Asian Trip 2018 – Kuala Lumpur

Our Malaysia Airlines flight from Phuket to Kuala Lumpur was delayed, so we had an extra hour to loiter around the Phuket International Airport before we boarded the older vintage 737. The seats were not the newest but had a semi-decent amount of legroom. The short hour-ish flight featured a small snack and juice service, a bonus meal I was not expecting. I spent most of the time with my face pressed against the window to check out the collection of islands dotting the Andaman Sea before we cut across mainland Malaysia. 

Kuala Lumpur International Airport, or KLIA as it’s called by pretty much everyone, is a modern airport that was super-easy to navigate. We had gotten to immigration at the same time as another jumbo jet, so we hustled to try to beat the massive groups of people wearing the exact same shirts to the queue. We still ended up behind a group who slowed down the line way too much because they weren’t carrying their own passports (seriously people, in immigration you don’t have your passport in hand?) but eventually, I got a new stamp inked into my passport and was on my way to baggage claim. 

Once into the Arrivals Hall, we made followed the signs for the KLIA Ekpres train that would whisk us from the airport to KL Sentral Station in about 28 minutes, non-stop. It would be faster (and cheaper) than a taxi to take us that distance and I figured we’d get a chance to do a little sightseeing of the countryside along the way. We passed through palm plantations, sped past growing blocks of modern apartment and condo buildings, and eventually entered the city of Kuala Lumpur. The train was comfortable, we were able to use a credit card to buy round-trip tickets, and overall, I would definitely recommend using the train to get to the massive transportation hub that is KL Sentral. 

As we pulled into KL Sentral, a massive rainstorm was dumping an insane amount of water. I called an audible, telling my husband we were going to take a cab to the hotel instead of jumping on a subway. I figured with the way the rain was coming down, we would end up wading through puddles, dragging our sodden suitcases behind us while getting pelted with rain that an umbrella just couldn’t handle. After poking his head outside, he readily agreed with my plan. And even better, at KL Sentral you can pre-pay a set amount for a taxi. So even though it ended up taking much longer to get us to the hotel due to the traffic snarl that resulted from the storm, we sat in the back of the cab not having to worry about the amount escalating on the meter.

So, Kuala Lumpur (KL as I will be calling it from now on because everyone calls it KL) has an impressive array of hotel options. And they were all at pretty reasonable rates. So I splurged big time and booked us a club-level room at the Mandarin Oriental. The Mandarin is a beautiful, classy hotel right next to the architecturally awesome Petronas Towers. Despite the fact that we looked like waterlogged hobos when we arrived in the lobby, we were served a welcome beverage of some delicious lime juice thing and then they graciously whisked us up to the club level lounge to complete the check-in process. The gentleman checking us in told us that we had one of the very best rooms, which I thought was hyperbole until he opened the door to our top-floor room and I saw the Petronas Towers directly outside. Although I’ve stayed in suites more impressive, this room was the most comfortable I’ve ever stayed in. And the view out of the window was stunning…

We freshened up and then returned to the club level lounge, where they had just started happy hour service. We sank into plush armchairs and the staff quickly took our drink order before we made our way over to the check out the food options. Honestly, we did not ever need to go out to dinner the entire time we were in KL because the happy hour food was more than enough. But because we wanted to get out to explore a bit, we grabbed the umbrella provided in the room and ventured out to a trendy restaurant / bar a few blocks from the hotel. It had great reviews online and I could definitely understand why. Naturally, as soon as I saw chicken satay with peanut sauce on the menu, I zeroed in on that. A strong drink with some tropical fruit juice flavors arrived and I settled back, marveling that KL was much more modern and cosmopolitan than I was expecting. 

And really, KL surprised at almost every turn. Even though it is a Muslim nation, I felt no hostility at not being covered up. There’s a wide range of ethnicities, religions, languages (although thankfully pretty much everyone had some English because my Malay was limited to hello and thank you). You could find pretty much any type of food and alcohol was much more easy to find than in a place like Dubai for example. In short, it felt like being in a much cleaner, way more modern, and safer New York City. I loved it, despite not going in with high expectations.

The next day, we just walked all over the damn place because that’s what I like to do in a city, wander around with no set agenda and see what happens. We checked out the Petronas Towers from ground level before wandering the adjacent district, checking out some of the amazing architecture. We ambled through the KLCC park, a lovely green space that provided beautiful views of the cityscape set against a lush foreground. We eventually ended up in a rooftop bar overlooking the city and the mountains beyond (where we saw an alarmingly ominous storm system moving in so we hightailed it back to our hotel just before the afternoon rains started). We again enjoyed happy hour in the club lounge before descending to the first-floor Chinese restaurant where I took the recommendation of the chef and enjoyed what basically amounted to tender beef filet sliced with onions in a rich, spicy sauce. I was absolutely stuffed but decided that I should try a bite of my husband’s dessert platter which featured durian in three different presentations. The stinky sock smell is real. And it was hard to overcome the natural impulse to push it away from your face. But I gamely took a bite and decided that despite its vaunted reputation as a delicious fruit, it really wasn’t for me.

The following day, I really wanted to go to the Batu Caves; but my husband seemed to be reluctant. So sadly, I realized that I was not going to get my way on this (“it’ll take up our entire last day in KL”) and instead suggested jumping on the monorail system so we could sightsee without walking 100 miles in the 95% humidity. We rode up to the far northerly reaches of the system, walked outside of the station for about 5 minutes before we realized there was way too much construction activity to do proper sightseeing, and then rode the monorail all the way back to KL Sentral. Just adjacent to the KL Sentral area is a section of town known as Brickfields, which is KL’s not-so-Little India. The area is a maze of alleys jammed with tiny stalls, textile shops blasting Bollywood music, restaurants featuring vegetable curries and unidentifiable meats, and more electronics shops than I have ever seen in one city block. It was a riotous assault on every one of the senses. It was a fantastic place to just wander.   

After a few hours, overloaded on all of the sights, sounds, smells, and tastes of Brickfields, we jumped back on the monorail and decided to get off at the Bukit Bingtang stop to check out that area too. It seems to be the shopping hub of KL, with a mall on every street corner. We thought we were going to find more street food; but after sampling in Brickfields, both of us were too full to eat more. So we just walked around, making our slow and sweaty way back to our hotel. And because the rains hadn’t started yet, we went down the pool deck, where the infinity-edge pool spills out onto a fantastic city view. 

We thought our last night in KL was going to end in a restaurant in the neighboring area. But the combination of too much sampling at lunch and the increasingly heavy rain made staying in at the club lounge and eating there a far more acceptable option. The next morning, we got up and spent some time in the pool before we had to shower, pack, and check out. I was really sad to be leaving the Mandarin. The room, the friendly and gracious staff, the excellent food both in the lounge and in the restaurants all added up to an experience that I was loathe to end. But our flight to Singapore was on the horizon; so we grabbed a taxi back to KL Sentral where we boarded our return train to KLIA.

We got our baggage checked in for our Malaysia Airlines flight to Singapore, stood in a long and tedious line to clear outbound Malaysian immigration, and then discovered to our dismay that KLIA really doesn’t have restaurants where you can sit, eat, and have a drink. In desperation, we decided to get a snack at the kiosk right outside of gate. And let me tell you, that was the most delicious airport food I have ever had. Seriously, I’m craving it right now and there’s no way in the world I’m going to be able to find it again. It was chicken pieces, mixed with cucumber chunks and peanut sauce, folded into a warm and flaky wrap. This incredible deliciousness was made on a flat-top electric skillet. You’d think I’d be able to replicate it at home but no luck yet. Even when I was departing, KL was still surprising me…