My Trip to Kuala Lumpur

I thought I was going to be able to get my 1 Year Thai education visa at immigration in Bangkok but my school informed me that you had to leave the country to get it so I had to choose between a few different places.  I was more in settling down in Bangkok mode than travel mode so I wanted to go somewhere close.   I ended up choosing Kuala Lumpur because 1.  They had a flight that same night and a nighttime return flight for cheap on AirAsia and 2.  I love big cities and KL has that big city allure with big skyscrapers and 3.  Of course, I had never been to Malaysia.

What is Kuala Lumpur Like ?

I didn’t know what to expect going to Malaysia because it is the first conservative, primarily Muslim country I have traveled to.  I even heard that pornography was illegal and carrying a 5 year prison sentence if you got caught!  On Malaysian TV shows censored out almost all foul language, sex scenes and even censored a scene on an Adam Sandler movie of 2 women kissin each other.

This didn’t effect me while I was walking down the street or in public places but I’m sure there are some differences I did not notice. KL is a huge sprawled out city which has everything which makes large metropolitan areas interesting including skyscrapers, shopping malls, parks as well as a very extensive monorail and subway public transit system (view map here).

Despite the urban jungle feel, you can see a lot of greenery from high vantage points. Right under KL tower I walked through a park with monkeys which was a jungle as far as a kid from california is concerned. Despite this it was smack dabin the business center of the country which consisted mostly of big business skyscrapers, high end hotels along with restaurants and lots of shopping.  The streets were nice and wide (compared to Bangkok) and the traffic seemed to flow smoothly. Taxi drivers would talk about bad traffic when it was not even as bad as San Francisco as the city seemed to be well laid out.

Kuala Lumpur was very clean.  I didn’t find any areas in which the smell hit you like a Mike Tyson left hook to the face.  One of the more annoying things I came across in KL was the fact that hailing cabs in the street was not a possibility.  Cabs only were allowed to pick you up at stops which were often at large buildings, hotels and shopping centers.   I took probably 10 or so cab rides and only a single one used the meter which was dirt cheap (cheaper than Bangkok).  Most cab drivers wanted 10-20 ringitts ($3-6USD) to go most distances which could easily be walked.

If you insisted on cab drivers to use the meter they either wouldn’t or suddenly lost their ability to speak broken English.  Usually the desire to get an air conditioned cab ride over walking in 100 degree heat took over and you paid the extra fare.  Half of the taxis I took didn’t use the air conditioning which was a downer. Kuala Lumpur was another one of those big cities in Asia where you felt completely safe.  I arrived from the airport near 11:00pm and had no problem walking around by myself with no feelings of being unsafe.

What are the People like in Kuala Lumpur ?

Kuala Lumpur is a very diverse city.  I  talked to people from South Africa, Japan, India, Australia, Sao Paulo as well as Texas.  It is a very international city where foreigners are not anything out of the ordinary.  People keep to themselves more than I’m used to (I’m used to Bangkok so I may be biased) as you were constantly hounded (outside of Chinatown) to buy something, hop in a taxi of some sort, or be some sort of scam victim.

This being said, KL didn’t seem very friendly either.  The Malaysian people had an invisible barrier which seemed pretty hard to get passed when you first talked to them.  The service at most places was great as expected but I never received that extra kindness that I have received in other countries in Asia.   I expected to see my fair share of beautiful women which seem to be walking down the street everywhere in places like Tokyo, Hong Kong and Bangkok where my head is often going from right to left like a tennis match.

I did not see the same thing (in my limited time) in Kuala Lumpur.  Maybe it was a fact that many of the women are wearing the traditional Muslim head scarf?  I don’t know but would love to find out some time in the future.

Things I had a Chance to Experience in Kuala Lumpur

• Getting to Kuala Lumpur from Bangkok

  • The easy way or the hard way?  For most people the question of the expensive way or the cheap way is a more question.  The good news is Bangkok & Kuala Lumpur are conveniently connected in more ways that one.

• Petronas Towers

  • The most famous landmark in all of Malaysia is not ancient ruins from a past civilization, a tropical rain forest or some of the best diving spots and beaches in the world (which Malaysia all has) but 2 marvelous man-made skyscrapers with a skybridge which was completed in 1998.

• KL Tower

  • Unless you’re going to Malaysia you probably have no idea that there’s a third component to Malaysia’s skyline.  Once you get there it beckons your visit which you’ll be surprised includes more than just a panoramic view of the city.

• Chinatown

  • Recommended on every tour guide I had to go check out the backpacker central where you could get the cheapest lodging, cheap merchandise and of course Chinese food.

• Best hamburgers I’ve ever had

• Getting Thai Visa

  • The primary reason I found myself in Kuala Lumpur.  If you have no idea about living in a foreign country you may be interested in the fact that it is not as easy as you think!  Unless you live in Mexico;)  There are thousands of foreigners in Thailand who have to travel to Thai embassies in foreign countries on “visa runs” every 30 days!

• Lodging at Lanson Place

  • I arrived on a late Monday in a city of over 6 million people with no hotel reservation!!!  Both good and bad could arise from this situation.

• It’s Cool to Wait at the KL Aiport

  • I inadvertently got to the airport 5 hours early and most of the time this has you pulling out your own hair but luckily there’s a saving grace of KUL.

