Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

March 23.24, 2009

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

I had expected the capital of Malaysia to be just another Bangkok but it’s not. First of all, there aren’t people living under tarps next to the high rises. Secondly, it is a lot cleaner than Bangkok. Thirdly where most of Bangkok’s charm comes from the mass of people continually moving around the streets downtown KL feels much more cosmopolitan.

One of the indicators of wealth in Asia (I think) is the number of scooters on the street. KL has far fewer than Bangkok and there are far more SUV type vehicles. Secondly, people actually seem to pay attention to the traffic laws, in the downtown area at least, it is a city that I would consider driving in.

I counted at least 14 large construction projects in and around the city. Large cranes were everywhere and the feeling was one of a “world city” if you want to use that term. The people aren’t quite as friendly as Thailand (but that might be an unfair comparison).

We stayed in 3rd floor walk-up guesthouse that was right in the downtown core. The street was lined with restaurants with a variety of non-Asian fare. This would include German, English, Russian, Indonesian and many bars where English was the language of choice. Of course a block over you could find a good roadside open-air restaurant serving Malay, Indian and Thai food. (Funny there are few Malay restaurants in Thailand but tons of Thai restaurants in Malaysia).

There was a huge shopping mall down the street and we wandered the streets comparing the two cities. We found our way to the Malay national museum, since our trip up the twin Petronas towers was a no go because of rain. The museum was well laid out and, to my delight, they had a temporary display on the traditional weapons in Malay culture. I am pretty sure that Lana enjoyed it as well although I kept losing sight of her amidst the swords, knifes and spears.

We walked a good piece of the city although the temperatures and humidity were high. I was hoping that I would be used to this by now but I still generate enough water for a good-sized reservoir.

Splurged on a really good tapas meal in a great restaurant one night and ate at a local street food stall on a side street. Overall, we were impressed with the city and would love to come back.