Lilian's Wedding - Kuala Lumpur
- July 8-11, 2005 (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia)
|
|
|
| This was my second time to Kuala Lumpur, but the city has changed quite a bit since my last visit in 1999. Back then, the Petronas Towers were the world's tallest buildings, but were finally beaten in 2004 when Taiwan finished Taipei 101, also known as Taipei Financial Center. In addition, the number of women in burqas has increased, though this hopefully is due to the popularity of the recent Star Wars movie rather than a sign of radicalization of Islam in Malaysia. | At the time of writing, the Empire State Building in New York was still the world's 9th tallest building. Considering that it was built in 1931, I will make sure to take a closer look at it the next time I visit New York. Although our hotel was located a few blocks away from the Petronas towers, we had to give up walking there due to the extremely heavy traffic. Kuala Lumpur definitely is not a city for pedestrians. |
 |
 |
| Spending only four days in the country, Yuka and I did not have much time for sightseeing. However, I was able to re-visit the beautiful Merdeka square situated in the center of Kuala Lumpur. The Indian cab driver taking us there had the fastest running meter I have ever seen, but we paid the fare after a small argument. By now, he will hopefully have discovered that we noted his registration number and filed a complaint with the appropriate authorities. | Lilian is a friend from my exchange year with AFS to Japan from 1996-1997. We were both a bit younger when this picture was taken during our exchange year. Lilian met Willy while studying in Kentucky, but luckily they decided to have their ceremony in a location somewhat more easily accessible from Tokyo. The bride wore a beautiful Chinese inspired dress that can not be classified as being very conservative. Unfortunately, I am retarded at taking pictures, thus this is the only shot I got of the couple walking in. |
 |
 |
| Yet another proof that I need to learn how to use the flash function. Anyway, Lilian and Willy are on stage doing the "Yes I Do" thing. | Any wedding is of course only preparation for the party that follows the wedding, and I was happy to join Lilian for a few drinks. |
 |
 |
| Another picture of Willy and Lilian, ready to party as only a married couple can. The disco we went to did not have permission to serve beer, but could serve all other types of alcohol. A very strange policy if you ask me, though it did not turn out to be a problem. Later in the evening, Yuka and I went to Zouk, which is a gigantic club that originally started in Singapore. The atmosphere is great, though we were too tired to dance much. | On the day after the wedding, Yuka and I decided to go on a tour to Selangor. Only a couple of hours by car away from Kuala Lumpur, the area offers excellent opportunities to see fireflies. On the way our guide stopped to show us a colony of silvered leaf monkeys. This place was apparently visited by tons of Malaysian tourists on a daily basis, and Yuka thought it was funny that the monkeys were too full to accept any food. |
 |
 |
| A silvered leaf monkey sitting still and observing the stupid humans. | A picture of a British cannon watching over the Straits of Melacca. |
 |
 |
| A picture of the Petronas Towers taken from our hotel room. | Another picture from our firefly tour. Unfortunately, seeing fireflies only makes sense when it is dark, thus I was not able to take any pictures. However, going to see the fireflies is highly recommended. This picture was taken by the river from which you can see the fireflies at night. |
