Back in May of 2014, we visited parts of Southeast Asia and our first stop was Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. I have to be honest and say I didn’t know much about KL, nor was it really on my radar but man, I’m so glad it was on the itinerary.
Getting to Malaysia from LAX requires about a full day of traveling (as of 05/2016 checking various airlines). Our route took us to a layover in Tokyo, Japan which is barely the half-way point of the journey. From there, you fly to Singapore to change planes and finish off the journey 24 hours later with a one hour flight to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
On that note, I just recently finished an amazing journey in India in which it took us a whopping 36 hours to get there, with a missed connection. With that said, I’m fairly confident I can pretty much withstand any travel journey at this point. Click here to see my list of must have travel essentials (coming soon!)
I have to say, I loved Singapore Airlines. Their service was amazing, food was good and I now have this huge fascination with Airbus A380 planes. They’re currently the largest passenger planes in the air today. The fascination is somewhat weird considering I have a lot of anxiety when flying but that plane is a marvel of technology. Youtube has some awesome documentaries regarding the A380s.
Kuala Lumpur, known as KL is the most populous city as well as the cultural hub of Malaysia. Defined by the iconic Petronas Twin Towers – the tallest twin buildings in the world, KL embodies both new world technology with old world culture. Within close distance you can travel to a multitude of shopping malls with everything from Chanel to H&M, then take a tram to Petaling Street in Chinatown where you get a feel of a third world market, or take a short bus ride to the Batu Caves, the most popular Hindu shrine outside of India.
And then there’s the food. Known for a vibrant mix of Malay, Chinese and Indian (as well as influences from other South East Asian countries), the food here is so damn good. I’m a little bummed out I didn’t take many foodie pics, but that’s because there was no time for photos. When you’ve been walking around exploring for hours in humid 90 degree heat and see/smell this amazing food mixture of cultural bliss, you just want to scarf it down. And that’s what we did, along with ice cold Bintang and Tiger beers.
My favorite spot was at the heart of Bukit Bintang called Jalan Alor, which is the most famous area for street food in Kuala Lumpur. This spot was filled with restaurants and food stalls providing a ton of options to really dive into authentic Malay cuisine.
My favorite meal was Nasi Lemak, a fragrant rice dish cooked in coconut milk. My favorite variation being with fried chicken. We must have gained 10 pounds from the food and beer here alone. Well worth the extra poundage.
Malaysia was never on the top of my list of places to visit but that’s only because I really had no idea. With KL being the 6th most visited city in the world, it’s definitely a destination worth exploring when in the area. I wish we had more time to explore more of Malaysia but we definitely loved KL. Check out more pics from our journey below:
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