Malaysia
Population: 23,953,136
Population Density: 65.06 per sq/km
Life Expectancy: 70.8 years
Average Income: $3,540/yr
Fact: Michael Jordan makes more money from Nike annually than all of the Nike factory workers in Malaysia combined.
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A Day in Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia - August 08, 2006
The stunning Petronas Twin Towers.Our time in Malaysia has unfortunately become more of a quick stopover as we continue our transit to Thailand from Singapore. We spent the day in Malaysia's largest city and capital, Kuala Lumpur.
The immediate impression that hits you arriving into Kuala Lumpur is that this city is ready for something big. I did not discover until after visiting that the country actually has a set of written goals to become a first-world nation by 2020, as well as developing Kuala Lumpur into a "World-Class City."
The physical landscape of KL has changed drastically in the last 15-20 years with the emergence of numerous mega-projects including the Petronas Twin Towers, once the tallest building(s) in the world. The towers were quite possibly the most beautiful structures both of us have ever seen, inside and out. Inspiration for the design of the towers came from motifs found in Islamic art, a reflection of Malaysia's Muslim heritage (By constitutional definition, all Malays are Muslim).
During our visit to the Petronas Towers we saw many tourists from all over the world. Coming from America where dress codes are nearly nonexistent (outside of a boarding school) it was a bit of a shock to see the clothing worn by many of the visiting middle eastern women. Even in the incredibly hot and humid weather, many of the Arab women wore black chadors that hid all but their eyes. The chadors had no hand openings or closures. The garments themselves attracted a bit of attention, but not nearly to the degree of the contrasting oddity of seeing the nonexistent dress code of their accompanying men (ie. Tshirts, shorts and sandals) in the same setting. It was honestly a lot to take in, and I felt as if I had been teleported backward several hundred years back in history (minus the fact that Starbucks and 7-11 probably weren't around). Speaking of 7-11, they are absolutely everywhere...possibly even around the same magnitude as McDonalds. Who knew they were such a global force in the quickie mart industry?!
We'll continue our journey tonight towards the border Thailand, where we'll then settle in Hat Yai for a few days in order to try and find and purchase used motorcycles for our trek through SE Asia.
New Batch of Photos!
Malaysia - August 07, 2006
New photos have just been posted for the Great Barrier Reef, Singapore and Malaysia. Photo descriptions will be coming in the next few days.
