Our first taste of SE Asia was unexpectedly Malaysia. Why? We figured that we would start at some "edge" but it turned out the most budget friendly airfare made our decision for us. Kathmandu to Kuala Lumpur it was.
We found a great backpacker's hostel in downtown Kuala Lumpur and nestled into our new home right across the street from Chinatown. I can still hear the familiar tones from the Malaysian tourism song playing in the background. It was here, within the vendors and alleyways of Jalan Petaling, that we got our first sampling of Malaysian street food. And it was good. How good? We'll write more about that later. We also reveled in the midst of western conveniences such as, well, convenience stores, fast internet access, and potable water. You know, the little things.
The Central Market was on the neighboring block so we made sure to stop in a couple of times to escape the sweltering heat or the frequent deluges of rain. It was in here that Katie got to try one of the world's rarest coffees: Kopi Luwak. Of course I tried it too, but only because Katie paid for it. We also tried several new fruits such as the dragon fruit, rose apple, mangosteen, and lychee.
Normally we shy away from the typical "touristy" things but while in Kuala Lumpur we queued like tourists once and gained a bird's eye view of the city atop the twin Petronas Towers. Of course to fully appreciate the city, or to save money, or because we've now become accustomed to it, we walked. One thing we hadn't yet become accustomed to was the heat and humidity. Luckily the bottom six stories in the Kuala Lumpur City Center consisted of an air conditioned shopping mall. After wandering through some overpriced stores we bought our tickets to the top on the next elevator. On a clear day one would have been able to clearly see the whole of Kuala Lumpur and even the nearby mountains. This, however, was not a clear day. It was still a neat experience and I would say worth it.
After our high adventure Katie thought we should see how medicine was practiced in Malaysia so we walked into the KLCC Medical Clinic, yes, in the mall, and got ourselves the seasonal flu vaccine. It was very efficient and relatively inexpensive even though the shot was administered by an actual doctor, not a nurse or NP – Katie thought this was the strangest part. Once inoculated we treated ourselves to our first sushi in months at the food court. We continued wandering around the KLCC grounds and ponds for a while but then it started to rain so we ducked back inside for a bit and then made our way home.
Later that day we treated ourselves to yet another western luxury: laundry done in a machine. You wouldn't believe how excited Katie was when we first spotted this clean laundromat. Heck, before we left Kuala Lumpur we stopped in and did it all again. For dinner a small group from our hotel headed into Chinatown to sample some of the never-ending street food. It was a running joke to see if what arrived was what you thought you ordered. At times the quantity would vary anywhere from half to three times the quantity you expected. The prices, unless clearly marked, also varied wildly but everything was very reasonable, except for the beer.
The next day we made our way to the Brickfield neighborhood, AKA Little India. It was an area we were interested in checking out and plus we both had a hankering for some spicy Indian food. We found a place that looked good and sat down just as the afternoon rush came. That evening we ate noodles-in-a-cup (ramen), drank a Chang beer, and made ourselves at home in the TV room and watched a season of Arrested Development on DVD. It was awesome!
Our planned walk around Kuala Lumpur the next day took us through the Chocolate Museum, which was really a store that had some displays and free samples, then through some parks that included a war monument and then a butterfly garden. We took tons of photos of up-close butterflies and even gained a couple of "friends" during our walk. The way out of the garden took us through a display of other creepy-crawlies found in Malaysia. It turned out the largest of them are found in the Cameron Highlands and we were heading there next. Something to look forward to, I guess.
We then headed back to our neighborhood and checked out a couple of Hindu temples and Katie tried, and fell in love with, a drink called an ABC. It consists of so many different ingredients and shaved ice that you wouldn't think it could possibly taste good but somehow it does. Later I made my way to the bus station and bought two morning tickets to the Cameron Highlands. I wasn't exactly sure how one normally wades through the chaos of the plethora of ticketing companies and counters but somehow I managed. I was reassured by the agent that if I was confused in the morning to come back to the same counter and they'd help me out, just show up 30 minutes before departure.
In the morning, we arrived in the bus station 45 minutes early so that we could eat a bit of breakfast before departure. We were getting settled when I went down to the bus to verify we were in the correct location when I was informed that they were waiting for us. I'm not sure how that happened but we grabbed our belongings, jumped on, and we were on our way.
