Kuala Lumpur Day 2

May 31, 2018

After some good rest and good food, we began our second morning with a tour of the city.
First stop, a Batek factory.

Each piece of cloth is hand drawn and hand painted.

This artist is outlining the flowers with a melted wax solution that will later dissolve during the processing of the fabric and leave a white outline around the design.  It was amazing to watch how quickly he worked!
(*Interestingly, they did not allow photos in the factory of the beautiful and colorful finished pieces.) 

Iconic Kuala Lumpur skyline with the twin Petronas Towers and the KL Tower 

The "new" Royal Palace- (built in 2011) 

Palace Guard

Similar to Britain, Malaysia has a parliamentary system of government with the Prime Minister as the head of the government and the monarchy as the head of state.  Here, they are called Sultans instead of king and are the head of state as well as the head of the religion of Islam.

The National Monument-Tugu Negara

This bronze structure commemorates those who died in Malaysia's struggle for freedom-
it was designed by the same sculptor who created the Marine Corps War (Iwo Jima) Memorial in the US.

The National Mosque-
It was closed to non-Muslim tourists when we visited as they were having special prayers during the month of Ramadan.

The Sultan Abdul Samad Building & clock tower-
one of the oldest landmarks in the city and the former seat of the British colonial government, now houses the Supreme & High Courts of Malaysia

Directly across from the Sultan Abdul Building is Merdeka (merdeka means independence) Square-
It was here, at midnight on August 31, 1957, where Malaysia celebrated its independence and raised the Malayan flag for the very first time.
*Our guide explained to us that any Malay child born on this date gets special "payments" from the government for the rest of their lives. 

Where the two rivers meet...
Kuala Lumpur actually means "muddy confluence" or "muddy river junction"
Right here at the mosque is where the Klang & Gombak rivers meet & the city got it's name.

Close up of the impressive gleaming Petronas Towers-
tourists can book a ticket to the skybridge on the 41st floor for a view of the city but we  had other plans...

We met dear friends Pradip & Judith for a a very special dinner...

...atop the KL tower at the 360 revolving restaurant!!
We enjoyed a delicious buffet of local specialties with a marvelous view of the city.

It was a wonderful evening and a very special way to end our day-
Thank you Pradip & Judith for traveling to the city to join us!