Kuala Lumpur - first impressions of big city Malaysia

In Australia you can be travelling for hours by plane or several days by road and still be surrounded by the same accents and culture. In Europe I could cross many countries within a day or so - in fact I cycled across Luxembourg’s narrowest distance between borders in a day - actually a Friday afternoon during the peak traffic period. Because I’m visiting several Asian countries in four months I have logistics to work with such as organising mobile access, local currency, accomodation, transport as well as language and cultural awareness. Broadly the Malaysian population consists of over 50 percent Malay, 22 percent Chinese,  12 percent Bumiputera (Indigenous),  6.8 percent Indian and the rest. Obviously I don’t speak Malay and don’t need to as many speak English anyway but It’s respectful to at least practice some daily greeting words and expressions. You generally receive courteous smiles but I never know if this is appreciation or simply due to my poor pronunciation.

Comfortable and clean room - extremely cheap for what you get

Fridge and safe included

In 1957 a few months before I was born the Malaysian Federal Comstitution proclaimed Islam as the official religion of Malaysia but of course other religious practices are allowed.
I entered my first Muslim country with an open mind ready to go with whatever was presented to me. You have to be flexible enough and prepared to leave some of your comfort thoughts behind you and accept you’re not in your own familiar space now. The run-of-the-mill guided tour mainstream travel is not for me as I like to mix with the real people not the rich and shameless places where you’re shielded from reality. So I get a double-bonus in budget and experiencing at least to some degree what it’s like being a real local. You don’t have to sleep amongst rats and cockroaches by the way as it’s important to protect your health/security and stay in clean and comfortable lodgings.

One of my favourite street food hangouts

A quiet place for morning tea

Even in Kuala Lumpur there are plenty of budget options but I will always pick somewhere that is close to public transport, street food markets and specific communities that represent the people of the nation, especially indigenous. After you look up the ever climbing structure of a first-world skyscraper and explore what is around you at street level the third-world contrast is quite thought-provoking. Certain communities in these metropolis spaces represent this and a hint is looking for places called Little India, Chinatown and enclaves that are very popular for backpackers.

My view of the regular afternoon storms seen from one of KL’s towers

While sites like TripAdvisor are good for research it tends to promote a lot of tour/sightseeing packages which is not for me as I like to plan my own itinerary and save $1000’s. But if that’s your preference then go for it. Yes, I do go on about budgets and how much I spend in life but I’m anti-capitalist by nature and why should I pay off someone’s second holiday house and fourth Audi. Travel agents happily take your money while sitting in their comfy offices or driving the latest SUVs. I have a healthy disdain for anyone that’s happy to exploit my good nature but I don’t haggle with street food vendors as the food is embarrassingly cheap and these hard working people are living on so little compared to me. Indian tailors are a different matter and will scam you for everything you’ve got so be prepared to negotiate tough. There are stories of victims going in for a zip repair and coming out with a A$2000 or A$3000 bill for clothes they did not want to be made. For my own travels I simply bought some comfortable cotton Thai long-sleeved shirts for A$10 each in Singapore at one of the Chinatown stalls run by some lovely senior women who thanked me in broken English.

To prepare journeys I actually download Lonely Planet guides and do a lot of internet forum research for accomodation, food, places of interest and ways to get around. As far as food is concerned I do like my weekly coffee and western daily breakfast because I don’t like exotic food first thing in the morning - the smell of it or even bacon/sausages makes me nautious and I need my ‘ruffage’ for obvious reasons - hence I’ll map out the western supermarkets where I know I can get my muesli/UHT Milk and English teabags/thermos for those out of the way occasions. You only have to ask an expat for directions. Yes I even found Vegemite. ‘Go Straya!’ - well it’s actually owned by the USA now.