Day 2

Well talk about walk and experience yourself ragged. Just awake (7am local time) after logging out (snoring kind) about 9 last night. Last thing I remember was Hilary sitting on my bed watching a dvd. We had another busy day yesterday. Started with a yummy breakfast of yellow mango, banana, pineapple, sun melon and dragon fruit. The latter is beautiful, both on the outside and the inside, but it's flavour though not unpleasant is rather insipid. It is almost tamarillo coloured on the inside with poppy seed sized pips. I meant to take a photo but ate it before I could/did.
After breakfast we caught the KL hop on hop off bus which leaves from just outside our door here. It is 38 ringgit for an adult and 17 for Hilary for 24 hours, which isn't too bad. We used it from 11-6pm last night and will use it again this morning. We stayed on the bus for half of the circuit before alighting, good views and commentary and it does give you an excellent idea of what is where and what might be interesting to stop at and view in more detail.

The first stop I remember was outside the national palace where the king lives. I expect he was in residence as the guards were there and you couldn't go in, but also as we were driving there we were passed by an entourage of police motorcycles with sirens going escorting a black mercedes I think it was with a personalised number plate which I can't remember what it was, but I'm sure was important enough to be a royal. You don't get much of a view of the palace itself but the guards are pretty (if a bit poker faced), as is the gate.

Inside the mall looking down on Formula 1 exhibit

The 3-400 year old tree

We hopped back on the bus and continued on until we reached the "palace of culture which houses exhibitions and concerts of music, dance and theatre. It wasn't open but we hung around on the impressive steps, eating snacks and being coolish in the shade.

The Palace of Culture



We made friends with the security guard who took us to see a tree which is between 3 and 4 hundred years old. (See above)

The choclatier in the Petronas building

 It is used medicinally if you can't "eat or sleep". You chop a bit off, chop it up and then "you put with the hot water" for about 30 seconds, drink it and "then you be better". He showed us where people had chopped pieces off to cure their ailments. We took the bus around past various shopping malls until we got to the Petronas twin towers, they are impressive as is the mall inside. (See above)  We wandered around here looking at the way some people live. Not our league and we were determined (or I was) not to part with our cash. However greed and wanting the experience got the better of us and we indeed parted with cash at the choclatier.  We each chose a chocolate and then decided on one extra. We purchased one cognac truffle, one peach mousse, one lemon mousse and one vanilla mousse, they were delivered with much flourish and a 46 ringgit requirement. That's $5NZ per single! The lemon and cognac ones warranted the price (if I grit my teeth) the others pretty good but $5??? Anyway, it's about the experience and the gathering of my illicit photos sweetened the burden.

                                                     The chocolates.



We played around outside the towers for an hour or so. Hilary played in the wading pool, a gorgeous blue oasis in the heat, which was well utilised. We then caught the bus on to the KL tower which is very similar to the Auckland Sky City tower. Di and Hilary stayed on the bus but I got off, took some pictures, and had a walk in the "tropical forest".  Monkeys everywhere, playing crazily... dive-bombing people and generally just monkeying around.
After a wee break back at the room we caught the bus to "Little India", where we watched a man making chapati on an outside grill, which Hilary enjoyed (both the watching and the eating of a hot fresh chapati).
Dinner was potentially delicious, a mix of delights served on a banana leaf. Unfortunately I only managed a couple of mouthfuls before disaster struck in a very violent and upwards form. I'll blame my surgery rather than the rats Di saw running around part of the kitchen when she went to the bathroom, but maybe I'm being kind.

                                                The wading pool outside the Petronas Towers.
                                           With strange ladies in uniforms who blew whistles and
                                            gesticulated wildly and people in a somewhat frightening
                                            and random manner.
           

                                                    The KL tower

                                                      The chapati maker in Little India

                                                        The monkeys in Bukit Nanas forest

                                                           Night scene in Little India.