After submitting our thesis (wuhu!), we start the second part of our travels and go to southeast asia.

We started by flying to Kuala Lumpur from Istanbul (a safe trip thanks to the travel pray in the flight by BAE airlines). Not having done any search on the region before, we learned everything after we came here.

About Malaysia

After an islamic and colonization period (Portugese, Dutch and then British), Malaysia became independent (Merdeka!) in 1957 thanks to their leader Tunku Abdul Rahman, without violence. Fun fact: Malaysia is the only country that is an elective monarchy (besides the actual parliamentar government). Every 9 states of Malaysia has their own hereditary monarchies and every five years, 9 current rulers elect the head of state of Malaysia among themselves.

As a result of its colonial history and geographical situation (located at the level of centuries-old trading route coming from india and china), Malaysia’s population is today a mixture of three main cultures - chinese, indian and local Malaysian (all three played a crucial roles in the independance of the country). This means that the country relies on close balance between the three ethnicities, although inequalities remain, with Chinese people being usually more wealthy, owning most of the capital. We also see a strong contrast in ways of living, with rich malls and residencies sitting just next to districts with low income people and cheap food. Yet, the government tries to equalize that situation through policies, and things are going better.

Therefore, it is possible to find a wide range of food variety, and hear ezan while visiting an hindu temple.

Court Hill Sri Ganesar Temple

Located near our first Hostel, this temple is the third most important Hindu temple in Kuala Lumpur, this atmospheric place began its life in 1897 as a simple shrine in a garden of a senior British colonial official. After he destroyed the shrine, he became paralysed, which was reverted with a miracle thanks to prayers by the worshipers. He would have then authorized the construction of the temple in 1897 (wink wink to the spaceship of Syracusa). The temple is dedicated to Lord Ganesha, the elephant-headed God who embodies wisdom, prosperity, and good fortune.

One day we entered the temple during a puja, a daily worship which typically involves offering flowers, fruits, and other offerings to the deity.

Here you can hear the music playzd during the ceremony:

Lord Ganesha is typically invoked at the beginning of new ventures, and is believed to bring good luck and success. Let’s use his help for our next adventures :)

What we saw

We mainly stayed around our guest house for the first days, allowing us some time to acclimate ourselves to our new world. Here are some specific places we saw around Jalan Alor, such as painted buildings…

its main street market, full of tourist and high prices

And the street of bars, also full of tourists and european prices

Afterwards, we got joined by friends, that is when the fun started, have a look at the second part here!