Amazing Malaysia

It's not all than uncommon for The Amazing Race to visit a city which I had already seen myself. However, this past Sunday, when the teams were sent to Kuala Lumpur, they passed through the same very places that I had been not ten days earlier (granted, the show was filmed in December of 2006, but that's a technicality). Here's where TAR got things correct, and where they didn't capture the true nature of KL.

When the teams arrived in KL, they had to use public transportation to reach the Batu Caves. As the teams struggled to figure out which bus to take, I yelled "Take Bus 11," which was the same bus I used less than two weeks before. Once at the caves, teams had to scale the 272 steps to the cave mouth -- no small feat given Malaysia's year-round heat and humidity -- though teams missed out on stepping inside Cathedral Cave to see the shrines and to receive a blessing from a Hindu priest in a brief but fascinating ceremony.

The cookie-eating detour was performed in the Chow Kit street market, one of several in KL. I visited the Central Market, near the "muddy confluence" of rivers from which KL derives its name. Near there, I stopped for lunch at an Indian-style cafe, where I was somehow able to communicate my order through rudimentary English and lots of pointing. Teams also had to find a clue near a mosque, which highlighted the fact that Malaysia is an Islamic country. I've been to the Middle East before and I thought I knew what Muslims looked like. But these Muslims were Asian, and many of their religious structures have a distinctly Asian feeling.

During the newspaper roadblock, you noticed how friendly people were in running up to the contestants and not only giving them as many newspapers as possible but taking the newspapers out to their cart and helping to stack them up. In my experience, Malaysians were incredibly friendly, from helping me get off the bus at the right place to see Batu Caves (and telling me where to wait for the return trip) to stopping me on the street to ask the time and discuss where I'm from. These aren't Egyptian conmen who approach Western tourists on the street and offer to give them directions but instead guide them into the shop belonging to their friend the perfume merchant. These are honest, genuinely friendly locals who want you stay to be as enjoyable as possible. On the 15-minute bus ride from the border crossing to Johor Bahru's central bus station -- the first thing I needed to do after entering the country -- I met two separate people who wanted my email address so they could keep in touch. Pretty cool.

One thing that The Amazing Race didn't showcase is Malaysia's desire to modernize itself and fly into the 21st century. KL has numerous ultra-modern skyscrapers, particularly the Petronas Towers, which are the tallest twin towers in the world and were once the world's tallest building overall (and the setting for the climax of the movie Entrapment). KL also has a brand new monorail system, an imposing communications tower, and a number of gargantuan megamalls.

It might not yet be a superpower, but KL is on its way to being a significant player in the economics of that part of the world. Above all, it's a fascinating and welcoming place to visit. As usual, The Amazing Race did it justice.

For my Kuala Lumpur pictures, click here.