The Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur western part of the peninsula

_{• Japan • Malaysia • Kuching •  Sarawak • Singapore •}

Malaysia is a Southeast Asian country occupying parts of the Malay Peninsula and the island of Borneo. It’s known for its beaches, rainforests, and mix of Malay, Chinese, Indian, and European cultural influences. The capital, Kuala Lumpur, is home to colonial buildings, busy shopping districts such as Bukit Bintang, and skyscrapers such as the iconic, 451m-tall Petronas Twin Towers.

Kuala Lumpur 

You always hear of people travelling to Southeast Asia for the beaches, Thai Lion/elephants, or surfing spots of Bali. You don’t, however, hear a lot of people talk about Malaysia. We went to Malaysia for five days along our journey. The people in Malaysia I met are the friendliest I have ever come across. 

Several macaque monkeys live around the Batu Caves! The signs kept warning of the real hazards for tourists, of the monkeys, grabbing people’s drinks, carrier bags, and food. People were fascinated just watching them and some people were afraid to get up to the cave.  

We talked to a lovely Asian man who worked in the nearest shop, who said these monkeys won’t bite you but if your carrier bag makes noise they’ll do everything in their power to get it and feed themselves! Though it can be a little dangerous if you hide food for the Hindu idols, one monkey grabbed a woman’s chest just to get the food that she hid lol! It was even more fun when her husband shouted them down in his funny high voice which got everyone laughing, apparently.

Interestingly, the monkeys didn’t go near the base all the way up to the entrance of the cave.  It looked like they are sticking to eating whatever people give them, or even whatever they can steal! Mind you, the monkeys can be very sly so you must be careful with what you have. While we were walking up the stairs, a European man had a bottle of water stolen from him. The water was in a side pocket in his bag. The monkey jumped up on his back and grabbed the water. Apparently, the monkeys may bite if they feel their territory is threatened.

The Hop-On Hop-Off bus service for tourists was the easiest way for us to do the route around three dozen local attractions with 22 designated stops. Though we did prefer trekking to see, rather than waiting for the next bus.

Observations:

1. There was super cheap transit, like 20p per journey, and the same for food. Did you know they cook blue rice?!
   
2. A warning sign – beware of thieves and a fruit called Durian which is not allowed in the hotels. It was explained that the fruit gives out an overpowering and revolting aroma. Interesting!
   
3. What I liked was how it was multi-ethnic and multi-cultural. I was surprised to see – all on the same street – a Mosque, Hindu temple, Buddhist temples, etc. I also noticed there are very strong family ties.

My poor friend, one single mosquito punctured her foot (near the canteen where we stayed), though she was sensitive to bites before. It looked really bad. This brought about a hilarious incident where she had seven male staff staring at her foot like they had never seen one before! They didn’t have a clue what to do and just nursed her foot with a plaster. I couldn’t stop laughing when she said what if the plaster makes it worse? One of them joked it’d have to be amputated!

The next day, they sent us to a doctor with two lovely ladies. Unexpectedly, they then took us to a traditional restaurant then snacks and dropped us at Batu Cave. They were so lovely, wanting to show us around but since it was our last day we didn’t have time. At the end of the day, we were surprised by a fruit basket in our room. So many people stared, my friend’s lighter olive skin made it more obvious she was a foreigner whereas I mixed in the community easier since I looked more like them.

Traditional food from Damansara Uptown included satay chicken in peanut sauce with sambal. Eurgh! My friend loved it and had my bowl. She is holding rojak and cendol, it looked awful like dirty brown water, I had a taste and it was awful. I don’t know how she managed to drink it all!

Apparently, it includes ice, coconut milk, starch noodles with green food colouring (usually sourced from the pandan leaf), and palm sugar. Red beans, glutinous rice, grass jelly, and creamed corn are optional additions. Cendol has become a quintessential part of the cuisine among the multi-racial population in Southeast Asia and is often sold by vendors at roadsides and food courts.

Hope you enjoyed the article!