Travel Through Singapore, First Night in KL

I landed a little after 3 am local time and had about 6 before my next leg into Kuala Lumpur. I took some time to explore the airport, seeing a few impressive gardens, but I mostly slept and tried to charge my phone to be sure I could navigate to my hostel later that day. Despite my 6 hours in the airport I only saw one terminal and completely missed the theater and pool. I did manage to get a delicious Indonesian stew at the airport which was quite good and totally new to me. The meal came with rice, fried small fish with peanuts, some vegetables, and some sambal. After watching the sun rise in Singapore, I did board my flight, and a little before 11 am I arrived at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

The airport was a 30-minute train ride away from the KL Sentral station. So I got some Malaysian Ringgit from an ATM and got a train ticket. I enjoyed watching the views change from fairly rural, tropical land into denser and taller urban sprawl. When I got off my train I resolved to walk over to my hostel, about 45 minutes away. It took probably 15 minutes for me to even start out on the right path from a fairly confusing multi-layered train station. Once I did get moving in the right direction, I quickly started to regret it as the midday heat and humidity were out in force. Luckily I continued towards my goal and found respite in several beautiful and new flowers, covered walkways, and slightly broken shaded domes. I got what I now know is a Snakefruit (middle, second from left). The fruit has a snake-like skin with scales that need to be peeled away. Internally, mine had white and stiff flesh, surrounding a seed reminiscent of a loquat’s. The flavor was similar to a watered-down pear, with a little pungency I couldn’t quite place. As I approached my hostel, my excitement grew as I found a wonderful little market and felt the cultural density of the city increase around me.

When I arrived at my hostel I found a pleasant air-conditioned lobby with free coffee and tea, as well as some cool water. A kind woman behind the desk told me that I wouldn’t be able to check in until 3 pm, but they could hold my luggage, and I was welcome to stay in the lobby or explore the city in the meantime. After a cup of tea and some cool water, I decided to take advantage of being in a totally new place, for the first time without my bags weighing me down. I stepped outside of the lobby and explored the nearby area. I found myself over by some beautiful old government buildings, built in a number of beautiful styles. There were also a number of food trucks just setting up for an evening of sales. I found a back alley filled with patterns of colored bottles shading the sky and eventually found a local mosque. They were happy to let tourists in provided that I took off my shoes and wore a sarong in order to cover my legs while I was in the worship space. Beautiful and with an architectural style almost totally new to me, I enjoyed some signs on the making and history of the mosque and the area before making my way back to the hostel at around 2:30. When I did get my room I was happy to find a shower available and 8 fairly private enclosed rooms. I washed off the sweat from so much walking in the sun and heat, and feeling renewed, wandered out in another direction only to find a notably Hindu district, with art depicting the Hindu gods available for purchase and a beautiful temple covered in elephants and vivid colors. I then decided to step into a local barbershop, partially inspired by my shaggy hair and incoming border crossings, and partially by a story from my cousin Jay, who shared a book discussing the leap of faith required and the immersive cultural experience of a foreign haircut. I ended up getting a tiny shop with a single hairdresser, who could barely speak enough English to confirm what I wanted and tell me he was from South India. It was my first ever straight razor shave, so as somewhat expected a slightly anxious moment that really did turn out well. I, unfortunately, got some small cuts on my Adam’s apple and around the back of my head. A squirt of some stinging liquid and a quick Indian massage followed by rubbing a scented oil enthusiastically into my scalp left me mostly unbothered, a little confused, but grateful for such a novel experience in a totally new county (Thanks for the stories Jay!). Still a little dazed, I removed my shoes and stepped into the nearby Hindu temple. There was burning wood and incense. Inside, there were maybe 50 people, some obviously wearing traditional ceremonial garb. There was music playing, a mix of bell chimes alongside a long deep woodwind. Most people were worshipping, raising their hands above their heads at punctual moments in what seemed like a sung sermon. Feeling as though this might be somewhere I was not entirely welcome, I went to step away before being beckoned into the enclosed temple and told I was welcome to stay, and pointed at a spot on the floor to stand. A procession of musicians and others with religious garb walked around the central black shrine containing a statue of some central god. They made their way into the shrine. I was then beckoned into a circle around the edge of the outer room, and before I knew what was happening the whole room was passing silver platters covered in rice, and flowers, laden with water-filled shells. After passing dozens of filled plates, only for them to arrive at the central shrine and have the shells’ water poured into the shrine, somewhere I wasn’t able to see. After this was completed, people started to break away from the group, some getting what looked like sand contained in a single massive shell and marking their forehead with it. Unable to find and thank the man who had initially beckoned me in, I wandered out and grabbed my shoes before making my way back to the hostel.

When I arrived back at the hostel, I quickly made some plans with people I had met earlier to go out that evening, then got a quick rinse and change of clothes before getting ready to go. We started off with a train to the Petronas Twin Towers, surrounded by illuminated water features and a wonderful park. The interior of the towers had a mall towards the bottom and a Petronas F1 car inside. After enjoying the lights and a short musical show (I was surprised to find it was a fairly quiet rendition of Eye of The Tiger), we walked to a popular street market that seemed predominantly Chinese. After a delicious dinner of some salted egg yolk chicken and rice, we walked to the end of the market and then decided to walk over to a nearby street famous for its nightlife. After a couple of beers and several games of pool, we finally made the walk back home, beautifully illuminated buildings looming overhead all the way. Thoroughly happy with my first day in this new country, I fell asleep with plans to explore the city with some of the others the next day and an appetite for more time in Kuala Lumpur.