Lacking The Intensity Of Many Other South East Asian Cities .
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Malaysia is made up of 2 distinct land masses in South East Asia For most the country is represented by the strip of land that extends from the south of Thailand to Singapore. This is known as peninsular Malaysia. The often forgotten states of Sabah and Sarawak actually make up 60% of Malaysia's land mass and occupy the northern section of the island of Borneo.
Malaysia's population is predominately Muslim which has meant that since 9/11 tourist numbers have declined dramatically. From the evidence of our travels Malaysian's are by far the friendliest people we have met in South East Asia. They are largely made up of Malays, Chinese and Indians. English is widely spoken. It seems that the form of Islam practised here is far from radical. The most illustrative example of this is the way women in Malaysian society hold complete parity with men. Many girls and women still wear the traditional head gear but it is styled like a scarf and not like the balaclava as worn in the Middle East. While resorts like Batu Farranghi in Penang continue to suffer in the downtown the tourists will eventually return.
Being so close to the equator the climate in Malaysia can be stifling hot and in the hours around midday it is hard to be out in the open at all. While the heat is bearable if you are lying on a beach it can be too much to take in the big cities. The 3 main cities in the country are the historically colonial Georgetown in Penang, Melaka near the south and the capital Kuala Lumpur.
With such an exotic name as Kuala Lumpur (the Malaysians call it KL) it is easy to be disappointed when you actually arrive in the city. Compared with other capitals in South East Asia, KL (like most of Malaysia) is comparatively wealthy. Its huge shopping malls are packed with kids wearing the newest designer gear and many of the restaurants are places to be seen in rather than eat in. A thriving economy means high prices and for any backpacker a stay in KL can be an expensive one.
ACCOMMODATION
Despite all the luxurious hotels that extend to the sky there is a modest amount of accommodation that is suitable for budget travellers. The main areas where these guesthouses and hostels are located is the bustling Chinatown and the quieter Little India. We decided to look in Chinatown where the available accommodation was pretty much generic. The rooms were small, hot, spartan and the prices were generally above average.
We arrived in KL late in the evening after a long bus trip from Penang so we were not as fussy as we usually are about where we stayed. We chose the Backpackers Inn on Jalan (road) Pudu primarily because the room was larger than what we had seen in other places and at 30 ringgit (9 euro) the price wasn't exorbitant.
The set up is quite good in the Backpackers Inn. There is a rooftop garden which serves beer and the common room has plenty of books and magazines as well as a movie channel to keep you entertained. The clientele was made up of mostly young Europeans and the atmosphere was pretty cheery. Unfortunately our room turned out to be infested with bed bugs. These little creatures have been the bane of our travels in Malaysia. A lot of the time these little blood suckers are hard to spot but in the Backpackers Inn they were big and bloated. After a night of little sleep we left to find a new home.
The Pudu Hostel is also known as the Backpackers Lodge and is decidedly midrange in price. After the previous nights experience we decided sleep was more important than a few ringgit so we chose a room for 40. The Pudu Hostel caters mainly for a domestic clientele and from what we could see a good few were long timers. Apart from an eccentric owner this is a very well run establishment.
Our room was air conditioned and spotlessly clean. Each resident is allocated a towel and toilet roll (bliss) on arrival. The common showers and toilets were cleaned several times a day and were thankfully numerous which meant no queuing. The building that houses the hostel has several floors containing a snooker and internet level. Discounts are afforded to guests to both amenities. This meant that an hour on the internet was priced at 3 ringgit. The cheapest Internet resource in town can be found on Jalan Silang, however, look for the sign offering one hour for 2.5 ringgit.
The reception area in the hostel is expansive and boasts 3 televisions, 2 of which have VCD recorders. The front desk has a library of films that can be rented out for 2 ringgit although it is sometimes hard to hear the soundtrack over the other 2 televisions. Pudu has a laundry service and its staff are conscientious without ever being overly friendly.
