Probably the best lion dancers in the world

We have been so busy today that I am just going to have to stick to the highlights. Briefly, we did our own parkrun, then went on a guided tour of Fort Cornwallis, checked out more street art, met the lion dancers at our hotel, enjoyed happy hour and then went up to the Kek Loksi Temple to see the lights for Chinese New year.

All around town today we saw the lion dancers going from venue to venue with their amazing outfits, and then at about 5.30pm it was our turn. Two lions arrived at our hotel, along with drummers, cymbal players and firecrackers.

The lions had a quick dance in the street and then set off a string of the firecrackers. It was so loud and scary as they exploded in all directions.

Then the lions got in the hotel lift and the drummers headed up the stairs making an unbelievable noise. 

They got out on the roof terrace and Daz took a great photo of the lion, mandarin orange for luck, and a lovely glass of white wine. 

Strangely, all of the dancers and drummers were wearing Carling teeshirts under their outfits, so Margs dubbed them 'probably the best lion dancers in the world!' 

Friends in Penang

Yesterday we went down to the docks and waited for the ferry from Langkawi to Dock. Fantastic result as our friends Margs and Dave were on board, and we are spending a few lovely days here with them in Penang.

Having said that we went out earlier with them for dinner and a few drinks and we came back to the hotel at about 10.30pm. They decided that it was too early for them so they are carrying on without us! 

Genting Highlands

We caught a bus this morning and then a cable car up to the Genting Highlands. This is a huge casino resort up in the cool mountains a few miles away from Kuala Lumpur.

It was a lovely journey up and we got off the cable car halfway up to visit a Chinese temple. 

Lots of good photo opportunities. 

Fountains of Kuala Lumpur

We had a lovely evening tonight watching the beautiful light show and fountains in KL.

We started at the Masjid Jamek mosque area and tonight the river was lit up with blue lights and sprays of water. It had fountains that came on once it got dark, although we were a bit too early to hear them dancing to music. 

Then we went back to the KLCC gardens and spent an hour watching the fountains there, along with hundreds of other people. 

Finished the night off with a Magnum on the walk home as it is still really warm, even at 10pm!

Out and about in KL

This morning we walked down to the area where Kuala Lumpur was founded. When we were last here a few years ago it was run down, but there was lots of renovation work being carried out.

Now it is all finished and the area is beautiful. There is a  mosque at the fork of two rivers and a lovely steamy mist covered the water, which to be honest is usually a dirty brown colour. There is a long pond at street level full of goldfish and huge trees and bright flower beds.

On the other side of the river is a fantastic Islamic building with fountains and a rill. 

After that we went to the market and found out that the Chinese year of the dog begins next week. Strangely we saw a sort of scorecard with marks out of five on it for wealth, career, love and health. Unfortunately, people born in the dog year only scored one out of five for health. I am an ox and scored two out of five, while Daz the sheep also scored only one. All slightly worrying. 

This evening we went on a guided tour of the local area, and learned a lot about the food which was mostly quite hot and had some scary ingredients. Part way through there was another massive thunderstorm and we had to hide under cover until it passed.

After the break we found out that we like soursop ice cream, love roasted sweetcorn, like pandam and absolutely hate durian! 

Durians are large spikey fruits above the size of a coconut. The fruit is pale yellow and smells like the inside of a dustbin. Our guide told us to try not to smell it before we ate it. I thought that it tasted similar to boiled leek, but was very moshy and indeed did smell dodgy.

When we have travelled in the past there have been signs saying 'no Durians in hotel bedrooms' and I can now see why.

However the Malaysians love them. 

Putrajaya to Kuala Lumpur

It's Saturday today so we started the day with our own parkrun. It was pretty warm and we ran around the lake past dozens of locals who were settling up picnics and getting ready for a day by the water.

We had a train to catch to KL at lunch time, and we are in a nice hotel on the 16th floor. We are right next to the Menara Tower although it is so high that all we can see is the body of it and the bobble on the top is completely out of sight.

We have just been to the Petronas Towers which I think used to be the tallest building in the world and is only about ten minutes walk away. It currently has a huge red Chinese lantern outside the front door, which they say is the biggest in Malaysia - strange as I didn't know that there was such a thing as a giant lantern competition. 

Unfortunately when we came out with our shopping it was pouring with rain, so it seemed quite a long way to get home. At least it was warm rain.