Malaysia 2000, Part 4

TUESDAY MAY 6

Another late start – I have a problem sleeping; Mustafa has a problem waking! By the time we’d had
breakfast and made our way to the Jamek masjid it was already Zuhr time. 

It rained after Zuhr. It rained heavily. We waited for it to end. It continued. I caught up on
some writing. Mustafa caught on some sleep. (He caught a cold at the Taman Negara so needed the
rest.) The rain ceased. I was ready to go out. Stopped to have some sultanas. The rain started
again. I went back to writing. Mustafa went back to sleep.

The Kalng and the Gombok rivers were just trickles before the rain, so shallow that one could see
the bed, but after the torrent they were not far from over-flowing and racing past. It was a
tremendous transformation.

After Asr we went to get a bite to eat. Met a friend of Mustafa’s from his UCL days. Went for a
meal at KFC of all places! I wasn’t hungry though. After, went for a walk around a couple of the
markets – the touristy Central and the copyright bashing Chinese. 


WEDNESDAY 7 MAY

This was our grand day out exploring Kula Lumpur. Finally had an early start to a day! Went
straight to the top of the KL Tower, one of the highest in the world. Great views of the city,
naturally, but not of the Petronas Towers, only getting a side view. KL is a sparsely built city
and hence no fantastic photo opportunities of the skyline.

We then went to the Petronas Towers. Couldn’t go up those though. Magnificent structure inspired
by the five pillars of Islam – the buildings are made of five segments each of which get slimmer
as you move up. We then went to the impressive Masjid Negara. The modern mosque reminded me much
of the Faisal masjid of Islamabad, but this was better.  I especially liked the turquoise dome
that looked exactly like a huge semi-folded umbrella. 

Next up was the even more impressive Islamic Art Museum. Spent most of the time in the mosque room
which had models of the great masjids from around the world and illustrated the various mosque
architectures over the years. It was absolutely fascinating. We should’ve allowed more time as we
didn’t have much for the other rooms. In the calligraphy room Mustafa found a calligraphy of 
“Mustafa” that we will send to you soon, Usamah.

Mustafa then went to a satellite town of KL to visit an Anglo-French revert to pave the way for a
Spanish girl’s, who is interested in Islam, visit to Malaysia. And to get free board, of course!
He was to return later, unfortunately.

I continued with KL. All the time I was walking around I couldn’t help but be really impressed by
it. It’s a place I could live in. Spent far too long at the Central Market searching for postcards
of Khota Bharu, the Perhentian, Taman Negara and KL. Enjoyed rice and curry again!