But really, the best thing about KL were the people I met (in chronological order)...
1. Weizhen
I met Weizhen while staying at the Reggae Guesthouse 2 in Chinatown, KL. It was my first day there, and she was heading out to the Batu Caves by herself, so I asked if I could tag along. Even though I had been traveling alone for a while, it's always nice to make friends in new places. It turns out we were in similar places in life, so not only was it nice to meet another solo female traveler, but also nice we understood each other pretty quickly. She was visiting from Taiwan, stopping over in KL on her way to Burma (where I just came back from) so we had some tips to share over our train ride out to the caves. She ended up showing me around Chinatown and went to check out some other hostels in the area, since I didn't book enough nights at RGH2. I only hung out with Weizhen for only a day, but she left a great impression on me.
Batu Caves
Jalan Petaling, Chinatown, KL
2. Memoria
I was fortunate to have met Memoria in Koh Tao, Thailand. Who knew we would cross paths again? I didn't plan to go to Kuala Lumpur, but I'm glad I did; and even better was knowing a familiar face there. He lives in the KL area and was kind enough to take me around a couple days. First night, we went out to some local hawker stalls in a suburb of KL and had some yummy grilled cuttlefish and fish. M taught me how to eat the dish properly with the curry and veggies: scoop some curry onto the rice, top a spoon of rice with the chili sauce, pickled veggie, and fish and eat! Then eat a bit of the fresh veggie. Didn't think there was an order to it, but there was. Afterwards, we went in search for teh tarik (pulled tea), Merdeka Square, and we tried to get a good view of the KL skyline from Sky Bar. Not a shabby night at all.
Merdeka Square
Petronas Towers
The following day, we took a ride out to the Berjaya Hills and visited Colmar Tropicale, which reminded me a little bit of Leavenworth, WA, only we were in Malaysia. The drive there was gorgeous...lush green hills with nice, clean air. I couldn't believe where I was. Memoria rolled down his car top, so we had an awesome convertible ride...until the rain came in. It was pretty hilarious. We thought we could ride it out, but it started pouring and we were getting drenched. It was all good though. We made it to the top of the hill and had a nice stroll around the "neighborhood".
Colmar Tropicale, Berjaya Hills, Malaysia
3. Sunshine Bedz KL Crew
I stayed in Chinatown the first couple nights, but after seeing there was not much of a nightlife there, I decided to check out the Bukit Bintang area (more known for it's shopping) and found myself at Sunshine Bedz KL . But it wasn't just any hostel...it felt like home away from home, like I was going to my aunt's house. The staff there was awesome! Isabelle, her daughter Alexandra, and co-manager Patrick were super welcoming and fun to hang out with. Having kaya toast for breakfast and chatting with Isabelle in the morning to hanging out with Patrick and Alexandra in the wee after hours at night were definitely highlights of my stay in KL. If I ever go back there, I'd definitely stay again...or at least make a visit and say hello to the family.
4. Dave
Yes...that's a shark behind him. Did I mention this is in a club?!
I couldn't have asked for a more awesome person to hang out with on my last day in KL. After I moved to Sunshine Bedz KL, I wasn't feeling too social at the time, but knowing that my backpacker lifestyle was coming to an end soon, I decided to go hang out in the reception area. I'm glad I changed my mind, because I wouldn't have met Dave or had as much fun if I didn't! He's from Baltimore, but had just come in from Australia. We were both thinking of going to the top of the Petronas Towers, so we decided to join forces and take on KL the following day. Another American, Esther, joined us as well. We ended up ditching the 3 hr wait line and skipped over to the
KL Craft Complex, which was pretty neat (my fav were the bird traps). Afterwards, we went for some Indian food at a nearby mall food court.
Petronas (Towers Day Time)
Esther + Dave + Indian Food
After that, Dave and I snagged a pair of KL Tower tickets for later that night, then went on to the Berjaya Times Square to check out the rollercoaster. Unfortunately, you couldn't buy a ticket just to ride the coaster; you'd have to pay for the entire park fee, which was kind of pricey. Had to pass on it, even though it looked pretty fun.
Berjaya Times Square
And then...part 2 of the day: night time! It was my last night in KL so I wanted to go all out. Dave was up for it, so we started off at the KL Tower.
KL Tower. We thought the view would be nice at night, but the souvenir shops' bright lights created reflections on the windows, so we barely got a nice night view :/
We walked back to Jalan P. Ramlee to check out the bars/clubs, but they all had a high cover (which included a "free" drink).(Alcohol is not cheap in KL since it is a Muslim country.) Fortunately, we ran into some other people staying at our hostel, who had gotten to one club free. We followed them back in and it turned out to be really fun! Our new friend Paula (Scotland) hung out with us until the club closed. We spent the rest of the night hanging out with Patrick at the hostel, and even made a run to McDonald's, in time for breakfast at 4am! Thanks to Dave for stickin' it out the whole night!
with Paula and Dave
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