Two busy days in a row. The ship docked at the closest port to Kuala Lumpur (usually just called KL), and it is about a 1.5 hour drive into the city. So if we wanted to see anything of interest, we had to take the tour bus. For this final stop on the cruise, we decided to skip the cultural stuff and go right for the shopping. We really haven’t been doing much shopping on this trip and so we thought we needed to look at trinkets.
Once again, Malaysia comes through as a vibrant, bustling place -- modern with traditional accents, all with considerable Chinese, Indonesian, and Malaysian styles. In general, I would recommend visiting Malaysia.
Our tour drove us around the city center for a bit and stopped for us to take some obligatory photos of famous buildings, then stopped at an indoor arts and crafts market. The market was 3 floors, each about the size of a football field, and we were allowed about 45 minutes to shop. (That kind of power shopping is not very fun -- there was not enough time to enjoy looking.) The place was a feast for the eyes and we enjoyed wandering around. There was a stall with mounted and framed beetles and butterflies and moths in extraordinary colors (couldn’t figure out how to get one home in good shape and besides, I’m not so sure I really want a 6-inch long green beetle on my wall). There were batiks and silks and antiques and interesting looking candies and little silk zippered bags and so much more. As a side note, I went to the WC where there was a turnstile into which you put your Malaysian 50 cents and the guard at the turnstile handed me 3 squares of toilet paper. Note: Remember when I recommended to always carry a small plastic bag with some toilet paper? This is why.
Next we were whisked off to Chinatown and let loose in the open air Chinese market. The market consisted of several blocks-long of small stalls. All the stalls sold knock-off designer label handbags or shoes or clothing made in and shipped from China. We were allowed 1.5 hours to shop. MY SISTER AND I FOUND THIS TO BE A VERY UNFORTUNATE CHOICE OF DESTINATION ON THE PART OF THE TOUR COMPANY AND ON THE PART OF THE CRUISE LINE TO SUPPORT SUCH A DECISION. Knock-off goods are theft, plain and simple, and I will not spend money on such items. So we strolled quickly down the market and then stood around for awhile in the heat, along with several other people on the tour. We finally noticed behind us a small tea stall with traditional carved wood barrel-shaped stools and tables, so we sat down and ordered 5-flower hot tea (that was about the only choice). I thought the tea tasted unpleasant but it allowed us to sit and fan ourselves while waiting for over an hour.
Our last stop was at a major mega-mall, at which we had about 50 minutes to eat lunch in the food court and then shop. Now, I’m not a major fan of walking around shopping malls in the first place, and this was no exception. But I guess it was worth it for those people who don’t have access to good prices for electronics, cosmetics, and the like. I slept most of the way on the bus ride back.
One interesting note is that our tour guide was a 3rd-generation Malaysian but calls herself Chinese because her grandfather came from China and the family has maintained the Chinese traditions. With that sort of adherence to ethnic identification, how can a country truly meld different peoples into one nation? (This same question holds true for the United States as well, and for many other nations.)
Once back on the ship, exhausted and hot, we faced dinner and then packing because we were scheduled to arrive in Singapore early in the morning. I must confess that I had to break out my extra duffel bag to get everything packed!
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