Day 2: Malaysia...terima kasah!

Its 6:00am and my neck is slightly sore from the awkward fetal position I tried to sleep in on the flight. The plane landed right on time and yes my friends I am now in Malaysia! Just look at the beautiful welcome I got when I arrived!

Check-in at the hostel is at 2:00pm so I decided I would visit some sights before checking in. I decided I would visit the Islamic Arts Museum. From the notes I wrote before I left I knew it opened at 10:00am. The bus from the airport into the city would take about an hour and half. And figure in rush hour traffic and me fumbling around the public transportation system, I should reach there just in time for it to open 🙂

The first place I headed once off the plane was to the bathroom to brush my teeth and tidy up a bit. I left the arrivals terminal and headed towards the information desk. I had walking directions to the museum from the “Pasar Seni” train station but needed information how to get to that station. So I went to find help and a map! The lady at the information desk and I poured over the map looking for the museum. She was so helpful! With directions in tow I rushed pass all the vendors selling bus tickets and yelling for me to buy theirs!

Once in the waiting area of the airport I realized, oh shit! I didn’t purchase the shuttle bus ticket to the KL Sentral train station with my plane ticket. It would have been an extra $9.00. I looked back at the vendors area and realized there was a “Do Not Enter” sign by the door. *SIGH* I was beyond the line. I thought for a moment and pulled out my Ipod to check the time. Then I decided that I would ask one of the two police officers that were circling the area if I could go back and purchase a ticket. I used my super powers called “intuition” haha to figure out which one seemed the “nicest”.

Oh come on! Don’t act like you’ve never done this before. You know try to feel out peoples vibes before you ask them a question…?. I know you’ve done it!

Hmmm ok…the chubby guy on the right who is already staring at me seems to be the one. I watered up what my mom calls my “puppy dog eyes” and channeled all the solo travelers in the world. I also channeled Darius from Awkward Black Girl and spoke really low. Haha. I walked up to him and told him that I needed a shuttle bus ticket and asked if I could go back. I showed him my passport and boarding pass and anything else that was in my hand…for no apparent reason…but it worked.

He said OK very sternly and watched me walk back through the doors. Just my luck but there was no one at the AirAsia shuttle bus counter! Darn darn darn! There were other options, for $8.00(in Malaysian dollars) but I didn’t remember seeing reviews about these bus companies. I mean…what if their bus breaks down on the highway and I have to hitch hike the rest of the way? Or most importantly…what if their bus has no AIR CONDITIONING!

Oh I should mention that the temperature was lovely! A scourging hot 90 degrees. I had to wrap my winter coat around my backpack.

I left the vendors and walked through the doors again. I told the officer thank you and proceeded to the food court and outside the airport. Taxi guys were hollering left and right! NOOO I don’t want to spend 80.00 ringgit for a taxi when the bus cost 9.00. Speaking of which where the heck is the shuttle bus stop??!! I know I should be able to buy a ticket on the bus. Years of travel taught me this. Well I hope I can anyway 🙁

Sugar Honey Ice Tea! I have no idea where I am going right now. Ok.. I thought I am going to go sit down and collect my thoughts. I heard ” Taxi Taxi” as I was taking a seat. Didn’t I already politely tell you no a few minutes ago? I thought. Why are you trying to mess up my “I am trying to pretend like I know where I am going”, SWAG?

I sat down and people watched and surveyed the area. Where the heck is the SHUTTLE BUS STOP!!! I saw one of the budget buses go by and watched it intently. OHHhhh!!!!! It stopped all the way down at the other end of the airport. Score!!! I put my backpack on and walked down. The same Taxi guy stopped me again, “where are you going?” he said. I pointed to another shuttle bus that was going by and said “to the bus!”, with a smile of course.

If this was a movie, M.I.A’s “Swagger like us” would be playing in the backdrop as I walked away from the Taxi man to the shuttle bus. No wait! The remix with Jay-z and Kanye West 🙂

I found the Air Asia buses and asked for a ticket. The driver just told me to get on the bus and pointed to the next bus due to leave. I got on the bus and let out a sigh of relief. I’m finally on my way I thought. And there is air conditioning. Some of the Air Asia stewardesses got on the bus as well. Another sigh of relief.

I had no small bills when it was time to pay the 9.00 ringgit fare and gave the driver a 50 bill. I should note I changed money in Korea at KEB before I left. Normally I would just use the ATM machines in country but I wanted to ensure that I had some Malaysia money upon arrival since I got in at 6am.

