The Mandarin Oriental, KL

I remember the first time I heard the name....was it in Hong Kong? Was it in reference to Graham Greene? Was it a novel? At any rate, the place has always been out of reach for me...we had drinks in Bangkok once, but that’s the extent of it. So, when I was looking for a hotel in KL, and saw it pop up at $149 a night (when I’ve checked before, rates start at $450), we decided to go for it. So this is just a little photo montage of our experience. What’s notably missing is the fabulous breakfast buffet. I didn’t think to whip out my camera to show the Indian, Chinese, Malay, English, and continental breakfast options, but they were fabulous.

Also notable were the two bathrobes per person....one terry and one thin cotton. We actually saw someone jump in the pool wearing the full terry robe. 

The pool, late afternoon

Happy hour


Our room with city view

Turndown service, note slippers and chocolate on bed

Our hallway

Reflection of the Petronas Towers

Room service!

The lobby

Bathtub, linens, bathrobe

Kuala Terengganu

We met a reporter for the Straights Times at a batik show in Kuala Lampur, Teh. She is a lovely, observant woman. She said that her dad went to school in Syracuse, so he is very interested in the goings-on in America. She said that since 45 was selected, her dad watches CNN every night.

 She and a small crew of reporters do a regular column on batik and she offered to connect us with someone in the batik capital of Malaysia — Kuala Terengganu. We were able to fly nonstop from the enormous and distant Airport, Arriving at the tiny provincial airport. We had booked a homestay which turned out to be very well located and clean. It was also right next to Chinatown, which we think is one of the better parts of town for us. It was only $35 a night and was a perfect base for sick me....I was really dragging and coughing and dripping....

Our first night we went to the local temple. It was Smokey with incense, there were two roasted pigs and one roasted lamb at the entrance... A warning or an offering? Inside the temple there were many plates of fruits being offered. The ladies in the temple were super friendly and explained to us how to make an offering. She said that we could ring the bell three times and Make-A-Wish. She also explained how to light the incense and where to place it. The temple was Taoist and they explained that offerings went to God in Heaven (yes, this is a thing, it sounds euphemistic, no?) and to the goddess protecting seafarers. Barbara wished out loud that Sam and Rachel would have a baby. Our bell wishes were silent. The incense, food, and general chaos were transporting and I could almost imagine myself seriously worshipping at this temple

Temple entrance

A few of the many offerings 

Inside incense burners

The next day we got the go-ahead from Ally to go visit the batik manufacturers. Ally is a photojournalist from the Straights Times and refused to take money for driving us around. He picked us up in a Honda Jazz (ie FIT) and took us to two kampongs (villages). The first practiced hand drawn and painted batik....they drew patterns freehand with their djanting pens using candle wax. Next, another person painted the fabric. The wax strokes serve as dividers so the colors don’t mix. 

Closeup of djanting technique
A closeup of the pen, which contains a well to hold the liquid wax

Barbara trying her hand 

A work in progress





The one on the left is Ally....such a cutie

Our next stop was to a woman new to the art...Nysa is from KL and married a local boy (grocer) and got interested in batik. She uses the printing technique....stamps are made of metal and dipped in beeswax. Our hostess was very exacting so that her batiks were incredibly well done. 

Beautifully crafted stamping technique. The fabric is then dyed and put in a solution to remove the wax.

This is Nysa. She is still in confinement from the birth of her third child. She snuck out to visit us....confinement is 44 days and includes massage of mother and baby.

Wow

Finished before wax removal

Dying vat

Drying

Ipoh

We took the bus from Penang to Ipoh. We took a ‘Grab,’ the company that bought out Uber last year, to the bus station near the airport. The station consisted of 12 bus bays and the actual station was up a long flight of stairs. Suddenly I regret my little suitcase....I cannot, prefer not to climb with my new suitcase. Bobbi watches my things while I climb to the top floor. There is an air conditioned room with monitors and several bus company shops. I scan for our company with no luck. But, there is a tv monitor with our bus...it says 13/14. With confidence, I walk downstairs and begin looking for bay 13/14. No such thing...I go back up, approach a hijabbed woman, and she points to window 13/14 ....

At any rate, we finally got our bus and made it to Ipoh where we were nearly mown down by automobiles as we tried to catch our Grab to the hotel.

We walked to Ipoh Little India for dinner, where the meal was served on a fake banana leaf platter. Food was just fine, everything in Malaysia seems to be South Indian.

‘Fake’ Banana Leaf Restaurant 

An abandoned colonial house .... 


Our Indian meal...

Ipoh has three major Buddhist cave temples on the outskirts of town, which ended up being the beginning and the end of our sightseeing. We hired our Grab driver to take us around for the day. 

A monkey outside the cave

Gua Kok Look Tong, view from temple exit...the tin mine in the distance ruins it for some.

The happy Buddha

My favorite marble Buddha inside Gua Kok Look Tong cave.

There were two other cave temples, both much more crowded and chaotic than Gua Kok Tong. One had a Bhutanese temple where the monks were throat singing.

Lovely cave painting 

Our happy Buddha

Kuala Lampur (KL)

KL is a marvel, and much improved by the most luxe hotel experience of my life — the Mandarin Oriental. The downtown is cleaner and more modern than Philadelphia. I keep forgetting and thinking I am in Singapore. It has the typical trifurcated Chinese, Indian, and Malay populations. The street food is typical of the Malay peninsula, and the weather is hotter than Hades.

After checking into the gorgeous Peninsula, we ‘grabbed it’ to our first hawker center, SS2. Note: Grab is the Malay equivalent of Uber, and Grab bought out Uber in 2018. We think this purchase was made because it was too difficult for Uber to manage. Grab is Chinese owned. Sadly, the center, which was quite far from our hotel, was mostly empty due to a combination of Chinese New Year and Muslim Sabbath. We made due with a lovely chicken rice and visit to the local pharmacy for vitamin C (me having my second illness of trip, a small cold).

Next day was a whirlwind tour, by various Grab drivers, to KLCC nature walk....climbed high in trees for a quick walk, the bird park....Jurassic park of birds with peacocks, parrots, cranes, and so on, a batik show, and the national textile museum. Oh and the KL S Sentral Market for late afternoon lunch.Whew. 

The afternoon was completed with gym time, sauna, soak, and so on. Oh poor me. 

 The Batu caves are not far from town, and were filled with worshippers, many of which appeared to have shaved heads, caked with some kind of powdery dye. I believe they then waited in line to be blessed by the priests, who were topless gurus in sarongs minding the fires and other activities up front. I couldn’t really figure out all that was going on...there were tickets for sale, pots of food, plates of offerings, and covered pots. Families were dressed in their finest, and some people sat down to meditate. 

Batu Caves, image of Lord Murugan, Hindu God of war.

I walked up the steps...a bit of a feat, especially considering the many macaques, who all but blocked the way with their cuteness. I noticed some people let the monkeys climb up their bodies to snack. It was a lot to track....monkeys, steps, worshippers who just stopped and sat down on the steps in the middle, and so on.

Lord Murugan, from the top, notice macaques owing for photos in the foreground.


Macaques all the way up and down the hill.

Next up, the biggest, oldest, most glittery Chinese temple, Thean Hou. It was also bustling, and took many minutes too get to owing to the tremendous traffic jam. The jams continued as we climbed up the stairs to the main temple. People everywhere, and brides everywhere....we saw at least four couples who appeared to be getting married or renewing vows, not sure which.

Lighting incense 

View from temple

Note bride and groom in the mix.

We ended the day’s tour with a bowl of beef noodles from a Chinatown hawker Centre and an ‘ABC.’ See phots below to see how one of these is made.