Malaysia: Kuala Lumpur
I have always been fascinated with the idea of traveling the world. Lucky for me, my husband shares the same passion. So, we decided for our one year wedding anniversary we would take a belated honeymoon somewhere. We weren’t sure where we wanted to go and took to Pinterest for ideas. It didn’t take long before we had decided we wanted to go somewhere in Asia. If you didn’t know, we live in the US and I have a US passport while my husband has a Lebanese passport. While looking online, we found that we both could go to Malaysia without visas. A little more research proved that it was an affordable destination and we found an amazing itinerary with Goway travel. We didn’t know anything about the country, but we were ready for a new adventure.
The first stop on our two week vacation was in Kuala Lumpur, the capital. I made sure to keep a journal for our trip so I wouldn’t forget anything and managed to write a new entry everyday.
Tuesday, January 3, 2017:
Today we arrived in Kuala Lumpur! It took over 24 hours to get here, but I am so excited. The airport wasn’t too bad and we made it through customs pretty quickly. The only surprise was when I had to use the restroom. They did not have a western style toilet in the restroom I went to. Instead, it was a hole in the ground that you had to squat over. Talk about culture shock! After collecting our bags, we were picked up at the airport by a driver from Asia Overland. From the airport, it was about an hour drive to The Renaissance hotel in the city center. Our room is on the 20th floor and has a beautiful view of the Petronas Towers. After showering, we took an Uber to the “food district” which was only a few blocks away. We walked around a little while before settling on an Indian bar where we had cheese naan, tikka butter marsala chicken and paneer. It was pretty good and I wish I had written down the bar name. As we navigated back to the hotel, we stopped to pick up some shwarma to take back to the hotel and ended up splitting a banana mango milk shake. Just before we made it back, it began to pour. Luckily, the city has a network of covered walk ways. Back in our room, we decided to take it easy and call it an early night so that we will be rested for our city tour tomorrow.
Later: The towers look ever prettier all lit up at night! Another storm came through and it was amazing to watch the lightening strike the towers.
Wednesday, January 4, 2017:
Today we started with breakfast at the hotel and the buffet was huge! We were pretty hungry since we both woke up around 3am. After breakfast we went up stairs to get ready before leaving on our city tour at 9:45. The tour was amazing! We went to a chocolate and coffee tasting, batik factory, the Petronas Towers, the Palace, a few museums, Freedom Square, and more! Our guide was great and so knowledgeable. The most interesting thing is that there are 9 royal families. Every 5 years they switch who is the sultan or “king of kings.” The sultan does not rule, as it is the Prime Minister who handles most of the politics.
After our tour, we had a buffet lunch at Atmosphere 360. It is a rotating restaurant so that you get to see an entire 360 view of the city while you eat. The food was good, but it is all about the view. On our way back to the hotel, we decided to skip the mall at the Petronas Towers and just relax. We laid by the pool and had a couple of Pina Coladas. We went back to our room for a nap which led to going to bed at 7:30. Jet lag is the worst! Tomorrow we will have breakfast and head north to Cameron Highlands.
That was our first two days in Malaysia! Kuala Lumpur is an amazing and diverse city with a blend of Indian, Malaysian and Chinese cultures. The history of the country is so interesting and different from anywhere I have ever been. The people were beyond friendly and the food was so good! I wish we could have stayed longer to really get to explore more. If you visit, I definitely recommend giving yourself at least two or three fulls days in the city. There are so many parks, museums, clubs and restaurants to visit. It would definitely be worth the stay
Check out the second leg of our tour through Cameron Highlands
