Explore India with Kapil Semwal Photography®: Malaysia - Truly Asia

Traveling to Malaysia & exploring the Beauty of Mother Nature is a great fun for Photographers & Explorers, it is also a great location for Bird Watchers/Photographers. Shopping in Malaysia is another a great choice for Shopaholics as they have international genuine brands (no copies).

Once you enter Malaysia, you may need a local calling number, but make sure, you choose telecom company wisely & smartly. Maxis (Hotlink) provides pathetic service, I seldom had bad experience. The have customer service number(s), alas, you will never get connected to Customer Service Executive(s) (CSE). At time, you may find your calls going blank, low voice quality, poor internet even though you have all bars network tower on your phone(s). Whenever I call back home to India, my parents, friends and clients always complaint and will say,”We cannot hear you clearly, Your voice is too low now OR they will just say, Hello - Hello - Hello (simply means, they cannot hear me at all and I have to cut the call then call back”

NB: Government have waived off GST 6% from calling cards/coupons recharge but recharging your credit online (CIMB CLICK - as per my experiences) is still 6% GST on mobile reloads, which certainly against the Malaysian Law.

"Horrible Hotlink"

Malaysia has different transportation(s) services, from Komuter (Commuters), Buses, Flights, Cabs etc. They are safe & provides good services viz. In bus Phone charging facility, WiFi etc. The buses are as clean as the Bus Centre (Station), well, I am talking about TBS, Kuala Lumpur bus central. Bus central has several booking counters & you may not see the queues most of the time. Indicators - to give you a precise information on bus Arrivals & Departures as well as the gate numbers.

There are Restaurants national & international providing different cuisines & yes, they are pretty clean too. You do have a shopping option as well, which is on the other hand of the booking counters & few stores are 24 Hrs. Security is tight and disciplined & helping.

NB: Please try booking your own tickets from the counter(s) instead of buying it from the people outside, who will charge you at least RM 5. extra/pax.

TBS (Bus Station), Kuala Lumpur - Malaysia

Malaysia has its own beauty spread around which is certainly distinctive and pleasing to your sight. Malaysia is a great place for Photographers, Travellers, Explorers etc. From Landscapes to Beaches to Islands to Birds to Food, you will have a pleasant experience. People are nice and helping (Yes! There are good, bad & ugly all around the world), but, when you are nice, they will be nice too. Something that I noticed in Malaysia is just too different than India. In Malaysia, if you smile at any stranger or local person, irrespective to gender or age, they will smile back at you & make you feel welcomed & comfortable, BUT, if you give a smile to anyone in India, specially girls, they will think that you trying to hook her up or whatsoever. At times, some people may just turn their head & will ignore you, quite Rude - right? Now, that is not welcoming at all. Nevertheless, coming back to Malaysia, just stay here, enjoy your food, go around to visit places & yes, now GST (Goods and Services Tax) is going to give jerk to your pockets by + 6%. I guess, GST has harassed citizens in Malaysia and so will also affect tourisms, which will distract numbers of tourists from visiting Malaysia.

Landscapes - Malaysia

Malaysia is a very good place to visit for Shopping and most of the people from nearby countries do visit here, specially for shopping, as you will find 30% - 70% Sale. SoGo and Mines are big as well pretty famous malls in Kuala Lumpur, there are some other medium level malls which are good for groceries in Malaysia viz. Mydin and Giant.

So, if you want to buy Perfumes, Clothes for yourself or family, Handbags - SoGo will be the best choice. But, if you are looking for good deals and more choices on Electronics then dig into Mines. Mines have real good Electronic shops, so be it mobile phones, power banks or any gadget, just start digging into Mines. Mines also have some good food joints which is just by the waterside (please don’t ask me, if the water is clean). There are boats, where you can go for a small trip around too.

Mydin and Giant, both are fairly good with their prices and products for your groceries & stationery items with several choices for your selection.

I remember, when I had visited SoGo for the first time. After the shopping, exiting the gate, looking at the Security guard’s expression, I told my brother from another border (Daniel) that, “Looks like the guard want to know, if after shopping, we have money left, if not So-Go (home)” :D

NB: Salesboys and Salesgirls are well educated about the products they are selling and well mannered too in all the malls.

By the way, you can also enjoy a Live Street Performance from a local Rock Band :) (seldom by early evening)

SoGo - Shopping hub - Kuala Lumpur

Staying Kuala Lumpur and finding a hotel to stay with homely treatment, is another question. I found a hotel named “Star Points Hotel” which delivers you a good services and clean big rooms.

When you wake up, buffet breakfast must be waiting for you on the 14th floor, where you can enjoy your fresh breakfast inside the restaurant or at the terrace area.

I found a very interesting and a calm man there named Kiran Rekhraj, who manages the restaurant but also a very good chef. At one place, there always have been political disputes between India and Pakistan on the other hand, this young man, made Pakistanis to feel comfortable and to earn more respect for Indians. He had also designed a very special food festival which he named as, “Pakistani Food Festival”. I believe, this is where you will see Indians and Pakistanis meeting, greeting and enjoying their meals regardless to those political issues which are out of the heads of these nice and decent people who believes in Humanity than Nationality.

There is something I must express from the bottom of my heart, not as an Indian but as an Artist and Human. An Artist is just a Human, regardless to his/her Origin/Nationality/Caste or Class….

Sadly and honestly, I missed this beautiful Pakistani Food Festival. It would have been such a great experience and moment to be there and spend memorable time with these beautiful and decent people from my neighbourhood country - Pakistan.

From Childhood, I have been hearing only bad things about Pakistan but, when I first time, met a Pakistani man (A Cab Driver) in Dubai (2004), he was just like me and other Indians, I couldn’t see or feel any kind of enmity in him. His eyes were clear and calm. I found no difference in him and me. He spoke to me in Hindi mixed with Urdu language.

The second time I met anyone from Pakistan, was an actor named Hasan, who had his visit to India and was living in the hotel Taj President (now named - Vivanta by Taj) when I was working as a bartender in the same hotel. He, his wife and friends were kind and well mannered.

After looking at all this, a question arises in my mind, why do we fight on borders and shed bloods, when we all know there is blood with same color and pain that emits scream. I am glad, I always behaved Human, just like The God wanted me to be and so I could see Human in people I have met from Pakistan - even though the world says, they are enemies to us.