The flight from Sihanoukville to KL was uneventful. The airport (KUL) is about 50km from the centre of KL and took just under an hour in our taxi to get to our friends’ house. The roads of KL are as well groomed as a hipster’s hair cut; but somewhat cleaner. We did not see a single piece of litter for the entire drive, in stark contrast to the roads we had just left in Cambodia.
Our friends live in Bukit Damansara, a lovely neighbourhood about 5kms to the west of the city centre. Their stylish tropical-modern house they built themselves, is open plan with white terrazzo floors, flooded with light from the large expanse of windows overlooking the city.
By now, without access to a washing machine, nor the means to fully dry clothes, hand-washed in the shower, we were all getting a bit stale and mildewy. Our hosts immediately arranged for our laundry to be done and fed us our first of many delicious meals. We rejoiced at the luxury of meaningful WiFi, functioning air-con, a fridge with cold beer and nasi lemak for breakfast; civilization.
KL is the heart of a conurbation of 7.5 million residents and prides itself as a city of contrasts and diversity. Islam is the major religion in Malaysia (about 60%) but there are also large Buddhist, Christian and Hindu populations. The country recognizes the major festivals and celebrations for each, making for a steady flow of national and local holidays throughout the year.
The crowing Koh Rong cockerels were replaced by Fajr, the first call to prayer of the day. The mosque was just a block away and woke the girls up frightened, not knowing what was that haunting sound in the dark.
Thaipusam at Batu Caves
We had arrived a couple of days before the Hindu festival of Thaipusam, celebrated by Tamils in KL at Batu Caves. Thai is the name of the month and Pusam, the name of a star, which is at its highest point during the festival. It recalls when Parvati gave Murugan a Vel “spear” to defeat Soorapadman, the evil demon.
The Batu Caves are in Gombak, Selangor, to the north of KL. It was only as recently as 1890 that the caves were dedicated to Lord Murugan with a murti (consecrated statue). They are now the largest Hindu site outside of India. There are 272 steps leading up to the Temple Cave and during the festival devotees ascend these carrying milk in containers called kavadi to offer to Lord Murugan. Some of these can get incredibly elaborate, weigh up to 100kg and are supported on sharp metal vel skewers that pierce the skin, others choose to also dangle many tens of limes on hooks piercing the skin. The body piercing part all seems a little bit competitive as to who can endure the most, but I am assured that when in the trance, they feel no pain.
A devotee climbing the steps on his knees
Devotees on the steps about halfway there
A devotee with Vel spear through his cheeks and possibly tongue also
Peacock feathers and other offerings at the shrine at the top
On recommendation, we went the day before the main craziness when the crowds would swell to a million: about eight Coachellas or Glastonurys confined in a small suffocating space in the tropics. There was still much to see. The festival was set up and ready to roll with a steady trickle of kavardi bearing devotees already making the pilgrimage, some with vel skewers through their cheeks.
Statue of Hanuman, the monkey god
At the base is a temple complex including a large statue of Hanuman, the monkey god. Standing over the steps to the caves is a 42.7m high statue of Lord Murugan, the tallest statue of him in the world. Despite the heat, the steps were not too bad for those us of us not carrying several gallons of milk.
There are many macaques that live by the caves. They are very cheeky and steal food right from the backpacks of bewildered tourists. We saw one guy get pick-pocketed for snacks right in the middle of the steps. He foolishly reached out to touch the monkey and was rewarded with a terrifying snarl. He backed off immediately. The monkey didn’t budge.
At the top, the first Temple Cave is a vast cavern, long and high. This leads up to a second higher level with a shrine lit up by an opening to the sky 50m above. Jungle spills over the rim into the hole. A good few chickens thrive here, fed by bounty from devotee offerings and tourists, they are tame and can be picked up.
The main cavern with upper level in the distance behind 
Shrine at the top
The jungle spilling over into the top level
Looking up at the opening above the shrine
We descended slowly, watching the spectacle and enjoying some shade. The last preparations were arriving in the form of numerous stretchers borne by volunteers from the Red Crescent, hinting at the chaotic scenes that would ensue when the hordes of elaborate kavadi arrived the next day in their deep trances.
The promise of fun from exotic far away lands
Back at the base, despite the promise of exotic fairgrounds from far off lands, street food and market stalls, the sun was unrelenting and heat was unbearable. We found our driver and headed to the mall for some food.
Like all of South East Asia, KL boasts many large malls, not quite on a par with China or the Philippines for size, but far larger and more frequent than what you find in North America or Europe. Some of the best restaurants can be found in the malls, which were decked out for Chinese New Year. Beautiful arrays of flowers and lanterns filled the entrances and atria.
Pavilion mall decorated for Chinese New Year
Mid-Vally Mall decorated for Chinese New Year
KL is a modern buzzing global node with people from all over the world living, working, playing or passing through. As if to prove this, we met up with our friend Arv, over from Vancouver, who had a couple of days spare to hang out and eat.
The diversity of cultures in KL is also embodied in the endless options for delicious and interesting food. Our hosts toured us through meal after meal of amazing flavours. We ate roti canai and nasi lemak wrapped in banana leaves for breakfast followed by an array of Cantonese, Shanghainese, Malaysian, Italian, North Indian, Korean BBQ, Japanese, Malaccan Eurasian for lunches and dinners; even finding Yemeni, Syrian and Indian street food when fending for ourselves. Our belts were constantly loosened to make room for more. I don’t remember being hungry.
Royal Selangor Pewter Factory
One day we visited the Royal Selangor Pewter Factory for chicken rice lunch. The visitor centre is excellent, with an interactive exhibition outlining the history and manufacturing process of pewter. Pewter is mostly tin, with some copper, antinomy and bismuth alloys. The city was first founded by the tin miners’ settlements in the mid-nineteenth century and grew from there. Royal Selangor Pewter is a large part of KL’s DNA.
Getting ready to create
We had visited a few years before and enjoyed bashing out a pewter bowl each in the ‘School of Hard Knocks’. They have since added ‘The Foundry.’ This is an even better hands-on experience using molten pewter to craft your own souvenir. You don a heavy-duty apron and heat resistant gloves before starting.
There are several circular steel work stations with a pot of molten pewter at the centre. You take a small ingot attached to a steel rod and can pour or drip it into shapes. The pewter hardens almost immediately, making it easy to work with. If you are not satisfied with your creation you simply melt it back into the molten pewter and start again. We could have stayed there all day.
The DT Design Collective
I made this piece of jewelry by melting lines of pewter and connecting them with drips in a criss-cross pattern and bending it around a form.
The Millennium Falcon in pewter (not made by me, just in case you were wondering)
In the shop there are some incredible things for sale. We were all taken by the Star Wars collection, especially Luke Skywalker’s light sabre document holder. I’d love to turn up to a client presentation and pull out the proposed plans from this. Yours for >CAD $450. There are even cast dioramas of scenes from the movies with incredible attention to detail.
Luke Skywalker pewter light sabre document holder
KL Skyline
KL has many tall buildings. Its skyline is constantly changing, rising up confidently with towers stretching to the horizon. The Petronas Twin Towers were the tallest in the world from 1998 to 2004. They held the title of tallest building in Malaysia until late last year when they were surpassed by the Exchange 106, still under construction, which will be 492m tall when completed. Another tower, Merdeka PNB118, will be higher than this by some way at 644m when completed in 2024.
The Petronas Twin Towers and Exchange106 (under construction Feb 2018)
KL never disappoints for food, friends, sightseeing and shopping and made plans to return on our way back from Thailand, where we were headed next. Koh Samui was calling.
an errant architect 