• Next
• Previous

Latest Entry

Kuala Lumpur

Sunday June 18, 2006

Posted In: Malaysia | Comments: 3 | Written By: Kai Conragan

The pride of Malaysia: The Petronas Twin Towers.

What is it with taxi cab drivers? They ought to all just be called the maitre’d – majordomo perhaps? – for undoubtedly they will be the first to greet you as you take your first steps in a foreign country. They are like bees, and you are a beautiful (read: rich) and exotic (read: white) new flower in their wilted garden. We quickly pushed through the wall of cab drivers and boarded the air-conditioned bus waiting on the street beyond. A kind traveler we met on our flight from Denspasar had purchased bus tickets for us on the Air Asia flight and explained that we would need them to get downtown, which is a good 45 minute drive from the airport. We would have gladly purchased the tickets ourselves, but we had no money on us as the custom’s official at the Denpasar airport had charged us for overstaying our visa by a few hours. We protested but knew it was useless. We could pay now or spend the next 12 hours explaining the situation to someone else before paying more. Our last sight of Bali was that custom’s official smiling chummily as he stuffed our last $300,000 rupiah into the pockets of his blue uniform. Bintangs were on him that night.

The bus ride to the downtown station felt long, no doubt because we both were exhausted and kept drifting in and out of sleep giving time that suspended ephemeral quality.

When we pulled into KL Centre, we grabbed our bags from the storage bay on the side of the bus, thanked the fellow traveler who had purchased the tickets for us, and started walking. We had no idea which direction to head so we just aimed for the brightest collection of lights, hoping we would find a a cheap room with a decent bed for the night. The first hotel we looked at rented rooms by the hour. In the lobby was a toothless transvestite and several middle-aged Indian men bartering for her company. We looked at each other and headed for the door, feeling nostalgic for our comfortable little bungalow back in Bali. We pulled out our guide to Southeast Asia ( thanks George! ) and located a couple hostels in Chinatown that seemed reasonable. We flagged down a taxi and gave him the address. When the cab driver dropped us off he insisted we pay double – after midnight rates he claimed – and when I protested he spontaneously forgot how to speak english. English not clear. No understand. You pay, you pay. We gave him $2/ringit more than we had originally agreed upon and headed for the hostel. Traveler’s note: ALWAYS USE A METERED CAB UNLESS THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO OTHER OPTION.

The rooms were reasonably clean and there was a secured gate at the street level along with a a night watchman so we decided to call it a night. I found a couple bed bugs while Julie was in the bathroom and killed them quickly before she saw them. ( ***Note from Julie: Thankfully, he didn’t tell me of this until the next morning, no doubt because he knew I would never sleep due to restless hypochondria ).

It’s amazing how a little bit of daylight can transform a place. The next morning (actually, just a few hours later), we got up, headed out to look for some food, and found a wonderful breakfast down the street of roti canai, coffee, and ginger tea. The city suddenly seemed a lot more friendly.

The skillful art of spinning the dough for a roti. This is not just showmanship, it’s the only way to get the dough as thin as is necessary.

The finished product: a light, fluffy, and crispy roti and dhal for dipping.

We checked out of our room in Chinatown and hailed another cab for the Golden Triangle district of Kuala Lumpur. We had read about a hostel in that area that was brand new and claimed to have free wireless internet available for it’s guests. We found the Trekker’s Lodge nestled into a quiet alley just off a main street. While their wireless internet wasn’t currently working, the rooms were spotlessly clean. The man at the counter informed us of a special they have: if you book for 3 nights you get the 4th night free. We chose a double room which costs $85/ringit per night, which averaged to about $15/US per night with the special. A bit more expensive than you average accommodation in Bali, but much better priced than Singapore (and a lot nicer too).

We’re still getting to know the city as, admittedly, we spent the first few days that we were here taking advantage of the free wireless internet at Starbucks so we could perform some much needed updates to the website. As such, we haven’t seen a lot yet, but here are some first impressions.

First Impressions of Kuala Lumpur

In many ways Kuala Lumpur feels like a less-well executed version of Singapore and yet, ironically, this is what gives the city its charm. Kuala Lumpur is a classic city in that you take the good with the bad. It is miserably hot and yet many shops that line the streets spray mist into the air (the same spray nozzles as you would see in a grocery store vegetable section) making walking quite comfortable. The public transportation system is not nearly as efficient as Singapore, but in it’s inefficiency you are forced to ask more questions and thus you interact more with the people. One day we met a man who dropped everything he was doing to walk us to his favorite Chinese restaurant so we could try some of their ginger-steamed fish.

And while we’re on the subject: the excellence of food here cannot be overstated. Kuala Lumpur is a melting pot in the truest sense of the term – Indian, Chinese, Indonesian, European, and, of course, Malays – and with that comes a quality and variety of food that simply must be experienced to believe. There are 2-kilometer long streets, lined from end to end with food stalls, each serving a particular specialty from a particular region in a particular country. The Chinese food is remarkable and, for the courageous, you can try things like shark-fin soup, bird’s nests, and frog porridge. The Indian food, with a myriad of curries from which to try, is simply outstanding as well.

Comments

Comments are turned off for this article.