Tower-Hopping in Kuala Lumpur

After growing comfortable with the laid-back pace of life in Melaka, I was in for a bit of a shock when I arrived in Malaysia’s cutting-edge and chaotic capital of Kuala Lumpur.  Part futuristic metropolis, part decaying remnant of a former industrial town, and part melting pot of every culture imaginable, you’ll equally as likely to encounter a towering skyscraper, a mosque during prayer time, or a bustling wet market each time you round a new corner.  The pace of life has picked up, the sidewalks (where they exist) are overflowing into the streets with people, and taxis, motorbikes, and city busses are all jostling to squeeze through the masses — but somehow, Kuala Lumpur pulls through the chaos and manages to gets its business accomplished.
When nearing the city via bus or train, the first landmarks you’ll notice are the twin Petronas towers (formerly the world’s tallest buildings up until a few years ago), which stand out as beacons that you’ve arrived in Kuala Lumpur.  Beyond the towers, to get a feel for the city, you’ll have to take the obligatory stroll through Chinatown and Little India (yes, pretty much every major city in this part of the world has one of each), knock off some shopping in the posh Golden Triangle, take a quick stroll around Lake Titiwangsa for the views back over the city, and then cap it all off with a night out on Changkat Bukit Bintang (a stretch of bars, restaurants, clubs, and hawker stalls).  Enough of my introduction, however — on to the photos:

The Petronas Towers as seen from a distance

The general crowds and commotion of Chinatown

Fountains in the Merdeka Square

It’s not really my cup of tea, but if a day of shopping sounds like heaven to you, you can’t miss the Times Square Plaza – the world’s fifth largest building.  It houses over 1,000 shops, 1,200 service outlets, a hotel, movie theatre, 65 food outlets, and Asia’s largest indoor theme park. The escalators (shown here) in the shopping area of one of the two towers were intimidating enough for me

When you’re grow weary of the concrete, a leisurely stroll around Lake Titiwangsa may be in order

Further, given that I happened to be in town for the beginning of the Chinese New Year, I grabbed a few new friends and hit the town to check out the celebrations:

The smokey, hazy atmosphere of Chinatown at night

Fireworks as seen from Changkat Bukit Bintang (the nightlife-heavy street near center of town)

A great way to finish the night is with a few friends back at the rooftop bar of our hostel– you can see the Petronas towers and the Menara KL tower (more on that below) lit up against the rest of the skyline

Although the Petronas Towers get most of the recognition, if it is a view of the city from the sky they you’re looking for, than the Menara Kuala Lumpur Tower is the best bet (you can ascend the entire 276 meter height, as opposed to the Petronas Towers, where you can only go as high as the skybridge between the two towers at 170 meters):

Looking up at the Menara KL Tower…

…and the view back over the city (and check out all of that green space still left intact, by the way)

Looking towards the Petronas Towers

And last but not least, I’m still eating my way around Southeast Asia, trying as many new dishes as possible.  Though I didn’t find Kuala Lumpur as much of a culinary destination as Melaka and especially Singapore, there were still a few treats out there to be discovered:

Beef Ball Noodles

Kway Teow Soup, using the same noodles as the Fried Kway Teow I had back in Singapore, but this soup version is more common to the Ipoh area just North of Kuala Lumpur

Putu Bambu – a sweet cake cooked with flour, pandan leaf, coconut, and steamed in bamboo pipes (as seen here)

The final product – enjoy!

Post-Kuala Lumpur, I’m planning on continuing my Malaysia adventure by moving North to the popular island of Penang (the city most visit here is actually Georgetown).  Until then, cheers!