Five Weeks, Four Countries Pt.3 "KL, Malaysia"

The train was a metal line of cars that looked like they were fairly well equipped for travel, until we stepped onto one. The seats are bearable but not sleep worthy. You do not want to leave your bag behind because well, there is not much security. I highly recommend taking a book and your bags then setting up shop in the dining cart. It was fairly pleasant in there compared to the seating cars. The train’s dining cart would pick up a few sets of meals at every other stop. We usually bought one for 7 Ringgit each time the car was restocked. After the second stop, we learned that the guards would leave the door on the cars unlocked so they could open while they smoked. Clever, but also silly of them to show foreigners like ourselves that the doors are unlocked during travel. We felt as though we were in a western film as we would open the door and stick our head out of the door as well as take some of the nicest pictures. After the exhilarating train ride, we took a cab to The Fernloft Inn (not far from the train station).

We were excited to already be in the second country of the trip. Unfortunately in Malaysia we were without time to travel anywhere outside of Kuala Lumpur. We decided that fighting the urge to stay awake would cost us a rather terrible sleep so, we didn’t even try. We celebrated our arrival as we wandered through the bar district, getting a late dinner from “Elements” and then screaming and running as we quickly learned that cock roaches can fly. The next morning we found out where our hostel was located, which was coincidently in Chinatown. The location was great as it gave us the opportunity to grab some interesting foods, and random little souvenirs. It was a bit humorous to us that the souvenir shopping in China was only half as diverse as the shopping in KL as well as Singapore for that matter. The price of shopping and eating in KL was quite dependent on where you were eating or shopping.

“The Golden Triangle” (as the locals refer to it) is the “party” district but not quite as clubby or western a bar scene as people would imagine. This is area is probably just as if not more entertaining and interesting than the regular bar scenes most Canadians are privy to. There was an entire street of prostitutes which grabbed at passing by individuals if you didn’t walk fast enough. Cabs will not negotiate for a cheaper ride back to where one’s hostel may be. “Clique Bar” is the most famous and largest hookah/alcohol bar in this part of town with an interesting array of clientele, yet a right good place for a laugh when people watching.

The clubbier-westernized part of town with almost as equally interesting people watching aspects was the brightly lit area around the corner from the Petronas Towers. The food is great, there is a larger selection of western restaurants as well as a couple of tourist traps. Cab drivers in this area are notorious for scamming and getting tourists into trouble with local authorities. A cab driver will stop and ask a person “What you need? What you want? Girls? Boys? Good stuff?” Simply asking for a ride will cost a person more cash than it would if you asked in other areas. We asked our waiter for a good party area after our meal at which point he asked us what sort of good time we were looking for. We laughed at our waiter and corrected him while inquiring why he would just assume we are looking for such things. It was an interesting answer to receive as he revealed the nature of most “business” trips and conferences that people have when coming to this part of Malaysia. It got even more interesting as he instructed to simply sit and watch over the balcony for 10 minutes which had proven an interesting interaction of women and passing by fellows.

The rest of our time in KL was spent sightseeing, eating and enjoying the beautiful contrasts of park greenery and cityscape.