Scott Barronton (00:00)
Before we arrived in Kuala Lumpur, we already had a glimpse of what to expect. In episode 142, our friends Colin and Meg painted a picture of Malaysia that was rich with culture, history, and lots of great food. Their stories gave us a foundation, an understanding of what KL might feel like when we finally set foot there. We met our guide Nish early in the morning just outside the cruise terminal.
He didn't walk us through the city, instead he narrated it for us, driving us from one landmark to the next and sharing the meaning behind each place that we would go. Seeing the National Palace, the sacrifice honored at the National Monument with its Veterans Memorial, the national pride tied to Independence Square, the peacefulness surrounding the National Mosque, and of course the awe of standing beneath the Petronas Twin Towers.
Nisha's commentary filled the spaces between each stop. His humor, his stories, and his love for Malaysia helped the city unfold in a way that felt personal.
Even though we rarely left the car except to take in the views. By the time he joined us on foot inside the mall for a late lunch, we already felt like we understood KL in a deeper, more intimate way. And today, we're gonna share that journey with you.
Speaker 2 (01:28)
We're Scott and Melissa, The Sunshine Travelers.
Speaker 1 (01:31)
We're all about exploring the world and sharing the journey with you. Whether you're a seasoned traveler, dreaming of your next adventure, or just here for the stories.
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No matter where you are on your travel journey, we've got first-hand experiences, tips, and plenty of inspiration from some of the most amazing places on Earth.
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So buckle up and get ready to travel with us.
Scott Barronton (01:59)
So Melissa, when we first planned this cruise and saw that Kuala Lumpur was on the itinerary, what were you expecting?
I mean, honestly, I wasn't sure what to expect. You know, other than I knew that it was a fairly big city. I also knew that our friend Murr from the Hendricks tribe, they love Kuala Lumpur. Now, Kuala Lumpur, but the locals say KL. That's what we kept hearing, right? Because Kuala Lumpur, that's a mouthful, so KL. So we'll probably refer to it that way a lot.
⁓ But anyway, she has mentioned it a lot of times as a place that they would like to go and live for an extended period of time. And they have three little kids. We had also talked to Colin Meg about Malaysia. So I think we've had some understanding of a little bit about what KL might be like and what we wanted to focus on seeing. And then of course, maybe try to eat while we were there. But still it's hard.
I guess, until you go to a place, right? You have a list of things, that you might see. I knew it would be busy and, I think modern meets old world, right? In some respects, I just didn't realize how much history and culture would be woven into everything and how much we could, I guess, how much would be shared with us in such a short period of time. And I think Meg even mentioned that that was somewhere
that she could envision living with their family after her first visit to KL. And I guess what you should say, we're sorry that it didn't work out that we were able to see them or meet them. They were actually landing the day, sometime during the day or the afternoon or something when we would be getting there. And so I know, of course, stepping off a plane, having flown that long with three little kids to having
us would be, quite a shock, but hated that we didn't, it didn't coordinate, to where we could see them there. I've enjoyed following along with some of their adventures. Colin, I really do hope that you got your peanut butter ⁓ somewhere.
I think what really surprised me was just how quickly the city shifted. know, one minute we were at this national memorial and it seemed tucked away almost in like a forest or something like that. And then just a few minutes later, we're standing under the tallest twin towers in the world.
And it's funny because Nish really made that transition so seamless, even though we didn't spend a lot of time either at any one place. He wasn't walking us through every site, but the way he told the stories as we drove, it felt like we were watching the city unfold through his eyes. And Scott, maybe we should probably explain why that was
So a lot of these places were in very busy places, right? And so there wasn't like a lot of parking nearby. So he was able to park for a second at a couple of the places that we're gonna talk about. But then some of the places, was just like, there wasn't a place to like leave a car, that kind of thing. But having the transportation like that made it super convenient.
