I "Art" KL...

National Art Gallery, Malaysia

So after the last adventure day of getting lost in the jungle with leeches, we decided we'd head out for something a little more sophisticated and civilized this time around. Combing through our self-made list of Malaysian-musts, we immediately focused our attention on the "culture" category and all agreed that a trip to the National Art Gallery would be a perfect, climate-controlled way for us to immerse ourselves in the local art scene. I picked the girls up mid-morning (and by "girls" I mean my friends Lauren and Ela), and we headed to the gallery, conveniently located right on the edge of town. It was a quick and easy 10 minute drive for us....almost too quick and easy, in fact! So after circling the gallery a few times and driving the wrong way through the parking lot just to make our adventure seem a little more adventurous, I finally picked a place to park, and off we went to see some art. Upon entering the gallery, we learned that in conjunction with Malaysia's upcoming National Day next week (a public holiday in which the country will be celebrating 53 years of independence), the gallery is currently featuring exhibitions by local artists whose works revolve around themes of peace and patriotism. The museum was decked out with colors of the Malaysian flag (red, white, and blue appropriately enough), and paintings of the Bunga Raya, the national flower of Malaysia commonly known as the Hibiscus. We even got to paint our own Bunga Rayas after having talked our way into the children's wing of the art gallery and were able to bring our own personalized artwork home with us. I'm proud to say that my bunga raya is now on public display on the refrigerator door of our shiny LG fridge in the kitchen at 3 Persiaran Ampang (our address in Malaysia).

Malaysian Flags Hanging in the entrance of the Art Gallery

My very own Bunga Raya painting