Kuala Lumpur

Kuala Lumpur was a few days ago but I remembered today that I wanted to talk about its City Center. I am a big fan. We spent two days walking around it and I was impressed. Specifically there are two items that I was impressed by; its transit and its layout.

First of all you can walk around the city center in the daytime and not realize that you are in a major international city. There are so few people around and hardly any cars. The actual city center is a large park with beautiful landscaping, fountains, a gigantic playground and water-park. There is also a 1.3 kilometer walkway surrounding it that has a built-in track for jogging. The track isn't just flat but goes up and down some mild hills and there is a lot to see while jogging making it an interesting place to jog.

Surrounding the park are the Petronas towers (which are stunning both in the day and night), the convention center (which houses the aquarium) the central shopping center (which is connected to the convention center by an underground walkway), the national Mosque and a number of interesting and beautifully designed buildings. From there the rest of Kuala Lumpur spreads out. I do mean it when I say spreads out because the city goes on for a long ways but I also mean that it is spread out in that the skyscrapers are not clumped all in one section of the city but several and there are patches of green that are just undeveloped; not landscaped or turned into parks, just wild growth. There are also other large parks placed sporadically throughout the city with bird and butterfly sanctuaries to go to. It is delightful to see.

KL's transit system is also awe inspiring. There is a monorail and buses covering a vast expanse of destinations. There is also a free bus system for the city center which was very handy for us. My most favorite part though is that in the city center connecting the major destinations is an above ground, air conditioned, security patrolled, walkway. It made everything more convenient on our trips into town. We did not have to worry about crossing the street, extreme heat, heavy rains, or getting lost. What a great idea.

Though it doesn't feel crowded during the day, at night the city starts bustling. People and vehicles come out in multitudes, the city is lit up, the restaurants are packed full. It has been like that in many SEA countries; during the day it is too hot to go out but at night the cities come alive.