SHOPPING
KL is undoubtedly a shoppers paradise, although in the main to make any worthwhile purchases you would need a deep pocket. For those, like us, with incredibly shallow pockets Chinatown is your best bet. Jalan Petaling has what seems like a 24 hour market with stalls packed side by side selling the usual montage of tourist fodder like handicraft souvenirs, fake watches, T-shirts and CD's/DVD's. As usual copyright laws are out the window when it comes to the latter. On the whole the copies are remarkably cheap selling at around 4 ringgit each. However we found the reproduction on the audio CD's to be quite poor (Vietnam is the place to get cheap but pristine copies!) although we are reliably informed that the DVD copies were near perfect.
Chinatown also boasts the huge Central Market that apart from selling more of the above in an even tighter space lays on nightly shows displaying local dances and traditions. We had heard that the liveliest market was held in little India just off Jalan TAR every Saturday night. We were a little disappointed by the fare, however, because it just turned out to be more of the same with an Indian twist. That said the food we sampled left a great impression although we are still not sure whether it was good or bad! For the serious shopper the place to head is the Golden Triangle. Here you can find exclusive department stores a plenty with prices that are comparable to back home. As a laugh we decided to see how the other half lived for a day. The only thing we actually bought was some fine branded coffee, oh how we peered statesman like over our cups as we drank.
The first store we visited was the Low Yat Plaza on Jalan Sultan Ismail. This place was chock full of labels, so clean you could see your face in the floor tiles and resembled what we taught the shops would look like in Singapore. Needless to say we didn't really fit in.
Thankfully BB Plaza on Jalan Bukit Bintang was a little more mainstream and was typical of an upmarket shopping centre back home. It is spread over 6 levels and you could literally spend the whole day perusing the goods of offer. Right at its centre a DJ pumped out loud nondescript techno as the shoppers carried their lithe designer bags. Yeah it was a scene from Blade Runner. The Sungei Wang Shopping centre just across the road offers much the same. You're probably saying to yourself that we were getting carried away with ourselves here but after 3 months of travelling in some of the poorest nations in the world these coliseums came as a shock.
By the look and sound of Lot 10 on Jalan Bukit Bintang you could be forgiven for thinking this was a bargain basement of a shopping centre. So with baited breath and wallet at the ready we marched inside. Oh we were so wrong, this was the creme de la creme of the Golden Triangle. The place was near deserted and from the look of the shops and their outlandish prices we could easily work out why. Quite how Manchester United got their only Malaysian outlet here is something that took us by surprise.
The comically titled S & M shopping centre is in the middle of Chinatown on Jalan Cheng Lock and boasts much more down to earth prices. In other words they sell junk but interesting junk it must be said.
ATTRACTIONS
For a city of over 1.5 million people KL's attractions are a bit thin on the ground. Malaysians are very proud of their achievements so when the Commonwealth games came to KL in 1998 their 10 gold medals was met with euphoria. These games meant that the city needed to have a great national stadium and good infrastructure. To this end apart from a chaotic bus network there are several light railway systems that are taking the city into the 21st century. In saying that in our time in the city we never once made use of the system. It seems that as yet it bypasses the main attractions and just feeds the business and suburban centres.
KL is best known for its silver twin towers. These towers are the tallest buildings in the world and form the economic pulse of the Golden Triangle where many of the countries biggest businesses operate out of (the Golden Triangle is just a series of streets arranged in the shape of a triangle).The general public has restricted access to the towers outside of business hours. Each day before 9 the first 800 visitors are allowed to go up to the 40 floor in the buildings. The structures are hugely impressive and shadow the city like a grand protector.
The KL Tower (aka the Menara Tower) is a lot more visitor friendly. Situated in the middle of the Golden Triangle this huge concrete tower (421 metres high) is shaped like an Olympic torch. At the base is a visitor concourse where you can watch a film on how the tower was built, there are souvenir shops, a viewing gallery and a beautifully laid out garden. There is a lift shaft that runs through the centre of the tower to the top. Access to the top costs 15 ringgit (it's worth it).
The journey in the lift takes just under a minute whereupon you'll arrive at the public viewing level. The view on a clear day is breathtaking and with the aid of a remote audio tour you learn much about the landscape that makes up KL. On the next level a revolving restaurant provides a once in a lifetime dining experience, sadly it would take most of us a lifetime to earn the cash to eat there. The KL tower is more than a tourist attraction, however, at the top level there is a telecommunications tower which serves the whole city.
