After my week of relaxing and eating on Penang it was time to head to Kuala Lumpur, the Malaysian capital. However it should not be seen as an accurate representation of the rest of Malaysia, those of you who have been to Bangkok, Dublin or any major capital city for that matter, would know what I mean.
It is overpriced, the drivers are mental, it is smelly and hideously polluted. Everyone is out to make a dollar (or Ringitt if we are being correct) and no one wants to help anyone.
The metro is actually a necessity to get from A to B, as crossing the roads is a hazard to oneself. I personally became a great fan of the taxi service. Cheap, fast and efficient especially for those of us with bung knees that are not coping so well!
I actually felt frightened walking alone at night for the first time in a long time and thanks to a psychotic masseuse who bruised my back I now have a slight phobia of massage therapists.
I am not, however, one to dwell on the negative. Glass half full etc and so forth. So I will admit that I was hot and bothered and this may have put a ‘çranky’ haze over everything for me. There are definitely some great things to do and see in and around KL but I guess like any place you visit you have to make the best of a bad situation.
My hostel, for one, was amazing. Owned and run by an Iranian guy and his (gorgeous guitar playing) cousin, the hostel was everything you’d expect and much more than you’d dare to hope for in Asia. Cheap, clean, safe and friendly.
Around the corner from the hostel is Bukit Bitang, the famous shopping mall strip. Along this street there are at least 10 huge shopping centres, hawker markets and loads of massage/foot reflexology/fish spa clinics.
On my last afternoon in KL I decided to treat myself to a pamper afternoon, fish spa followed by foot reflexology and topped off with a head neck and shoulders massage. To truly understand the experience I had read this blog http://angellemills.blogspot.com/2010/11/massage-from-hell.html. In short it was the worst massage experience I have ever had in my life.
The markets in KL are brilliant. Petaling Street Night markets are a bargainer’s heaven. Everything you could need from sunnies and shoes to nunchucks and pirate DVD’s all on one strip. You do have to be careful though, as soon as you show interest they consider you sold and will follow and yell at you until you make a sale. I had to slap one guy to get him to let go of my arm!
Food wise KL is not too bad. A lot more expensive than Penang, I was relieved to discover they had a Starbucks near my hostel. I was getting a bit sick of having rice and noodle dishes for breakfast lunch and dinner! I did also discover ‘You Tiao’, a flaky pastry puff thingy, almost like a Malaysian version of Churros but not as greasy. All this served with a nice cold glass of fresh sweetened soybean milk. MmMM
Seeing as I was clearly not that impressed by KL itself I opted to get out of the city a bit. I went to the bird sanctuary in the city park and had lunch at the restaurant overlooking the park. It was nice to see a bit of greenery and quite interesting having birds visit me and join me at the table while eating. Cheeky!
Close to the park there is the National Mosque. I had struck up quite an interest in Islam while I was in Penang so I decided to check it out. Upon arriving at the mosque tourist women are given a hooded cloak to wear, designed for respect, but I found it good to ‘get in the mood’. I had the opportunity to speak to a few of the sisters who helped me to better understand Islam and its different parameters. They explained the difference between Burqa's and the full Niqab, why they wear it and why certain woman choose the different extremes. They also showed me a tree of the Islam, Jewish and Christian roots and explained how a lot of them actually stem from the same men.
Tres Interesting.
I also decided to head out to Shah Alam to visit the Blue Mosque, the largest Mosque in the southern hemisphere. There I met a man who was a little too radical for my liking. He took my inquisitiveness as an indication that I wanted to join his faith and was quite insistent. He sang the call to prayer to me about 5 times.. Intense
Close to Shah Alam are the Batu Caves, quite an impressive set of caves. The caves themselves are probably not the key tourist attraction, there is however a HUGE statue of some goddess that looks quite incredible. Also once you have climbed the 272 odd steps to the top you are greeted by a school of cheeky (really cheeky) monkeys. The monkeys definitely made it worthwhile for me. They were so freaking cute! There were lots of little baby ones and they were all scavenging for food and mucking around. It took me about an hour to walk back down the steps as there was just so many on them playing around, it was adorable. I must admit, however, that I had a few moments of fear when they got a little too close, I haven’t had my rabies shot yet.. hahah Whoops
Next time I go to Malaysia I will probably by-pass KL, or stay one night just for a hit of You Tiao and a stint of shopping at the Petaling markets. All in all I had a good time but am looking forward to returning to explore more of this diverse country.
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