I spent less than 48 hours in Kuala Lumpur, which certainly isn't enough time to say that I've successfully experienced Malaysia, but I was happy with what I was able to see. I was fortunate to sit next to a friendly tour guide on my bus ride from the airport into the city, so I got some good advice of how to make way around town and make the most of my time. It was also really nice to have booked a guesthouse in advance, so there was no guesswork upon arriving into the city in the early evening hours (which is a nice change of pace from my normal travel habits). I stayed in the Chinatown area, a hub for tourists with plenty of street markets and eateries.
The next morning, I woke up early and had my greatest success story of the day by navigating the underground subway to find the Petronas Towers, which are currently the tallest buildings in the world. The tour up the sky bridge is free, but the tickets go quickly, and there are limits to the number of people who can go up, so one must get there early in order to be able to go up the towers. The towers open for tour at 9AM, with the ticket gate opening at 8:30. Thanks to the advice of my tour guide friend from the bus, I got there around 7:15AM, which was perfect as a line was already starting to form and I ended up being the last person to get a ticket for the highly coveted 9AM tour. The elevator ride up to the 41st floor to the skybridge and the view seen from there was nothing life-changing, but it's fun to be able to say that I've been in the tallest buildings in the world now.
My productivity in seeing the sites diminished a bit after this, as I decided to walk from place to place and my navigation skills in the big city were not very good. There was a noticeable difference in the architecture, with many domed roofs reflecting a more Islamic feel in the city. I walked in some of the main plaza areas, through the national mosque grounds (though I couldn't enter because I was a "non-Muslim tourist"), the national museum, a beautiful gardens area, and through the main commercial district.
The food was a mix of a lot of Indian food and a lot of Chinese food, as these two ethnic groups make up a sizable portion of the Malaysian population. I kept seeing a restaurant called "Kenny Rogers Roasters" all over the place in the city, so I decided to dine there for a dinner meal. I wondered why the country of Malaysia would have such a special affection for Kenny Rogers, but have since heard that it is a chain restaurant in some places in the U.S. as well.
On my final evening there I realized that I would have more than enough ringgit (Malaysian currency) to spare, so I went to one of the little shops in Chinatown that offered to do an "ear-wax candle." I didn't exactly know what I was getting myself into but had heard about it and was willing to give it a try. Basically they stuck what I think was something like a candle in my ear, lit the candle, and somehow that was supposed to suck out the wax in my ear. There are supposed to be several health benefits to the process, but I didn't receive any miraculous renewed clarity in my hearing so I'm not fully convinced about the whole ordeal.
My time in KL was up before I knew it, and I was welcomed back to the airport in Chiang Mai by a health worker in a strange jumpsuit and mask giving everyone two squirts of his sanitary hand spray. Ah, the joys of international travel in the midst of a flu pandemic.
Peace (and good health) be yours,
Eric
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