After a few days in the capital city of Kuala Lumpur, I felt comfortable navigating the rail system and bustling streets of Chinatown. Kuala Lumpur
is home to roughly a million and a half people, modern architecture,
high education standards, and a multilingual speaking population,
including but not limited to English.
Following her extended stay in Thailand, Ashley arrived at my hostel in
KL in awe of the contemporary city. We chatted about our solo travel
experiences over lunch. After Ashley's unfulfilled shopping in
Bangkok, we decided to hit the malls.... which KL has about 66 to
choose from. I was reminded of the fast approaching holiday season due
to bad caroling and santa hats, nonetheless, there were no crowds
unlike this time of year back in the states.
I decided to take advantage of some of the luxuries of the malls by
eating the best vegetarian food in Malaysia so far... and getting my
hair cut professionally. The hair salon was so thorough that the mall
closed while I was still getting my hair blow dried. Ashley and I missed the
last train back to Chinatown so we successfully tested our luck on the
local bus.
The following day, Lucy and Kevin arrived at our hostel in KL after
their whirlwind trip to Cambodia. We had Indian food for lunch - no
plates - just straight off the banana leaf. Walked through the markets
in Chinatown. Dodged the pouring rain. Saw an I-MAX - Underwater
Exploration, anyone? Followed by dinner at a vegetarian place in the
Golden Triangle before calling it a night.
The last day in KL, Lucy and I bussed 12km to the famous limestone Batu
Caves, home to several Hindu shrines at the top of the 272 steps. The
steps were covered in small monkeys - interacting with the tourists and
worshipers - hissing and stealing baby bottles. We snapped a few photos
and backed away slowly.
At three in the morning we all headed to the airport to check out of customs and board our plane to Indonesia.
Travel lessons of the day:
a) don't expect to carry two bottles of wine on the plane - what was I thinking?
b) get to the airport at least four hours early for international flights - the lines move slower than molasses
c) don't book the early morning flights just because they are cheaper - unless you don't want to sleep the night prior
d) travel with someone like Kevin because he checked half my belongings due to my over-packing tendencies - my hero
e) lastly don't over-pack - easier said than done but quite honestly, Asia has the best shopping in the world...
