Apart from blowing my mind away with its easy going hospitality (People on the street address each other as Abang, which means friend) and VIP treatment from Limkokwing (I’m talking Rolls Royce babe, special mention of The Voice presence at a prestigious fashion, and a lot more) the visit to KL, as the capital city is affectionately dubbed opened my eyes to the fact that development and progress can be achieved without compromising the people’s culture.

You cannot be in KL and not be captivated by the city’s unique architectural designs, which clearly weave a mysterious and intriguing story of multi ethnic and multi lingual community co-existing together in peace. There’s the Malay, the Chinese, and the Indian among others.

One such famous architectural landmark is none other than the majestic Petronas Twin Towers of course, dominating KL’s skyline and boasting of world’s tallest twin towers tittle. The twin towers design I learnt was inspired by the Five Pillars of Islam.

There’s more buildings like that, permeated with character and culture, including the Limkokwing University of Creative Technology’s stunning campus itself which for the one week that I was in KL provided for me a home away from home feel because of its cosmopolitan vibe of a place teeming with the international students community.

Buildings

Many buildings I came to learn tell a story either in Chinese, Malay, or Indian culture making Malaysia indeed ‘Truly Asia’ as there tourism campaign tagline claims and definite recommendation for culture buffs out there. Talk about development and progress on your own terms.

But to write about Kuala Lumpur and not to mention shopping experience would definitely be a disservice to this Asian Tiger shopping Mecca. Limkokwing University regional director corporate, industry and media relations Mercy Thebe and I shopped until we dropped, or should I say until I dropped because in the end I simple tagged along as I sat down in different shops as the queen of shopping trawled the mammoth malls from the seven storey Sungei Wang shopping Centre, which is the cheapest for retail therapy, to Low Yat Plaza, specializing in electronics and IT products, to Pavilion and Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, the home of the twin towers. The only downside to the shopping experience was being much taller and bigger than the average Malaysian, I struggled to find clothes size and definitely couldn’t find shoes that fitted me until I walked into Aldo, a European franchise at a more expensive mall. I guess it’s the small price you pay for being African in Asia. That and the hot and humid climate, when you are used to the hot and dry Botswana. But after all has been said, Malaysia is a must visit for anyone looking for inspiration and experience in the Asian culture and definitely retail therapy.