Kuala Lumpar Day 2, The Rest of the City, a Quick Stop in my Journey

Day 2 in KL, I slept in because I was up at the rooftop bar until about midnight, and I'm glad I was because hanging out with them was so fun and filled up my social battery. Sadly, Jack was leaving for a new town this morning so I wouldn’t be able to see him again in the city. I set out on my own journey, finding a cafe to do a little work and take a call with a college friend. I found the cutest place that was pretty close to me. The only problem was it said it opened at 10am, yet when I got there at 10:15 am it was still closed. Another traveler was trying to get in to grab some coffee as well, and the worker made an uninterpretable signal, trying to let him know when it would open, but I was worried I would have to find a new coffee shop to spend my morning and take my call. Within five minutes though they opened it up, so thankfully I didn't have to find a new place. Everything is so spread out in KL so it would've been at least a 10-15 minute walk to the next closest shop so I was grateful to say the least. Plus, I am truly glad I stayed because the oat milk latte I ordered was one of the best cups of coffee I’ve ever had. For sure the best during my time in Asia so far. I was so sad that I couldn’t come back and get it again, so I savored every sip of this drink. 

I chatted with my friend Roni from UW-Madison while I was there. It was so good to catch up with her as we have been long distance friends now for over a year, but I am happy to say that we do a pretty good job at staying in touch and updating each other with our lives. She told me about her work and time hanging in Milwaukee, I described to her my travels so far, and of course we had so much beyond that to talk about that I didn’t hang up until well past noon. It was worth every second talking to her, and it really fills my heart knowing that I have such amazing people in my life. Although I am not in the same physical location as them, that doesn’t take away from our friendship. I feel so blessed with the people in my life and this was another reminder of that. 

I ended my call with Roni, and was so tempted to get a second cup, but I knew I needed some lunch and to see the city, all of the parts I missed yesterday, which was a lot. China town is a big spot in the city, so I was lined up to head there, on a mission to find a vegan restaurant there. I found myself at Viola Meat-free Chinese and I ordered sweet and sour chicken and it had a bit of a punch to it, but also chunks of pineapple to alleviate the sour. I enjoyed my meal, loved the protein from the vegan chicken, and then left to continue exploring the area.

Before I started my walk down the main shops street, I was stopped by a coffee shop that had an appealing drink, a latte with coconut milk and sweetened with pandan. This is a famous plant/leaf in Asia that I first saw in Thailand and have been hoping to try since. Plus, with the coconut milk, it made it vegan and the price was too hard to pass up. So I got myself a coffee as a little dessert for myself, and it was iced so it kept me cool as I ventured back out in the heat and through the masses of people packed in this narrow street with vendors on both sides.

I walked through Petaling street, a covered shopping area with storefront stalls on either side, most selling knock off designer, which is not my vibe because I feel like people know me well enough that I would never purchase a designer piece at this point in my life, so if I did actually have one, no doubt it would be fake, therefore completely losing its point. So, I didn’t even do much shopping, the one thing I was tempted to get was this soy milk in a bag. The only problem was my hands were already full with my coffee (I got a second cup in China town because there was this amazingly priced drink in which it was espresso with coconut milk and sweetened with pandan leaf that I was dying to try) and camera, otherwise no doubt I would’ve loved to try it. I made it to the other end when I got a text from Abby asking if I wanted to go to the city's park nearby and I gladly accepted the invitation.

We were right next to a few other things I wanted to see, and at first debated getting a cab to the park but then decided on just walking around the city to see and experience more of it, as this was both our last day in the city. We walked through Central Market and I got this adorable bracelet. Then we came out to a riverwalk and it was the cutest area. Along the riverwalk were these European looking buildings, I even made a comment to Abby that this part of town reminded me of Europe. Well, that's precisely what it was as this was where British colonials built up their empire when they imperialized the country. We walked around the back of the building to come out to the front of the Independence Palace. The courtyard reminded me slightly of the big lawn at UMN, with a nice green area but buildings surrounding it. Now having seen what I was hoping to in the city center, we headed straight to the gardens.

But, of course, we got sidetracked from our route when we thought it would be worthwhile to check out the National Mosque. We were on the opposite side of where we needed to be, so we walked in the full sun past the one of the largest mosques in the country, to find out that it was not open to visitors at the time because it was closed for prayer. I am not easily impacted by the heat, but I was starting to feel a bit out of the sorts. The heat was getting to me, and my skin was screaming at me to stay out of the sun. I really wanted to see the butterfly park and the rest of the gardens so I persevered. We had about a 15 minute walk from the mosque to the gardens, and I mustered the strength to get myself there. 

The butterfly park was so lovely. We got admission into this area that was netted from the top and had lots of tropical plants and places for these butterflies to roam and take as a home. I thought there would be so many more butterflies, but in reality you had to hunt for them a bit or look into the corners to find them. So although they were a bit more spaced out than I was expecting, I enjoyed my time in there and it was quite peaceful to be surrounded by such soft nature.

One thing I was not anticipating about my time in Asia was all of the animal interactions I would have. This was a first for me to be in a butterfly park, which was great, but in addition to seeing the butterflies, there were also these white ducks that shared the habitat with the butterflies. How intriguing to see so many animals in such a short amount of time and of such a varied nature. It wasn’t a reason for my travels to the area but has now become a very prominent thing I have been delving into here. I wonder if this will act as exposure theory and mend my fear of animals, who knows, but I can let you know I was still greatly spooked by the monkey that made a move for me at the batu caves and slightly frightened by the pigeons that flew past me thinking one of them would surely hit me square in the face, an unpleasant encounter for the both of us. 

I carried on, still very tired, but this garden area was huge and I longed to see more of it. Abby and I walked to the hibiscus exhibit, although it was in its last life, but I tried to see through to the beauty it must have during its peak season. But, that's when my battery was too low to continue as we aimlessly tried to find a waterfall, but I had seen plenty that a fake park one was not worth my depleting energy levels. I was so tired I had to get a cab to bring me home, that was probably better anyways because I was no where near walking distance from my hotel anyways.

I felt so relieved the moment I stepped foot in the car and yanked my heavy backpack off my back and rested my head on the cushion. I was so tired. I walked myself sick. It was a great way to see the city, but not advised when it is full sun, the shade is limited, and you forget to put on sunscreen that morning. I was definitely getting a little sun sick and needed electrolytes asap. Which is exactly what I did when I got back to my hotel. I just wanted to regroup there because I knew there was more I wanted to see, one thing was the second tallest building in the world, and a nature park nearby, plus a potential revisit to chinatown. All of those plans went to shambles when I found out the eco park was already closed, and that was a package deal with the tall building that I now felt no longer particularly necessary to go to. I was already in awe of the man made sculptures of the city, hauling myself to this one would not elicit much newer of an effect. And, I ended up just ordering food again to my room from a place in chinatown. 

Because I was pretty fatigued from the sun, I didn’t use my free time to workout, but I did want to read at the pool. Sadly, it was so packed I couldn’t even get a chair so I had to go to the bar meaning I had to order a drink. Izzy told me of the great health effects of coconut water when she ordered one in Vietnam, so taking her advice, that’s what I got in order to save myself from having to get a sugary or caffeinated drink. And I got to eat some of the meat of the coconut so it was not only a beverage but doubled as a snack. I drank that, then went down to grab my food, brought it to my room and enjoyed that, and packed up and called it a night and my time in KL.