The bus ride was fairly unremarkable, which was good, and we got to see a fair amount of scenery which included some large rock hills, jungles, and extremely winding roads. Our bus stopped in the nearby town of Tanah Rata, from there we took a taxi the 10 kilometers to Brinchang.
We didn't have many plans for what to do while there but as luck would have it we got to see the very large and active weekly market on our first day. We enjoyed a free drink of something local from a guy who just wanted to chat. From there we tried a couple of fried foods and some other local things that we still have no idea what they're called, but tasted delicious.
Something that we heard about doing while in the Highlands was a jungle walk. The walk started by following a small road out of town and then forked into a nice track, split into a hiking path, diverged into a trail, and even digressed into dirt route. Heck, at one point along a ridge the path, along with the ridge, had slid down the hill so we were left to find an alternate route.
All of the climbing eventually brought us to a lookout tower at the top of the hill where, unfortunately, all we could really see was clouds. From there we took the long way down that led us through tea plantations and along the highway back to Brinchang. One of the more memorable scenes during this walk was of a French friend, whom we met in Kuala Lumpur, hanging halfway out a window of a passing vehicle waving, yelling, and taking a picture of us as he sped out of sight. It was hilarious. The other memorable incident was when one of those giant flying beetles we saw on display in Kuala Lumpur, I swear it was the size of a dragon, hit me in the head while we were walking along the road. I've never experienced a pain as sharp and immediate as that before, or since – it left a welt where it hit.
Our last day was more relaxed, and we stayed relatively close to town and visited a large temple. We wandered for a couple of hours through the tranquil silence and revered statues before heading back into town.
The next morning we took a later than expected bus to Penang. We were going to take the early bus but due to a stomach bug that was out of the question. Fortunately the super helpful hotel staff made some calls and we were re-booked on the noon bus. So while our visit to the Cameron Highlands was overall quite pleasant, unfortunately the last memories of it involved too many trips to the bathroom.
The good news was that we were now on our way to every foodie's paradise, Penang.
Click on the collage below for all of the pics!
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| Street near Chinatown |
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| Some laksa, a common & awesome dish |
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| The Explorer's Guesthouse, KL |
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| Matt on Jalan Petaling before things ramp up for the night |
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| About to try Kopi Luwak |
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| Random fruit stand -- pink dragonfruit! |
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| Inside one of the walkways, Petronas Towers |
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| View from the lower walkway |
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| Looking down from the observation area |
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| Sushi reward after getting our flu shots! |
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| Katie and the Petronas Towers |
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| Our laundry done by machines! Remarkable! |
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| Stuff on a stick on the street |
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| Demonstrating a large quantity of naan in the food court |
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| Contemplating a pau (delicious under all circumstances) |
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| Amazing food in Little India |
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| Great KL architecture; view from the war monument |
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| Free-loading butterfly, or "rama-rama" |
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| Grounds of KL's butterfly park |
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| Eek! These are found where we're heading to next! |
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| The ABC! |
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| Hindu temple in KL |
In the morning, we arrived in the bus station 45 minutes early so that we could eat a bit of breakfast before departure. We were getting settled when I went down to the bus to verify we were in the correct location when I was informed that they were waiting for us. I'm not sure how that happened but we grabbed our belongings, jumped on, and we were on our way.
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| Matt with tea; that's sweetened condensed milk at the bottom |
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| Market scene in Brinchang |
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| More awesome food |
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| Jungle walking |
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| View of at the top -- of the clouds |
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| Beautiful tea plantations on the way down |
Our last day was more relaxed, and we stayed relatively close to town and visited a large temple. We wandered for a couple of hours through the tranquil silence and revered statues before heading back into town.
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| Sam Po Temple, Brinchang |
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| A wall inside the temple |
The next morning we took a later than expected bus to Penang. We were going to take the early bus but due to a stomach bug that was out of the question. Fortunately the super helpful hotel staff made some calls and we were re-booked on the noon bus. So while our visit to the Cameron Highlands was overall quite pleasant, unfortunately the last memories of it involved too many trips to the bathroom.
The good news was that we were now on our way to every foodie's paradise, Penang.
Click on the collage below for all of the pics!
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