Sights in Kuala Lumpur
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Islamic Arts Museum
Containing one of the best collections of Islamic decorative arts in the world is KL’s outstanding Islamic Arts Museum. Aside from the quality of the exhibits, which include fabulous textiles, carpets, jewellery, calligraphy-inscribed pottery and an amazing reconstruction of an ornate Ottoman room, the building itself is a stunner, with beautifully decorated domes and glazed tilework. There’s a Lebanese restaurant offering a set lunch (RM43; closed Monday) and a well-stocked shop selling beautiful high-quality crafts products and art books.
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Menara KL
Built atop the Bukit Nanas Forest Reserve, the 421m Menara KL easily trumps the Petronas Towers when it comes to providing the highest view you’re going to get of the city, bar chartering a helicopter. The tower’s bulbous pinnacle is inspired by a Malaysian spinning top and, inside, the viewing deck is, at 276m, at least 100m higher than the Petronas Towers’ skybridge. One floor higher, you can have a meal or afternoon tea at the revolving restaurant Seri Angkasa.
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Cosmo's World
There are numerous theme parks and water parks dotted around KL. The most convenient is Cosmo's World located inside the Berjaya Times Square shopping centre. Despite the mall location, there's a full-sized looping coaster plus a good selection of thrill rides for teenagers and gentler rides for families. (Avoid the DNA Mixer unless you want too see your nasi lemak a second time.) You'll find more thrill rides and wet and wild activities at Sunway Lagoon, Mines Wonderland and Genting Highlands.
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Guandi Temple
The 1886 Guandi Temple is full of atmosphere. The main hall is hung with fragrant coils of spiral incense, paper clothes and money that are burned to bring good fortune to the ancestors. The temple is dedicated to Kwan Ti, a historical Chinese general revered by Taoists as the god of war.
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Petronas Towers
Anchoring the huge Kuala Lumpur City Centre (KLCC) urban development (with a park, convention and shopping centre and world-class concert hall) are the iconic Petronas Towers. A visit to KL just isn’t complete unless you’ve been here.
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KL Bird Park
The highlight of the Lake Gardens is undoubtedly the KL Bird Park, the world’s largest walk-in aviary with some 200 (mostly Southeast Asian) species of birds. Check the website for different birds’ feeding times throughout the day.
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National Planetarium
The quirky National Planetarium shows short generic international science films (RM1 to RM6) in the theatre at regular intervals throughout the day. It’s an interesting place to take children for a fun educational experience.
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Lake Gardens Park
Just a few hundred metres from busy Chinatown, the urban landscape gives way to sculpted parks and dense tropical jungle. Covering 92 hectares, the Lake Gardens were created during the colonial era as an urban retreat where the British administrators could escape the hurly burly of downtown (as well as people of other races).
This park is pleasantly restful; it covers a huge area, planted with a variety of native plants, trees and shrubs - it's hard to believe that this calm open space exists just a few hundred metres from the main train station. In the middle is a huge children's adventure playground and nearby is the sprawling lake for which the gardens are named. You…
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Old KL Train Station
Midway between Chinatown and KL Sentral is another of AB Hubbock's Moorish-inspired fantasies. KL Train Station opened with much pomp and circumstance in 1911 to receive trains from Butterworth and Singapore. This wonderful confection of turrets and towers looks particularly impressive in the golden afternoon sunlight - half close your eyes and you can imagine the old Orient Express steaming in from Singapore.
The soaring domes and arches were skilfully restored in the 1980s, but the station was replaced by the new KL Sentral station in 2001. Today the platforms are only used for KTM Komuter trains to the suburbs. Although it's looking a bit dishevelled these days, it's…
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Royal Malaysia Police Museum
Between the Islamic Arts Museum and the Planetarium is the surprisingly interesting Royal Malaysia Police Museum. Inside you can see police uniforms and vehicles, a collection of old swords, cannons and kris, plus some sinister-looking handmade guns and knives seized from members of Malaysia's shady 'secret societies', responsible for most of the organised crime in Malaysia.
These forerunners to the modern-day Triads accumulated vast fortunes from smuggling and racketeering, carrying out robberies and assassinations, stage-managing strikes and riots, and pushing forward the political agenda of the Hokkien and Hakka communities. Their reach extended across Malaya and…
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Taman Tasik Titiwangsa
Head to this relaxing recreational park surrounding Lake Titiwangsa for a picture postcard view of the city skyline. As well as relaxing walking paths and jolly boating on the lake (from around RM3 per hour), there are tennis courts, squash courts and a remote-controlled car racing track where enthusiasts stage miniature Formula 1s. The park is a favourite spot for courting Malaysian couples (and the religious police on the lookout for improper behaviour).
Temporary attractions are often set up on the lakeshore.
Lake Titiwangsa is a 10-minute walk east of the Titiwangsa monorail station. RapidKL bus B101 runs between Titiwangsa and KL Sentral, via Jln Cheng Lock in…
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Badan Warisan Malaysia
Find out about the work of built heritage preservation society Badan Warisan Malaysia at its head office in a 1925 colonial bungalow in the shadow the Petronas Towers. The property’s grounds contain the Rumah Penghulu, a handsome example of a restored Malay-style wooden house from Kedah. Tours of the house are held at 11am and 3pm Monday to Saturday (suggested donation of RM5). The trust also holds exhibitions in the bungalow, where you’ll find a good bookshop and an excellent gift store stocking wooden antique furniture and local handcrafted items.
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Kompleks Dayabumi
The former headquarters of Petronas, Malaysia's national oil and gas company, the Kompleks Dayabumi was built in 1981 on land formerly occupied by the workshops for the Malayan Railway. The landmark feature here is a tall marble tower, cloaked in delicate fretwork screens. In profile, the tower forms a four-pointed star intersected by a square, a reoccurring symbol in Islamic art. Despite being one of the older buildings in KL, the tower is notable for its clean lines and purity of form.
