It took me a while to actually sit down to start writing a blog post. Being nearly 2 months into my travels here in Asia, I figured I’d better start writing to recap my times here before I forget!
My first stop in Asia from the States was Malaysia. I started in Kuala Lumpur (or KL for short). I had visited KL in the past. Well, not really – I just visited their airport :-). The reason why I chose Malaysia as my first stop for Southeast Asia is that it is one of least traveled countries for the backpacker trail for the area. I prefer to stay away from the hoard of tourists, if possible. Not only that, KL offered me the best flights and times for my scheduled date that I was coming to Asia.
Kuala Lumpur
KL was an interesting city. In the center, it had many historical buildings from the British colonial rule, along with modern skyscrapers. Unlike many metropolitan cities, KL’s development of skyscrapers seemed a bit chaotic, where they were built in different sections of the city, so it seemed like they plotted them where ever they could. KL is a relatively young city by world standards, having only been founded in the mid 1800’s. It started off really as a jungle village, later growing into a metropolitan city super quickly. These days it is trying to escape the past and catch up to its neighbor in the south, Singapore.
What I remember most about KL was the variety of food available here! There was many varieties of Malaysian, Chinese and Indian food here. Such good food to try. My favorite part was Little India, where I literally tried multiple restaurants. Some of the Indian restaurants had taster plots where you could try different dishes and sauces in one. “Nasi” is the term for rice and there were so many Nasi variations.
Other than food, I enjoyed seeing the Batu Caves, which is a world famous Buddhist temple, which is located inside multiple caves on the outskirts of the city. The temples were neat to see. There were so many monkeys here! Not only that, but they were very used to humans. You had to be careful to not have anything loose, as the monkeys will swoop by and take them.
Malacca
I spent 2 days in Malacca, also spelled as Melaka, but pronounced the same. Melaka is one of the most historic cities in Malaysia, with the Malay kingdom starting there hundreds of years before. It was also a city that was conquered and ruled, by Portuguese, Dutch and British rule. The city (more of a town) had influences from all 3 European cultures, including Dutch windmills!
I also tried the cendol, which is the local Malaysian desert. It is ice cream with beans, rice flour noodles and palm tree oil sauce.
George Town, Penang Island
I visited George Town for a few days. It is very famous for travelers, as it is known for its variety of different local foods. I personally must have struck out, as I didn’t encounter too many great meals here, with the exception of the Sister Curry Mee restaurant (a street stall with curry mee). Curry mee is a spicy noodle soup garnished with various toppings and this stall has been in the family for 4 generations. The city was one of my least favorite parts of Malaysia, hence I don’t have much to write about it. I tried fried frog, which was an interesting dish. Not too much meat, mainly bone. I was surprised for how many people live on the island and how populated it is (2.4 million people!).
Langkawi Island
Langkawi was my final stop in Malaysia and was my favorite place in the country. Coming from the busy cities of KL and George Town, Langkawi was a nice relief from the city life. Langkawi had really beautiful and fairly undeveloped beaches. I mainly spent the time relaxing there and enjoying the beach sunsets.
One day I did some beach hopping where I visited a few islands off the main one. Lots of monkeys in this part of Malaysia too. 🙂
Conclusion
I really enjoyed my time in Malaysia. The people were super nice and friendly and I enjoyed seeing different parts of the country. My favorite part was trying all the different foods in KL. I hope to visit again soon.