Kickin’ It in KL
Kuala Lumpur, KL as it’s mostly referred to, was our home for over an entire month. The Federated Territory of Malaysia is a business hub near the center of peninsular Malaysia. It his home to three of the top 25 tallest buildings in the world: the newly completed Merdeka 118 (2nd tallest in the world), the Petronas towers (the tallest twin towers in the world and 21st tallest buildings in the world), and the Exchange TRX (2nd tallest in Malaysia behind the Merdeka 118).
If we were looking to live in a place just like Houston, but cheaper, KL would be the place. It is a sprawling concrete jungle with heat, humidity and highways. We split our time here between two apartments, one right in the middle of the downtown area, also known as KLCC (Kuala Lumpur City Center), and one just outside that area. The value of accommodations in KL is what led us to spend a full month here with luxury apartment accommodations (with full kitchens, security staff, resort style pools, etc.) regularly costing around $50/night.
The Weather
Being less than 5 degrees from the equator the weather does not change significantly from season to season. There are pretty much 12 hours of sun a day year round, which is a stark contrast to our 4:00pm sunsets of Europe in December. It is hot and humid year round with the only variable being rain. We found it would tend to mostly rain, almost daily, between 3:00-5:00pm with some storms bringing thunder and lightning, and others just passing by with a light sprinkle. The heat can be prohibitive at times and we are glad we had ample time here because moving quickly through heat is no joke (Houstonians know). Coconut juice and the pool have been our best friends to beat the heat.
The Food
You will never go hungry in KL. The abundance and affordability of really great food is incredible. Malaysian food is amazing but there is also a wide variety of other cuisines, not limited to just Asian. The most popular Malay dishes are Nasi Lamak, a fragrant coconut rice served usually with chicken and a variety of sides, and Curry Laska, which is a delicious spiced noodle soup. Indian, Chinese, and Thai cuisines are also really popular here. The (nonalcoholic) drinks here are also great with many options to choose from, from fresh fruit juices to smoothies, coffee, bubble and cheese tea, you are never far from a refreshing beverage to beat the heat.
One interesting thing we learned is that being in a muslim country, pork is also highly restricted. There are special sections in the grocery store with their own cashiers where they sell non-Halal food (pork, pork containing products and other non-halal items) and restaurants are clearly marked as being non-halal.
We also had a pretty dry January as alcohol is prohibitively expensive and highly restricted here (again, Muslim country). Where all other goods are dramatically cheaper than any place in Europe or the U.S., alcohol (from liquor stores or bars) prices are on par or even slightly more expensive than U.S. prices.
Things to Do
Malls are a HUGE thing here. Because it’s so hot, people tend to favor indoor activities. Malls have grocery stores, shops, cinemas, cafes, hawker food courts, sit down restaurants, and a plethora of activities. We spent a fair amount of time wandering the various malls and visited the mall across from our apartment almost daily (for groceries and meals/ snacks). There are of course things outside of malls but they each require more effort to visit (because of weather + transportation).
As movie lovers we were in heaven as they aren’t messing around with their movie theaters. The movie theaters have been significantly better than any we have in the US (much cleaner, comfier, more luxurious) and are vastly cheaper. We spent less than $12 USD for 2 IMAX movie tickets, while popcorn and drinks only cost us about $3 USD instead of $20. We can’t wait to catch Dune Part 2 soon!
We also did some touristy things that included:
Batu Caves
The Malaysian History Museum
Merdeka Square
Petaling Street (Chinatown)
KLCC Park
Transportation
Much like Houston, KL is not a particularly walkable city (compared to almost any place in Europe we visited). There are few sidewalks and walkways and we found ourselves “offroading” more than we cared to on account of sidewalks ending, being nonexistent, or just being blocked or closed. One of our more memorable offroad adventures even saw us traversing animal bones under a very busy freeway spaghetti bowl (calm down mom we were fine).
We managed to find a fully raised and covered walkway that connected a lot of the KLCC area one day, which kept us out of the heat, sun, and rain for some of our walks, but those are restricted to certain areas and mostly connect malls and other points of interest. Also, like Houston there are a number of tunnels in the center of town that connect various buildings as well.
On some days we were walking near highways with about a 2 foot sidewalk and cars and motorcycles whizzing past. Pedestrian crossings are also not really a thing. There are some pedestrian overpasses to cross some major roads but they are widely spread out and difficult to get to in some cases so we just got used to crossing the road wherever we needed, with caution of course. Even in a crosswalk you better make sure there are no cars coming because it's less than a 50% chance they stop (sound familiar Houstonians…). Assertiveness is key.
Public transit, while clean and functioning, is very disjointed and not super user friendly. There are several train systems and a bus system but none of them utilize the same ticketing system and most of them require cash to transit on (versus the super easy tap and go we have been used to and spoiled with in other places).
It is definitely a car first city (see we said…like Houston) so the most reliable form of transit is actually Grab (the SE Asian version of Uber/Lyft). You can Grab a ride, groceries, or food delivery and it is insanely convenient and cheap. Think $2 USD for a ride that would cost a minimum of $12 in the states.
Planning a trip to Malaysia? We don’t cover every detail in our blog posts but we often put together google maps where we aggregate much of our research on sights, restaurants, and things to do. You can see our Malaysia map here.