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A Hot Night in Kuala Lumpur

Malaysia and Brunei in a Week: Day 1 Kuala Lumpur: Traveling from Beijing to KL and spending a night in Kuala Lumpur!

The two flights from Beijing to Kuala Lumpur (a connection in Hong Kong) was painless enough, except for this one kid sitting behind me on the first leg of the journey. He was a little prince who was throwing a temper tantrum because his parents made him close his electronic game… because of take-off mind you. He was screaming, crying, and most annoyingly kicking the back of my chair. The Chinese parents said “Hey, can you please stop? You can play again when we are in the air after the take off.” I wonder if the kid eventually stopped because he got bored of crying or because he could literally see the steam from my ears.

Arriving into Kuala Lumpur, my first stop was to get some Malaysian Ringgit and then took the fast train into central station. This was the fastest option compared to the bus and taxi. Then I stopped by the visitor’s center in the central station for a quick briefing on how the make the most of my night in Kuala Lumpur.

Tip: If you want a quick introduction to a city and a good route to fit your time schedule, head to a visitor’s center. They are usually very helpful and worth the time it takes to find them. They can give you a great itinerary for your visit.

From there I got a cab to the Sunway Putra Hotel and checked in. The hotel in general is pretty basic for a 4 star, but the staff does make an effort to smile and greet you when you walk in.

Sunway Putra Hotel Entrance
Entrance at the Sunway Putra Hotel

Sunway Putra Hotel Room
The room at Sunway Putra was surprisingly large. In fact, it was too large and not very cozy.

Sunway Putra Hotel Pool
Pretty nice view of the Petronas Towers from the hotel pool.

Proton Taxis
Many of the cabs in the city are original Malaysian “Protons”. These poor quality vehicles are decorated like they were from a Fast and the Furious set.

After relaxing a bit, I had to quickly send out some work emails before heading to dinner. I went to the McDonald’s downstairs for the wifi. It still amazes me how 4-5 star hotels don’t offer free wifi.
For dinner I asked the hotel concierge for very local and authentic Malaysian food and he recommended a small area only a few minutes away by taxi.

Kampung Baru

The poorly lit street had no tourists on it whatsoever, instead a monstrous cat-sized rat greeted me from under a car before he heading back down the gutter. This was about as local as it was gonna get…
First I tried out street vendor’s “Daging Spesial”, a burger with egg wrapped around the patty then covered in mayo and sweet chili sauce. Not bad!

Then I was on the hunt for real Malaysian food. After walking the whole street I eventually settled on a packed restaurant and got a table. Unfortunately when ordering I found out it was only Thai food, so I awkwardly left. Asking several locals the consensus was that the best Malaysian was Restoran Nasi Lemak Antarabangsa. There I had Nasi Lemak with a spicy beef Redang. It is coconut steamed rice with peanuts, cucumber, fried anchovies, and a spicy sauce. I also ordered a fried potato ball. I found a seat with a couple sweating away as they ate and chatted about the city. They thought I was Malaysian and were very surprised to find it was my first day there. I guess that confirms that this is not a touristy restaurant.

Nasi Lemak Antarabangsa
The best Malaysian food on Kampung Baru? They have all the food in pots in front of the restaurant and as you order they just scoop it up onto a banana leaf.

View of Petronas Towers from Kampung Bharu
This is the view you have while sitting on the side of Kampung Baru enjoying the local street food.

Time for a drink to wash down that spicy food!

Trader’s Hotel Sky Bar

The bar is very trendy with a blue-lit pool in the center and seating all around. The couches by the windows had the best views of the Petronas Towers, which is what the bar is known for. The tables by the windows were difficult to come by as there was a long waiting list for only a few tables.

Trader Hotel Skybar
Cool pool in the middle of the hip Skybar.

Drinks at Skybar
The signature cocktails “Raised in Manhattan” and “Lychee Rose” at Skybar.

View of Petronas Towers from Skybar
Taking a picture of the amazing view from Skybar.

Then I grabbed a taxi to the main bar street.

Changkat Bukit Bintang

The string of bars on the street could be from any city with side-by-side themed bars. I had a beer and soaked in the happening Thursday nightlife.

Possible street walker on Changkat Buki Bintang?

Walking further up I came upon a Night Market where I purchased a must-have tourist shirt to wear the next day.
Night Market KL
Plenty of Chinese and Malay alike, selling their food, DVDs, and T-shirts on the street Jalan Alor.

This also reminded me that I had an early day the next day, so I called it a night around midnight and headed back for some rest.

David

About David

Founder and writer at World-Adventurer.com, David is on a mission to travel to every country in the world and has less than 10 countries left! He loves new adventures, unique cultures, historic landmarks, and luxurious hotels. Follow along as David shares a journey of a lifetime!

  • Telihana

    Ew on the rat!!! What’s the tourist shirt say? 🙂

    • David De Clercq

      You’ll see plenty of pics of the tourist shirt on the next post! 🙂

  • Stea

    bukit bintang(star hill)

  • Pingback: Selamat Tinggal Malaysia! - David De Clercq()

  • Jav

    Hey

    Just wanted to thank you for the excellent blog. Used it as a rough guide to get the max out of our stay for three nights. Built our own itinerary around yours.

    Keep it up my friend, loving your work.

    Jav

    • Hi Jav,

      Thank you for reading and commenting! I’m glad the articles were helpful! This is why I write 🙂

      Best,

      Dave