Yeah. And he did a really good job of telling us the story of what we were seeing and kind of the backstory behind it. And so we didn't need him to be there and walk us through every little step of the journey. but it was interesting because this was his home. This is where he grew up. This is where he lives. And so he was very proud to show us this city through.
his point of view. And I think that's kind of what made the day so special. We weren't on like a sightseeing tour. We weren't being hustled around on a bus from one place to the other. but instead we had the opportunity to listen to a local tell their story and we'll talk about today's just some anecdotal stories that he told along the way.
that made this very memorable.
and the eating. So let's not forget that part because I think we have a very interesting story to tell just about that in and of itself. Yeah, absolutely not. The food alone deserves its own section. But let's start with how the day began and the cultural heart of Kuala Lumpur.
one other thing I think that you need to understand before we kind of get into the itinerary is that visiting KL is that all the major landmark sites are pretty spread out. So it's going to be easiest if you take a tour to see them.
so that you'll have the tour guide to let you know about each one and then handle the driving and the parking or have the vehicle waiting for you close by when you finish. I booked our specific tour. It was a private tour through Viator. I then paid a little bit extra to have them pick us up and drop us off at the port because it was about, what would you say, 30 to 45 minutes away, but they said it could be up to an hour or so in traffic. So we did have to keep that in mind.
tickets for the Petronas Twin Towers because you have to book these in advance and they handled all that. So that was the other thing is that the other sites had to be worked around the time slot that they had gotten for us for those towers.
So our day begins at the National Palace and it feels like you're at the gates of Buckingham Palace to some extent. Except that the palace itself is further away, but the gates are huge and they have guards there in these uniforms and guards with horses. So you could really imagine this being at Buckingham Palace as well.
You know, this was just a quick stop for us. We didn't spend a lot of time here, but it was definitely worth seeing from the outside of the grounds. This is the other benefit of having a private tour guide is that, he walked up there with us. He took our picture and this is going to happen.
time and time again at all the different stops as we go along. Yeah. So it's nice to have those pictures. You know, a of times we do selfies and that kind of thing. So it was nice to have those pictures and he would, you know, get low and do the camera. And so that was a lot of fun and, and kind of knew the best views, right? That ended up becoming a theme on the next, like our next couple of places. the view of the palace, like it's
pretty far off from the gates. And so I think what you're really seeing are the gates themselves and the little plaza out front. You can kind of see the palace and the backgrounds, but you don't see a whole lot more than that. Yeah. And you can't go in it. There's like no, there's no time when you can go in it. So this is, and there were a few other tour buses there. So it was just kind of a, yeah, a place to stop to kind of see the outside of that.
The next place we went was the National Monument. And this is a veterans memorial.
It's a reflective and beautifully maintained space honoring Malaysian soldiers who served in major conflicts like world war II, the Malayan emergency and others that shaped their nation's path to independence. And this was one of things that I learned in the day was I was thinking like their independence would have been back in the 1800s or so, but it's actually been.
easily within the last 70 years or so. Yeah, I want to say it was in the 70s, but I'm not exactly sure. But yes, very recent as far as, you know, independent countries and things like that go. So this memorial set within like a little quiet park and it's part of the larger, uh, Perdana Botanical Garden. So
Give yourself a little bit more time there to just kind of wander through the gardens, experience the memorial. They have lots of plaques that tell the story of Malaysia's military history. And this huge bronze sculpture symbolizing unity and sacrifice. And so even though didn't walk with us through that memorial,
The context he shared made us appreciate what we were actually seeing there. Yeah. And it was neat because there were school children there, like on a field trip, as well. And it set a fountain like all around it. Right. So just very reflective. And then you also kind of got your first glimpse. I would say from there of the city in the distance as well. So kind of, okay, here's what we're going to go see next.
Yeah. And this could have very well been somewhere in say Washington, DC. I mean, it was a really nicely done memorial. Yeah. That's interesting that you say that because we haven't had this discussion, but I kind of thought that as well when we were walking around. so I would say probably, we probably walked around for like 20 minutes or so. ⁓ so it's not somewhere unless you want to go and spend more time in the bigger botanical gardens that you need a lot of time.
