Hello again! Here is the latest installment of my Malaysia trip with my sisters. We basically just stayed and explored Kuala Lumpur as I shared in my previous post.
Kuala Lumpur has a year-round tropical climate which is warm and sunny, which makes it an ideal place to visit. Temperatures tend to become constant throughout the year, which ranges from 22-33 degrees Celcius.
Like I said in my previous article, I went with my two sisters, one older, and one younger. My younger sister used to work in Malaysia, and she still has friends there, who used to be her colleagues.
Another place we visited is the Batu Caves. Batu Caves is an iconic and popular tourist attraction in Selangor.
We took the train in the morning from KL, and the journey took around 30 minutes. Very few people were in the train, perhaps because it was a weekday and not a lot of people travel out of KL.
This was what we saw upon arrival in Batu Caves. A giant Buddha statue and lots and lots of pigeons.
Not sure why there are a lot of pigeons, but then a lot of tourists feed them, so perhaps that's why they congregate in the area and are not afraid of people at all.
The cave is located at the top of the stairs, and if you don't have strong legs, this place is not for you. My older sister complained of knee pain after we visited the cave.
Ready to climb with me? We were all smiles still, curious as to what we will see up top. Let's go!
Along the way there were several monkeys, and they are not afraid of people at all. In fact, they wait for food to be given to them. And one monkey snatched a pocket of tissue from my older sister and she shrieked so loud I almost slapped her arm for causing a commotion, ha ha ha, because there is a temple on top, and we should respect it, even if we are not followers of that religion.
Can you spot the monkeys on the rock wall? There are several of them. And they were also noisy but quite cute.
This has got to be the cutest of them all. And it seems that he was posing for the camera, especially since he was perched on one of the balusters of the stairs. Adorable monkey.
The stairs with not a lot of people. My sister is trying to wave from up top but she is just a blob up there, ha ha ha!
We get to the top and this is what we see. There is actually a Buddhist temple inside, but I did not take any pictures and neither did I go near. We also did not stay long, as the smell of incense burning was making me feel nauseous.
Inside is a crater, or I'm not sure if I can call it that, but whatever, there is a hole from the top of the mountain that allows sunlight to come in, hence some natural light.
There were some souvenirs for sale there as well, but we did not buy any, as they did not suit our tastes.
I liked seeing these though, although I did not ask if they were on sale. Most probably they were, but I did not want to start another collection of things, so I left them alone.
We got thirsty after climbing the stairs so once we came back down, we bought a coconut and drank its juice.
This is the view from the top. That is Selangor, but we did not look around in the area.
We had lunch somewhere, and then we took the train all the way to Putrajaya. One of my younger sister's former colleague lives there, and they kindly took us around the city in their car.
Putrajaya is Malaysia's third and latest Federal territory. It was built on an expansive marshland and former palm oil estate in Selangor, the city is 25 kilometers from Kuala Lumpur. Putrajaya is the federal administrative center of Malaysia. The seat of government was shifted from KL to Putrajaya in 1999 because of overcrowding and congestion there. Kuala Lumpur remains the capital of Malaysia, and is the seat of the King, the Parliament, all the foreign embassies, as well as the country's financial and commercial center.
Excuse the poses, ha ha. The fourth lady is my sister's friend, and they took us around the city in their car, so it was easy moving from one place to another. The building behind us is the Perdana Putra, which is the Office of the Prime Minister of Malaysia. The overall feel of the city is European, and the buildings have Islamic features on them. There's not much to do at the Prime Minister's Office, so we just admired the building and took several photos.
We just couldn't pass up an opportunity to do a jump shot, since we had the space and the beautiful background. Funny how both of us on the sides jumped high and the two in the middle could not, ha ha!
The PICC as it is more commonly called, is situated on Putrajaya's highest point. From the top you can see a panoramic view of the entire Putrajaya precincts. The design of the building is based on the shape of the eye of pending perak (a silver Malay royal belt buckle). The roof meanwhile, was designed similar to a folded origami to alleviate the plain roundness of the structure.
This is what it looks like at the front. Conventions, events and high security events are held at the place. It was a nice place to take pictures at, especially the sculpted plants.
This is the view from the top, and all of Putrajaya can be seen below. It is said that tourist buses like to visit the Convention Center even if there are no events because the hill it stands on provides a good photo vantage point overlooking Putrajaya.
A nearer view of the city from halfway up to the PICC. There are lakes, there are nice bridges, all in all, the planning and design is nice.
The nice thing about having a car is that we could stop anywhere we wanted and take pictures. We just had to make sure that there were no incoming traffic so as not to get hit.
See what I mean? :-) We even took pictures in the middle of the road. My sister's friend's husband was game enough to take pictures of us, bless him. The PICC is taken nicely in the background.
