Malaysia was never one of those bucket-list destinations we ever had interest in. However, that changed when we did a little bit of flight searching to see which countries in Southeast Asia were cheap to fly to from Bali. We scored on a flight from Bali to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for $40 USD through Easy Jet. We didn’t hesitate for a second to decide that Malaysia would be our next destination. Kuala Lumpur is a perfect transport hub and it would give us an opportunity to visit this country while we map out our next destination.
We didn’t have any time to really plan out what we wanted to do in Kuala Lumpur, since we were putting in a majority of our efforts into finding more experiences to do while we were in Bali. Once we got there, I asked a few of our Uber drivers about the most popular things to do in Kuala Lumpur. Everyone’s answer was: shopping.
Kuala Lumpur is apparently known for attracting millions of visitors each year for shopping expeditions. In fact, KL is home to the biggest and best shopping malls in the world. You can find a mall on every corner in this city. They are extravagant and actually quite beautiful inside.
During our week in KL our friend Ben came to visit us on his way home from a business trip. The three of us decided to spend first couple of days exploring local markets, trying local foods, and going to KL’s major landmarks before getting the ultra-mall experience.
The three of us enjoy exploring places off the beaten track and getting a glimpse into local life. On one of our first nights there, we took a walk around the city and coincidentally ended up at a local market and restaurant area. We first decided to stop by at a local outdoor restaurant for dinner. One employee spoke very little English, and we stood out like big sore thumb Americans. Alex and Ben indulged in some local foods recommended by the woman working there who described them as lungs and liver. Not sure who these organ meats belonged to, but again…not a whole lot of English and our attempts at sign language figures of animals failed. Could have been a cat’s, could have been a cow’s, who knows. Anyways, major props to them for being local culinary adventurers. The only thing I recognized that night was a freshly made bowl of hard boiled eggs. When I asked for a few of them, the woman looked at me like I was extremely weird. It was recognizable, it felt safe, my stomach already felt a little weird, so that’s what I had for dinner. Don’t get me wrong, I love trying new foods when we travel, but organ meats are just not one of them.
We strolled around the local market, and I was glad that I ate lightly that night. We somehow came up on a chicken slaughter area where tons of chickens were seen in cages being pulled out one by one. I saw a man wearing a butcher’s apron holding a knife the size of a sword. With a little help from one of his assistants they held the chicken in place and sliced its neck. It was quick, gory, and like a scene out of a movie. Just like that. I was so zoned in on this situation until I finally broke out of it at the sound of Alex and Ben’s laughter at my utterly disturbed and saddened look. I just stood there, not knowing what to do. The butcher smiled at me and asked me if I was okay. He then proceeded to ask me if he did something wrong in terms of his method because of my surprised look. I politely smiled and nodded in confusion. Everyone had a laugh at my reaction. It’s not every day your exposed to something like that, not back home anyways. Another experience for the books!
On the surface, Kuala Lumpur might be well known for the shopping experiences it offers but during our week here we found so much more to do and found this country to be really quite friendly and welcoming. We had our first Michelin star restaurant experience here, drank sunset cocktails on a helicopter pad overlooking the entire city, explored the Batu Caves, did an awesome pub-crawl, went to the top of the Petronas towers, and saw beautiful mosques and temples. It should be noted that Kula Lumpur offers some of the best culinary experiences. Aside from our Michelin star experience, I had some of the best meals here in my life. Overall, we had a great time in KL. I would fly back there just to have another meal at Fuego and shop when Im not traveling in a carry on ;). Check out more photos below!
Hope you enjoyed the photos!
-Love, Nurse Vanessa
