Kuala Lumpur

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We decided to extend our stay in Kuala Lumpur as we managed to find (on the second attempt) a decent, cheap guesthouse that had everything we needed. We also decided to stock up on some cheap apparel at the bustling Chinatown market, just a short walk from our accommodation. Another big plus for Kuala Lumpur is the excellent public transport system which we have used many times to get places our own steam could not take us.

One of the first visits was to the main landmark of the city, and possibly the country, the twin Petronas towers, you can see them from just about any elevated vantage point in the city but the sight from afar does not really do them justice. To get there we took the subway and when we climbed up the stairs onto street level there stood these stainless steel clad giant towers. Being from England and not spending a lot of time in London and becoming accustomed to such giant buildings must have made them even more impressive. Later on in the week we were at a loose end and decided to walk to the towers at night when they are all lit up, another impressive sight. When we arrived we were too late to go up to the sky bridge so had to get up early one morning and go back and queue for a ticket, its only half way up the towers but still has great views of the city. My ears popped in the high speed lift as well which was a strange experience.

Also on the list of things to do was the Batu Caves, on the outskirts of the city and we went with a fellow Sunderland fan we met while watching the 1-1 draw with Arsenal the previous night. To get to these caves you had to climb an exhausting number of steps, and what awaits at the top are two massive caves with lots of carvings of strange half animal / human carvings and a fair few religious alters. However what we found most interesting were the cheeky monkeys that would sneak up behind people, rip their carrier bags open and steel their belongings. It was great to watch if you could afford to take your eyes off the swooping pigeons long enough.

There is more shopping centers in this city than I have seen anywhere, you can walk around them and see a right mixed bag of people, some are in full black burqa’s, others in bright floral coloured dresses and head scarf’s and everyone else in “normal” clothes,

We went to another football match while in KL, we got lucky because the team coming to town to play were the Man Utd equivalent of Malaysian football, and it made for the best atmosphere for a football match we’ve seen in South East Asia, Kuala Lumpur ended up losing though 2-4, but it was the best game we’ve seen out here.

The food in the city is fantastic; we are staying in Chinatown which is full of Hawker stalls where you can grab a really decent meal for just over a quid. Then there is a place called Little India just down the road, which is a tad more low key and some of the food looks a little suspect but if you hunt around a cheap curry can still be found that you don’t have to eat with your hands as most of the locals seem to do.

The only tiny blot on this impressive city is the prices of alcohol, mainly beer, I think due to it being a mainly Islamic country the price is humped up in comparison to everything else. For example you can get a meal for 5RM but a small tin of beer from the local shop will cost you 10RM, so a cash enforced detox has been in place over the past week, but seen as were leaving on Sunday for Singapore a night out tonight has been agreed.

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