MALAYSIA

Having lived most of my life in Malaysia, I receive lots of request for travel advice for Malaysia after I relocated to overseas. So I finally decided to create a posting on all my travels in my homeland.

Kuala Lumpur is the business capital of Malaysia and has a mix of modern as well as colonial-style buildings. Its original birthplace was at the confluence of 2 rivers, hence the name ‘Kuala Lumpur’ which literally means ‘muddy estuary’. Since the 1980s, Kuala Lumpur or KL (as it’s known by locals) have grown by leaps and bounds. Most notably, it houses the PETRONAS Twin Towers, the world’s tallest building from 1998 to 2004. To date, it is still the tallest twin towers in the world.

MAP

SIGHTS TO SEE

PETRONAS Twin Towers / KLCC – at 88 floors and straddling the Suria KLCC shopping centre, this is KL’s most famous tourist attraction. The KLCC park is a great place for an evening walk and to catch the lighted fountain displays (after dark). That being said, this place is a tourist-trap with premium shopping and over-priced mediocre food. When scouting for your next meal here, head over next door to Avenue K for more value-for-money fare. (more details below).

Chinatown / Petaling Street – Petaling Street is the site of KL’s Chinatown. It is a large warren of shops and street stalls selling ‘genuine-fakes’, cheesy-souvenirs and other knick-knacks. It is most definitely worth a visit just to view its cheesiness. :p

One question that has been asked before – “If this is Chinatown, where are all the Chinese?”

Due to its commercial success, many Chinese shops/stall owners now hire foreign labourers to run their shops/stalls while they sit in the back which gives the impression of the many businesses here being run by non-Chinese foreigners. If you are shopping here, bargaining is a must. The best time to visit is in the evening or after dark when it’s not so hot.

Masjid Jamek – this is one of the oldest mosques in Malaysia and sits right at the convergence of the Klang River and Gombak river, literally the birthplace of KL. This quaint little mosque provides a very picturesque scene framed by all the modern skyscrapers.

Sultan Abdul Samad Building / Courts of Law – This was originally the office of the British Colonial Secretariat and is a great place to see some of the old colonial architecture. It is located right opposite Dataran Merdeka (Independence Square). On 31^st August, it plays host to a national parade.

Old KL Railway – This is the original railway station designed based on Moorish architecture. The railway station was eventually moved to the more modern KL Sentral but this building still stands and houses a railway museum.

National Monument – The national monument is a large bronze statue erected in memory to the soldiers who died during WWII and during the Communist Emergency. It was sculpted based on the famous US Iwo Jima photograph.

Jalan Alor (night) – At night, Jalan Alor plays host to a large night market and street food restaurants. It is most definitely worth a visit to get a taste of real local food. 

Batu Caves – This is a set of limestone cave where Indians have built a Hindu temple in. The main cave is at the top of a 252-step staircase and plays host to a religious procession / parade during the festival of Thaipusam. On other days, it is still a great place to visit to marvel at the natural wonder and the huge golden statue of the Hindu deity Lord Murugan. Besides the many hawkers and souvenir stall-owners looking to relieve you of your travel money, there is also a large colony of macaque monkeys that congregate along the staircase, who have honed their pickpocketing and begging skills through many generations, looking to relieve you of any food or snacks you may have on your person, to ease your climb up the stairs…. Gee, these macaques are so kind and helpful.There are several eateries at the base of the stairs where you can have ice-cold coconut water or a roti-canai to recover from your climb up the stairs.

Low Yat Plaza (Tech Shopping Centre) – Another thing that Malaysians love is their tech gadgets. And for that you, you have Low Yat Plaza, a multi-storey IT, gadget, and digital camera haven located in Bukit Bintang. Some limited bargaining is acceptable here depending on how expensive your purchase is… although, most vendors are bound by the manufacturer’s retail price and they typically will give you more freebies/accessories depending on your bargaining skills.

FOOD RECOMMENDATIONS

Lot 10 – Hutong Food Court – Lot 10 originally started as a fashion shopping complex until the owner of the building invited all his favourite street-food vendors to open a branch in his new underground food-court named “Hutong”. When you visit this basement food-court, you will be treated to some of the best café and street food experience in KL. However, in classic case of Malaysian-style planning, the building management did not anticipate the customer volume they would be getting when they co-located so many top food vendors in 1 location and consequently, they did not plan enough tables and seats. The typical Malaysian, who love their food, still continue to patronise Hutong in droves and put up with the crowded environment with good humour… and the occasional four-letter-word.

Avenue K – Enclave Food Court – In a step to mimic the success of Hutong, the Avenue K shopping complex also established its Enclave Food Court along the same principle. However, you will find that in Enclave, this is better executed with more tables/seats and wider walkways for patrons navigating the crowd with trays of sizzling food.

