Mister Fred went on holiday to Malaysia

[mr Fred]

2005 and my first wander into Asia

[mr Fred]

When I first went I was a fat bastard.
I loved trying new restaurants. This one is in Ipoh, north Malaysia.

[mr Fred]

The Indian food in Brickfields, KL is great.

[mr Fred]

You meet strange people in restaurants.

[mr Fred]

You don't mess with the gold shops there. They tend to be on the same street in any given town and each one has a bloke like this outside.





Those things are loaded.

[mr Fred]

I got dragged into an Indian wedding.

[Chairman Mao]

Originally Posted by mr Fred

Those things are loaded.

Pretty easy to disarm too. Not even strapped on. One kick in the nuts and it falls to the ground.


good pics though.

Might well go for an Indian tonight.

[jizzybloke]

Originally Posted by mr Fred

I got dragged into an Indian wedding.

They all look so happy and smiley

[Loy Toy]

I love the Indian food in Malaysia and eat it every day and if I am in the Bangsa Baru area.

Malaysian food on the other hand doesn't ring my bells.

[mr Fred]

Originally Posted by jizzybloke

They all look so happy and smiley

I noticed that in Malaysia. Bit general here but the Malay and Chinese always seemed to be smiling but the Indians were always miserable sods. Most of the Indian areas were tourist unfriendly. No idea why.
In the UK I found the Indians to be a really friendly bunch. I wonder what the difference is.

[mr Fred]

Buddhist festival in KL, 2005

[Cenovis]

Looks like Buddha is still alive

Nice report, I like Malaysia

[mr Fred]

I love Malaysia and KL is one of the few large cities I've been to that I could enjoy living in.

KL is Malaysian for muddy confluence, the meeting place of two rivers where the tin miners set up shop looking for tin.
Of course the rivers are still there but I bet the old Chinese miners would never remember the place if they saw it today.
This is where it all started.

[mr Fred]

Merdeka square is symbolic for Malays as the place they celebrate their independence.
The flagpole is 100m tall.

[mr Fred]

Those buildings on the left light up well at night

[mr Fred]

Of course the most famous building in KL has to be the twin towers but I saw and went up the KL tower first.



You get a little headset telling that tells yo about the various bits of history surrounding the tower.
Nice views too.





And of course a view of the more famous twin towers.

[Prijaji]

Originally Posted by mr Fred

I noticed that in Malaysia. Bit general here but the Malay and Chinese always seemed to be smiling but the Indians were always miserable sods. Most of the Indian areas were tourist unfriendly. No idea why.
In the UK I found the Indians to be a really friendly bunch. I wonder what the difference is.

I expect it's the old "father feed 'em all system" in the UK. Malaysia just can't compete with the UK benefits system.

[Happyman]

Originally Posted by Chairman Mao

Pretty easy to disarm too. Not even strapped on. One kick in the nuts and it falls to the ground.


good pics though.

Might well go for an Indian tonight.

Reminds me of the classic Jack Dee story.

" Went out last night on the piss with some of my mates- went for an Indian afterwards- dunno why , we just went for him !"

[phomsanuk]

Last time I had a drink in the bar at the top of the towers they were having a parachuting contest from the floor above dropping right outside the window.

[slimboyfat]

Originally Posted by Prijaji

I expect it's the old "father feed 'em all system" in the UK. Malaysia just can't compete with the UK benefits system.

I don't think the Malaysian Chinese are particularly smiley either. I think its more to do with the fact that there is positive discrmination of the Malays. They are generally lazy and poorly educated, and yet the Chinese and Indians must have a Malay director of their business (who just sits back, 'relacks one corner and shakes his leg', and collects a nice fee) while the industrious Chinese or Indian has to bust his balls to make ends meet.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bumiputera_(Malaysia)

[mr Fred]

Originally Posted by slimboyfat

I don't think the Malaysian Chinese are particularly smiley either. I think its more to do with the fact that there is positive discrmination of the Malays. They are generally lazy and poorly educated, and yet the Chinese and Indians must have a Malay director of their business (who just sits back, 'relacks one corner and shakes his leg', and collects a nice fee) while the industrious Chinese or Indian has to bust his balls to make ends meet.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bumiputera_(Malaysia)

That is sadly true to a great extent. Malaysia is a funny country with some strange ideas to my eyes but they are trying to keep harmony in a really difficult situation.
It's (sort of) working (ish).
However my experience is at ground level really. I was meeting 'real' people in whatever situation from a drink in a bar to just wandering around the country doing whatever we tourists do.
With the Chinese section of the population I have advantages anyway. I knew a lot of them from the UK so was invited to meet families in Malaysia and wander around with them. Speaking a little Mandarin was also very helpful.
I suppose only I could end up going to a place and ending up with a mention in the national press and in a documentary aired on national TV.
More about that when the time comes.

Now I have solved my photobucket problem I'll start again.
Sorry about the gap in posting. Things have been busy so not have much time to do things.

No trip to KL would be complete without a wander to the twin towers.



You have to get up very early in the morning but they sort out trips to the skybridge.
You only get to see the bottom level as the top is used by the businesses resident in the towers. The bridge interior is plain and nothing to write home about.



The views are a bit better







What a lot of people don't know is there is a large shopping centre at the there complete with cinema and everything else would expect in a modern centre.

[mr Fred]

Shopping can be fun in KL.

[mr Fred]

The Batu caves are a must to visit.



You have to climb the steps.





Watching out for any monkey that will pinch anything they can get hold of in case it's food.



Don't know if anyone has ever slipped.

[mr Fred]

The first thing you see inside.
Looks like it will be a bit of a waste of time climbing.



Then it gets interesting



Until you see you have to do a few more stairs



And see a lot more little KWs



But the main cave is pretty bloody spectacular

[mr Fred]

I don't have any photos of the national police museum but it's one of those 'must see' places for the lads while you are in the city.