But it's definitely worth a stop. so from there, we visited Independence Square or Merdeka Square. This is where Malaysia raised its flag for the very first time in 1957. So, Willow, you were thinking or wondering, you know, what year, but it was in 1957 and it's one of the most historically significant places in the country.
And one of the first things that Nish told us was that the giant field in front of us used to be a cricket pitch from the British colonial area. And then he kind of laughed and said, the funny thing is that not many people in Malaysia actually even play cricket. So it's that kind of humorous reminder of how history leaves its fingerprints, even as a culture evolves.
Sultan Abdul Samad building with its copper domes and the Moorish architecture. And then on the other side, it's almost like you had some of those British buildings like you would almost see like in York or in the old town of London as well. So that was on the other side. And then behind it,
The KL skyline rises really all around you behind, this square, modern and glassy And you see all these skyscrapers. So it's just a crazy duct to position as well. And towering over the field is a massive flagpole, which marks the exact spot where the Malaysian flag first flew. And it's still one of the tallest flagpoles in the world.
So it was also interesting because somebody else who was visiting, probably a local pointed out to you, there was a big mural right there in that square. And he kind of pointed out, hey, like this is from, the historical context, that is the building that you're seeing in that mural as well. mosaic of tiles.
where they had taken a picture from that first raising of the Malaysian flag. And I think it was later in the Petronas Towers that we would actually see that picture. We would see a bigger version of that picture that had been put into mosaics on the side of like a memorial. The other interesting thing that we popped into here was an Anglican church
The other thing that we popped into real quick that frames the other side of this square is the Anglican church that's there. And so it's interesting because it has been there. That's like the oldest Anglican church there in the city. And then also just the juxtaposition again with what we're going to visit next, that all this history
lives in the same place. But Nish had said, Hey, as you come back, pop in there and there was a lady in there putting up the Christmas tree, but it was just neat to see, that old church there too. Yeah. And so one of the things that we had told Nish, was that we wanted to have a good focus on the cultural aspects. Cause we knew the next day in Penang, we were going to focus more on the food.
So we've got good food coming up in just a minute, but the purpose of this day was more around the cultural. that was, when we talked to Colin and Meg, they kind of said, yeah, that would be a good breakout for these two cities, because you're going to have lots of food in Penang.
So our final cultural stop was the National Mosque. And this one stood out in a way that we didn't expect. this is only the third mosque that we've ever visited. And the first and second ones were in Cairo. And the contrast between those two was very striking. The mosque,
that we visited in Cairo with Manal, they felt older, a little more enclosed. They were beautiful, but darker and more muted in a way. And so they were very different than what we experienced here in KL. The National Mosque is really opposite. It's bright, it's airy, it's open and very colorful. The geometric
patterns, the open design and the light pouring in, it feels modern while still deeply spiritual. And so when we entered the prayer hall, the docent greeted us and explained what we would see inside. She said mosques are void of images of people and animals through those geometric patterns.
the tiles, the ceilings, the carvings, and then everywhere you look. And so she kind of explained, she asked if we had been to a mosque before and what did we notice, I guess, the similarities between the ones we had been to before and then this one. And she just kind of pointed out a few of those things, like as far as where the leader leads the prayer and that kind of thing. So that was just really, I it was great to have her share.
some of those things with us. so very similar as to when we were in Cairo, we had to remove our shoes before entering the mosque. And because I couldn't really remove my walking boot, it was funny because they pulled out this really long scarf and, I think at first they were kind of like, well, does he need to take that off or not? And so they were having a conversation.
And eventually they came up with this idea of the scarf. So they took the scarf, they wrapped it around the boot. And so I was barefooted on, or, had my socks on one foot and then I had this walking boot with the scarf on it on the other. was able to still visit and do it in a way that was respectful. Yeah. And this
Mosque, National Mosque is very much set up for visitors as well. As a matter of fact, they had a completely separate entrance for visitors. They gave me to wear a purple robe and also had a hood to cover my hair and she gave me a hair tie to tie my hair back, which actually tied it back for me. So the experience was completely different from in Cairo, but that was mostly because we were there with Manal.
