Although I am staying with friends in every city, I often spend the day alone touring each city because my friends are at work. The wonderful part of that is that I get to meet new people in my travels. One day I took what is called a Hop On Hop Off bus to see KL and met a young lady named Maria from Spain.
While I was on my tour of the Petronas Towers, there was a family group from Brazil that included my new young friend Paulo. He invited me to hang out with his family during the tour and offered to take photos for me. Lucky for me that both Maria and Paulo could speak English, because I couldn’t speak their languages. Do you know what languages people speak in Spain and Brazil? Yes, they speak Spanish in Spain, but do you know what language they speak in Brazil? Do you know why?
Before I went to KL, I thought the only important thing about the city was the Petronas Towers. I was so wrong! KL is a wonderful mixture of languages, religions, people and cultures. They have a big variety of good food as you will see in my second video about KL. A lot of the people who live there are native Malays, but there are almost as many Malaysian Chinese and also many Malaysian Indians (from the country of India).
Nearly half of the population are Muslims, so there are many mosques. Many others are Buddhists, so there are many Buddhist temples. There are also Christian churches and Hindu temples, although many Hindus worship at home alone or with their families.
Bahasa Malaysia is the main language spoken, but English is also very common as well as Chinese and Indian languages. As I walked through the city, I heard people speaking many different languages, but nearly everyone returned my smile. It almost always pays to be friendly and kind.
So far, I have found friendly people all over the world. I have noticed that people everywhere are proud of their own country. They show respect for their own flag. I bet you are proud to be an American and that you show respect for our flag.
Some students have asked me whether I will be visiting Japan or the Philippines or Vietnam, but I am not going there on this trip. I have been to all of those places before and I loved each one. After KL I still have four more cities on my list including one I added during my trip. The city I added is not in Asia, but on a different continent.
Thanks for all of your questions and comments. Is there anything you want to ask me about my trip to KL? Are there some things you can learn on your own about KL and the rest of Malaysia?
I knew that you were in Kuala Lumpur from the clues you gave in your last post! YAS!
Great, Nick. I try to give clues that are helpful without totally giving away the answer. Thanks for writing!
You’re welcome!
YAS! We were right!
Hi Khoa,
Glad you guessed right! How did you figure it out? Did someone recognize the Petronas Twin Towers?
We searched up “twin towers in Malaysia” or something, I forgot, and we found the Petrona tower’s pictures on Wikipedia and the description said “The Petronas Towers, also known as the Petronas Twin Towers (Malay: Menara Petronas, or Menara Berkembar Petronas), are twin skyscrapers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. According to the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH)’s official definition and ranking, they were the tallest buildings in the world from 1998 to 2004 and remain the tallest twin towers in the world. The buildings are a landmark of Kuala Lumpur, along with nearby Kuala Lumpur Tower.”
That’s so cool! Did you feel scared when you went on top of the skyscraper? I would feel scared.You looks like your having lots of fun!-Franchesca
Hi Franchesca!
It really isn’t scary at all. It was exciting to be able to look down over the city. I am having the time of my life!
I’m just asking because I’m scared of heights.Lol!
I don’t think you would feel afraid in the Twin Towers, because it is all enclosed. I think you might have fun looking down!
Ms. B
They speak Portuguese in Brazil!
Also my sister is going to be a foreign exchange student in Japan!
How wonderful for your sister! She will have an amazing time, but I am sure you will miss each other.
Ms. B
Good Morning Ms. Barthelemy! We loved watching your more recent videos. It is so fascinating to see all of the different types of foods that you got to try and see. We have several students in our class who have tried some of those different foods. We even have a couple students whose families have been to Malaysia.
We really liked all of the information that you shared with us about Mumbai. We have a student who was born in Mumbai in our class and lived there for awhile too. We could not believe there are just cows wandering the street. We also thought that the washing place was very interesting and we wondered how they keep track of everyones clothes.
Our class is guessing that your next visit will be to Dubai and we can’t wait to see and hear more from you. Have a great trip!
Ms. Youngberg’s 4th Grade Class
Hi everyone!
By now you know that you were correct about Dubai. I think it is great that some of you have tried different kinds of foods. Even though I am as old as I am, I am still finding new foods to try, especially on my trip. That is so interesting that you have classmates whose families have been to Malaysia! Which city did they visit?
I wondered how they keep track of all of the laundry too, but I suppose certain people do laundry from certain places so they know where to deliver it. I hope you liked my Dubai video. I am nearly ready to post my next one too. My trip has been amazing!
Warmly,
Ms. Barthelemy
Dear Ms. Barthelemy,
We enjoyed your video and learning about your travels. We would like to ask you a few questions.
Was it scary riding the camel?
Did you think your vehicle might roll over when you were riding on the sand dunes? You are an adventurous woman!
We noticed that you saw falcons. Our class recently had a guest speaker who taught us about raptors, specifically the Peregrine Falcon. What did you learn about falcons?
We can’t wait to see your next video.
Sincerely,
Mrs. Scallon’s Fifth Grade Class
Dear Mrs. Scallon’s Fifth Grade Class,
I am pleased to know that you are watching my videos and enjoying them. Riding the camel wasn’t scary at all because the ride was slow and not very far. The only part that was a bit exciting was when the camel stood up and when it sat down again because it seemed pretty sudden. However, it definitely felt as though the SUV would tip over when we rode it in the dunes. It is a good thing the windows were closed, because otherwise we would have had sand in our eyes and mouth!
I am nearly ready to post the video from my next city. I am making two separate videos since there was so much to show. The part about the falcons will be on the second video from that city. Did you figure out the city yet?
Thanks so much for writing!
Ms. Barthelemy