To get here, walk over the footbridge behind Central Market.
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National Museum
A major renovation and creation of an entirely new gallery has breathed new life into the National Museum, which is packed with interesting displays on Malaysia’s history, economy, arts, crafts and various cultures. It’s worth timing your visit to coincide with one of the free guided tours. The building has a distinctive Minangkabau-styled roof and two beautiful front murals made of Italian mosaic glass depicting Malaysian life. A walkway over the highway connects the museum with the southern stretch of the Lake Gardens.
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National Art Gallery
Squashed between Jln Tun Razak and the park is the worthwhile National Art Gallery. A striking mural, Graffiti, by Mahadhir Masri, covers the walkway wall leading up the gallery, the interior of which is dominated by a swirly Guggenheim Museum–style staircase. Among the works to look out for in the gallery’s permanent collection, which was only started in 1958, are paintings by Zulkifi Moh’d Dohalan, Wong Hoi Cheong, Ahad Osman and the renowned batik artist Chuah Than Teng. The gallery also hosts many temporary exhibitions.
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Bukit Nanas Forest Reserve
The 421m Menara KL stands atop the Bukit Nanas Forest Reserve, gazetted in 1906. A series of nature trails snake through the jungle, which contains a variety of animals and plants typical of lowland dipterocarp forests. You can access the park from Jln Raja Chulan, Jln Bukit Nanas or from the Menara KL.
Free guided tours leave from the base of the Menara KL at 11:00, 12:30, 14:30 and 16:30 daily lasting around 45 minutes. Drop into the information centre on Jln Raja Chulan to see displays on the wildlife inside the park.
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National Monument
At the northern end of the Lake Gardens, the National Monument commemorates the defeat of the Communists in 1950. The militaristic bronze sculpture was created in 1966 by Felix de Weldon, the artist behind the Iwo Jima monument in Washington, DC. Nearby is a monument to the Malay fighters who died in WWI and WWII.
Creating an interesting juxtaposition to the triumphalism of the monument, members of the Tugu Drum Circle (http://tugudrumcircle.blogspot.com/) meet here every Sunday from 17:30 for some therapeutic drumming.
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Loke Mansion
Rescued from the brink of dereliction by the law firm Cheang & Ariff, Loke Mansion was once the home of self-made tin tycoon Loke Yew, although the original part of the structure was built in the 1860s by another rich merchant Cheow Ah Yeok. The Japanese high command also set up base here in 1942. After years of neglect, the mansion has been beautifully restored; it’s possible to gain access by appointment only, although there’s nothing to stop you walking by and admiring the whitewashed exterior.
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Sultan Abdul Samad Building
The east side of the Merdeka Square is dominated by the domes and clocktower of the Sultan Abdul Samad Building, built as the secretariat for the colonial administration in 1897. It was designed by the India-obsessed architect AC Norman - who also created the Jamek Masjid - and it now houses the Malaysian High Court. There are several more AC Norman constructions along the east side of the square, providing a striking counterpoint to the looming Menara KL and Petronas Towers.
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Thean Hou Temple
Off Jln Syed Putra, the multilayered and highly ornate Thean Hou Temple is one of the most visually impressive in Malaysia. It’s dedicated to the Heavenly Mother, Thean Hou. Her statue takes centre stage in the main hall, with Guanyin (the Buddhist Goddess of Mercy) on her right and Shuiwei Shengniang (the Goddess of the Waterfront) to her left. Statues of Milefo (the laughing Buddha), Weituo and Guandi further contribute to this Taoist/Buddhist hodgepodge.
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Sepang International Circuit
Malays follow soccer and basketball enthusiastically, but the big spectator sport in Kuala Lumpur is motor racing. About 60km south of the centre, the Sepang International Circuit hosts some of the biggest events in Asian motorsports, from the Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix (in October) to the Petronas Malaysian Formula 1 Grand Prix (in March/April). Events take place throughout the year so check the website for listings or visit the office (2273 9335) in KL Sentral.
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Pudu Jail
Immediately southwest of Berjaya Times Square is the looming hulk of Pudu Jail. The star-shaped building was constructed by the British in 1895 and hundreds of prisoners were executed here (many for drug offences) before the prison was closed in 1996. Painted around the perimeter wall is the world's longest mural. Many locals believe that the prison is haunted and local travel agents occasionally organise ghost tours of the decaying cells and corridors.
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National History Museum
At the south end of the Merdeka Square is the National History Museum, which covers Malaysian history from prehistoric times to the present day. The building was constructed in 1888 and originally housed the first bank in Kuala Lumpur. Inside you can see relics and treasures from the various cultures that preceded the British colonial administration, including the Hindu and Buddhist kingdoms that existed here before the rise of Islam.
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Masjid Jamek
Set in a grove of palm trees is KL’s most delightful mosque, Masjid Jamek. Built in 1907, the mosque is a tranquil creation of onion domes and minarets of layered pink and cream bricks. Designed again by AB Hubbock, who sought inspiration from Mogul mosques in India, it stands at the confluence of the Sungai Klang and Sungai Gombak – where KL’s founders first set foot. Dress appropriately if you wish to enter.
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Bazaar Baru Market
This lively market sells clothes, toys, buckets, stationary, noodles, spices, fresh meat and live, flapping catfish, as well as a staggering array of weird and wonderful tropical fruit. Overweight cats loiter around the wet market looking for scraps, and locals struggle through the narrow aisles with huge bags of shopping. Just wandering round is a heady, sensory experience, particularly for the sense of smell.
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