I manage to make a three-day trip to KL seem like a month, don’t I?  Here’s our final day in KL.  We decided to actually get a little bit of sightseeing in, since Pong had driven us around the evening before and we had a better idea of how the city was laid out.

First, though, breakfast at a cute bakery called The Loaf, located in The Pavilion mall.  While it wasn’t Tartine by any stretch, the baked goods were pretty tasty and the selection was broad.  Here’s a look at what pretty things were on display:

From there we took the monorail several stops south into the city.  This is a good way to see the city as it is elevated and views are largely unobstructed.  We alighted at the Majarajalela station (I’m sure I mispronounced that when buying the tickets, but we got there alright) and then walked into Chinatown.

First we stopped at the Chan See Shu Yuen temple, which is a Chinese clan association building for, I assume, the Chan family.  Pretty building with a fascinating bonzai tree in the courtyard, which sits upon an old Singer sewing machine base.

Continuing north a few blocks past the old chophouses, we arrived at Jalan Petaling, a covered street that looks a little like the Fremont Street Experience in Las Vegas, minus the LED light display.  The vendors and shops had the typical collection of things that you find everywhere in Asia. 

We continued west along Jalan Hang Lekir, passing a few interesting boutiques including one called Peter Hoe, which offers textiles, home decor, and a nice selection of batik on the corner of Jalan Hang Lekir and Jalan Hang Kasturi.  Cute place, worth a visit.

We stopped by the General Post Office which, according to my little guide, was open on Sundays.  Unfortunately, it isn’t.  So I returned home with stampless postcards and will have to mail them (once written) and some extra ringgit, to Andrew in Penang and ask him to post the cards for me.

This section of town, near Independence Square or Dataran Merdeka) has some fantastic examples of Islamic architecture, both in traditional forms as well as more modern ones.

Above, the dome of the Textile Museum is washed, its stripes reminiscent of the duomo in Siena, Italy.  In the background is (what I understand to be) a former government building, although the government has relocated itself to a new city 30km south of KL, near the new airport.

What is fascinating is how the more modern building’s screens echo the lines in the older, more traditional building.  These are motifs that are reflected again and again throughout the city.

We walked a bit further before catching the subway three stops to the KL City Centre area, home of the Petronas Towers.  No longer the tallest buildings in the world, they are still very impressive, especially at night.

I had initially hesitated to come see the towers, even though Ken had told me there was a park at the base of them.  For some reason I thought the space would be tacky but, other than the high-end mall incorporated into the base of the tower, the park is actually very nice and there are some great areas to sit in the shade, enjoy the fountains and take in the view.

We were quite sweaty by this point so returned to the hotel to freshen up before our 2:00 check-out.  Tomorrow, I’ll conclude our visit.