We arrived in Kuala Lumpur in the late afternoon, taking a taxi that had some issues finding our hostel. It was my first hostel and we got a private room rather than dorm style, but I would say it was pretty nice. At least the toilets were nicer than the disgusting ones I have to live with in my dorm!
Exploring the city, we quickly learned that George Town is baby-sized compared to Kuala Lumpur. The scale on the maps must be vastly different, because we had a lot of trouble figuring out where we were. Islam is the number one religion of Malaysia; not surprisingly, mosques littered the streets. Trying to find the National Mosque when mosques were everywhere and we couldn't figure out where we were = a major fail. After about a half an hour, we gave up and headed to the Petronas Towers.
The commute was also a struggle (again due to the horrible map). We ended up hopping on a random bus and luckily made it.
The Kuala Lumpur towers are another big site to see, so we headed there next, where we were able to go up and see the city. Jackie, Santiago, and John went to Cambodia before KL rather than Penang, and despite our lack of communication ability, found them at the KL Tower! We had a mediocre dinner at a KL restaurant, walked around then city, then headed home.
The next morning, dim sum was on the menu for breakfast. I got a few things I had never seen before. The chilis were filled with fish paste; I wouldn't recommend them. Something about fresh chili and fish paste didn't mix.
Still hungry, I got another dish. Don't know what it was, but I wouldn't recommend it. Very greasy.
Another recommendation by Keat (and this one the best!) was to see the Batu Caves. I think wikipedia can best explain what it is. Essentially, you climb a huuuuuuge set of stairs [is this a theme in Asia?] to a Hindu temple in a cave that reminded me of Luray Caverns.
This is probably a famous god or goddess and I'm being super disrespectful, but I thought this statue was hilarious:
Monkeys were everywhere!
At the side of one of the temples, seemingly dirty water was pouring out of a faucet. Many collected the water and poured it on their heads. I guess holy water cups aren't very clean either, but this didn't seem to compare to me...
Plenty of candles littered the area.
A guy was putting some sort of paste on the bodies of the visitors. I graciously refused, but ended up with lots on my body anyway from walking around in the huge crowds.
Some sort of festival was taking place, so I couldn't walk successfully through the crowds to see the interesting looking statue a walk away.
I wish I knew more about the religion, because it was intriguing to see their habits and customs. The Batu Caves were certainly the highlight of Kuala Lumpur.
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