My Month in Malaysia

Well that was a fast month. What felt like five days was closer to five weeks, and my time in Malaysia was as equally recharging as it was surprising. Here's why:

The Petronas Towers And Surrounding Park

Completely Out of the Blue

Historic KL

This isn't the first time I've mentioned it, but it's worth repeating: we never really planned on spending much time in Malaysia. We had initially planned on spending no more than a couple of days in Kuala Lumpur (if any). By chance of finding the cheapest path to the Philippines from Vietnam, we wound up having an two day layover in KL. That brief introduction whet my appetite to discover more and we booked our return ticket from the Philippines back to Malaysia to give us some time to discover more.

Malaysia is probably one of the most diverse countries on the planet. I've always been attracted to the exotic multiculturism (it's one of the United States' greatest strengths and Brussels, where I lived for 12 years is the second-most international city in the world, after New York) and Malayisa in general and Kuala Lumpur in particular is a shining example of this multiethnic society in Southeast Asia. I never expected that we would visit such an unique and diverse place on this trip, but there we were, and I was enjoying every minute of it

Great Food, Great Shopping

Pavilion Shopping Center near Bukit Bintang, KL

With such amazing cultural diversity came amazing culinary diversity. After our month in the Philippines, we were in desparate need of some diversification in our diet and we spent our first week in KL binging on some of the finest foods on the planet. So phenomenal was this gorging that I blogged about it here. It's well worth the read if you're curious to learn more about the food in Malaysia.

Kuala Lumpur has practically every store under the sun somewhere within the city limits. This meant that we were able to not only restock on our toiletries and other items (bandages, OTC drugs, etc) but were also able to buy a couple of new pieces of clothes (I was also able to replace my flipflops which had been worn through).  The prices were competitive and we trusted the quality, which is something that couldn't always be said in other countries that we visited. 

My Love Of Cities: Confirmed

Throughout the past few months I've gone from urban jungle to actual jungle and practically every other variation on human habitat in between.  I've loved being outside and exploring the amazing natural world around us, but once I got into Kuala Lumpur, I felt like I had entered a forgotten comfort zone.  Perhaps it's a signal that I need to follow up on this feeling and when the dust settles in nine months, I land in an urban environment that I'm happy in.  

Easy Before The Second Half

Above all, Kuala Lumpur and traveling through Malaysia was easy.   The country is modern, clean and honest (at least towards foreign visitors).   This was refreshing compared to the constant back-and-forth struggle it is to travel the other countries in the region.  It was a much-needed refresher and has so far paid off as we entered back into the topsy-turvyness that defines Southeast Asia (we're in Indonesia now).  

So to wrap it up, thank you Malaysia for showing me an unexpected great time.  Here's to hoping we'll meet again!