#  >  > Travellers Tales in Thailand and Asia >  >  > Malaysia Forum >  >  Bustak in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

## bustak

I just got back from a GREAT vacation in KL, Malaysia. I meet-up w/ a friend from BKK, ate some great food (Indian, Chinese, Bangladeshi, and a damn expensive burger), meet some nice people from all over this globe, but the thing that made it so GREAT is I bought a new camera!

It's the camera I've been talking about for the past 8 months & that's the Panasonic Lumix LX3! 

Wow wow wow! I bought it at a hi-so mall near the Petronas Twin Towers. Here's the 3rd picture I took with it:


I named my new baby Sylvia (they didn't have the black model, they only had the silver one).

I took a lot more pictures w/ my Canon dSLR, but I'm having a lot of fun playing around w/ the LX3 pictures, so I'm going to post some of those 1st.

this is where I stayed in KL:


It's a great GH, the staff is superb, meet some really nice people, good location (Chinatown), it's clean & very welcoming. If I was to go to KL again without the gf I would stay here in a heart beat.

Here are a few random night shots of KL, mainly in Chinatown:
















I was really surprised by the openly gay & ladyboys in KL, here are a few pretty boys hanging out near the towers:


here's a couple of notes at the GH:


if you don't want to read the notes, I'll sum it up for you. Becareful around black guys in Malaysia.

I was walking around drinking some beer with this nice kid from Germany & we ran into someone we meet earlier that day & he asked us if we wanted to see an old Chinese Temple. We were like sure. Unfortunatly we couldn't see the inside (it was 2-3 in the morning, so it was closed  :Smile:  ) I snapped this one:


in KL there aren't a lot of street dogs, so it was surprising to see this little pooch:


she was a sweet little girl. It was sad, she wanted us to pet her, so she'd come really close, but would get scared when we raised our hand. So who know's what her past is w/ humans.

another night I heard some ominous sounding Indian music playing, I looked at a dark parking lot, & there was a red Hindu shrine in the back. So I snapped a quick picture, I was a little spooked:


This guy maintained the shrine, so I talked to him for a while:


The following night I saw him again, so I snapped another photo of him:


he had a pretty good coin collection, I wish I had some American, or Thai coins to give him.

Well that's it for now, I'll post more later.

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## boatboy

Cool pic's
thanks

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## Begbie

Your pictures are always unusual. Thanks

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## DrAndy

> here's a couple of notes at the GH: if you don't want to read the notes, I'll sum it up for you. Becareful around black guys in Malaysia.


That is good with a guesthouse called "The Reggae GH"

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## mistakurtz

great pics.  what sold you on the camera??  the leica lense?

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## bustak

^ many things sold me on the camera, the Leica lens was a biggy, f/2.0! WOW!

thanks for the nice comments & the greens.

Here are a few photos taken w/ my Canon 450d, I really love that camera too!.

this is such a beautiful building:






we went to see the Batu Caves, just outside of the dt area. We bought some flowers from this lady:




there were monkeys outside & inside the caves. One of the little buggers grabbed the flowers we bought & ate them!:








I snapped this portrait inside of the temple, just outside of the cave.


here are a few more pictures around KL:


this man was reluctant to have his photo taken, so I told him that his mug was to beautiful not to have his picture taken, so he agreed to this photo. I think I was right:




this man stopped me in my tracks:






more to come later.

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## cimboc

Well done mate, we're looking at paying KL a visit later in the year - boy those towers looks impressive!

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## bustak

I'm going to mix 450d & LX3 pictures together. The wide screen pictures are the LX3, & the 3:2 ones are the 450d.

I met these Bangladeshi gentlemen in the Bangladesh area of KL. They worked in a restaurant that served some delicious food!


this guy was a real character, I took a bunch of photos of him:
















the train system in KL is awesome:






this guy was a real survivor, he sold chicken/beef satay on the side of the road:


he's originally from Afghanistan, had a bunch of his family killed in the Afghan/Russian war, lived in Pakistan for 10 years, a couple of years in Malaysia, & in 2 months he's going to live in America, under the status of being a refugee. He's only 26, but has done a lot of living in those years.

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## Loy Toy

Fantastic work Bustak and I always enjoy your art. Breathtaking photos of the Towers mate! 

We are lucky to have you and bobcock as members here!  :Smile:

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## astasinim

Superb photos. They always inspire me to keep trying to get a decent shot, and try different things.

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## Happyman

> I was really surprised by the openly gay & ladyboys in KL, here are a few pretty boys hanging out near the towers:


It may be of interest to some TD members that in Malaysia they are known as "Butterflies" !! :rofl:

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## bustak

here are a few more:


I went to the National Mosque. I had to wear a maroon robe:


this is one of many wonderful Indian resturants in KL:


it was one of those places where you eat w/ your hand. I opted for a spoon & fork.



















here's a cliché shot from the window of my Air Asia flight back to Chiang Mai:


here's a not so cliché shot of the person's hand a few rows infront of me:


These are the shots that caught my eye, maybe I'll add more in the future. I hope this is an interesting glance of KL, Malaysia.

