A Quick Jaunt in Kuala Lumpur

We spent so much time in Penang that we had only three days to explore Kuala Lumpur (KL) before our flight to Bali. We rented a car for the 5 hour drive from Penang to KL. It was scary at first because Robby was not used to driving on the left side of the road. But even when Robby got used to that, it was scary because no one bothered to maintain a normal driving distance behind us. No matter how fast we were going, the drivers behind us made it abundantly clear they wanted us to go faster.

We were really impressed with KL. Downtown was clean and modern, and reminded us a bit of Portland. Right in the middle of the big downtown buildings is Forest Park, a forest in the middle of the city with a canopy walk that led us right to the KL Space Needle. We didn’t go up top; we just took a selfie.

We spent a lot of time in and around the famed Petronas Twin Towers, the tallest buildings in the world until 2004. Right in front of the towers is a huge mall with a movie theater and a science center. We walked around the mall a bit; we saw Jumanji in the movie theater (it cost $13 for all 5 of us to see the movie); and Ari, Reed, and I explored the science center.

Horrifying fact: in the enormous, two-story bookstores in Malaysia, every single book, journal, magazine, workbook, cookbook, children’s book – every.single.one. – is shrink wrapped in plastic. A big middle finger to the environment, and also, no browsing!

Our favorite part of KL was the Batu Caves, both a natural and man-made wonder. This holy monument incorporates both the stunning features of Malaysia’s limestone mountains and religious sculptures of the Hindu faith. It is a major pilgrimage site for Hindus all around the world. We walked up 272 colorful stairs into a cave that features bats, monkeys, and a beautiful and colorful Hindu temple. It was a sight to behold and a really neat place to walk around and visit.

All in all, we left Malaysia wanting more of it. We can’t wait to go back to Penang one day and to explore the many other parts of Malaysia that we didn’t get to see. After Malaysia, we flew to Bali and waited for family to arrive. We thought we would love Bali but it was just OK. The highlight was definitely being with family. More on that to come.

Cheers! x