the __earthinc

When I left Kuala Lumpur for Ann Arbor years ago, I failed to appreciate the Malaysian capital as much as I do now.

To me, earlier, the city in the Klang Valley is so chaotic that it is hard to make sense out of it, especially if one is driving. As a freshman as Michigan, I was asked to write an essay about Kuala Lumpur. I wrote “it is easier for an ant to get through a plate of spaghetti than a person to survive the city”.

By the time I was a sophomore, I found myself walking the street of the world’s capital, New York. New York strengthens my perception of Kuala Lumpur — an unplanned city under the merciless sun. Place me anywhere in Manhattan and I will not lose my sense of direction. Place me anywhere in Kuala Lumpur and half the chance, I would probably seek direction from a stranger more often than a tourist would.

My travels, limited it may be, later told me that every city is unique; each city has its own appeals. San Francisco can never be Los Angeles and Los Angeles can never be New York. Or Singapore or Bangkok. Or Kuala Lumpur.

Kuala Lumpur is my home. I have probably spent almost 19 years here. Despite that, I do not dare to claim that I know every nook and cranny of the city. In some way, that is sad.

Sometimes, it is odd that while I love traveling, seeing and experiencing new places, I have yet to become familiar with my home city. For instance, I have been to the Yosemite National Park but I have yet to explore the Klang Gates Ridge that dominates the eastern frontier of Kuala Lumpur. I have been to many museums in the United States, including the famed Met but I cannot remember when was the last time I visited the National Museum in Kuala Lumpur. I have been to the top of the Empire State Building but I have yet to cross the skybridge of the Petronas Twin Towers.

While I was frolicking by the Dungun River almost a year ago, Patricia, an Englishwoman that has been in Malaysia longer than I have lived my life, told me something to the effect of “we usually take things that we often see for granted.” She is right. She is absolutely right.

Since then, I do think I have come to appreciate Kuala Lumpur more. And in effort to know more of Kuala Lumpur, I have approached the moderators of Metroblogging and am persuading them to create Metroblogging Kuala Lumpur.

Metroblogging is a city-specific blog. Or rather, a sort of a confederation of city-specific blogs. It has its own entry at Wikipedia if you need to know more about it. Or better, go to the about page at Metroblogging.

As a requirement to establish Metroblogging Kuala Lumpur, I need to find a minimum of 8 regular bloggers living in Kuala Lumpur to blog about the city. The topic of the posts at the blog could be anything. It could be art, history, places of interest, routine or even odd news about Kuala Lumpur. I already have two volunteers, including me, to support the Metroblogging Kuala Lumpur. I need another 6 people to join me. Each person will need to post at least once a week. The mod said thrice weekly but I think an update per day at an 8-person group blog should be great.

So, if you are interested in starting up Metroblogging Kuala Lumpur, leave me a message at the comment section or email me. I will get back to you.

C’mon. Let us do it. I find it insulting that Azeroth has its own Metblog but not Kuala Lumpur!

And yeah, Hari Wilayah is a little over 49 hours away.

Trackback URI | Comments RSS