The streets of Putrajaya were almost devoid of any traffic though. Not sure if there are not a lot of people living in the area, or people were working and still in their offices, but traffic was almost non-existent. That's why we could stand in the middle of the road and even take a jump shot, although I will not show it anymore as I already showed one. That would be too much, I think. :-)
The pink-domed Putra Mosque was constructed with rose-tinted granite and can accommodate 15,000 worshippers at any given time. This mosque is the principal mosque of Putrajaya, and it is located right next to the Perdana Putra, or the office of the Prime Minister of Malaysia.
Facing the Putrajaya Lake, the Putra Mosque is one of Putrajaya's most distinctive landmarks. The minaret stands at 116 meters, and is apparently one of the tallest in the region. The minaret has five tiers, representing the five pillars of Islam.
In front of the mosque is a square where the flags of the federal states of Malaysia are hung.
The Putrajaya Lake is a man-made lake, located at the center of Putrajaya. The 650-hectare lake was designed to act as a natural cooling system for the city and also for recreation, fishing, water sport and water transport.
Here we get to see a glimpse of our generous driver cum photographer for the day, the husband of my sister's friend. Beyond the lake is one of Putrajaya's bridges, the Seri Wawasan bridge, which is a cable-styled bridge.
The Mahkamah Persekutuan Malaysia, or the Federal Court of Malaysia is the highest court and the final appellate court in Malaysia. It is housed in the Palace of Justice, which is the building we see in the picture. Almost all buildings in Putrajaya has the Islamic designs as it is a Islamic country.
This is the square in front of the Federal Court and other buildings in the area. Everything is clean and pretty new, so it was indeed fun taking pictures.
Perbadanan Putrajaya or Putrajaya Corporation is a local authority which administrates the Federal Territory of Putrajaya. This authority is responsible for public health and sanitation, waste removal and management, town planning, environmental protection and building control, social and economic development and general maintenance functions of urban infrastracture. Quite a lot of responsibilities, huh?
After all the sight-seeing, we were treated to a sumptuous Indian cuisine dinner by yet another one of her former colleagues. Nice way to end another busy day.
Here I'll just add some more pictures of the other places we went to as this will be the last article for the Malaysia trip. In the picture again is the Petronas Towers. This was taken at the botanical garden just outside Suria KLCC.
It's nice to walk around the area as there is a lot of grass, and quite a contrast to all the concrete all around the city. So if you want to see something green, just visit the KLCC gardens.
Whenever there is a Din Tai Fung restaurant in a city I visit, I always make it a point to go have a meal as their food is delicious. It was a shame that when we went, they did not have the pickled cucumbers. :-( You have to try their famous xiao long bao, so then you'll know what I mean.
Malaysia has a lot of delicious foods, and we just did not take a lot of pictures, they have snacks made of sticky rice and other things, but my favorite one is the Roti Boy.
Kuala Lumpur has a year-round tropical climate which is warm and sunny, which makes it an ideal place to visit. Temperatures tend to become constant throughout the year, which ranges from 22-33 degrees Celcius.
Like I said in my previous article, I went with my two sisters, one older, and one younger. My younger sister used to work in Malaysia, and she still has friends there, who used to be her colleagues.
Another place we visited is the Batu Caves. Batu Caves is an iconic and popular tourist attraction in Selangor.
We took the train in the morning from KL, and the journey took around 30 minutes. Very few people were in the train, perhaps because it was a weekday and not a lot of people travel out of KL.
 |
Not sure why there are a lot of pigeons, but then a lot of tourists feed them, so perhaps that's why they congregate in the area and are not afraid of people at all.
The cave is located at the top of the stairs, and if you don't have strong legs, this place is not for you. My older sister complained of knee pain after we visited the cave.
Ready to climb with me? We were all smiles still, curious as to what we will see up top. Let's go!
Along the way there were several monkeys, and they are not afraid of people at all. In fact, they wait for food to be given to them. And one monkey snatched a pocket of tissue from my older sister and she shrieked so loud I almost slapped her arm for causing a commotion, ha ha ha, because there is a temple on top, and we should respect it, even if we are not followers of that religion.
Can you spot the monkeys on the rock wall? There are several of them. And they were also noisy but quite cute.
This has got to be the cutest of them all. And it seems that he was posing for the camera, especially since he was perched on one of the balusters of the stairs. Adorable monkey.
The stairs with not a lot of people. My sister is trying to wave from up top but she is just a blob up there, ha ha ha!
We get to the top and this is what we see. There is actually a Buddhist temple inside, but I did not take any pictures and neither did I go near. We also did not stay long, as the smell of incense burning was making me feel nauseous.
Inside is a crater, or I'm not sure if I can call it that, but whatever, there is a hole from the top of the mountain that allows sunlight to come in, hence some natural light.
There were some souvenirs for sale there as well, but we did not buy any, as they did not suit our tastes.
I liked seeing these though, although I did not ask if they were on sale. Most probably they were, but I did not want to start another collection of things, so I left them alone.
