Arriving in Kuala Lumpur we were excited to be back in a big city since we enjoyed Bangkok so much. I had spent some time finding a nice guesthouse that fit our budget but continuing with the trend of the day, we arrived to find that they have given our room away because they didn't receive our deposit. Although it was easy to get our deposit back we were without a room and every place that I had as a back up was of course booked up. We grabbed our bags with Josh's poor foot and hit the streets only to end up breaking our budget once we got tired and realized there would be no adequate option otherwise. One hotel made us burst out laughing by saying that no, we couldn't see the room before we paid because people were sleeping (it was 8pm). It seemed inane to me that we couldn't see a room that we would be going into anyway if we paid for it and after they agreed to show us a room they said it was just an example and not the room we would get. Needless to say, we left quickly!
Having settled in and trying to lift our mood from the complicated day, we found a great strip of restaurants and enjoyed our first Malaysian meal which was unbelievable. We had bread with their traditional acay paste (reminiscent of butterscotch) and noodles with chicken and roast peanuts; everything was bursting with flavour. Someone was busking outside and playing a lot of our favorite songs from the nineties which only added to the interesting ambience. Feeling fairly tired we headed back to the hotel early to get a good sleep.
We woke up with zest the next day because we only had one day to explore KL. Being such a huge city bursting with tourist attractions we didn't even attempt to plan a complicated itinerary not to mention we were anxious about our upcoming endeavor of traveling for over 24 hours including an 18 hour flight and didn't want to be worn out. It happened that we were staying in a central area and we hardly even had to walk outside as most of the downtown is connected by a series of air conditioned skywalks that could virtually take you anywhere you wanted to go (imagine having a heated version in Saskatoon in the winter!).
The main sight we had researched that was definitely worth seeing was the Petronas towers, two identical skyscrapers that are an icon in KL. They are recent additions to the bustling skyline with construction just being completed in 1997. Their design was meant to represent Malaysia and the architect drew from Islamic arts and influences to achieve that. Looking up at these two massive, imposing, almost cold looking metallic structures filled me with awe perhaps not at their design per say but rather the statement their presence makes about our technological advancement. It is unbelievable to me that these massive towers held the record for the tallest building in the world only until 2004 and the record for the largest concrete pour only until 2007. If I didn't know better when I saw the towers I would swear that no building could be taller; very impressive! We had fun trying to get the perfect shot outside but we opted not to take the tour up to the top (we were recently disappointed by the Space Needle in Seattle and although I am sure the experience would be more rewarding than that, there were too many mixed reviews to be sure).
Little did we know when we were leaving the towers that we were in for a treat, something more notably iconic and representative of Malaysian culture than anything: an Anime convention! For those of you less familiar with this popular phenomenon, it is a special form of animation originating in Japan that is most familiar due to its exaggeration of physical features in particular the large eyes. All around us there were hundreds of people dressed in costumes, most of which I would never be able to recognize except perhaps Pokemon. Some simply altered their attire or wore a wig but many became so involved with their costumes that they literally seemed to be the character. Unbelievably, they used contacts and makeup to achieve the perfect replica of an anime character's eyes which I wouldn't have thought possible. We had so much fun simply looking at the people (the excited energy was infectious!) and we were able to get photos with several of our favorites who would perform some signature move of the character like holding an eye patch or burying their face into a teddy bear. It was a riot and I felt like we were seeing a real side of Malaysia and not just the run-of the-mill tourist trap.
The convention had lead us to a beautiful park where we enjoyed strolling through the green lawn and watching the children play at an insanely huge free water park in the middle. In this moment KL struck me as being a beautiful city; amidst the concrete jungle which is the norm in massive cities the city planners had made parks a priority and thus providing a beautiful Saturday event for families. Opposite the park we spotted a large mall and since we had heard shopping in KL was epic we thought we had to have a peak. Sure enough the mall was massive with more floors than I could count and with most stores being of the designer quality like Louis Vuitton and Paul Smith. The most notable thing however was that we had unassumingly walked right smack into Christmas!
Although we were starting our journey home for the holidays just the next day, neither of us were able to get into a holiday spirit yet since it virtually didn't exist in the countries we had been. I wouldn't even say that I am nuts about holiday cheer but it sure gave me that warm and fuzzy feeling to walk into the mall with the biggest Christmas displays I have ever seen, snowflake and reindeer decorations everywhere, and female elves singing and dancing in choreographed movements. Let's just say when KL celebrates something, it really celebrates it! It was a heartwarming experience and really touching to have in a predominantly Muslim country where most people seemed to be enjoying the show just as much as we did. This was the first time it really hit me that it would be Christmas soon and that we would be spending it with family.
After the mall we grabbed a quick bite and headed back to our hotel to change. We had delusions of grandeur that we could keep the day going but reason prevailed and we started to get organized for our long haul home. In a very literal sense this meant packing our bursting backpacks the best way possible and cramming every last souvenir into our new suitcase (although expected it was still unfortunate when the wheels fell off)! With the practicalities set aside we started reminiscing about our journey and our thoughts about it coming to an end but those are ramblings for another day.
Kuala Lumpur surprised me. Before this trip I had absolutely no notion that I could enjoy big cities but some of my favorite memories come from overwhelming, busy, chaotic cities! I can say with certainty that our tiny taste of Malaysia will have us returning if only for the amicable people, the incredible food, and the noteworthy sights and to say nothing of the beautiful beaches we have yet to see! All in all, a perfect last stop.
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