But it was nice to be able to just walk around and see the different areas. They kind of had arrows around, kind of taking you on the route, but it was just quiet and respectful. And yeah, it was good just to visit that and be able to visit that.
We're going to leave now the cultural part of the tour. And as Melissa said, our tour included tickets into the Petronas Twin Towers. Now these are the largest twin towers anywhere in the world. standing underneath them is really breathtaking. You see this really modern steel and glass architecture. To me, it reminded me of the
And we even talked about this is, was it the same architect as the Lloyd's building in London? because we've been there a couple of times before and, seen that, and it has a very similar, like stainless steel architecture and design to it. But there were different, ⁓ architects for it. But here we are, these two towers that just shoot straight up in the air.
And they were absolutely breathtaking to see just even from the outside Yeah, and it's funny because it almost felt like he stopped in traffic and he's like, okay We're gonna get out here and he got out to you and he's like, okay I'm gonna take your picture and and then he told us okay now this is where I'm gonna be and and wait for you
So one thing to know, and I alluded to this earlier, but the Petronas Tower experience often does sell out. And so one thing on where I booked this tour, it says if you book it last minute, they may replace the Petronas Towers with the KL Tower. So just know that if you wanna go up, if you're doing KL your own, book the Petronas Twin Tower tickets early. It is a timed option.
Yeah, thankfully he had prepared everything ahead of time and it was neat because when we were leaving to go, he, pulled out his phone and he showed us. And I think he even sent you some pictures through WhatsApp, here's what you should look for. Go down these escalators. You'll see the race car hanging over And so it made it really easy to go and find the right place for us to be.
and he sent the tickets right then too. So wasn't like we had to worry about that or anything ahead of time. He's like, okay, here's the tickets and all that. So we got there early and there was a mall attached and they had kind of, I guess they were having people come out that way. So we did kind of go through the mall a little bit. So, I mean, there's plenty to do in that area as well.
but we grabbed a coffee at the brand new coffee cafe, like right where you go into the, the place where you do the tickets and go into the tower. So it was the perfect chance for us to just sit and kind of take in the atmosphere. And then Scott, you had an unexpected adventure though. I did. We kept seeing all these people...
walking out with these giant bags of stuff. And so I walked down this hallway and then it led downstairs and I suddenly found myself in this massive basement cell for Petronas merchandise. And there were hundreds of people crammed into this little tiny underground shop and they were all grabbing at shirts and hats and jackets.
Everything was Petronas branded. And so they were just all filing out of there with these big, huge, giant bags of stuff. ⁓ Scott, we probably should say for people, maybe who aren't familiar, what in the world is Petronas? So Petronas is their national oil company. And, but if you're familiar with F1 racing or formula one racing,
Petronas is one of the major sponsors of formula one racing and they have two of the cars. back when I first started following Petronas, Lewis Hamilton was one of the drivers for Petronas and the AMG Mercedes. And one of my cybersecurity vendors, CrowdStrike
the founder of CrowdStrike is now an investor in that Petronas Racing team. they've been an advertiser on those cars for quite some time. So if you are familiar with the Petronas team, you'll see that CrowdStrike logo and stuff like that. So the car that he showed us, of course, that we were to look for, it has that CrowdStrike and a lot of the shirts that they were selling, of course, has that because that's, part of
their logo and stuff like that. So did you come out with a bag of stuff? No, absolutely not. That was way too much for me. I made a quick exit out of there, but it really was fascinating to watch. And the people were just, they are a hundred percent sold out in support of their brand. Yeah. So many, so many things, but then so many people with the shirts, but it was probably a good thing because it was time for
our timed ticket. But one thing we did notice immediately was all around the tower, how many people were wearing their Petronas Formula One shirts. And so it's definitely a thing there. And, you could tell that KL is all in on that pride and it almost felt like the Petronas racing
gear was the unofficial uniform of the tower as well. Yeah, probably so. And we saw a lot of the Petronas like gas stations like on the way back to the ship. So when it was our time for the tour, everything ran really smoothly. Going up into the towers was one of the highlights of KL. And so.
