Kuala Lumpur was full of fun surprises! The first was that we were visiting during the amazing celebrations of Hari Merdeka (Malaysia’s Independence Day). Another surprise was our hotel, the glorious Royale Chulan Kuala Lumpur. I had looked for a highly rated hotel in the downtown area, and found this one that was within walking distance of KLCC Park and many of sights. I did not, however, look at it in detail. We most often stay in apartments and smaller casual hotels and this was a glorious 5-star hotel (with doormen and luxury cars valeted out front)! It also had the most amazing breakfast with an omelet station and areas specializing in Malay, Chinese Malaysian, and Indian Malaysian cuisine. Delicious!!!
There are a number of shopping malls in Kuala Lumpur including the nearby Pavilion-KL and Suria KLCC. During our visit we discovered that the malls are a destination for eating. There are many restaurants from casual to formal and visitors (like us) savor the whole experience. We particularly enjoyed the Pavilion’s Oriental Kopi where I tried the Milo Dinosaur (a tasty frosty drink), delicious dinner, and most importantly, the famous 128-Layer Egg Tarts for dessert! We went a couple of times and I was flattered when the cashier said “it is so nice to see you back again!”
Kuala Lumpur has a number of very tall skyscrapers and we marveled at the architecture and engineering of the city. Our very first night we glimpsed the Petronas Twin Towers between buildings. They are a feat of engineering, have held a number of tallest building records, and remain the tallest twin skyscrapers in the world! To get a closer look we enjoyed walking through the KLCC Park. The park is a beautiful green space, filled with lakes, sculptures, gardens and trees, walking and running paths, and gorgeous views. We frequently walked in the park which also afforded us direct views of the Petronas Twin Towers, as well as the fountains in front, and the Suria KLCC mall. Every night there is a fountain display that coordinates lights, water and music into a beautiful dance. We also enjoyed the colorful Merdeka lights on the Petronas Towers and celebratory activities!
The tour of the Petronas Twin Towers was a highlight of our visit (for two engineers, it’s a little slice of heaven)! The tour begins at the Concourse Level (lower ground floor) with a check-in and exhibits about the Towers. From there, you are whisked up in the elevators to Level 41 where you get to walk across the double-decker pedestrian skybridge and take amazing photos from the lower deck. The bridge is attached to one tower and floats in the other using sliding bearings to allow for wind movement. From there, the tour continues to Level 86, the Observation Deck. There are only two floors above you! The view of the park and other buildings surrounding is amazing and we even looked down on rooftop pools of other skyscrapers!
Ours was a special Merdeka tour and we enjoyed a traditional dance performance on the Observation Deck followed by fun games in the gift shop (Level 83). We especially enjoyed learning the game Batu Seremban and the nicest man taught us how to play and gave us a set to try! From there we headed back to the Concourse level for a tasting of Malaysian food and drinks. We were able to select dishes and sweets from various regions of Malaysia. We enjoyed our tour so much that we had to watch Entrapment to see Sean Connery and Catherine Zeta-Jones sneak across the skybridge via movie magic!
The National Museum of Malaysia was another fun afternoon for us. Particularly we enjoyed the dragon figurehead on the Royal Boat, the weapons and armor, and the beautiful reproduction of the Bunga Mas (Golden Flower) tributes that were sent to the King of Siam and then to King Edward VII when Britain took control of Malaysia… but these are mysteriously missing! I also was delighted to be asked at the museum to take a photo of a young woman, only to realize that she wanted a selfie with me! It was a sweet rock star moment (note to self, figure out my cool selfie pose)!!!
One cloudy afternoon we enjoyed walking to the Perdana Botanical Gardens. We strolled by the river, next to the lake, and found a waterfall. From there we discovered the orchid garden with gorgeous blossoms everywhere! There were so many and they were in an abundance of colors. I particularly enjoyed that the orchid gardens had many benches to sit on and even saw a women drawing them beautifully in colored pencils. But the icing on the cake was the sweetest garden kitty that said hello us just as we were leaving the garden. She wanted belly rubs and was determined to get them (yes, we obliged, and in return she let us take a photo―her sweet rock star moment)!
We also took a day trip to Batu Caves and Hindu temple complex which is an easy train ride of about 35 minutes from Kuala Lumpur. It was stunning! We were greeted by the statue of Lord Murugan (standing a breathtaking 140 ft tall), ascended the 272 beautiful rainbow stairs, and safely made it past the Macaque monkeys (known for stealing/borrowing and a fondness for anything in a plastic bag). Inside the cave at the top is the Sri Subramaniar Swamy Temple which is beautifully lit both decoratively and from a natural cave “skylight.”
When we visited the shrines at the bottom, a priest gave us a tilak blessing (red mark on the forehead ― representing divine energy, focus, and spiritual grace) and also tied the sacred red thread (kautuka or kalava ― a bracelet symbolizing divine protection, good health, inner strength, prosperity, success, and warding off negative energy). We had not planned in advance to receive a blessing, resulting in a particularly special experience. Hinduism is generally very inclusive, and priests at major pilgrimage sites like the Batu Caves regularly welcome visitors from all backgrounds, faiths, and cultures. As is tradition, we wore our bracelets until they naturally fell off over time, symbolizing that the blessing or protection had run its course.
We continued to enjoy the food of Malaysia and tried Szechuan Chicken in a small restaurant one evening. We enjoyed the huge pile of chilis with delicious fried chicken and rice. Spicy!!! I assumed that the chilis were the Szechuan part… but no! What we did not know before this meal was that the szechuan (sichuan) pepper are tiny dried peppers the size of peppercorns that have a numbing affect. So we ate some of them alone and ended up with numbed mouths. We had so much fun discovering this and trying it out!
We even had time with friends in Kuala Lumpur! We met up with another early retiree for dinner who shares a love of travel and sailing. We had the best time reconnecting (we originally met in Thailand)! How amazing is it to have international friends!?! We also enjoyed fun art, mini models of buildings, and constructing with mini bricks. Kuala Lumpur had a store with many little brick projects. In the end my dinosaur was trying to attack Bob’s space shuttle. The tiny arms really make this difficult! What a fun and special time we had exploring this gorgeous city.