We got thirsty after climbing the stairs so once we came back down, we bought a coconut and drank its juice.
This is the view from the top. That is Selangor, but we did not look around in the area.
We had lunch somewhere, and then we took the train all the way to Putrajaya. One of my younger sister's former colleague lives there, and they kindly took us around the city in their car.
Putrajaya is Malaysia's third and latest Federal territory. It was built on an expansive marshland and former palm oil estate in Selangor, the city is 25 kilometers from Kuala Lumpur. Putrajaya is the federal administrative center of Malaysia. The seat of government was shifted from KL to Putrajaya in 1999 because of overcrowding and congestion there. Kuala Lumpur remains the capital of Malaysia, and is the seat of the King, the Parliament, all the foreign embassies, as well as the country's financial and commercial center.
 |
| Perdana Putra |
Excuse the poses, ha ha. The fourth lady is my sister's friend, and they took us around the city in their car, so it was easy moving from one place to another. The building behind us is the Perdana Putra, which is the Office of the Prime Minister of Malaysia. The overall feel of the city is European, and the buildings have Islamic features on them. There's not much to do at the Prime Minister's Office, so we just admired the building and took several photos.
We just couldn't pass up an opportunity to do a jump shot, since we had the space and the beautiful background. Funny how both of us on the sides jumped high and the two in the middle could not, ha ha!
 |
| Putrajaya International Convention Center |
The PICC as it is more commonly called, is situated on Putrajaya's highest point. From the top you can see a panoramic view of the entire Putrajaya precincts. The design of the building is based on the shape of the eye of pending perak (a silver Malay royal belt buckle). The roof meanwhile, was designed similar to a folded origami to alleviate the plain roundness of the structure.
This is what it looks like at the front. Conventions, events and high security events are held at the place. It was a nice place to take pictures at, especially the sculpted plants.
 |
| view from the top of PICC |
This is the view from the top, and all of Putrajaya can be seen below. It is said that tourist buses like to visit the Convention Center even if there are no events because the hill it stands on provides a good photo vantage point overlooking Putrajaya.
A nearer view of the city from halfway up to the PICC. There are lakes, there are nice bridges, all in all, the planning and design is nice.
The nice thing about having a car is that we could stop anywhere we wanted and take pictures. We just had to make sure that there were no incoming traffic so as not to get hit.
See what I mean? :-) We even took pictures in the middle of the road. My sister's friend's husband was game enough to take pictures of us, bless him. The PICC is taken nicely in the background.
 |
| Putrajaya Street |
 |
| Putra Mosque |
 |
In front of the mosque is a square where the flags of the federal states of Malaysia are hung.
 |
| Putrajaya Lake |
The Putrajaya Lake is a man-made lake, located at the center of Putrajaya. The 650-hectare lake was designed to act as a natural cooling system for the city and also for recreation, fishing, water sport and water transport.
 |
| by the lakeside |
Here we get to see a glimpse of our generous driver cum photographer for the day, the husband of my sister's friend. Beyond the lake is one of Putrajaya's bridges, the Seri Wawasan bridge, which is a cable-styled bridge.
 |
| Federal Court of Malaysia |
This is the square in front of the Federal Court and other buildings in the area. Everything is clean and pretty new, so it was indeed fun taking pictures.
Perbadanan Putrajaya or Putrajaya Corporation is a local authority which administrates the Federal Territory of Putrajaya. This authority is responsible for public health and sanitation, waste removal and management, town planning, environmental protection and building control, social and economic development and general maintenance functions of urban infrastracture. Quite a lot of responsibilities, huh?
Here I'll just add some more pictures of the other places we went to as this will be the last article for the Malaysia trip. In the picture again is the Petronas Towers. This was taken at the botanical garden just outside Suria KLCC.
Whenever there is a Din Tai Fung restaurant in a city I visit, I always make it a point to go have a meal as their food is delicious. It was a shame that when we went, they did not have the pickled cucumbers. :-( You have to try their famous xiao long bao, so then you'll know what I mean.
Malaysia has a lot of delicious foods, and we just did not take a lot of pictures, they have snacks made of sticky rice and other things, but my favorite one is the Roti Boy.
I just borrowed a picture from Google just so I could show a picture of it. You can smell it from afar if it is freshly baked. This is actually a coffee bun, but it is delicious I always ask friends who visit Malaysia to buy me some. :-)
This is a Chinese temple near our hotel, and we just took a picture of it. We went to other places, we ate many more foods, but I can not possibly share them all. But I can say this, Malaysia is a good place to visit- the people are friendly, the food very good, the cost very affordable, and you can shop till you drop, especially when you go during their yearly sales. I have bought several pairs of shoes here, ha ha.
So, next time you're planning your trip, why not make it Malaysia? Go ahead and enjoy it like I did, perhaps even more. Have fun! And stay tuned for more adventures!
You may also read more travel articles here.
Comments
Post a Comment