You have seen some pictures of my favorite place in Singapore, Clarke Quay, in the previous post. We came back there again, to have a dinner at Hooters' - the food was yummy! Later, in New York, we came to Hooters' hoping to get the same delicious food - and see the girls, of course, and none of them was as good as at Clarke Quay.
I should
tell you, I was leaving Kuala Lumpur with sadness. For some reasons, I felt so
comfortable in that city. And at the same time, I was excited to go to
Singapore, the country (or city?) I was dreaming of for so long. So, we finally arrived to Singapore. Chewing-gum free country. A country of
4 official languages (hello Kazakhstan, it is possible!). A country with the lowest corruption level in
Asia and the lowest crime level in the world. It is the second country in the
world by population density, with at least 3 major ethnic groups and no major ethnic
conflicts.
We were so lucky - Malaysian Grand Prix was scheduled for 4 April, and certainly we could not skip it. Not that I was a big fan of races, but there was a concert after the race, with Wyclef Jean and Fatboy Slim. As for Thierry, he enjoyed the race and even shaked hands with Jenson Button.
Amazing thing happened on our way back to Kuala Lumpur. When we got to the train station, the station officer told us that we missed the last train... and after that, having seen our upset faces and other tourists coming up, he said he would make a phone call. In about 20 minutes we had a train sent specially for us, the racegoers. Did it happen to you in any other country?
A huge, endless line to get autographs, the session lasted only for an hour. We did not make it.
If you are in Kuala Lumpur, make sure you visit Batu Caves, one of the most popular Hindu temples outside India. It is within a short bus-ride (and now there is a new train line available up to the cave) from Kuala Lumpur.
The caves are located inside a limestone hill covered with trees. To enter the main cave, we climbed 272 narrow steps. Lord Murugan statue in front of the cave is breath-taking: 42.7 m high covered with gold paint, this statue overlooks the city below and makes you feel so tiny... The area around the caves is full of monkeys that are in tourist business - they love stealing things from tourists!
Here is a valuable advice: though Kuala Lumpur is free of mosquitoes, there are plenty of flying vampires inside the caves, so a repellent is a good thing to have with you.
The gate to the caves:
I fell in love with
this city immediately. When I hear its name, it sounds for me like a melody coming
from a xylophone, “Ku-a-la-lum-pur”. And when I look at the buildings near Merdeka square or close to China town, I think of sweets - those caramel colors are... mouth-watering. Add modern buildings made of glass and steel, and you will have an idea of this vibrant city.
We stayed in Little India (yep, could not say goodbye to India!), which is only a few blocks away from China Town. Kuala Lumpur has a very efficient public transportation network, including metro and monorail lines. However, if you stay close to the city center, you may not need public transport that much, as the city is fairly walkable. English is widely spoken, and we had no problems at all (even a lady at the post office was fluent in English).