they noticed that I had the, walking boot and the crutches, and they, pulled us right up front. They made sure that we were able to get into the elevators, first And we go up to this observation deck and from there, can see KL stretching out in every direction, all the different neighborhoods, the parks, the shopping districts, and of course the countless skyscrapers all around it.
So the first thing that you do is you go to the level where it is the sky bridge and you get to walk across that and it has a couple of different, places that you can take pictures. They give you about 10 minutes to do that, but the city is below your feet. You can look out on both sides.
⁓ That was really, really cool and unforgettable. I think they said that's the, I mean, that's the largest like sky bridge in the world too, right? It is. And it's on like the 54th floor or something like that. So it's a little more than halfway up the towers, but you have the most excellent views on both sides of those towers from right there on that sky bridge. Yeah.
And of course you can see far in the distance and the view from every side is incredible. And I absolutely love observation buildings and going up into the shard or the London Eye or the different places like that and being able to look out.
So the one thing that you need to know is that this experience is time. So like I mentioned, you get 10 minutes of the sky bridge and then they get your group back on the elevators and you get 15 minutes, I think it was at the top of the observation deck. When you go in, when you're kind of in line and they actually ask that you get there 15 minutes before your time ticket and then they go through the line and they look at your tickets and they give you a sticker that's a certain color so that they can manage those groups.
So now I could stay up in these observation buildings and like forever. I think when we did the sunset one at the Shard, I think I made you stay there like two hours, when it was light and when it got dark. But it's probably a good thing in this case that we had the set amount of time because we had one more thing to do before heading back to the ship. And so we really need to stay on, a schedule.
Scott, what would you say is your most memorable thing that you saw from the top of the observation deck?
One of the things that I remember looking at is there were these spheres up on top of the towers and they're these round globes and they've got like a point on it. It just reminds you of something maybe like in the early days of TV or radio or something like that that you would see and
It was just like right there in front of your face. And so you had this terrific view of it looking out over the rest of KL so, you know what I want to go back and do based on what I saw from up there? Tell me. So one of the things that Nish had pointed out, as we were passing a couple of places, he was like, this is such and such hotel and there's swimming pools on top. And he had told me the name of it. And so I looked it up.
⁓ but from the top of those towers, being able to see across so many of the hotels have these swimming pools, like way, way up and you can see the loungers. And I think that would be really cool. I remember that now, now that you say that I remember that. So when we go back, that's where we're going to stay.
Well, so now we're going to go down, get back into the car with Nish. And during that time, he had actually told us when we got finished, we could go into the mall next door and grab some lunch. yes, there are great places to eat in the malls in Malaysia. So including local, like hawker stands and stuff like that.
But that wasn't really what we wanted to do. We like when we have a tour guide, if possible, to sit down with the tour guide and enjoy a meal. And on the ship, they have this guy who tells you about all the different places that we're going and different excursions. And this guy, Jace has been
in over like 150 countries. He's led group trips. And one of the things that he said stood out to us was when you have the opportunity, ask your guide to take you somewhere that they would take their mother to eat. And so we did this with Nish.
Yeah. And the other thing I want to say too, before I tell you what he said, was that Scott mentioned he had said, you could go to this mall. And he was even WhatsApping me and say, go to this restaurant. And then he was saying, eat this. And then he was sending me pictures of different things. I think he had screenshot him off the menu. And so I just told Scott, said, let's see if instead of doing that, if we could go with us, right?
and so that's when I messaged him back and I was like, hey, instead of us going to this place, we want you to take us somewhere else. So, but he had already told Scott when you mentioned that to him is that he had burst out laughing and said, I can't take you where I would take my mom because my mom likes her food way too spicy.
for visitors. So we had already had that conversation. And so I think he told you, I'll take you where I'd take my brother. Right. And so that's when I told him, Hey, we really want to go somewhere with you. he said, okay, just come back to the car instead of eating. And then I'll take you somewhere. So he brought us to the central mall that he loves because in Malaysia, many of the malls are filled with really good food. So this was, yeah.
