Johor Bahru, Malaysia

Husband breaths easy whenever I make trips to our neighbor shopping cities ( like SG and HK), cos I don't shop. . yes not at all. 

Expensive brands don't blind me a bit. . .not anymore at this age.  Temptation can't work on me in this category. First of all I don't have the money. I rarely go window shopping either. I do more of sight seeing of the place, of the architectural structures of the malls which are really awesome in these cities.

Second of all, if  I did have money. . I'd rather put it in a less materialistic experiences. Motherhood totally changed my perspective on this matter. If you knew me when I was single and young, I could hear you now saying : " you're a changed person! " and I would reply : " you are sooo right! "

So when we made a side trip to Johor Bahru, the capital city of southern Malaysia and found nothing but malls, malls, and malls, I wasn't so pleased.

Ok, I stand corrected. . JB,  by the way is the second largest urban area in Malaysia after Kuala Lumpur  ( click here  to see my KL visit),  there are ofcouse commercial/office  buildings. .




. . more colorful commercial buildings. .

. . older commercial buildings.  ( looking more like our own Cebu City). . .

. . side walk with vendors. . (very Manila)

. . old public telephone unit.. (so cute ) .. .

. . international hotels. .




. . historical building _ the Sultan Ibrahim Building, can you spot it? that one at the  far end, the brown building. It actually caught my eyes easily cos it's the only unique structure I had seen from the circle of modern buildings around.

Can you spot me with my travel buddies? We were actually heading to that Sultan Ibrahim building which was formerly the state-secretariat building and was constructed between 1936 and 1939, but didn't get thru cos my buddies were madly blocked by the series of malls on the way which were on sale!!! Music to their ears_ on sale!! haaaay. . .

Ok, majority won. If you can't beat them. . join them, haha. So I did buy. .only because it was super sale and college daughter needed a shoe for school.



I only bought these two items, nothing else. Look how cheap_ 70% off. I love those jelly bracelets. I use them oftenly this summer in the beach.

anyone? - translate please. .

We did pass in a district which looked so similar to SG's Little India ( see here ), only much bigger.

Exact merchandises could be seen in the sidewalks.




The rest of the short visit was spent feeding my palate with soulful dishes of the country which in a way compensated for the bareness of cultural  experience of my side trip. The food trips are randomly posted in my food blog ( My 3rd & 7th Sense ), some are coming soon.

Rural Malaysia

I wouldn't forget the sights and brights of Petronas Twin Towers and KL Tower in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Yet my heart gave in to the rural beauty of Malaysia's countryside. Truly Asia, it's very similar to my own Philippines.




A nature lover, first of all, I share to you these beauties.






























Thank you Saisuree .

Cultural Show at Soloma, Kuala Lumpur

After a sumptuous buffet dinner at Soloma , see food details here , guests were treated to an exquisite cultural show.




The performers were the same people who welcomed the guests at the entrance of the restaurants.








These twin dancers looked so familiar to me. I wonder if they were the same ladies in one of my belly dancing dvds. gotta check it out later.








This dance is tinikling or singkil to us Filipinos. There were so much similarities in many ways, truly one Asia.








Followed was audience participation. My friend Jay was pushing me to join, you know for photo ops, but I saw how the western guests were so excited so I gave way.




At this point, the host was encouraging the guests to come up on the stage for photo ops. Hey, look at this table of - spot the common denominator bishop baldness. Again the western guests hopped first on the stage. Very enthusiastic audience, so nice!




Can you spot my friend  here? She's beside the man with big white hair. I had my spot, but I looked so darn awful, so I'd rather not post it. It was a great night!

Sights and Colors of KL Tower

From my hotel in KL, Malaysia, I saw another captivating structure_ the Menara Kuala Lumpur or as it is now being popularly called _ the KL Tower.




As it turned out, our private tour had scheduled KL Tower as our first destination that afternoon. How lucky I could get! Our guide bought the tickets and told us to wait for few minutes so we could meet up with our supposedly tour buddies who missed the ride from the hotel to the tower.




While waiting, we chose to check the garden at the foot of the KL Tower. The tower by the way is planted on a hill which makes it more statuesque up close ( to its foot, I mean..). I almost stiffed my neck from looking up, astounded by the height of the tower.




KL Tower Facts by Wikipedia


KL Tower is the fifth tallest freestanding tower in the world.

The structure is divided into 5 basic sections:

1. The foundation base houses 3 basement floors for safety purposes, storage and maintenance work.
2. The touristic building bears the administration office, souvenir shops and the 146 meters pedestrian mall with cascading pools.
3. The tower shaft comprises 22 levels with 4 elevators and flights of stairs with a total of 2,058 steps.
4. The tower head holds the public observation platform (276 m) and revolving restaurant as well as the telecommunication and broadcasting stations.
5. The antenna mast crowns the tower and is specially utilized for telecommunication and broadcasting transmissions.

Outside, it's amazing to watch how this sky-high structure changes its color in a flash like a chameleon adapts its color to its environment. It was so awesome





Then it was time for us to get more dazed. The main lobby at the upper ground floor of the tower is Malaysian Islamic interior-ed.




As quick as we entered the speedy elevator, we found ourselves at the observatory deck sprightly.




I found myself smacked in the middle of busy visitors enjoying the view up here.




















Unending vast scale of panoramic sights took our breaths.. we wanted to stay longer but our dinner sched was waiting.




For the rest of the night, I was able to enjoy the chameleon colors of the KL Towers.