Yut Kee – This is one of the last, if not “the last”, authentic Hainanese kopitiam (coffee shops) left in KL. When the British were the colonial masters in Malaya, they employed Chinese cooks from the Hainan province to prepare their meals. These Hainanese cooks found the typical English meals to be bland and tasteless and thus, married it with their traditional Hainanese-style of cooking. Thus was born the Malaysian-style Hainanese cooking which is a fusion of English and Chinese cooking. You can find traditional English fares like Pork Chop which are served with gravy, or Roti Babi (pork bun) which is a type of minced-pork sandwich given the “French-toast” treatment with a side of Worcestershire sauce. Read more of it here: http://www.vkeong.com/2009/food-drink/roast-pork-roll-with-apple-sauce-yut-kee-restaurant/ 

Soong Kee Beef Ball noodles – Another famous KL institution, Soong Kee has expanded with branch outlets in Lot 10 Hutong, Avenue K, and even an outlet in SS2, Petaling Jaya. However, nothing beats the original shop in Jalan Tun H. S. Lee. This outlet is a short walk from Chinatown / Petaling Street.

Coliseum Café – One of the oldest restaurants and motels from the British colonial times, the original restaurant and motel was a favourite dining and drinking place of the British and lasted through World War II, the Communist Emergency and all through to present day. Today, it still serves up good sizzling steaks and other Hainanese-style cooking in a rustic setting from the Colonial era while the motel still operates as a backpackers' inn. 

http://www.coliseum1921.com/

Jalan Alor (night time) - As explained above.

GETTING OUT

Genting Highlands – This is a highland resort about approximately 1 hour from KL. It is a the only licensed gambling casino in the whole of Malaysia and previously, before the opening of Marina Bay Sands, you would a constant stream of Singaporean visitors every weekend in addition to the local Malaysian tourists. It provides a nice get-away from the KL heat and a huge amusement park for the children to play in…. and at night, after the children have gone to sleep, it’s the parents’ turn to play (in the casino). Regular buses to Genting depart from KL Sentral.

Putrajaya – Putrajaya is approximately 45mins drive from KL and is the country’s administrative capital. All the Malaysian government ministries are headquartered here. The city was modelled after Canberra and adopted a wide, open, and planned city approach.

Whitewater Rafting at Gopeng – If you are staying in KL, you can arrange a day-trip Whitewater rafting with Riverbug. Unfortunately, they do not arrange land transport from KL to the Gopeng tollhouse (2 hours drive), so it is probably best if you rent a car to get there. You can book your tours at http://www.riverbug.asia/

Malacca / Melaka – Malacca is a UNESCO World Heritage site due to its rich history from the Dutch, Portuguese and British colonial era. A good research resource is: http://wikitravel.org/en/Malacca

Things to See (you can get the detailed descriptions for the sights below at the Wikitravel link above).

 

Food Recommendations – due to its diverse history, you can find a very wide mix and styles of cooking. Malacca is reputed to be the birthplace of Chicken Rice Balls (a dish where the rice is shaped into balls to retain heat and served with slices of steamed chicken). http://www.foodpoi.com/2010/06/a-tailor-made-melaka-food-trip-for-food-ethusiast/ 

Penang Island / Pulau Pinang – Penang (like Malacca) is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. You can see the architecture and buildings dating back to the colonial time when it was a British seaport.

You can get a good guide at this link: http://wikitravel.org/en/Penang_Island but another good source is when world-famous author and travelling-chef-extraordinaire, Anthony Bourdain visited Penang and you can catch his show here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emOy0Rl70Ek

Things to See (you can get the detailed descriptions for the sights below at the Wikitravel link above)

o  Fort Cornwallis

o  Penang Hill

o  Kek Lok Si Temple

o  Khoo Kongsi (image above)

o  War Museum

Food Recommendations

If there is 1 trait that can accurately describe Penang-ites and their culture, it is their passion for street food. This city has such a huge and vibrant collection of street food vendors that easily rivals Bangkok. To aid you in your food journey, this is a best street food compilation by FoodPOI (point of interest) with corresponding GPS coordinates.
http://www.foodpoi.com/2012/02/ultimate-penang-best-food-list/ 

Island get-aways – Perhentian Island & Redang Island – are located on the East Coast of Peninsula Malaysia in the states of Terengganu. These islands feature pristine beaches and crystal clear waters which are great for both snorkelers and divers.

Mount Kinabalu – Mount Kinabalu is located in the state of Sabah in East Malaysia (Borneo). It is the highest point in South East Asia and tourist can take a 2-day guided tour up the mountain to capture the morning sunrise.

Sipadan Island – This is a world-class diving site located in the state of Sabah in East Malaysia (Borneo). The island is an extinct-volcano that rises from the ocean floor like a needle. Visitors can only take “day-trip” diving excursions to the island and are unable to stay overnight on the island. The resort there has been dismantled by the Malaysian government after some patrons were unwittingly enrolled for an extended 6-month free vacation of Southern Philippines courtesy of Abu Sayyaf Terrorism Tours.