So this was, well, Central Market, I think it was called. So it had all these different places to eat and places to buy things so this was the one place where then he dropped you off so that you wouldn't have to walk very far. And he went and parked the car and he said, wait for me here. We took some pictures and he walked us like all the way to the back of this mall, outside, around the corner to this place that we never would have found.
So, and this is where he ordered several dishes for us to try. And some of these are gonna be dishes that Colin and Meg had already told us that we would experience and had prepared us and gotten excited about trying. Okay, Scott. So I'm gonna let you talk about the food and the names and stuff like that. But real quick, I wanna say the place. It was called.
Pak Gen and it's the one at Central Market, but when you look it up on Google Maps, it says Pak Gen at Pasar Sinai, P-A-S-A-R-S-E-N-I, but I'll put the link to that so that if you're visiting KL, you can save that in your Google Maps as a place to go eat. So what did he order for us? Because we were just like, you order. Now he did tell us that he was fasting for the day. Like he would have something to drink.
but that he wasn't going to eat, but he still sat there with us and helped us order. Yeah. Well, we probably would have changed our opinion. a little bit if we had known that he was actually fasting, he told us he was vegetarian for the day. was thinking, fine, don't eat any meat. You know, I'm okay with that. But I think what he really meant was that he was fasting for the day. However he did, you know, order a, ⁓ a drink and
They love their sweet drinks there. But the first dish that he ordered for us was nasi lemak. And this is the national dish of Malaysia. It's coconut rice, sambal, fried anchovies, peanuts, cucumber, and chicken. And what we learned about this later, but we didn't know it here at this one. So.
That's one being against niche is he didn't tell us this is we ate from the corners and tried different, different parts of the dish. But what you're supposed to do is take all of that and mix it together with that sambal and get all of those flavors intertwined. And that's how it's meant to be eaten. But this sambal, which is
If you guys don't know what sambal is, I like it because I love Asian food. It's like a little bit of a pepper paste or something between a paste and a salsa, you know, is the way that I would describe it. Garlic, peppers, right. So those are the flavors that really stand out in sambal.
really fresh, really delicious. And you have that, but boy, the sambal there packed a good amount of heat to it. The one that you mixed in with the nasi lemak.
What did you think? What did you think about that dish, Melissa? I thought it was delicious. I agree with you about having it like where you would mix it all together, right? Because sometimes you felt like you were like, OK, you got a piece of cucumber and then you got this and you got that. So it made a lot more sense. It does. It sounds like a little strange, but, you know, once you.
put it all together. I mean, it was absolutely delicious. This restaurant was so good. Yeah. And we had a couple of different drinks. I think you ordered something hot to drink or something. I don't remember what it was. did. think it was the, what do they call it? The milk tea. I think it was the milk tea or something similar to that that Colin had mentioned. weren't
quite sure about the ice and stuff like that, what that situation was. So I just went ahead and had something hot. Yeah. Well, I needed something cold because that sambal was on fire. so anyhow, we tried that. So that was the first dish that we tried. And so the next thing they're going to bring out is a squid in sambal. And I think what it was was the
the Nazi Lamoc that I, that I tried. So Melissa ordered the one with chicken. I ordered the one with squid. and so I think the squid was supposed to be served in this sambal sauce. but it came out just dry. so anyhow, they brought out some of the squid actually in the sambal sauce.
And they had definitely cranked up the heat a little bit, but this flavor was so good. I couldn't stop eating it. And the squid in that sauce was just absolutely phenomenal. Yeah. The sauce was really, really good. I don't like things that are super spicy, but the, the flavors that they had. I think that's what it was is like the flavors were really intense and there was heat there, but it wasn't like the one that burns your tongue.