The driver gave me 20 and said he would come back with more change. I said OK with a furrowed eyebrow but felt I could trust him. He came back with my change after everyone paid and then we were off….into traffic 🙁

The hour and half ride took longer. I fell asleep at one point and forgot where I was for a second. I took video of some of the ride which I will upload to YouTube. Malaysia is so luscious and green! So many palm trees. As we approached the city center I saw so many skyscrapers. I didn’t know what to expect about Malaysia. I hardly did any research on Kuala Lumpur.When I was planning I was most concerned with Singapore as its one of the places on my bucket list that I wanted to visit. Malaysia was just a stop over.
But I was slowly becoming infatuated with it!

The bus finally arrived to KL SENTRAL station after 830am. I got my bag and followed the crowd. No I had no idea where they were going but I knew they must be going toward the trains. Okay…wrong trains. They were going towards the monorail in a different direction. I got directions to go back inside the KL Sentral station to get the train I needed. Malaysia uses these cool blue tokens for single rides. And the train map was pretty easy to read.

When I arrived to Pesar Seni station I got a bottle of water from a little mart and pulled out my walking directions. I paused for a second on the station bridge to gaze over at the graffiti on the wall across from the water.

I looked at my walking directions that I got off line from some random website about budget traveling in Malaysia. It said

” From Pasar Seni station walk North and cross over the river, turn right to head north, then turn left to go over the walkway that goes over the train tracks”,

Oh dear I forgot to bring my compass ( I don’t really have one lol). I started walking in the directions that I thought seemed right. Because I knew if I asked anyone if they knew which direction was North they would laugh.

I ended up at Central Market so I took a picture. I ended up lost around Central Market so I took many pictures 🙂

Getting lost when traveling alone(unless I’m with my Mommy, that’s fun too) is fun! You don’t have to listen to anyone complain or rush you to get to the next destination. I just moved at turtle pace and took in all the sights.

Eventually I flagged down a taxi. It was so hot and I was sweating in places where a lady shouldn’t sweat 🙂 The taxi driver was young and we made conversation. He was giving me a little history of the area and pointing places out.

He was speaking English but had a heavy accent. I now know what my white friends in middle school felt when they said they couldn’t understand my mothers’ Jamaican accent. I would always think “but she’s speaking in English :-/.

He charged me 15.00 but his meter said 23.20. 15.00 ringgit is like $5.00. Taxis though are not supposed to haggle with their price. Its written on the Taxi door. If your taxi doesn’t have this, you are not in a official taxi. Yea but I don’t know why he charged that.

I arrived at the the Islamic arts center after 10:30 am and the entrance fee was 10.00 ringgit today as opposed to 12.00. During my wandering before the taxi ride I didn’t feel unsafe at all walking around as a solo female traveler. The only thing I noticed was the stares. Similar in Korea so I just said “meh” and carried on.

The museum was really beautiful. I didn’t have a tour guide, actually I don’t think anyone did. It was pretty empty since it was so early. The museum is still fairly new in Malaysia. And I noticed many of the display pieces had no information. Or the display cases were just empty. My favorite was the historical clothing exhibit. But I especially loved to look up at the domes. They were so beautiful. I wondered if everyone else looked up and noticed them. There were different colors in each room.

I know I should show you pictures of the pieces but the building itself was really nice 🙂
And outside by the fountain. I sat out there for about 30 minutes just chilling out. The oil lamp on the wall post reminded me of Morocco.

After about 2 hours I decided to head out to my hostel which was located in Bukit Bintang. The directions I had I received in the email from the hostel. I just needed to walk back to Pasar Senai train station.

leaving the Islamic Arts museum (front of the building)

Finding the station wasn’t hard. I got some decent directions and only almost got hit by a car twice trying to cross the numerous round -a-bouts.

A young Malaysian couple was crossing the second set of round-a-bouts so I just followed them 🙂 I got on the train and headed to the hostel.

The direction said they were next to a “famous McDonald’s” in Bukit Bintang. It was easy to find. I stayed at Sunrise Bedz “bed and breakfast”. I don’t recommend it and wouldn’t stay there again. I think I’m getting too old in for hostels. I’m 27 by the way. Or so I thought while in Malaysia 🙁

The check-in was easy and fast. The lady (forgot her name) was really nice. I think the owners are Spanish. True to Asian culture though you had to take off your shoes at the entrance. I had on socks so I didn’t freak out about not having my “inside shoes”. She showed me to my room which was blazing hot.I quickly picked a bed, found my toiletries and went to the shower in my shower shoes (they were in the white plastic bag if you saw my YouTube packing video). As I walked pass the reception desk I saw a sign that said “no shoes“. I thought they can’t possibly mean no shoes at all. Besides who takes a shower in a hostel barefoot…nasty!(if you do…please start bringing shower shoes…please!)

