The Unexpected Joys Of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

The culture shock of arriving in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur from Laos is perhaps as blunt as it gets for SE Asia — this is part of what makes travel exciting.

Gone were the colorful and ornate temples, Tuk-Tuks, and saffron-clad Buddhist monks.“KL” (for short) has a diverse majority Muslim population and a cityscape both old and new, with many mosques and notable buildings incorporating Islamic design.

My flight into KL landed quite late, and the international airport is far from the city. In situations like this I opt to sleep in the airport to save money. I like to find the quietest place to crash for 4-5 hours. Normally I settle for any chair I can contort myself to, but this time I give in and splay out on the floor against a wall, my large backpack acts as a pillow. Somehow the hours pass, and the next thing I know it is 5:00 AM. I made my way to the train center.

Departing KL Sentral Station around 7:30 AM I walked along some confusing sidewalks, past high rise hotel chains near to the botanical garden on my way to Chinatown. I should have connected directly on the train, but the walk gave me a chance to survey the city. I was struck by the menacing Merdeka 118 tower, which was nearing the end of its construction and is now regarded as the second tallest structure in the world. From some angles it looks unsightly … even ugly, but it would grow on me as the days went on. The blue glass reminded me of NYC’s One World Trade Center. Eventually I checked into the 1000 Miles Hostel, where I’d stay for the first four nights.

Leaving my baggage I set back out to find breakfast, ideally something cheap and local (aka not Starbucks). While Malaysia is more expensive than other nations to the north I didn’t have a problem finding street food for less than $2. Food stalls selling the national dish, Nasi Lemak could be found all over. Rice, egg, betel nuts, and other toppings of choice are wrapped in banana leaf and paper — I took mine to eat on a bench near the Masjid Jamek mosque.

KL shows me all of its best sides on the first day. Once I established the fact that Malaysian food is delicious (and spicy!) I learned that the locals too are adept at striking up curious conversation and many have good English. The man pictured above saw my Fuji-film camera and wanted his photo taken. I rarely ever photograph people in my travels, so I relished in the chance to do so.

My hostel had an elevator, which felt luxurious after some of the places I’ve stayed in recent weeks. I’m was on the fifth floor, which also has a balcony with decent views of Merkeda 118, the KL tower, and even the famous Patronas Towers in the distance. I keep telling myself that I’d wake up to do yoga on the balcony before the afternoon rains arrive, but I never got to it. My stay coincided with the Divali Hindu holiday, and on one of my nights I enjoyed a large fireworks display from the rooftop.

My hostel lobby became an unusual haven, complimented by the free coffee and tea. Some hostels are big and overwhelming, but this one felt small (despite its many floors). I met another American, his name was Clinton. He was sitting in the lobby often, so we tended to chat whenever I got back from sightseeing. We spoke of retirement in cheaper developing countries, wondering — as travel minded people, what’s the point of saving to retire in the USA? My own retirement is a long way off, and admittedly I haven’t begun saving at all. I envision retiring to Mexico or somewhere else cheaper near to America. The idea seemed like a pretty realistic fantasy.

Malaysia, and particularly KL has a large Indian population. I loved wandering through Little India. It gave me a preview of what I can eventually expect on a trip to India. There were mango shake stands lining a busy market, along with large clear tubs of various teas and other drinks, grilled meats, and more western looking concoctions including Nutella Coffee. I was curious about everything, and I struggled to decide what to sample. If I wasn’t sticking to a budget I’d probably have tried it all. One night after a long walk to and from the Changkat Tunku Lookout Point I stopped at a random Indian restaurant and tried paneer naan for the first time — along with a mushroom curry dish. The two were heavenly for dipping.

Even if you haven’t heard of KL you may have seen images of the iconic Patronas Towers, which for over two decades have been the worlds’ tallest twin towers.

As you can probably tell I love skyscrapers, and so here I took an entire afternoon to visit the KLCC park and mall at the base of the Patronas Towers. There’s ample green space and it’s a nice break from the surrounding city.

I never got to see the former twin towers in New York, so here I felt a strange gratitude as I sat for hours with a book in the shadow of Malaysia’s architectural pride and joy.

The KLCC Mall is one of probably dozens of large malls scattered around Kuala Lumpur. (“KL doesn’t need anymore malls” said Clinton, on at least a couple occasions). I wandered the six floors of KLCC more-so to people watch than to do anything else. In the evening a storm rolled on through, sending crowds from outside running for cover. Meanwhile I hid under my umbrella to observe the moody ambiance of dusk, lightning, and the illuminated towers before heading out for dinner.

Aside from Chinatown and Little India there were a couple notable areas for delicious local food (though I’m convinced you can’t go wrong with Malaysian food).

Once the storm calmed itself I walked to the Lot 31 food center, which of course is located inside another mall. Normally I wouldn’t think of a mall as the place to go for cheap local foods, but Lot 10 is kind of famous with the locals (their faces lit up whenever I mentioned my visit to Lot 10). I wound up at Lot 10 twice during my stay — the first time in the basement food court for a head turning’ly good noodles with chicken, and then on the fifth floor for spicy Japanese ramen.

For my last night I moved hostels. This felt a little silly, as I had enjoyed four nights at 1000 Miles and could easily have stayed another — but I couldn’t pass up the chance to stay at KL’s highest hostel — Penthouse On 34th. The place tempts you in with its 37th floor “infinity” pool (though it’s not a real infinity pool, there’s no glass bottom). I however was more interested in the view of the city.

Penthouse On 34th is located on the top of a three building hotel complex with a massive inner courtyard. The check in process was admittedly confusing. Once I arrived to the fourth floor lobby an email instructed a variety of unusually tedious steps before I could take the elevator up to the hostel. This aside, I was in awe of what $15 could get me for a hostel view. The pool is just fine, full of other hotel and hostel guests looking for their Instagram moment of the day. I haven’t had such a spectacular high rise accommodation view since my very first visit to Chicago when I was 15. Hostels just don’t come like this one.

At night I fell asleep to the sight of the Patronas Towers glittering out my dorm window. The next morning I didn’t leave the hotel/hostel complex, except to sample a cheap breakfast buffet down in the hotel lobby (more Nasi Lemak). Otherwise I hung out on the rooftop all day observing and reading until I needed to head to the airport for my flight to Bali. I regretted not allowing for more time in this unexpectedly enjoyable country, but I felt more than content with the sampling I’ve had.

Up Next: “Four Days in Ubud, Bali – Indonesia“