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Published: February 22nd 2013
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After four days in the quiet and cool Cameron Highlands, exiting the bus station in Kuala Lumpur was a bit of a sensory overload and I was relieved to find my accommodation without any issues. After checking in, I investigated Little India, just north of my guesthouse in Chinatown, before heading back for an early night. During my walk, the city's tallest skyscrapers, the KL Tower and the Petronas Twin Towers regularly came into view and proved useful as navigational aids.
The next day, I caught the free bus to Bukit Bintang, (the main area for shopping and nightlife), before heading north to the city's most famous attraction, the Petronas Twin Towers. Despite losing "world's tallest building" status to Taipei 101 in 2004 (now succeeded by the Burj Khalifa), the Petronas Towers remain impressive and attractive. They stand within the Kuala Lumpur City Centre (KLCC) area, which includes a posh shopping centre and a landscaped park - although Kuala Lumpur was founded at the confluence of the Klang and Gombak rivers, the "city centre" location was claimed as part of this develpment 2 km to the east. Having enjoyed my
previous experience of getting high in a big Asian city, I bought a ticket to the observation deck of
the KL Tower (this was in preference to ascending the Petronas Towers, as it was much cheaper and offered a view of the Petronas Towers). I arrived just before sunset and watched as the skyscrapers gradually lit up. The only downside of the experience was the shocking omission of West Yorkshire's Emley Moor Mast from the KL Tower's gallery of the world's tallest towers!
After descending the KL Tower, I went back to get a close-up view of the Petronas Towers fully illuminated, then walked to Bukit Bintang again, where I found a street called Jalan Alor, which was llined with food stalls. I stopped for pork noodle soup, (which seemed to mainly contain offal), then went to one of the nearby bars. Beer prices double at 9 o clock and are quoted exclusive of tax and service charges. I worked out that I had paid over £6 for two small beers (less than a pint!) and was about to head home in disgust when I was joined by two brothers from Australia, aged 21 and 23, and a middle-aged Londoner called Howie. They had just won the pub quiz and were kind enough to share some of their
bottle of Jack Daniels with me. Howie told me that he used to run a building business but sold up and emigrated due to the strict British health and safety laws (he was told he had to provide suncream for his workers). He said he was much happier in Malaysia, where there's a good chance you will fall down a manhole if you don't look where you're going!
On the following day, I ventured west to the Tun Abdul Razak Heritage Park, a large area of parkland that was less manicured and more natural-feeling than KLCC Park. On the way, I visited the City Gallery, which had an impressive scale model of Kuala Lumpur. I was also asked to be photographed by a group of female tourists from Indonesia! In the evening, I met up with Richard, who I had shared a taxi with a few weeks earlier in Chiang Mai and found out via Facebook was in Kuala Lumpur at the same time as me. (In the age of Facebook, a short taxi ride is enough to become "friends".) With a group including three other British people, we upheld our cultural heritage by drinking cheap vodka in a
bus shelter, before heading to the roof terrace of the Reggae Mansion, where they were staying.
On my third full day in Kuala Lumpur, I caught the bus to the Batu Caves, one of the most popular Hindu shrines outside India. The entrance is reached by climbing 272 steps, which were a challenge after the previous night and a month without doing much exercise. The main cave was impressive, although smaller than I expected, and I decided not to see the other cave (The Dark Cave), as it was only accessible by tour, which was expensive and involved a long wait.
Since arriving in Malaysia, Indian has been my food of choice and, like an animal preparing for the winter, I have indulged heavily. (Australia and New Zealand represent winter in this analogy, as the food is much more expensive there.) The Malaysian Indian menu features a few items that I have not seen in Britain, including: Murtabak (like an omelette with your meat and veg of choice), Dosai (like a pancake with dips, common at breakfast time) and some desserts (deep fried dough balls and a strange salty cookie). At a restaurant in Kuala Lumpur, I decided
to ask for "kari campur", which I read means a mix of different curries. I nodded as the chef pointed to different meats and seafood without noticing the mountain of food that was growing on my plate. At £7, it was by far the most expensive meal I had eaten in Asia!
The main achievement of my final full day in Kuala Lumpur (and Malaysia) was booking a coach ticket to Singapore for the following day. In the evening, I met up with a local family who are friends with a work colleague of mine. They treat me to dinner at a proper Malaysian restaurant, where we shared a number of dishes. One of these was a strange meat with a moreish sauce, which I couldn't stop eating, even after I found out it was cow's brain!
After an hour's delay, I continued my journey to the end of the Malaysian Peninsula the next day, arriving in the city state of Singapore, which lies one degree north of the equator, just after sunset.
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Duncan
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Despite feeding yourself up for New Zealand you don't look like your putting on much weight. Must eat more! Really well written blog Graeme keep it up.