Yeah, not the spicy heat, just like the, yeah, it was delicious. you got it on the end a little bit. And so, um, that was really good. And then, we had, course, he said we needed to try some of the sweets. and that's how he referred to it. And so he ordered this thing called an ABC dessert.
So finally they brought out the ABC. and so is it ice, but to camper, that's a great question because they didn't ever say that we looked this up after they just said, is, yeah, this is a ABC and nothing could have prepared us for this. So it's a shaved ice dessert that has sweet corn and that has beans, jellied fruit, colorful syrups and evaporated milk. ⁓ it looks.
crazy. But it was definitely refreshing and totally unique. I think that was another one where if we'd have known to like mix it all up again, right? That was that was the other thing. But you kind of think that really sounds strange. But it was it's very, very good. And like you said, very refreshing. Beans, corn and ice. it's just not something that we would normally think about.
putting together and we definitely wouldn't think about this as being a dessert. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, cause it had that mix of like, if you think of the shaved ice dessert, with the evaporated milk, almost like a, you know, the shaved ice, but then I think Japan has a, has something that's similar to this. so unlike anything we've ever tried, but in a fun and adventurous way. And I think that's the fun of travel like this, but
having someone to tell you, Hey, you need to try this. Like we were, we were stuffed. We were full, but to say, Hey, you need to try this and, at least try it. couldn't finish it. I mean, there was no way we could finish it, but, I think that's what makes it fun. we gave it a try. And looking back, this was one of the best meals that we had. Everything was really delicious. And I'm so glad that we asked him to take us to a local place that he would go to.
And in that way, he was able to help us with the ordering, on your own. can be very overwhelming. we experienced this in, Singapore when we went to that hawker stand, right. And they had some, he's, so many choices to choose from. And we'll talk about that more when we get to Singapore, but,
Just sometimes it's too much. so having a local help you, experience it and the things that they would order, is just a tremendous way to do it. And that's why you're going to want to stay tuned for next week's episode when we go on that food tour in Penang. Yes. And before we go and before we wrap up, you might be thinking,
Why didn't they visit the Batu caves? Like this is one of the main things that people do when they go to KL. And quite honestly, it was only itinerary of things to do, but we asked Nish not to take us there for a couple of different reasons. One, we had been told that it was pretty much covered in scaffolding right now because they're doing some renovation work on it.
They're adding an escalator to take you up because there's like 200 and something stairs that you have to climb to get up to the caves. And it's all part of the adventure, but they won't, I would say that Malaysia is very friendly from a mobility perspective and they want everyone to be able to get up there and see. so they're adding those escalators.
So everything would have been kind of covered in scaffolding and construction and stuff like that. And we just felt like that probably wasn't a great use of our time in getting to see some of these other cultural sites like the Veterans Memorial and the palace, that those were a better use of our time rather than going to Batu Caves. So we got to go back.
You know, they say that they should be done early next year with the work and we'll go back then and see it in its full glory. But we just didn't do that on this trip. Yes. And I would like to do more, more food, like maybe even some more of the malls and the hawker places as well. And maybe even, you know, hire somebody to take us to some different places and then take us to
eat some good food and stuff too. But by the end of the day, we had experienced Kuala Lumpur from three very different perspectives, the cultural, the modern and the flavorful. And Nish really connected it so beautifully. His storytelling and his humor, just like the story with his mom and the food helped us see KL through the eyes of someone who truly loves it.
And like I've mentioned, it's definitely a place that we want to return to. And then of course, maybe next time we'll get Nish to take us to his too spicy for visitors spot.
Kuala Lumpur showed us that sometimes the best way to understand a city is through the people who call it home. The landmarks, the food, and the stories all blend into something unforgettable when someone opens a window into their world. And as always, remember, the world is full of sunshine and surprises. Go and make 2026 the year that you explore beyond the familiar.
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