Every day is a new adventure. I am never not doing something. This fact can make this experience exhausting, but it is also what makes it so fulfilling. I am always doing something new, seeing something new, and experiecing something to talk about. Two weekends have now passed with me writing nothing, so I am just now going to write about all of it. Two weekends of seeing new things that I might never see again.
Another week began, and everyone was planning their following weekend. Some people already had plans to go to a Full Moon Party, and others were planning a trip to Laos. Knowing that I wanted to have more then a quick weekend in Laos, and more time to plan, I got Carissa, Maggie, and Kristy to come with me to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It was a "book it & go" situation like almost everything is! Knowing that we have mid-terms to study for the first weekend in October (this coming weekend), we decided we had to do something. KL seemed like a good place to go for a weekend, and easy enough to get to by a quick two hour flight.
The week passed with a Thai student meet up on Wednesday and an environmental conference on Thursday. All of us got to talk to students who are in English classes at ABAC. They got to practice their English (which was really good) and we got to practice our Thai (which was really bad). It was fun to talk to Thai students outside of a classroom setting, and we are meeting with them again this Wednesday. Thursday all of us were excused from our classes, and we attended a conference about environment and the issues surrounding the environment form nuclear power plants to how cities affect the environment. It was fairly boring, and lots of us were hungover from the night before, but we all got really good food for lunch that was free!!! Free food is always worth it!!!
The following day, we all woke up early to fly to KL. My friend Prianka is studying in Singapore for the semester and had gone to KL about three weekends earlier. We all talked to her and she gave us some good advice and told us some things to see and do. Deciding to do something different, we booked our room through airbnb. Airbnb is a website that has postings from people who are "renting" their homes or apartments for people on vacation or backpacking. We found a man who had an apartment in the city center that was cheap. Though we were still sleeping on bunkbeds, it wasn't a hostel which was nice.
We arrived in KL and took a train from the airport to downtown KL. We arrived at the apartment, met the owner, a really nice Indian man named Abdul, and decided to go out and find food and explore our neighborhood, KLCC (Kuala Lumpur City Center). KLCC is the busiest section of KL and has tons to do. We were able to see KL Tower from our apartment and the Petronas Twin Towers were a 15 minute walk from our building.
We spent Friday walking all around KLCC. We stopped and took lots of pictures of the Petronas Towers, the biggest attraction in KL, and walked around Suria KLCC, an upscale mall (Asia loves shopping malls with expensive stores, and lots of A/C). Right next to the Petronas Towers is KLCC Park, the Central Park of KL. It isn't nearly as big as Central Park, but it is a nice park with a pool in the middle where lots of families were hanging out and cooling off from the heat. We decided to walk to the Petronas Towers and see whether we could get tickets to go to the skybridge and observatory. Sure enough we were able to get tickets for the last ride up in the day, 8:30PM.
To kill time and to see something fun, we went to the Aquarium. It was filled with screaming kids and baby strollers, but it was still fun, and it was fun to compare it to the Baltimore Aquarium. I got to see sharks, turtles, countless fish, and some of the cutest otters I have ever seen. It made me feel like I was 8 years old again.
We then showered and got ready to go to the Petronas Towers. It was an awesome experience. The Petronas Twin Towers are the tallest twin towers in the world and are breathtakingly beautiful. The construction of them started in 1992 and they were completed in 1996. The towers were the tallest building in the world until 2004.
The journey to the top starts at the skybridge that connects the two towers at level 41 and 42. The elevator was one of the fastest elevators I have ever been in. We took tons of pictures and then headed to the 86th floor. The views were unreal and seeing it at night was a unique experience. What felt like 15 minutes turned out to be about an hour inside the towers. The towers are offices and a tourist attraction. No one lives in the towers.
Malaysia is a country that is made up of lots of ethnicities. Most of Malaysia is influenced by Chinese and Indian culture. Hearing that Chinatown was cool, we decided to take an adventure and find dinner in Chinatown on Petaling Street after seeing the Petronas Towers. Petaling Street felt a lot like Khao San. There were stalls lining the street and restaurants all over the place. We ended up getting noodles for dinner and then wanting a street burger that we saw walking in Chinatown.