Overall Impression

When I lived in San Francisco I thought I would like to visit Kuala Lumpur one day.  The problem was it as 8,000 miles away and a ticket from SFO to KUL os over $1,000.  I’m glad I waited until I lived less than $150 away so I could visit KL with no pressure. Kuala Lumpur was a clean, safe city which was easy to get around in. I know the Malaysian Tourist Authority will be happy with this but I personally thought seeing the magnificent Petronas Towers satisfied me.

I would say that if you were in a rush and wanted to visit Kuala Lumpur 2-3 days would be enough to experience the main attractions.  If you wanted to spend a week in KL without leaving the city you would probably get bored. Although I didn’t experience any night life  most of the bars and nightclubs I saw were 90% foreigners who were probably living in KL for business. Chinatown also had a good set of travelers but not my crowd so I can’t provide much input on those 2 questions.

If your company was to move you to Kuala Lumpur I thing most people would get along nicely as there are good affordable accommodations as well as a great public transportation system (minus the taxis). I know I didn’t stay long enough to really get to know KL but to me it seems kind of boring compared to the other large cities in Asia, correct me if I’m wrong.

Touring Kuala Lumpur is as easy as 1-2, 3

Kuala Lumpur tower is the 2nd (or 3rd depending how you look at it) main attraction of the Kuala Lumpur skyline.  At night you will see a “space needle” looking structure a close distance from the Petronas Twin Towers.  It is brightly lit at night with sometimes changing colors and it just begs you to get to the top.

For those who already wonder about the Petronas Towers skybridge which is the highest the public is allowed to go in the building is only 557 feet high compared to the observation deck in LK tower, the 5th tallest tower in the world reaching 1,381 feet in all about 1,100 at the observation deck almost twice as high as the Petronas Towers skybridge.  For those of you who say, big deal, just another tall building with an overpriced revolving restaurant and observation deck you would be glad to know that there is more than just a view with KL tower.

More than Meets the Eye

I was at the Thai Embassy to get my Thai Education visa and walked about 20 minutes to look at the Petronas Towers.  I spent a good hour or so looking at and taking pictures of the Petronal Towers before I set off to view the 3rd superstar of the Kuala Lumpur skyline.  I started walking towards the tall structure with the notion that it would be easy to get there which never is with huge objects. Just like the huge hotels in Vegas, which look close but seem very far while walking in 100+ degree heat KL tower was the same.

I resisted the urge to get into a taxi and kept walking.  I came upon a giant intersection which I waited 2 cycles of traffic before I figured unless I risked my life and jaywalked I would be waiting forever.  I had a choice to make, I could go straight or right, there has to be more than a single street leading to this giant tower right?  Well, it was half right.  I took the right which lead away from the business district of skyscrapers and more to a residential-ish looking area.

I kept walking and the road was going in a circle around this seemingly big, dense jungle park with no way through.  I kept going until I came upon a school on the left but I saw an entrance to the park on the right along with some city workers snoozing on the park benches. There was a retaining wall on the left which I saw an animal which I thought was a monkey that I tailed and lost.  The city workers were laughing at me because I guess someone taking a picture of a monkey in the park is like someone taking a picture of a squirrel in any US park. I thought it was pretty cool that a 10 or so minute walk from one of the most famous buildings in the world there were monkeys playing in a park.

When I say park, I really mean mini-jungle as even though there were carved paths, there was thick vegetation everywhere with monkeys swinging in trees.  Word of advice:  Don’t stop if have shorts and short sleeves as I stopped for less than 5 minutes to take pictures of the monkeys and received about a dozen mosquito bites for my troubles.  I was in the park for 20-30 minutes and didn’t see another person. The monkeys seemed to be pretty comfortable with humans.

I didn’t antagonize them and some ignored me while another old looking one walked up to about 10 feet away from me.  I snapped a bunch of pictures, but unfortunately my camera settings were off and most came out blurry.  There was a few different trail options in the park but I was in transit to KL tower so I followed the signs where it finally popped out of the trees (below).  After this grass field with more monkey photo opportunities there is this suspension bridge which is only a few feet above the ground which leads up to the Tower.

At KL Tower

Once you get to the top of the suspension bridges you finally see some people along with typical outdoor SE Asian food stands which I found to have delicious Malaysian food which seemed Indian to me.   I got this stuff called roti canai which was roti (thin pancakes) which you dipped in this curry which had some fish, potatoes and other junk in it.  It was so good I had 3 of them which were astoundingly cheap although I don’t remember the price but we are talking less than 40 cents per order. Once I got filled up with roti canai I decided to head up to the Tower which I expected to be a long wait.  Surprisingly it turned out to be a very short wait.

I paid the fee, sorry I don’t remember how much it was and zoomed up to the observation deck.  The elevator had a timer which told you how long it took to get up.  Something I liked was there was no mandatory wait to get a photo which they try to get you to pay for which I hate. Once you get to the the observation deck it is pretty much a run-of-the-mill round area with telescopes, a couple of gift shops and of course the 360 degree view of Kuala Lumpur which you paid for.

There some nice tourists from all over the world which you can talk to and of course tons of photo opportunities.  You probably want to see the view from the towers but I’ll let you do it for yourself.  My pictures were all taken through a shroud of rain clouds and smog along with dirty windows which I assume they clean every few months. I’m sure they would let you volunteer to hop out 100 stories up and clean the windows if you want;) The only thing I didn’t like about the tower was the view of the Petronas Towers was from the side so you can really only see a single tower.  Unfortunate because the Petronas Towers are probably one of the most picturesque  buildings in the world.