of travel from London Gatwick to Dubai and then onto Malaysia. With very little sleep I was craving a bed, any sort of bed, as soon as possible. The hostel was not easy to find though. I thought I had myself pretty well organised and it seemed just one straight road from the train station to the hostel. Turns out that road was a motorway with no footpath so I had to resort to public transport. I ended up taking a taxi and despite the taxi driver just merely dropping me off in the near vicinity to the hostel, I stumbled upon it some point later on in the morning. 

After a nap I headed up to the Petrona Towers, probably the biggest attraction of Kuala Lumpur. I have to admit, they are not quite as draw dropping as what some attractions can be. They don't seem noticeably tall. Don't get me wrong, they are tall. But not that tall. Does that make sense? Probably not.

They come alive at night though. Lit up as you expect skyscrapers to be and the surrounding areas also come to life with music, colourful water fountains and an overall good vibe.

About This Blog

Go grab a beverage. I insist. This could be a long post and I don't want any readers (if there are any) getting a perspired throat before the reading is complete. So go refill your mug of coffee or tea if you are settling down to this over your morning breakfast. Perhaps go grab a bottle of beer (if you have Asahi, then all the better) from your fridge if this has caught your eye in the evening of a long day. Or if it's midday somewhere hot and sunny, and you're reading this while soaking up a tan from your back garden then go refill your glass of water - and don't forget to add the ice cubes and, if you ever so fancy, a slice of lime to boot. Go grab whatever you need to be comfy, then we can begin.

Comfy? Let's go.

Firstly, I have a confession to make. You probably already know what I am about to say if you are a frequent visitor to this site. The confession: It's hard to keep regular blog posts going. Why? This is not due to lack of motivation, laziness or even time constraints. It's simply because I keep asking myself the same question whenever I think of this blog; "What shall I write about?" And that question is consistently answered with the same response: an empty void the size of my mind.

This blog is first and foremost a travel blog and when I am not traveling it is very difficult to be inspired to write about other topics. There is, of course, the odd occasion where I write about subjects that are not travel related however since I was last traveling I have posted eight different posts on here and five of those were in the "travel" genre! Needless to say, I prefer to write about travel.

Therefore the health of this blog depends largely on the ability of its author to realise his wanderlust. The good news is that in a few days time I will be doing just that. My possessions for over a month packed into my 40L backpack, passport in pocket and a motivated blogging mind in gear.

I leave London Gatwick on Friday and I will be away for approximately 33 nights. The itinerary is relatively fixed although I am far from nailing down all my hostels (I'll do that as I go). The first stop will be Kuala Lumpur. After the Malaysian capital I will take a short bus journey south to the smaller Malaysian city of Melacca. From here I will take another bus journey south and cross the border into the flourishing Singapore. After a few days I will fly to Sydney and will meet up with good friends Ben and Erin (who will be getting married towards the end of my stay). While in Sydney I will make trips to Melbourne, the Blue Mountains et al.

I've used this site in the past to write about my travels and this time I want to take the whole thing up a notch. Firstly, I aim to put more content on here during the trip than I have done in the past. Secondly, I will do my best not to "rush posts for the sake of getting a post out there". Hopefully the quality will be improved compared to previous entries. Finally, photos I take will be added to the blog as I go and, like the words that accompany them, I will aim for the photos to be of a higher level than the last trip.

That's the goal!

So perhaps add this blog to your favourites, leave a comment and share it with people who you believe will be interested. I would be grateful.

P.S.

I feel bad for the lack of photos so here's some of a folding up, compact, travel toothbrush. Unbelievable scenes...

P.P.S.

This post wasn't half as long as I anticipated it to be. Good news all round, I suppose. Enjoy the rest of that drink.