Kuala Lumpur - Wow! Its Actually a Real City

In my experience, Malaysia gets a bad rep for being a crappy, paticularly when compared with its south neighbor, Singapore. We found this quite unfounded. Malaysia is pretty dang nice! Kuala Lumpur is a big, very modern city with great trains, cheap, delicious food, and a minimal amount of trash and road craziness (at least compared to Bali which is a total dump. Beautiful, but a dump).

Two days to explore KL, as everyone calls it, was great for us. Don't miss the following:

1. The Petronus Towers and business district in both day and night. The towers are pretty dang spectacular. Go inside and see the nuevo art deco decor! If you want to go up to the viewing platform, tickets are given out in the basement for free every morning starting at 8:30, BUT GO EARLY. We got there a few minutes after 8:30 and didn't get tickets :(.

2. Times Square mall area. The US doesn't have huge malls; Asia RULES that world. This was the largest mall I have ever been in, and it isn't even ranked as large! Rollercoasters, hair salons, food, clothes, a million stores, and the place was packed with people. Austin and I could not beleive it. BTW we look like trash here and it is quite apparent. Poo.

3. The park/lake area in the NW of town. They have parks, strolls, zoos, and more. Near the Mosque, there is a killer daytime market with delicious and incredibly cheap food. Our favorites were the kabob sandwiches, curry pastries, eggrolls, and veggie tempura. (also the coconut weirdness pictured here.)

4. The National Mosque and surrounding area. Tourists can visit the mosque and all the historical buildings, but some cost. We were chosen by a darling muslim lady to be part of an exclusive tour. She was thrilled to talk to Americans to help prove to the USA  that Islam is good and the people are mostly wonderful, as it is with most religions, people, etc. She was very excited to see we were educated and asked good questions. Poor lady thought she found some golden investigators. Sweet.

5. Batu Caves!

Tips:

-Most people eat out at every meal, so again, look for kitchen-y looking places where all the locals go. There are rarely menus, making things tricky, but it is cheap and delicious. Be warned: curry is always hotter than they say it is and will probably revisit you in the night. And the next morning. And perhaps the next.

-Don't waste your money on Mango lassi's here. They are nothing compared to what is ahead :)

-Buses are not so reliable and are more expensive than trains for local areas. Be ready to wait a good long while sometimes...

-However, take big buses to larger towns, such as Melaka, Jerantut, etc. They are cheap and ubber comfortable. I cannot stay awake on them!