Kuala Lumpur visit

We went to Kuala Lumpur somewhat unexpectedly, because my cousin and his new wife were starting their honeymoon there, and since it's just a four-hour flight from Cebu, I figured we might as well catch up with them. We booked four nights there, two with my cousin, and two with my friends from Singapore, who decided to join us when they heard we were going :-) It was the first time in Malaysia for all of us, and it was fun.

Mandatory photo of the Petronas Twin Towers

We stayed at an Airbnb in Bukit Bintang, a neighbourhood full of bars and parties. Next time I'd probably want to stay somewhere by KL Sentral, the main train station that the airport train comes to - for the convenience and the great food around that area. We got an unpleasant surprise when we got to our place - the body corporate of the building had decided to ban stays of under a month because of the noise and disturbance caused by those short-term visitors, and they put up notices in the lifts with the Airbnb logo crossed off and the explanation of the decision. Awkward walking past the guards everyday, with this don't ask, don't tell air around it! We might switch back to staying at hotels, at least when it's just for a few days, because this situation made me very uncomfortable - I don't like staying where I'm not wanted.

A nice alley in our neighbourhood

We spent a lot of time walking around the nice streets of KL, enjoying the wide footpaths and well-organised public spaces :-) 

We also went to the butterfly garden and bird park, and the walk there almost killed us because Google Maps led us on a very long walk along a busy multi-lane road, in full sunshine with 32 degree humid heat. Both places were looking a bit old and tired, but still worth visiting.

The butterfly garden freaked me out a bit because regardless of how pretty they are, butterflies are still insects, which I really don't like. Thankfully they didn't try to sit on me, and I took some nice photos of them.

To exit the butterfly garden, you have to go through a building with some terrifying insects in terrariums, and there was no warning as you entered! I couldn't bring myself to take a photo of the tarantulas or the millipedes (they were the worst! So big! And moving so fast on their many legs!), but I did capture this green monster:

See how jagged its legs are?

The snakes were gorgeous, though:

The bird park covers a large area with multiple enclosures for the different birds. Only some of them were in cages, and most of them were just roaming free.

The one on the left was feeding the one on the right (or having its food stolen from its beak)

In the evening we went up the KL Tower, which looks just like Sky Tower in Auckland. We timed it to get there just before sunset so that we got both daytime and night views. 

The next day we went to the Batu Caves, which turned out to be more of a tourist trap than anything else. Most of the temple on top of these stairs was being renovated, and covered in scaffolding and plastic sheets, but I'll give them the benefit of the doubt and admit they may be more impressive when the work is complete. At least we got to ride a train, which I love :-) And we saw monkeys, lots of them, and quite mischievous, trying to steal food, water bottles, and umbrellas from people. 

The stairs look intimidating, but they weren't as bad as they looked

Inside the temple on top

Curious monkey

Just waiting for one moment of distraction

The stairs were quite steep

After visiting the temple we had time for lunch before catching the train back to town, so we had some delicious cheap Indian food.

Yummy dosa

Dosa in the making

From the hindu temple we made our way to the Wilayah mosque, where we had to wear full robes provided by the temple (even though I was wearing long pants and a t-shirt). It was a beautiful place, and we also got a free tour because we got there at the right time. 

It was a great big space

It's freakin' hot being a woman! 

It had rained earlier, and it was nice walking barefoot in the puddles

We left the mosque grounds by climbing under a closed gate because that was the direction we wanted to go in, and then we caught a random bus from a nearby stop, and it took us back to the city centre, exactly where we wanted to go. I love public transport! Speaking of which, the subway in KL is fully automated!

This is the first car - no driver! 

The next day we visited a few more temples, first a Chinese one:

And then a hindu one:

We went to a big indoor market, and walked through busy market streets.

All that walking made my feet quite tired, so I let some fish nibble on them. At first I had to bite my fist to stop myself from squealing. It's definitely not something I'd ever experienced before, and I'm not sure I'll go for again. Although it was nice having smooth soft feet afterwards :-)

In the afternoon we went to Muzium Negara - the National Museum. It was a bit underwhelming, I have to say, because the descriptions of the various exhibits were so detailed and full of historical information that it was really hard to take anything in. I remember a lot more from the museums in Manila than I do from this one. There were a few interesting items there:

Shoes!

At the end of the hard sightseeing day we had earned our beers.

And then we walked around some more - at the street food market by our Airbnb. 

I didn't take as many food photos in KL as I normally do, mainly because I kept forgetting - I think I was too excited to eat all the delicious dishes :-)

Our first meal was at the airport because it was already past lunch time and we didn't want to wait until we got into town. We found Papa Rich, the same Malaysian restaurant that we know from Wellington :-) It was good, but not as good as it is in Wellington, probably because it was at the airport.

First meal in KL

The first night we had dinner with some friends of Jon's who happened to be in KL at a conference. It was awesome to be out with locals at a restaurant that they know, ordering a big feast for the whole table to share. Most of the dishes were things we'd never had before (such as sambal petai - stinky beans that look like broad beans), and everything was amazingly delicious. 

Curry laksa in Malaysia - bucket list tick! :-)

We also went to a Yemeni (!) restaurant

It was great to get a taste of Malaysia (literally and figuratively) ;-) and it left me wanting more. We'll have to plan a proper trip further afield than just KL at some point.