KL hotspots

Blue mosque

Sultan-Salahuddin-Abdul-Aziz-Shah-Mosque, also called Blue Mosque owing to its blue dome, located in Shah Alam, is Malaysia’s largest and Southeast Asia’s second largest mosque. It has the distinction of having the largest religious dome in the world, it measures 51.2 m in diameter and reaches 106.7 m above ground level. The four minarets, each reaching 142.3 m above ground level are the 2nd tallest in the world, after being supplanted by the 210m minaret at the Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca in 1993.

In our opinion it is a must have on your visit list for a Malaysia trip. Our taxi driver dropped us at a side entrance of the building, so we could get in without being recognized by the security. It was prayer time and maybe we looked like some muslims, so we just walked in, leaving our shoes at the bottom of the stairs, apparently following the voice reading out of the Koran. So we had the possibility to explore the mosque by our own, taking some pictures inside the dome, which is strictly forbidden, even entering the dome for non-muslims. But the spectacular view and atmosphere was worth taking the risk, death penalty we think…

 




 

Chinatown

Right in the middle of KL, between MRT Sultan Sulaiman and Bus station Puduraya, the famous Petaling Street can be found. It is the main street of Chinatown, a very lively, colourful and busy part of KL. Sleepy at morning hours, the Petaling Street awakens in the afternoon hours with a mixture of crumbling shophouses, uncountable market stands on both sides and the middle of the street, selling all kind of stuff definitely not produced by the brand shown on the labels and it becomes the center of frenetic trading and haggling. The streets are transformed into an open-air market and food stalls are selling Chinese, Indian and Malay delicacies next to copy watches, leather bags and all kind of shirts and jerseys. By entering some of the small side streets of China Town you have the possibility to get an insight into the life beside tourism, with some curiosities in food and flavours, not every European nose used to e.g. slaughtered cats and giant frogs.

There are a lot of prominent Chinese temples in the Chinatown area. The elaborate Chan See Shu Yuen Temple, at the southernmost end of Petaling Street, was built in 1906 and has the typical paintings, woodcarvings and ceramic sculptures decorating the façade. It serves both as a place of worship and as a community centre.

Twin towers

Placed between several modern skyscrapers, the Petronas Twin Towers are the maybe best known symbols of Malaysia. At north of a park with little lakes, groups of trees and nice small pagodas where you have a great chance to enjoy the absolutely amazing view on the Towers, they can be seen from almost every location of the city. Two glancing and light blue to silver shining scepters rising out of KL. Really great experience especially at night.