After quickly getting dressed I left the hostel bed and breakfast and roamed around Bukit Bintang. There was shop after shop and mall after mall to explore. Slipping in and out of each one was great escape from the heat. And hot it was! But if you’ve seen my Teaching in Korea video about the freezing cold office and school buildings then you know that I appreciated the warmth.

The shops that I see in the U.S. I saw here and then some. Like Topshop which I hadn’t seen before and there were tons of boutiques and concept stores. I went into a very large freestanding Sephora which was nice. After that I went arcoss the street to the Pavillion. This place was MASSIVE! I think I walked around it for 4 hours and didn’t even see all the stores.

I then tried the Kenko Spa fish foot bath. It was kinda scary, gross and fun all at the same time! I will post a video. After the dissappointing food court chicken rice for “Dinch” my term for the time after lunch but too early for dinner. I decided I would head over to view the Petronas towers.

There is a really neat sky walk from the Pavillion all the way to the convention center that is a stones throw away from the towers. You can find it by walking to the left of the fountain that is directly infront of the main entrance to the Pavillion.

The skywalk journey took me about 15 to 20 minutes. But its nice because you don’t have to worry about cars or the heat. Its air conditioned and there is security at every turn. Just follow the signs to the Petronas towers.

I exited by the convention center and captured this shot of the towers.

Then I walked around the construction and headed closer to the towers. At the bottom of the towers is another massive mall. I walked in and almost had a heart attack. I just stayed on the first level for about an hour. I saw an Auntie Annie’s pretzel stand and tried the seaweed pretzel. Only because I knew it was specific to this side of the world just like the black sesame ice cream.

Have you ever seen that flavor in an east coast mall?

When I left the towers I snapped a few more pictures. They look luminous and commanding at night. It’s best to view them from afar however. I almost strained my neck trying to get the “best” shot. *SIGH* I can’t wait until I have a new camera. I’ve been saving up for a Canon for a few months now 🙂

I left the towers and walked backed to the center of town. I decided to try and find Times Square mall. I figured might as well get all the shopping out the way on the same day….lol. Bad idea! It was about 9pm at this point and my feet hurt so bad from walking around all day. I found a bench and sat down. I thought “hmmm I don’t know how much further I can make it”…so I decided to find Jalan Alor instead and indulge in the foodie paradise before retiring to the hostel bed and breakfast. I was using a map all day to get around and it was fairly easy to find many places.

Jalan Alor was about 5 mins from where I was staying. It was very crowded, loud and the smell of many different foods plagued the air. I ended up eating grilled prawns and my beverage of choice was mango juice. The meal was about 25 ringgit (around $9). I thought about one of my favorite YouTubers, LouLouMatou as I ate my prawns. She has many prawn recipes on her channel.

After eating I walked back to my lodging and got ready for bed. My feet felt like they were going to burst. I need to invest in better walking shoes for travel.

Anyone have any suggestions? Maybe some Toms or Shape ups 🙂

I fell asleep after midnight and woke up in the morning around 6am to the sound of a male voice. Some nasty girl was sleeping with her BF in our room. Why not go in his bed, in his room. SMH…WTF! This is an all girls dorm…I see now…I am too old for hostels. I complained to the lady at the front desk and proceeded to use my IPOD to book a hotel room through Agoda. I found a deal with Apple Hotel which was on Jalan Alor. The price would be $42 for the night. I told the receptionist that I wasn’t coming back for the second night.

I really didn’t care about the 20 ringgit lost.

Read what happened next here!

Comments

hybridomatech says

March 8, 2012 at 12:48 PM

oh my, this is the third time i read this, memories memories!! i know almost all the places you mentioned and ohhh myyyy the food the food!!!! i love KL!!
I was laughing all the way through, love the way you write! and lol @ sweating in places a lady shouldn’t sweat! love it xx (louloumatou btw), and thank you for the shoutout!!
theTravelingNatural says

March 9, 2012 at 1:05 AM

LouLou! Haha I know its you:) I am glad it brought back memories. I was such a lovely place. I have to consult with you about the other places you have traveled to in Asia before planning the next trip.