The next day, we woke up and ventured by public transport 30 minutes outside KLCC to the Batu Caves. Prianka had told us that the Batu Caves were a ton of fun and something interesting to check out. The biggest and most recognizable cave is called "Cathedral Cave". To get there you have to climb up 272 steps. Once at the entrance, the view is unreal. The cave is one of the largest Hindu shrines outside of India. There are lots of Westerners there, but there are tons of Hindus who are there to pray. All over the caves are monkeys climbing and stealing food from the visitors. Some of the tourists seemed more mesmerized by the monkeys roaming everywhere then the vastness of the cave.
I have been wanting a henna tattoo and since we were at the Batu Caves where tons of Indians come to visit, I was able to get a gorgeous henna from an Indian lady below the cave. Leaving the caves, we noticed that the air was covered in a fog. The entire city skyline was covered by a hazy fog. We later learned that the fog comes from Indonesia. Indonesians burn their forests and the smoke travels to Malaysia and Singapore and causes a smog to cover the air. On the train ride back to KLCC, we met a Mormon who was on his mission in Malaysia. Random encounters you never would expect traveling Southeast Asia. The missionary goes back to the states in two weeks though he said he didn't want to leave (so classic).
After sweating and climbing tons of stairs at the caves, we decided to go check out the KL Tower. The KL Tower is the 7th tallest freestanding tower in the world. However, the fog in the air was going to block our view of the city skyline. Deciding it probably wasn't worth it to pay to go up to the observatory level, we went back to our apartment to relax and get ready for dinner and a night out.
For dinner we walked to a strip of cool restaurants and bars down the street from the Petronas Towers. Wanting a burger, we went to an Irish Bar called Healy Mac's. The people who owned the restaurant were awesome and the place was filled with Westerners. The owners gave us two free desserts after learning we were college students studying in Bangkok.
We then ventured to Sky Bar. Thinking that we weren't going to get in with our flips flops on, we played it cool and got in. The place looked amazing. The center of the bar was a swimming pool that was surrounded by couches, tables, and a big bar with a DJ and a small dance floor. We all sat down and talked before the dancing started. The vibe wasn't anything like Bangkok clubs. The clientele was older and more couples then groups of friends wanting to party. Randomly, we got two free beers delivered to our table. Being American in Malaysia, the Malays are immediately fascinated by you so getting two free drinks wasn't too surprising. We danced and watched older drunk couples tear it up on the dance floor. It was a good time, but nothing compared to the fun we have in Bangkok.
The next morning we were awoken at 8:30 by Abdul who wanted to take us all out to breakfast in Little India. We all got ready quickly and went out to have a traditional Indian breakfast with all the Indians who live in KL. The breakfast was delicious, and free. We then got some Indian sweets and got to see the National Monument in KL. The monument is a memorial to the Malays who have fought and lost their lives in war. It was beautiful, and all the fellow tourists wanted to take pictures with us....
As Americans, we are celebrities. Everyone wants to take a photo with us, and simply just smiling and waving at people you get a reaction of excitement. It is slightly weird, but we have learned to just got with it.
We then went to visit the National Mosque. Malaysia is 60% Muslim. The National Mosque, built from 1963-1965, is gorgeous. On Fridays, the mosque is usually filled with close to 15,000 Islams. The architecture and shapes in the the mosque are influenced by umbrellas both open and closed. In order to enter the mosque you have to be covered. We all were given a robe and an hijab to cover our heads. It was an interesting cultural experience, and something that I knew I wanted to do when I went to KL.
When we left the Mosque, we went to pick up our shoes (you have to be barefoot), and Carissa's shoes were gone. Yes, that is right, we go to the National Mosque, and our shoes are stolen. We go to temples all over Thailand and take off our shoes and they aren't stolen, but at the National Mosque, they are. Welcome to traveling the world.
We then walked even more, and went to see the Perdana Botanical Garden. It was beautiful and we saw an orchid garden and an hibiscus garden that were both stunning. The Botanical Garden is huge and a popular place for Malays to go run and families to walk around.
After walking a ton, we went back to the apartment to get our stuff and relax before our flight. In the pouring rain, we left KL to fly back to Bangkok. All in all, an amazing weekend, and the chance to see and experience things many Americans don't.
KL is a very different city then Bangkok. Bangkok seems huge compared to KL, but maybe it is because I have been in Bangkok for 2 months. KL is a very culturally diverse city. There is new construction everywhere and the city center is one skyscraper after another. It is extremely modern and up and coming. The culture that I saw in KL is unlike anything I have seen or experienced and it was an awesome experience just for that reason.
Midterms are quickly approaching!! The study part of "study" abroad is about to hit and I am not sure I am ready...
Love from two months in SE Asia
Kate
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