Kuala Lumpur is like Bangkok on Xanax. My guidebook claims it's a good "introductory city" to SE Asia because it's not as crowded, crazy or chaotic as some of the other capitals. The country of Malaysia is basically split in two parts: peninsular Malaysia which shares a border with southern Thailand and Malaysian Borneo which is separated by the East China Sea. There's a mishmash of people here: Malay, Chinese, Indian and indigenous groups. It's been interesting to see the differences played out in clothing; much of Malaysia is Muslim and many women wear the full head and body covering. Everyone is very friendly to us and many people speak English (we've even been able to speak in Chinese with a few!) There's about 1.6 million people in the capital city which seems much less busy and crowded than my 'small' city in China of about 4 million. The currency here is the Rigit and currently about 3 Rigits equal a dollar. The skyline includes the famous Petronas towers that has a bridge inbetween them (Sean thinks that the towers were used in the film Entrapment). They were once the tallest buildings in the world but have since been replaced by several others.
Saturday morning while checking out we tried to bargain down the price of the awesome hotel so we could stay there longer with no success - the lady told us that we had already booked it at a promotional price. We walked around looking for a post office (it was closed) and then got lunch at Pizza Hut. I know, I know - we should be eating the local food. But I'm done with feeling guilty. Traveling outside of China is just as much about feeding the Western cravings as it is trying new things and Daniel can't get pizza where he is in China so we stopped in for a pepperoni pie (and free wi-fi). ($8)
After lunch we got on the convenient monorail system of Malaysia's public transport and headed over to an area of the city called the Golden Triangle. The real budget options to stay were found in Chinatown but our guidebook warned of bedbugs. The Golden Triangle was chock full of tourists and soon after we found cheap lodging at the Green Hut Lodging House where you have to rent your blanket and towel (but there's free breakfast and wi-fi). After dropping off our stuff we headed to Chinatown to do a walking tour that was in our guidebook but not without a stop for a delicious apple Slurpee at 7-11. ($20 room, $4 two blankets, $1 Slurpee)
After a brief stint of being completely lost, Sean got us to the first stop on the tour - a mosque. Admission was free but we had to put on robes and I had to don a headscarf. We weren't allowed to go in the temples themselves but we could walk around outside. One man stopped us while we walked and asked Sean what religion he was to which he replied "Christian." We continued on our tour which pointed out a lot of historical buildings and a monument or two and stopped in at a busy Daoist temple - we were in Chinatown after all. We went in the original Central Market which has now been turned into souvenir stalls and then walked down Petaling Street which was a crowded street of cheap clothes, shoes and anything else you could imagine. ($7 postcards, $10 cool handmade bag)
Tired of walking, we took the monorail back to the Golden Triangle and stopped in A&W because I was craving a root beer float and a Coney dog - YUM. It was a delicious snack. I was also craving a massage so after our snack we walked down "massage and reflexology lane" which was packed with touts trying to lure you in their shop. I went with the one Lonely Planet recommended and got an hour long back, foot, leg, head, neck, hand and arm massage. It was incredible. I already want to go back. Sean and Daniel got beers outside and waited for me. ($20 massage, $7 A&W, $8 beers)
In the evening we just relaxed at the hostel and then got a late dinner from the plethora of little shops and street vendors. The food was awesome and seemed very similar to Thai food. We ordered a bunch of supposedly local specialties and shared them. The satay and Ipoh chicken were especially fantastic. The small restaurants were packed with people and it was hard finding a table - a good sign that the food was worth it. The system of getting food was unique; you placed an order and then the waiter would pass the order to all the different stands - each made their own specialty. You got your food one dish at a time as soon as it was ready. All the shops seemed to work as a cooperative which was very confusing but seemed to work ok. There was constant misting above our heads to combat the heat. ($7 all transport today, $7 dinner, $5 waters and snacks) **all prices for two people
We went back to the hostel and enjoyed reading/writing/hanging out with cold beers and breezes from the fan and open windows. Day 1 in Malaysia: success. (Total = $110)
I SO want to hear you speak Chinese. :)