I’ve stayed in Kuala Lumpur for six days now. I plan to leave tomorrow, but I still don’t know if I should stay a few days longer since I’m tired of traveling. I will have to make a decision soon.
When I first arrived in Kuala Lumpur, or KL as the locals call it, I checked into a the KLCC Dorm Hostel, which is in an apartment inside a hotel. The place felt crammed and only had two bathrooms, but I had access to the hotel swimming pool. I stayed for three nights before moving to the StarQ Hotel in Bukit Bintang, which is the shopping district. I wasn’t able to extend after two nights because the hotel was full so I moved to another hostel called Travelogue Guest House that is across the street from StarQ Hotel.
Before I booked Travelogue, I booked a room in KLCC Summer Suites, but the property manager informed me that they won’t take me because the price on Booking.com was too low for them. I was upset since they won’t honor the price that they had set on the website. There’s nothing I can do except book somewhere else. I’ve never experienced anything like this before and was quite mad. I calmed myself by telling me that it’s part of traveling.
Another unfortunate event that happened was my Google Pixel phone became unresponsive and won’t turn on. This happened the first day when I changed to StarQ Hotel. I think it’s because the phone got so hot from the days before that it fried the motherboard. Luckily, I was at the shopping district and went to an electronic mall that had all kinds of cell phones for sale. I bought a used Samsung S10e for 600 MYR (about $125). This phone has short battery life, worse camera, and just generally isn’t as good as my Google Pixel 5a. It also doesn’t have eSim capability so I had to buy a physical sim card for 30 MYR (around $6). Without eSim I’ll have to look for a sim card every time I go to a different country, which makes traveling annoying. Thus, I’m rethinking about going to Cambodia and Laos.
I met some excellent people while in KL. They were all from KLCC Dorm Hostel. The first person was Martin, a Swiss marine biology student. We had dinner together on the first night I arrived and chatted quite a bit. He had to move to a different place the next day. I also met Jonathan, a mobile game developer from Germany. We ended up hanging out the second day and went to Batu Caves together. Afterward, we walked around south of KL and visited Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia. He left for Cameron Highlands the day after. Lastly, I met Miriam, a German designer. She loves art, so the next day we met up in Bukit Bintang and walked to REXKL and a print shop. I enjoyed hanging out with all of them and they helped me stay active so I wasn’t so lonely.
Yesterday, after changing to Travelogue Guest House I didn’t do anything. I think I was feeling a bit depressed and indecisive about my future travel plans. I thought about taking the bus from Kuala Lumpur to Cameron Highlands, then to Ipoh, then to George Town. But I feel that’s too much time spent on the bus. Maybe I should just fly from KL to George Town and skip Cameron Highlands and Ipoh. Let’s see how I feel tomorrow. Maybe my mood will be better and I end up taking the bus anyway.
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| Menara Kuala Lumpur |
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| Martin, the Swiss marine biology student |
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| Petronas Twin Towers |
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| Petronas Twin Towers from KLCC Park |
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| KLCC Park |
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| Petronas Twin Towers reflected |
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| Balcony view from KLCC Dorm Hostel |
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| Train to Batu Caves |
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| Monkey deity outside the train station of Batu Caves |
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| Pond near Batu Caves |
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| Never seen so many pigeons on a tree before. |
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| Entrance to Batu Caves |
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| One of many monkeys in Batu Caves |
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| Inside Batu Caves |
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| The end of the caves |
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| Hindu statues in the caves |
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| Looking at KL from Batu Caves staircase |
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| Sign at Batu Caves |
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| Merdeka Square |
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| Sultan Abdul Samad Building |
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| Jonathan, the German game developer |
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| Sultan Abdul Samad Jamek Mosque |
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| Mural on a building by River of Life |
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| National Mosque of Malaysia |
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| Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia |
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| Model of a Chinese mosque in Xi'an, China |
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| One of three domes inside the art museum |
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| Relaxing by the hotel pool |
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| Menara Kuala Lumpur at night |
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| Mee Goreng |
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| Night market |
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| Miriam, a German designer |
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| The bookstore inside REXKL |
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| Mural inside REXKL |
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| More murals |
Again, I am amazed at how places have changed so much looking at your photos. I went to the Batu Caves probably about 20 years ago, there was no train station or any of those colorful infrastuctures. I'm kind of glad I did all my travels in Asia a long time ago. The beautiful murals you photo'd are everywhere in Malaysia. I don't think you are planning to go to Penang but it's prevalent there, too. I am envious of the food you are getting in MY.
ReplyDeleteI will be going to Penang, more specifically George Town. Do you plan on visiting Asia again? It's been 20 years since you came here.
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