Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

I decided to go to Malaysia at the last minute…I realized that I had a week after all my classes ended all to myself. Why Malaysia? Well, I don’t really know. I wanted to go to a city that I could easily see in three days and one that did not require another visa (I’ve had too many of those as it is). I like going to new places that I don’t have preconceived ideas about. Kuala Lumpur (known as KL) is the capital of Malaysia and is often visited by travelers who are usually passing through as one stop on their Asia tour. I decided to go for a full three days, and I wasn’t bored once.

The first full day there I went straight to the Petronas Twin Towers only to realize that they are closed on Mondays. I walked around the area regardless. There is a huge, expensive mall and park at the KLCC subway stop. I am numb towards big malls now that I’ve lived in Shanghai where you can find an eight-storied mall or two or three at every subway stop. I also went to the Aquarium in the area. Although nothing spectacular, it did have a long underwater tunnel.

After striking out at the Twin Towers (the largest in the world), I went to search for the other, singular Menara Tower. It was kind of expensive to go all the way to the top, so I went to the second highest. Next, I went to an old part of Kuala Lumpur with The National Mosque and a bunch of other buildings made by the British when they settled in KL. I met a new friend who works for Oracle and who travels the world for conferences. Pretty awesome job. We journeyed to Little India, which is indeed “little.” We ordered some random items off a menu at an Indian restaurant. Indian food has never been my favorite but it was pretty good.

The next day I checked out the Batu Caves, a Malaysian temple must-see. They are on the edge of the city, guarded by an enormous golden statue and monkeys that like to steal goods from tourists. Monkeys were everywhere! While I was walking up the stairs I saw one monkey pull this man’s glasses off his face. One monkey even grabbed onto my bag while it was still hanging from my arm. On the subway over I met an Aussie who became my friend for the day. At the Batu Caves, we found what is called the “Dark Cave.” This cave is the most researched in the world because it is home to the Trapdoor Spider, which is the rarest in the world. It only lives in the Dark Cave. We had a tour through the cave and we needed flashlights because it was so dark! I loved the monkeys! I took so many pictures. Here are my favorite ones:

Seeing the Batu Caves was definitely the highlight attraction of the trip. Then, came Chinatown. I still checked it out even though I’ve had a lot of China over these ten months. Surprisingly, the food I ate at one of the restaurants was some of the best Chinese food I’ve eaten since I’ve arrived in China. There was also a box of live frogs…you can guess. Also, there were more shops selling fake goods than I’ve seen in Shanghai. I ended up buying a fake Coach wallet…er….I mean a really expensive Coach wallet.

My last day in Kuala Lumpur was filled with visiting the National Mosque again, the Islamic Art Museum, the Bird Park, and finally going up the Twin Towers! The view was fantastic! The Bird Park was actually one of the favorite things I did. It’s the largest open free-flying aviary in the world. I even got to take pictures with some owls and a horned bird. Such a great place for photography.

That night I finally went to the top of the Twin Towers and it was worth it. Afterwards, I met up with my friend from the plane and went to the SkyBar. Malaysia was epic!!!