KL has a large green belt to the west of the city. The area is known as the Lake Gardens and is spread over 92 hectares. The park itself is wonderfully landscaped as is an ideal location for jogging or long walks. There area boasts quite a few visitor attractions within the gardens as well. The better ones include a Butterfly Park, an Orchid Garden and the best of the lot, a Bird Park.
The Bird Park in the Lake Gardens is officially the biggest covered Avery in the world. It is home to over 2,000 birds and the variety is astounding. Watch the flocks of Flamingos paddling in a pool and a mere 30 seconds later you are gazing admiringly at the giant Ostriches. It is obvious that great care is taken to maintain the health of the birds because the cages are uncommonly clean and the birds actually seem like they are enjoying themselves.
Malaysia achieved independence (Merdeka) from the British in 1957. Merdeka square is a reminder of those colonial times. Right in the heart of KL, Merdeka Square hosts a cricket pitch and several Moorish buildings that are in good shape. The Square is also home to the world's largest flagpole (the Malaysians tend to specialise in getting into the Guinness book of records) from where the Malaysian flag flutters proudly every day. The Malaysians are obviously proud of their square but we found it to be a little short on visitor value. In a typical KL manoeuvre there is a plaza built under the square with a food court, theatre and several shops.
EATING OUT
If you were to dine in KL finest restaurants then you would either be a oil baron or have been very good at picking numbers. That said if you look hard around there are plenty of places where you can eat economically.
Our favourite was the food court on the 5th floor of the S & M department store in Chinatown which has 15 counters serving inexpensive meals from all parts of Asia. We generally stuck to the roast chicken and rice but we tested the Asam Laksa (fish dumplings), Yong Tau Foo (exotic veg and fish) and the Wan Tan Mee (not sure what this was) with mixed results. Prices were generally around the 1 euro mark although the self service arrangement meant that skilful juggling of food trays was essential.
Another place where you'll find inexpensive food is on Jalan Hang Lekir although this place smacks of a tourist trap. Here you'll find dozens of restaurants with seating extended onto the road serving traditional Chinese cuisine. We tried a place called Biskut Fung which turned out to be quite expensive compared to food hall and the sweet and sour chicken I received was disappointing. That said it is amusing to watch the hustle and bustle of the market over a Guinness with its fortune tellers and amateur musicians plying 'Hotel California'.
And boy do the Malaysians love their Guinness. Strange as it may seem Guinness is up there with Tiger as the most popular drink among Malaysians. You'll rarely find it on draught but the bottled version comes brewed with 8% alcohol. Much stronger than at home but just as tasty. Every restaurant in KL it seems is emblazoned with the Guinness trademark.
You know KL has really listened to what the west has to offer when you see the number of McDonald's, KFC, Burger King and Pizza Hut joints that proliferate across town. We witnessed the mayhem that is Sunday mornings in McDonald's where it seems the whole of KL descends on the place to have a natter over an egg muffin.
On the streets around Chinatown you'll find plenty of hawkers offering snacks of all varieties. Ramly Burgers was a particular favourite as they were always keen to knock together a Burger Daning that was just dripping in tastiness. All for 2 ringgit, who said you couldn't eat cheaply in KL?
ENTERTAINMENT
There is a small enough pub scene in Kuala Lumpur, much like the rest of Malaysia. The most popular places are found in the Golden Triangle area and include the Hard Rock Cafe (awful) and the Long Bar (expensive). There is a cheaper alternative near the central market called the Bulls head although we never got round to visiting it. Many of the bigger hotels have night-clubs. It seems that the most popular place to drink amongst tourists though is in the restaurants that line the streets of Chinatown.
Kuala Lumpur is a hip, modern city that belies it geographical location. There is a new wealth being amassed in Malaysia and it is likely that the country will become alien to the rest of South East Asia in the not too distant future. This new found wealth has both positives and negatives for any would be visitor. On the positive side you do not have to sacrifice any of the luxuries of home (if you can afford it) because KL has everything your heart desires. On the flip side of this arrangement, exploring KL somehow feels like you are visiting any other European city (with the heat turned up). Is it worth travelling over 6,500 miles for this, only you can decide.
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