Kickin' It in KL

In typical Steph fashion, I took a last minute trip to Kuala Lumpur, capital of Malaysia. One of my classmates was going to visit a friend, so I went along for the (bus) ride. I figured, 10 hours on a bus was a good excuse to get some work done, with no distractions.

While in KL, I took the opportunity to practice some photography, attached are the results.

Here are some observations I made about KL on my short visit there:

KL is Singapore but with slightly more pizazz. (At least the nightlife seems a bit more happening!)

It's a city that is structurally very similar to Singpaore (built around shopping and business), but I would say KL's lifestyle is slightly more liberal (at least in individual freedoms), whereas, it's more conservative when it comes to the culture. At least, I found a more distinct cultural divide between ethnicity's. For instance, I was out with my classmate's friends, and when they were talking amongst themselves about who would be joining, they referred to their friends not by their names, but by their ethnicity.

It was interesting for me to observe a Muslim couple, whom I encountered in the elevator. I know a little bit about the customs between men and women in the Islamic faith, but I was quite intrigued by observing this couple interact. As per tradition, the woman's fully covered in religious garb, and yet it struck me that the husband is dressed in jeans and a Tshirt. She has her back to him, he pays almost no regard to her. She speaks, but he can't understand her because her speech is muffled.

I know that I was raised in a country that holds different values, but because of my social conditioning in 21st Century America, actually seeing this was shocking to me, because, to me, it seems like a distinct contradiction within the relationship: there's a clear difference between how women and men are expected to behave within the society and relationship. But it's important for us to remember that we all come from different backgrounds and upbringings and we should aim to understand and respect those differences for what they are.