When coming into Kuala Lumper, on the Light Rail Train, I saw an interesting building below the tracks. Today I walked to where it was. I discovered it was another train line, called the Kuala Lumpur Railway Station. It was completed in 1910 to replace an older station. Up until 2001 it was the main rail line in Kuala Lumpur. Now KL Sentral is the main line.

It is one of KL's most famous landmarks! At one time it was one of the most photographed buildings in the city . Then, the Petronas Twin Towers were built and they became the 'icon' of KL.

The station is still in operation and I walked through it. The building design is what caught my eye. It's said to be a mix of eastern and western design. You can see both in it. The eastern design with all its spirals and domes is what is interesting to me, since I have seen the western design all my life.

Across the street form the station is the Railway Administration Building. It is a pretty thing in itself, but I didn't get inside it.

I am staying in Chinatown here in Kuala Lumpur and in the neighborhood is the Central Market. I found it one day by just wandering around. It was built in 1888 and has been a prominent landmark in both the colonial days and modern era in KL.

I walked through the multi-story old building that has such a long history in KL, but what caught my eye was a poster announcing the nightly shows . 

Besides the martial-arts show that I wrote about in a previous entry, there is a Cultural Dance Performance most nights. They are held outside on a stage and all are free of charge. 

The dance group is called The Citrasari Dance Troupe and they perform traditional dances of the Malay, Chinese and Indian cultures. There are different performers each night, depending on what ethnic group the dances are from.

The performers were very entertaining and this entry has several videos of their performances.

While Malaysia has a lot of western influence and is more developed than many other Asian countries I have visited, there are still things that make it very much Asian. Like the broken sidewalks you encounter anytime you are walking around the city.
 
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