Last year, I was in Malaysia with a dear friend who had never been to Asia. We did the coolest of the cools including (not just, but getting a license for) scuba diving in one of the top diving location in the world, a visit to the world's largest cave and spending a weekend in the second best island in the world, Penang. The first is Borneo. Fact. We also spent a couple of days in Kuala Lumpur.
A year on, I am back in KL - as the locals call it, and even though I am here for work this time, leisure is included in the package. Since I now have three weeks instead of just a couple of days, I get to organize a proper, proper hanging out, doing things like coffee-ing, lunch, dinner, shopping and most importantly, catching-up, instead of just a brief and quick meeting with a big group of friends.
Kuala Lumpur is five hours away by flights from Perth. The two cities are on the same time zone but do not share much in common. Perth is hot and dry, KL is humid and more humid. While the latter is a food and shopping haven, Perth is an almost impossibly expensive city for shopping (and I thought Aberdeen was so dear), although the restaurants are actually quite good but pricey. Both cities have rude and angry drivers, but if I must say, you are likely to have more accidents in KL than in Perth (we had a car accident on our first day in Malaysia last year. Uhuh). And I almost forgot how scary the moped drivers are in this city.
In the past five years that I have left, sky scrappers have been built at the most ridiculous pace. What used to be the place for me to park my car when I was working here, is now the 20-something storeys hotel where I am staying for this trip. I used to have the view of the twin towers from the office - which are 500 meters away, but standing from the same corner (and higher level too, mind you!) gives you the view of your own reflection on the opposite building's windows. Who knows when I come back in the future, my favourite hawkers street will turn into another street of nightclubs, as if KL does not have enough already. My office building is probably the only office building in KL that is faced with strings of bars, pubs and clubs - Thai Club, Beach Club, Modesto's, Rum Jungle - you name it, the street has it. I don't even think there's an irony that they are all on the street named after Malaysia's legendary entertainer, the late P.Ramlee.
With the monsoon kicking in, it rains most evening for an hour or two now but nothing too serious. In fact, it helps to cool down the busy streets although pot holes filled with water is not an ideal scenario for a city walker like me. I also walk with care and always look out for a potential snatcher who tend to operate the crime on mopeds. And don't get me started on the traffic rules: a zebra crossing is just a black and white painting on the road, and red doesn't always mean stop.
Despite all this, I look forward to showing my other half this metropolitan part of Malaysia. Since I decided to leave my camera in Australia, photo taking will only happen once Jamie arrives next week. So watch this space in a few weeks time for some photos. Regarding a non-job related activity, apart from a weekend in Borneo and some cultural learning experience, we are going surfing. That's right. This may sound weird but despite not having a beach, this city actually has a surfing spot at a water park somewhere. We do not know what to expect, except no shark like it has been in Western Australia as of late.
I can go on and on about KL and how I love to hate and hate to love it in so many ways. After spending a lot of time outside the busyness it has to offer, I can't say I miss its crowdedness but I have missed its colour and its easy access to lots of things (well, except a beach). I cannot wait to continue exploring it with another first timer.
By the way, since when did it adopt the nickname the garden city of lights?
A year on, I am back in KL - as the locals call it, and even though I am here for work this time, leisure is included in the package. Since I now have three weeks instead of just a couple of days, I get to organize a proper, proper hanging out, doing things like coffee-ing, lunch, dinner, shopping and most importantly, catching-up, instead of just a brief and quick meeting with a big group of friends.
Kuala Lumpur is five hours away by flights from Perth. The two cities are on the same time zone but do not share much in common. Perth is hot and dry, KL is humid and more humid. While the latter is a food and shopping haven, Perth is an almost impossibly expensive city for shopping (and I thought Aberdeen was so dear), although the restaurants are actually quite good but pricey. Both cities have rude and angry drivers, but if I must say, you are likely to have more accidents in KL than in Perth (we had a car accident on our first day in Malaysia last year. Uhuh). And I almost forgot how scary the moped drivers are in this city.
In the past five years that I have left, sky scrappers have been built at the most ridiculous pace. What used to be the place for me to park my car when I was working here, is now the 20-something storeys hotel where I am staying for this trip. I used to have the view of the twin towers from the office - which are 500 meters away, but standing from the same corner (and higher level too, mind you!) gives you the view of your own reflection on the opposite building's windows. Who knows when I come back in the future, my favourite hawkers street will turn into another street of nightclubs, as if KL does not have enough already. My office building is probably the only office building in KL that is faced with strings of bars, pubs and clubs - Thai Club, Beach Club, Modesto's, Rum Jungle - you name it, the street has it. I don't even think there's an irony that they are all on the street named after Malaysia's legendary entertainer, the late P.Ramlee.
With the monsoon kicking in, it rains most evening for an hour or two now but nothing too serious. In fact, it helps to cool down the busy streets although pot holes filled with water is not an ideal scenario for a city walker like me. I also walk with care and always look out for a potential snatcher who tend to operate the crime on mopeds. And don't get me started on the traffic rules: a zebra crossing is just a black and white painting on the road, and red doesn't always mean stop.
Despite all this, I look forward to showing my other half this metropolitan part of Malaysia. Since I decided to leave my camera in Australia, photo taking will only happen once Jamie arrives next week. So watch this space in a few weeks time for some photos. Regarding a non-job related activity, apart from a weekend in Borneo and some cultural learning experience, we are going surfing. That's right. This may sound weird but despite not having a beach, this city actually has a surfing spot at a water park somewhere. We do not know what to expect, except no shark like it has been in Western Australia as of late.
I can go on and on about KL and how I love to hate and hate to love it in so many ways. After spending a lot of time outside the busyness it has to offer, I can't say I miss its crowdedness but I have missed its colour and its easy access to lots of things (well, except a beach). I cannot wait to continue exploring it with another first timer.
By the way, since when did it adopt the nickname the garden city of lights?
2 comments:
Yippee...I've managed to connect to your blog...this is going to make it a lot easier to keep up to date with you and your adventures. Hope your trip is going well.
Loves xx
Result! Not only we're real life friends, we are now blogging buddies. Lol.
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