last year i made a list of things i wanted to accomplish before 2015 made its appearance. a rather significant reason i created the list was so that i could finally finish those last few rolls of 120 film. in hopes of exposing those rolls of film, i conjured up a photowalk that would've involved me visiting all the tourist spots i've yet to visit around Kuala Lumpur. alas, the photowalk never quite materialized - focusing to carry out my photowalks mostly in Putrajaya ultimately left me uninspired to make that trek to the muddy confluence.
fast forward half a year later post-Tokyo, i was engulfed in a strong itch to pound the pavements of some city. any city. one that possibly has some form of mass rapid transit. the leftover wanderlust was killing me, hence i made my way to the heart of Kuala Lumpur one fine evening in the midst of the Eid Mubarak celebrations. i didn't exactly ply the mass rapid transit as i planned to - this is, after all, a rather spontaneous photowalk (like most of my photowalks lately, really).
to be frank, Kuala Lumpur is no Tokyo. the climate isn't exactly conducive for a random photowalk. the streets were poorly lit and weren't pedestrian friendly. plus the backalleys are filthy and incredibly dodgy. all these factors didn't inspire any form of safety for yours truly. and in a rather surreal manner, the people on the streets mostly consisted of non-Malaysians! had i mistakenly teleported myself into the Middle East?
regardless, i made my way to Dataran Merdeka - a great spot for one to leisurely lounge about while getting baked by the relentless heat of tropical Malaysia. to no surprise, the Dataran was nearly devoid of Malaysians - substituted by the presence of blue collared foreign workers enjoying their day off on the first day of Eid Mubarak, and tourists taking selfies with their selfie sticks. unlike the squeaky clean parks of Tokyo, Dataran Merdeka isn't without its share of litterbugs, which certainly detracts from the experience of standing in a historic locale. admittedly, this is the very first time i've ever set foot on Dataran Merdeka - a somewhat historic feat for yours truly, and perhaps a catalyst to finally start discovering the streets of the muddy confluence. i've always believed that to know a city is to walk the streets and to take the mass rapid transportations. in this case, i feel that i'm completely unable to recognize Kuala Lumpur anymore. maybe i never knew her in the first place.
