Batu Caves, Kuala Lumpur

Singapore 59 - Kuala Lumpur

As is always the case for any trip we do, it soon became all about food – whether street food or in restaurants!! I couldn’t resist a Banana Prata at the caves… and then in the evening, as our hotel was opposite a popular shopping mall, there was plenty of choice and we ended up in a Thai restaurant; the food really was very good😊.

The second day, we travelled to Malacca, one of the oldest cities of Malaysia. Originally a fishing port in the 1400s it became part of a trading empire for ships passing through the Straits, with a daughter of the Chinese Ming Dynasty coming to marry the Malaysian Sultanate. The Portuguese took control in 1511, followed by the Dutch in 1641 and the British in 1824, so Malacca has a rich and interesting history. The town square is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

For the final day, we stayed in KL itself, and went to the most famous tourist landmarks, the Petronas Twin Towers for the obligatory view across the city. Amazing how small big buildings look from the top! The towers were designed by Argentine architect Cesar Pelli, and each tower was built by a different company, one Korean, and one Japanese! Excavation began in 1993, with the towers completed in 1997. They were the tallest in the world from 1998 to 2004.

That ended our weekend in Kuala Lumpur – hope you enjoyed the pics! Next report is also from Malaysia, another weekend away – this time to the island of Penang…

Keep in touch!

Trevor, Shanhong & Teddy xx

Singapore 60 - Penang

Next stop was Kek Lok Si Temple. Built in 1891, this is a large temple complex, where Mahayana Buddhism and traditional Chinese rituals blend into a harmonious whole, both in terms of architecture, and the activities of worshipers.

What Georgetown is famous for, however, is Street Art. To make strolling through Georgetown’s streets a little more interesting, in 2012 the Penang municipal council hired London-trained Lithuanian artist, Ernest Zacharevic to spawn awareness of the rich history of the streets through Art. So, our next ‘stop’ was to take a rickshaw cycle through some of the streets of central Georgetown to see some of the different works.

That last pic was actually an ice-cream of sorts – a local ‘delicacy’ and quite delicious! We finished our visit to Penang by simply following the bus route through town, seeing some ‘points of interest’ and ending with street food in one of the best-known hawker centres, (and Chillis’s on another day!).

So, there you have our trip to Penang! Hope you enjoyed it. No more trips now until the Summer – when we will be back in the UK.   Take care and keep in touch,   Trevor, Shanhong & Teddy xx