I surely have to come to KL again for the sake of this building -- hopefully, under a brighter weather when I can get the golden hour in perfect light. And I wonder, how does it look at night? I would like to wait until dark, but I still had a list of to-do's for that last evening in KL.
Here you can get some reference on Sultan Abdul Samad Building. It says,
It was designed by A.C. Norman and built in 1894-1897 to house several important government departments during the British administration. A.C. Norman spent time in Africa and saw Muslim mosques in India which led him to use Moorish architecture in the building's design. In 1945, when World War II ended, Britain resumed control again, but Malaya's independence movement had matured and organized itself in an alliance under Tunku Abdul Rahman. When the British flag was finally lowered in Kuala Lumpur's Merdeka Square in 1957, Tunku became the first prime minister of Malaya.
Oh, I didn't know that this flag has a history. I thought it was just a flag. If I knew, I would have have waited until the wind gave me a better luck and I would have chosen a better composition. I mean, not just the flag, but also with the building or park so that one can immediately recognize which flag pole I'm talking about.
It was here, the Union Jack flag was lowered and the Malayan flag hoisted for the first time at midnight on August 31, 1957.
Aha, in this case I think Indonesia had been luckier. Similar story happened at Orange Hotel, Surabaya, East Java. The people at that time did not need to prepare an Indonesian flag. They just tore off the blue part from the Dutch flag, and done.
A notice next to the entrance gate mentioned that this restaurant was on business. However, it didn't seem so at all. Was it because it was Sunday? Or was it on year-end holiday?
This one also did not fail to impress me. The combination of brown and white is elegant.
The windows, and the top of this building, looked like my toy house. I remember I already had that toy before I sat in primary school. So now you do the math and guess how old I am. I can't believe it myself!
Aha! A capsule window! It looked like the capsule elevators. You know what, my dream house has a window with 4 angles like this.
Royal Selangor Club, or Kelab Raja Selangor, had another unique architecture. You can read about the history of this building here. Part of it says,
The club was founded as the Selangor Club in 1884 as a meeting point for educated and high-ranking members of British colonial society. Nevertheless, membership to the club is primarily determined by high educational and social standards, rather than race or citizenship.
I'm in particular interested with the second sentence: membership to the club is primarily determined by high educational and social standards, rather than race or citizenship. That's very opposite to the Dutch mind. When the Dutch built schools in Indonesia, they divided schools base on race. Dutch School, Chinese School, and Sekolah Rakyat. For 350 years had Indonesia been "brought up" in such a way that even free from colonial power, we are, as a matter of fact, not free from a racial mind. Walking the streets, entering the shops, in Kuala Lumpur, I am deeply impressed. Indians, Chinese, Malayans... are clearly distinguished from one another: The way they dress, the way they speak, the way they do business, and the way they worship. And yet, they seem to live side by side in greater peace than my people in my country. And yet again, speaking about faith, we all know both countries are equally serious.
I've just realized how the whole of my life, exclude when I was in Japan, I have been fighting back my own identity only for one reason: I'm a minority in my country, by faith and by race. I am different, but I must not let it show too much if I want to keep peace.
Ah, but after all the grass over the fence is always greener. So is it with the people over the border. Okay, back to architecture. This is a closer look to part of the architecture of Royal Selangor Club.
Across the Royal Selangor Club was a church with similar architecture. Here was where I waited for Hop-On Hop-Off. It had been more than 30 minutes since I saw the last bus. The odd thing was that last bus came only 15 minutes after I got off. So that 30 minutes of interval is only a statement. It's... hmmm, just like in my country. See, the grass over the "border" is always greener!
When I eventually got to hop on the Hop-On Hop-Off Double Decker, it was getting dark already. I called myself fortunate, because after hopping on and off for 2 days, that was the first time I got a bus with an open deck. Wow! I felt the KL Breeze through my hair. I found several tourists taking pictures. I myself started to feel dozy. My back and my feet started to ache.
My next destination was Bukit Bintang. But the bus took a long stop here, in front of Istana Budaya or Palace of Culture. Hmmm, the architecture of this so called palace reminds me of Sydney's Opera House. Don't you think so?
Here's another refference from Wikipedia on Istana Budaya. There's a night shot photo Istana Budaya by a lake. Hmmm, I think I can make such a shot, too. I really must come back ;-)
I got off at Bukit Bintang and walked around. I was curious why some of my friends chose Bukit Bintang to stay overnight. What's so exciting about Bukit Bintang?
Shopping centers everywhere. People, music, food... noisy and crowded. This is certainly not my place. But, I need to eat anyway. In such a crowd and on weary feet, I certainly wasn't in the mood of trying anything authentic. I crossed the street and entered Pizza Hut. Very unexpectedly, the waiter and waitress were far compared to the friendly waiters and waitresses in all Pizza Huts I know in Jakarta. In short, I left with an empty stomach because nobody took my order. I already pressed the bell on the table. I already waved to the waiter. I only got a nod but no one came to my table. Ah, you see again, the grass over the border is always greener. It "looks" greener, I mean, but it isn't "actually" greener.
As Hop-On Hop-Off only operates until 20:30, and it was passed 20:00 already, I went up to the monorail station. Next destination: KLCC. I have 3 things to do here: Dinner, Body Shop, and Petronas Tower.
Unlike my previous experiences with KL's monorails, this time I had to wait very long. When at last I arrived at KLCC, it was like 9:00 PM. Fearing that Body Shop would be closed, I crossed number one from dinner on my list. Yes, I know there are many Body Shops in Jakarta. But the product I need has not been sold in Body Shop Indonesia for 2 years. I forgot that there's a Body Shop counter in LCCT's waiting room. I could have shopped while waiting for my flight to Saigon.
I bought 2 tubes of hand & nail lotion, and 1 lipstick. Done. Thinking that it might not be safe to be out alone late at night, I crossed dinner completely from my list and headed to Petronas Tower. This time I want to try my wide lens and see how much I can get.
Just like KL Bird Park, unlike the first time I came, it was crowded here. I hardly could make a shot without having someone standing in between. Being equipped with a wide lens, I could move closer. The problem was, I wasn't the only one with a wide lens.
Every now and then I heard a whistle blow. A security guard was busy keeping children, and sometimes adults, from putting their hands into the pool.
On the way to the subway station, I bought some bread. I ate one piece in the train, and another at the hotel with a cup of Malaysian Nescafe. Dinner done.
Butterfly Park, Bird Park, a little of Orchid Park, Merdeka Square, Bukit Bintang, KLCC... all in a day's trip. Ouch... my feet ached when I walked to the bathroom. Good night, KL.
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