Monkeying around

The first think that strikes you when you drive through Kuala Lumpur is that you are not really sure if you are in woodland or a city, as this place is so green. This is most evident from the top of the Kuala Lumpur tower (the one that looks like Canada’s CN tower, not to be mistaken with KL’s famous Petronus Towers¹ that are nearly twice the admission price for basically the same view). From here you can see the city sitting on the edge of the hills that clump around central Malaysia. The jungle flows from the hills and intertwines with the concrete of KL, rather cool. 

Look at all that green!

In the tourist centre of KL, Chinatown, Little India and the city’s two notable towers are within walking distance (a good walk that is). Chinatown was a cross-road of two streets where you can find all the designer knockoffs for a fraction of the retail price. Little India’s main street sells all the popular foods and spices one expect of Indian cuisine. Both places are packed out with pedestrians, though Little India wins as it has vans trying to squeeze down the narrow street too.

If you wander a bit outside of town, you may visit the Batu Caves. This is a Hindu temple built rock that has a network of caves within. You must first pass a huge golden statue of a Hindu deity² as you ascent a long fleet of stairs up to the cave mouth. Inside there are several shrine-like areas with smaller deities and also a whole load of monkeys, which terrorise any tourist that has food on their person and/or squabble amongst themselves.

Huge

Food and drink wise, I wasn’t overly impressed, but that’s probably because we were spoilt in Penang (a national foodie destination). However the Nasi Lemak³ was very good. In its basic form of coconut rice, anchovies, boiled egg, cucumber and sambal belecan⁴ (a chili shrimp paste). This dish is probably the last combination of things you’d choose for breakfast but the way the Malay put it together, it is easily the best Asian breakfast I’ve had.

Sources:

My mental capacity and

1    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petronas_Towers

2.     http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batu_Caves

3.     http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nasi_lemak

4.     http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sambal

(Note - I do not encourage the use of Wiki references for any academic studies)