Kuala Lumpur is one of those places whose name has a seductive feel. Could there be a combination of two more exotic words? Surely it must stand for “Glory of the East” or “Isle of Desire” perhaps?
It turns out it literally means “muddy estuary”, the place where tin mining sparked a collection of small villages into vibrant economic life. Today, it’s a blend of older and modern architecture, including being home to three of the tallest buildings in the world – four if you count the twin towers as two separate buildings, which I’d definitely claim if I were a local! 😉. The city has three of the world’s ten largest shopping malls. We’re not big shoppers but the aircon is a blessed relief when you’re out and about in the city!
There’s no mention of muddy estuaries nowadays, however. The area has been rechristened “The River of Life”, complete with an artificial mist that creates an undeniable Insta effect so we couldn’t resist a photo.
One of the most striking features about Kuala Lumpur is the architecture. Merdeka 118 is the latest of those 3 of the tallest buildings in the world and it is stunning. The outside is finished and although it was officially opened by the King on 10 January 2024, construction work is still ongoing and it is hoped it will be open to the public around May this year. It is situated next to Chinatown and the juxtaposition of the young and the old is fascinating.
There are many colonial style buildings, such as the railway headquarters and old railway station alongside islamic influenced structures, both old and new. Independence Square, near Chinatown and Mile Marker 0, is a perfect example of this and is a must for any visitor.
However you can’t mention architecture in Kuala Lumpur without paying homage to the Jewel in the Crown. The Petronas twin towers are simply mind-blowingly beautiful. There is the sheer size for a start. Their 88 storeys are awesome as you look up from below. Then there is the pattern, which is two interlocking squares with superimposed semi-circles between each point, creating 16 feature columns for each tower. Then there is the fact that they are just so darned shiny! We did see a couple of cleaners polishing the struts holding up the skybridge. Although they were attached to several harnesses it is not a job for the fainthearted. I wonder if they’re insured for that? The towers are lit up at night. They were red for Lunar New Year, but are normally a traditional white, which was our favourite.
Like the architecture, the locals are a collective blend of their diverse roots, which gives the city a lively and friendly feel. Known simply as “KL”, I think Kuala Lumpur should be nicknamed the “Big Easy” because it’s such a carefree place to live. There’s no significant language barrier for English speakers; reasonable prices (the Grab taxis are unbelievably reasonable); it’s very safe – if you can manage to navigate the roads and pavements as a pedestrian; and there’s an overwhelming richness of multi-cultural dishes and foodstuffs.
We joined a food tour to help us understand the incredible diversity of KL’s different cuisines but, in the end, it was a vain attempt as four hours could barely scratch the surface! To be honest, the food was a bit too spicy for Mhairi and what wasn’t spicy appeared to be deep fried. This was purely our personal opinion though, and Malaysian food is certainly one of the big draws to the country for most folks. We did really enjoy the variety of fruits, with the hairy lychee (Rambutan), the one with the snakeskin (Salacca) and one that looked like a human eyeball (Longan) among our favourites.
One thing we got used to incredibly quickly is the luxury of the condo lifestyle. In addition to the spectacular views from our 27th floor apartment, and the comfort of 4 bedrooms and two bathrooms (at a staggeringly low cost), we had a gym and pool that we made regular use of. We finally embraced the healthy(ish) lifestyle we had hoped to attain in retirement by starting most days with a session in the gym followed by a lovely swim, with a cheeky wee jacuzzi thrown in, of course!
The condo also had tennis courts, a shop, hairdressers and barbers, music room, billiards room, etc. The management company even arranged a Lion Dance to celebrate Lunar New Year. We each received a wrapped orange from the lion for good luck, however we weren’t expecting those noisy firecrackers and hadn’t noticed the locals moving to safety, leaving us closer to the explosions than we should have been. 😄
We happened to be in Malaysia during Chinese or Lunar New Year. In the West, people welcome in the next annual cycle during a single night of consuming drinks they normally avoid before mangling the words of Auld Lang Syne and sleeping it off the next day. Admittedly, there are parts of Ayrshire where the locals string this out for a further three or four days until each of their neighbours’ supply of alcohol has been exhausted but it’s generally a fairly brief celebration.
