A Fish-Eyed View of Kuala Lumpur
Filed Under: Twilight quickly yields to night at Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia’s capital city.
Under the shadow of the towers, Kuala Lumpur’s streets are currently plastered with election posters in Malay, Chinese, Hindi and occasionally Arabic and English. Apparently, elections do take place in countries other than the United States.
Election posters spanning cultures and languages serve as a reminder of Malaysia’s diversity – a diversity that we have taken advantage of at every meal.
We will share more in the way of photos and stories later, of course. In the meantime, we celebrate the long-awaited arrival of our visas to India. Tomorrow we’re off for Melaka, a Portuguese-influenced trading port in southern Malaysia, and then to Singapore a few days later. There, we’ll try our hand at securing some new visas to China.
From Singapore, we head to Kochi (Kerala) to kick-off our visit to India.
March 8th, 2008 at 10:21 am
I’m wondering if you will be able to make it to Ludhiana, Punjab to search for your grandfather’s hospital?
I just read some papers he wrote about esophageal reconstruction and tuberculosis written when he was working in Korea. What a guy.
My doctor gave me the OK to go back to work this coming Monday if they will take me back in a wheelchair. Waiting for the OK from HR people.
Blessings on your travels in India.
March 8th, 2008 at 3:43 pm
We’re still working out our India itinerary; we’re still not sure if we’ll make it to Ludhiana or not. My father has been trying to contact the hospital where my grandfather worked in case are able to visit. My grandfather is certainly a “fix it” type of guy, coming up with solutions to help people in need.
Glad to hear you’re recovery is coming along so well!
March 10th, 2008 at 7:32 pm
Hey Kids,
Beautiful photo. Those night shots are always trickey. The paranoia in me often hesitates when taking pictures of famous structures in a “post-9/11″ world. Will the secret police suspect the worse and sweep me away? Maybe it’s cause I haven’t been out Cheney country for 8 years and I know longer feel the warm fuzziness of due process.
Here’s a related item from a few years back that you might find interesting: “Proposed NYC Subway Photo Ban Is Dead;
Photo Ban In Hempstead, Long Island, Is Rescinded” http://www.nppa.org/news_and_events/news/2005/05/subway.html
Cheers,
Michael
March 12th, 2008 at 11:01 am
Michael: Thanks! We took this one with an 8mm fisheye lens and the help of a monopod. We’ve also found that white balance settings also make a huge difference in night photography.
Interesting you mention the post-9/11 world. I took some time setting up this shot and wondered whether I’d draw the ire of police and security around Petronas Towers. Not at all.
I carry the monopod in a cloth bag that looks like a rifle holster when slung over my shoulder. That gets some funny looks.
Other than that, we tend to play the role of unsuspecting tourists (which to some degree we are) when poking our cameras where they otherwise might not belong. In that arena, the police state mentality of places like Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Tajikistan definitely helped us hone our surreptitious photo-taking skills.
July 2nd, 2011 at 12:00 pm
I am amazed to see the skyscapers of malasia. I wish to see the type of sky scapers in kerala
July 4th, 2011 at 7:45 am
@Murali: Be careful what you wish for! Although a skyscraper like the Petronas Towers fits Kuala Lumpur, maybe Kerala has something different (better, smaller) in its future as it develops.