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## Marmite the Dog

My mum always cuts the heads off her photographic subjects too.

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## phuketbound

Really awesome photos, Bustak. I like how you take the locals. I think you learn so much about a place from mingling with the locals. The way you photographed the buildings is also fantastic. That new camera of yours is wicked! I see why you like it so much. I look forward to seeing more pics.

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## somtamslap

> Really awesome photos, Bustak.


Agree with that. Really good pics. I loved KL too, you can buy Guinness in the local shops!!

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## Bobcock

When I first went to Kuala lumpur in 1987 the balcony on the bottom right of the picture under the minaret was my hotel bedroom balcony.

It was huge, biggest and highest hotel room I've ever seen, with next to nothing in it.

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## tjyflhol

> My mum always cuts the heads off her photographic subjects too.


Sure sign of a serial killer.

Great pics Bustak.

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## Cujo

Great job, thanks for sharing. I love Malaysia, a really nice mix of people and no one's got and edge.

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## bustak

> Originally Posted by Marmite the Dog
> 
> 
> My mum always cuts the heads off her photographic subjects too.
> 
> 
> Sure sign of a serial killer.


in MtD's mum's case, she's the mother of a serial killer.  :Smile:

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## Marmite the Dog

> Originally Posted by tjyflhol
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
>  Originally Posted by Marmite the Dog
> ...


You spelt cereal wrong.

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## WujouMao

you got some great photo's there mate. i'm always too worried abot sticking my camera in people faces and offending them by taking their photo's, even if they are taking a kip. 

as for the black men, i have a filipina friend who is a care worker there. she told me just last week, 2 filipina maids were murdered by black men who they met at Church on sundays. those bastards go to any length just to get their girls

when did you go to Batu caves? there is a good Indian festival called Thaipusan on the 1st of feb. its banned in India which i find rather strange. i would of thought it would be banned in Malaysia

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## bustak

we went to the caves during Songkran, last year. They were pretty cool, except for the naughty monkeys trying to steal my camera case.

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## Happyman

Took me ages to climb those bloody steps last time I went there and had to make several "get your breath back" stops !!!!!

Not really surprising 'cos I am an unfit fat old bugger who smokes !!!  :smiley laughing:

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## Seekingasylum

Describing assailants as ' black men ' is a bit vague, to say the least. Is this a  veiled reference to Nigerians or other African dross? I saw a few in Penang - awful bunch and to be avoided. Most are stranded illegal migrant scum and looking for duff documents to get into the West but lack the money to pay the traffickers.

Quite why the Malaysians don't simply shovel them up or shoot them is beyond me.

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## DrAndy

> we went to the caves during Songkran, last year. They were pretty cool, except for the naughty monkeys trying to steal my camera case.


 
as was said, the best time to go is during Thaipusam, weird and wonderful, I have been three times and each time am amazed

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## mr Fred

> Took me ages to climb those bloody steps last time I went there and had to make several "get your breath back" stops !!!!!
> 
> Not really surprising 'cos I am an unfit fat old bugger who smokes !!!


Don't know if it's still there and any good but the reggae bar was next to the reggae guest house.
In 2006 I climbed the steps to the temple. Hard climb made worse by the sodding monkeys trying to pinch my can of coke.
Two days later I was talking to an Irish lad in the reggae bar who had been up there that day.
He was proud of himself because he had counted the steps and knew how many there were.
He seemed pissed off when I told him they were numbered on the middle section.

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## Happyman

Couple of comments re Batu Caves

They were the scene of a massacre of 18  Malays by the Japanese who then used the caves as officers quarters.

During the 'Emergency' before independence ( The fighting against the British was never referred to as a war as that would have caused all insurance policies for the rubber estates etc to be void ! ) the side caves - half way up on the left hand side of the steps at Batu were the main ammunition and supply depots for the ' insurgents '!

These can be visited by prior arrangement and are like an underground 'condo'  :Smile:

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## nikster

Great pix - I feel better now having to go to KL next week. Visa run ...

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## porno frank

Excellent great picture taking on the city of kuala lumpur.

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## pescator

> you got some great photo's there mate. i'm always too worried abot sticking my camera in people faces and offending them by taking their photo's, even if they are taking a kip.


Yeah, me too.
Especially in a muslim country.
I recall travelling through Morocco at one time.
Every time I pulled out my cam, although not directly pointed at people, they would still flap their hands and go: Non, non! 
Well, at least I got at half decent picture of a camel who didn`t object...

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## Jools

Bustak, as usual, your photos are top drawer!! Makes me want to  book a flight for KL. Looks like your choice of camera was a good one. I always enjoy your pics.

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