Southeast Asia Vacation, Part 2: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

After 3 days in Singapore, it was time to move on to our next spot, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.  The city itself was just okay, but we were able to find some awesome places and people.

Our hotel had a fabulous rooftop pool.  KL is just a smidge bit north of the Equator.   After being smushed in the airplane and then an hour long taxi ride from the airport, stretching out in the warm sunshine was nice before hitting the town.

 

Across from our hotel was a small restaurant with the biggest menu ever.  In fact, we had such a hard time deciding and the first time was so good, that we had to go back the next day.

My first picture of the Petronas Towers.  This was taken either right before or right after I managed to mis-step off the sidewalk and into a patch of mud, which made me slip and fall on my knee and make a bloody mess of myself. 

We got to the Towers just before sunset.  Unfortunately we were too late for a tour, but we walked around inside and then enjoyed the park out the back of them. 

Bryan chillaxing outside of the Towers.

We forgot the good camera at the hotel :-(   But this is one of the views of part of the city, including the KL Tower. 

More of the park by behind the Towers.  When the fountains first came on, I had such high hopes, thinking I was about to see a Ballagio-like show.  Not so much!   There's so much potential and they really fell short.  Just some fountains that change every 30 seconds or so with some beautiful colorful lights. 

Our second stop at the U-Cafe, the restaurant across from the hotel.  Pineapple chicken, served in a pineapple, of course. 

We read that the Bird Park was pretty awesome, and indeed, it was.  Of course some predators are in large cages, many of the birds are free to roam around the park. It's one of the biggest open air bird parks in the world.  We saw a huge variety, including huge emus and flamingos, many beautiful peacocks and so many birds I had never ever seen before, but the parrots were our favorite.  They had their own  building they could fly around in.   We bought a cup of coconut milk  for about 60 cents and they instantly flocked to us.  

You guys have to share!

Bryan LOVES parrots.  Every Christmas and birthday he claims he is disappointed that I didn't get him a parrot. (And he will continue to be disappointed for many years to come!)    He was loving our visit with them.  The keeper told us that the birds love salt, hence them licking his sweaty face. 

 

Us by the waterfall at the Bird Park.

Outside of the Central Market. It is home to a food court and restaurant, but the majority of it is vendors selling a variety of goods.   We picked out a stunning Indian wall hanging and I got a hand beaded and sequined (just trim, not the whole thing!) purple dress. 

We took an afternoon walking tour that featured food from the different cultures that settle KL, some religious spots, and lots of history.   Read the sign for a full description, or just see the pictures below.

First stop, an Indian restaurant.  He is making a version of milk tea, which they call pulled tea.  I believe it's just some really strong tea and a ton of sweetened condensed milk.  They pour it back and forth between two pitchers to mix it well.  They only used 40% of the sweetened condensed milk that they use for their regular customers, and it was still insanely sweet. And delicious.   

Then this man made us two kinds of roti, a type of bread.  This was tossed around like super thin pizza dough, then whipped around into this cone shape, then baked.  Crunchy, thin, sweet goodness.  The other looked more like a thin crepe, with bananas and served with curry sauce.  Sounds super strange, but also fantastic.

Inside a Chinese temple that we visited.  Lots of incense. 

Some very old businesses and homes.

The Malaysian flag flying right before the rain started.

Not sure what this is, but it's pretty.

We visited a Hindu temple. 

 

Inside the temple.  What a crazy religion.  But a pretty building.

Outside of the temple, they sell lots of jasmine, flowers, and fruit to be bought and used as offerings. 

More food, this time a noodle dish.  Apparently you have to spin the pan reeeeally fast in order to properly mix everything.   This man took over the food stall for his uncle, who had ran it for some crazy amount of time like 50 years.  It's located in the wet market, which sells fresh food every morning. Once afternoon hits, the food is all sold and the vendors pack up and go home. And then the huge rats come out to clean up the scraps.  Huge, I tell you!

Shrimp and chicken pad-thai-like noodles.  Delicious!  I can't remember the name of the pink drinks, but I remember they're popular.  I thought they tasted like childrens Benadryl, which was never my favorite. 

Peanut pancakes in Chinatown.  So sweet and crunchy.

Fresh fruit in Chinatown.

Our tour guide called this "pot chicken" because of how it is served.  As with everything else, it was delicious and sweet (and I thought American food had a lot of sugar!)

The plate of satay went too quickly to get a picture.  More interestingly, the lump in the foreground is called a durian.   It's a fruit that comes in a yellowish brown spikey shell.  Many stores and hotels have signs by the front door that says NO DURIANS so I asked our tour guide what a durian was (because the outline of the pictures make it look like a weapon).  He was pretty awesome and went and got one for us.  They're prohibited from certain places because they smell so bad,  kind of like rotten onions and rotting flesh (so I was told, I'm thankful that I don't know what rotten flesh smells like).  It tastes like fried onions (with a hint of something else that I can't quite place) but the fact it's so mushy, makes it a bit disgusting.  It's known as King of Fruit and they says it "Smells like Hell," and the second part is either "...tastes like Hell" or "...tastes like Heaven".   If I had to choose, I'd go with the former.   

These are mangosteens, known as the Queen of Fruit.  They're about a million times better tasting and smelling than the durian.  You crack the shell open by pressing hard on it.  The inside is kind of like oranges, smushed together in different sections.   The number of petals on the flower on the bottom of the fruit (shown in the picture) show you how many sections are inside.   Unlike the durian, I would love to have another mangosteen.  However, here in Japan, where pretty fruit is highly prized, they're really expensive.  I found a pack of 6 for almost $20 and I just couldn't justify that purchase.

Hope you enjoyed the pictures. Next stop:  Ubud, Bali!