We hadn’t fully appreciated, however, that in Malaysia, the New Year celebrations take place over at least four weeks. Four weeks of firecrackers, lanterns, fireworks, lion dances, firecrackers and everything that doesn’t move being covered in the lucky colours of red and gold. Oh, and did I mention the firecrackers? There seems to be no bad time or place to set off firecrackers. 3.30 am while the city sleeps (or tries to) is as good as 2pm in the middle of heavy traffic.
We visited a Chinese temple where we encountered each animal in the lunar zodiac. These 12 animals are believed to influence a person’s personality and life and we had great fun working out what traits our nearest and dearest apparently shared. They were mostly bang on!! We even saw Eddy Murphy’s character from Mhairi’s favourite Disney film, Mulan.
By the way, one of us was born in the year of the snake and one in the year of the monkey. You’ll never guess which of us is which! 🐍🐒
Lunar New Year wasn’t the only festival taking place during our visit. Thaipusam is a Tamil Hindu festival celebrated widely in Malaysia. In Kuala Lumpur, thousands of devotees make the pilgrimage through the night from the Sri Maha Mariamman Temple in downtown KL to the Batu Caves. It is a 15 km journey that takes roughly 8 hours which most people undertake bare footed.
Our friend Sheree visited for a few days on her way to Thailand and we took this opportunity to visit the Batu Caves to see what all the fuss was about. Deciding not to make the journey barefoot, we took a Grab taxi which cost only £3. The 272 steps up to the caves are brightly painted but, in the heat, that didn’t compensate for the effort needed to climb each of them. Very much worth it though.
At the bottom of the staircase stands a massive golden statue of the Hindu deity, Murugan to help you find the caves. It is 140 ft tall: in the language of newspaper clichés, that’s just under half the length of a football pitch.
Reaching the top took us to a network of caves in a huge hollow within a limestone hill. The presence of temples within such a natural amphitheatre seemed very appropriate. Impressive though all of that was, I was most struck by the devotion of the pilgrims dressed in their bright yellow clothing, many with their heads shaved and painted yellow to reflect a new spiritual beginning. Some worshippers carried “kavadis” – physical burdens as acts of sacrifice -such as pots of cows’ milk on their heads. Even the youngsters joined in, although we saw one poor lad who had his pot seized by one of the long-tailed macaque monkeys that prey on unsuspecting humans carrying any items that interested them.
Alexander Graham Bell said that preparation is the key to success. We’d planned to do a free guided tour of the Malaysia National Museum, only to learn that on Sundays the tour is by appointment only. It turned out for the best as we wandered around at our own pace and spent ages on the section on post-war Malaysia. We found it so interesting that we watched a BBC documentary on the Emergency as soon as we got home.
Another worthwhile place to visit was the Police museum. It had lots of old relics, like ourselves, including planes, jeeps and motorbikes, along with a very interesting police truck/tank that ran on rail tracks. We also found lifesize versions of Andy’s Green Army Men from Toy Story.
Speaking of green, Kuala Lumpur is a very green city. There are botanic gardens next to the National Museum that we visited often, gardens around the base of the KL tower, gardens behind the Petronas Towers, and the list goes on. There are also trees everywhere, and we’re not just talking about sycamores and elms here. These are jungle trees and you’re always aware that you’re in the tropics. We loved it!
There is so much to see and getting around the city was really easy. There are elevated trains all over and a typical journey costs around 28p. As always, we walked a lot too. Although there were more pavements here than in Melaka, you still took your head in your hands sometimes. Things like keeping pavements clear for pedestrians or one way streets appear to be more suggestions rather than rules. It certainly kept us on our toes.
But the greatest suprise in Kuala Lumpur happened on the first day. Gerry signed up with a personal trainer!! All that indulgence ove the past seven months must have been playing on his conscience and he even seemed to enjoy some of it – laughing through the pain with Afif!!
Next, we head north to George Town, Penang at the top end of Malaysia.
It's a wanderful life, so it is 
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