Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Malaysia is unique. I thought it would be like any other city in Asia, but it different. The thing I noticed most was that it had much Islam influence- the food, the architecture, the clothing people wear. I liked Kuala Lumpur- not too crazily busy but seemed busier than it should be for a city of 1.6 million people.

I visited the National Mosque, built in the shape of an umbrella. It was the first mosque I’ve ever visited. One of the volunteers there went off on a bit of a tangent about Australia being uncivilized and the Chinese with 5000 years of history will civilize us. What could I say? Also, common knowledge around Asia is that Australia’s prime minister speaks Chinese and has a Chinese son- in- law. Interesting. He also seemed to assume that all Chinese people in Australia liked Kevin Rudd- just not quite!

The Islamic Arts Museum was also worth visiting. It featured a lot of calligraphy and some textiles which I liked. They also have models of famous buildings built in Islamic style including the Taj Mahal. It was a beautiful museum. The shop had some creationist books which were unfortunately very badly graphically designed not to mention the content which used strong terms such as ‘completely impossible that…’I also spotted some Lao silk scarves for around $100 AUD which I could buy for $10 here in Laos.