Yesterday I started the day doing a few different things. I took an excellent tour from the hostel, called 7 secrets of Kuala Lumpur, which was just that. The tour, done through the hostel, was actually great. The tour guide knew his stuff and answered my many questions. He told me Malaysia was under Portugese, Dutch, and finally British occupation before becoming independent in 1956. (I believe). He told me that although Muslim was the main religion-it was a tolerent society, as the call for worship was shorter then in other Muslim countries so not to disturb the neighbors. He was also quite funny, mentioning that he hoped his tourists would be hung over so he could say anything.
The tour guide showed us:
(1) The Great Mosque, actually built under British occupation-(the British occupied Malaysia until the late 1950's). So the mosque has a British Style
(2) The Presidential Palace-which is brand new
(3) The National Monument-which is in the middle of a large field, and looks quite majestic.
(4) A monument to solders killed during wars-which looks like Iwo Jima-and was built by the same architect (actually looks a bit larger)
(5) The Batu Cave-a giant cave with a Hindu temple inside, with a large staircase leading up to it. Along the staircase are monkeys-which are special in the Hindu religion (I found out). Monkeys kept the demons at bay
(6) A pewter factory-which showcases Pewter made in Malaysia. This wasn't interesting as it was more a place to spend money and buy pewter objects.
(7) The Petronas towers-two of the largest buildings in the world (7th I think)-88 stories tall.
After the tour, I went to the mall underneath the tower and bought all sorts of cheap Asian food (Even sushi was really cheap). I then bought a ticket which first went to the 42nd story Skybridge, and then the top of the tower which was quite a nice view.
After walking around a while in a park by the tower, I went back to the hostel and once again had drinks at the rooftop bar.
