As I said in my Part I post, this trip to Asia was about doing some cool flights while visiting new places. I wanted to take advantage of my flexibility at the time and the seemingly great award space to get around Asia for close to 2 weeks. I knew I wanted to check out Singapore if at all possible after Yokohama, and figured while I was down there, I might as well give Malaysia a peek, too.
I'd heard of Kuala Lumpur, the capital, but outside of that I didn't know a ton about Malaysia or Malaysian culture. I decided to do 3 days in Kuala Lumpur to check things out and get a taste (figuratively and literally) of this new-to-me country.
One of the biggest bummers of my time in KL was simply the traffic and time it would take to get places. KL has a fairly large public transit system, including a subway, but I found it would often take almost twice as long as taking a Grab, even if the traffic was borderline torturous. KL just seemed to have an insane amount of cars with one or two people in them.
The Batu Caves were one of the highlights of Kuala Lumpur for me. While still very close to Kuala Lumpur, it was a lovely reprieve from the hustle and bustle of the city and a great way to spend an afternoon.
Jalan Alor is one of Kuala Lumpur's top food streets. What I liked about Jalan Alor is that it seemed authentic and popular amongst locals in addition to tourists. I was kind of expecting a "pub street" type of thing catering to backpackers with alcohol, but it actually was seemingly full of respectable restaurants serving solid food. I'd say this rivaled any traditional night market across Asia I'd been to.
Petaling Street and its immediate surroundings are KL's main section of the city's Chinatown. Much like most street markets across the world, you'll find plenty of cheap food, Chinese imported knockoffs, and cheap souvenirs. I found Petaling Street to be a bit underwhelming, as it's mostly knockoff goods with the occasional food stall or restaurant. Still well worth checking out if you're a fan of visiting global Chinatowns, like I am.
I was introduced to nasi lemak and teh tarik for the first time in Kuala Lumpur, absolutely loved both of them. I wish I could get authentic nasi lemak easily back in the Bay Area.
Regrettably, I only had three nights in Malaysia before heading to Singapore. I tried to make a trip up to Penang work when I was planning, but it wasn't feasible if I was going to go to Singapore as well. I felt good about my decision to trade a three-day Penang trip for a Singapore trip, as three days felt like adequate time to see most of what I wanted in Singapore. I'll save Penang for another trip where we can venture out and see more of Malaysia as a whole.
– G
