Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

“Kuala Lumpur is the poor man’s Singapore.”

Several people told us this after we planned a trip to visit in 2018. And to be honest, most people struggled to sincerely assure us we’d have a great time. We therefore had no expectations, other than exploring the vast array of world renowned Malaysian cuisine.

Kuala Lumpur is certainly less pricey than its neighbour Singapore, and we easily found a budget friendly hotel right in the centre of the city. Our family room in Parkroyal KL, had an incredible panoramic view of the bustling Bukit Bintang and its monorail which towered above the traffic and tourists on the street below.

Ideally located near Jalan Alor (Food Street) we were well positioned to explore Malaysia’s mouthwatering food options. With no itinerary in mind, everything else was up for grabs. We loved being right in the thick of it.

The crazy driving, packed streets, glistening evening lights and the rolling monorail that whirred past every ten minutes. There was a noise, an electricity and an energy that sucked us in. It was hot, the air was thick with humidity and we ambled through the streets and went in whichever way the wind took us.

The girls freely ran or skipped to the monorail station and tried to navigate the ticket machine. They observed the commuters, the children, the bright lights and tall buildings and they felt at ease in the vibrancy of this city, the excitement buzzing on their faces.

A few hundred feet from our hotel, we navigated the busy streets to explore Berjaya Times Square. A mega-structure which has, housed within it, a hotel, a shopping mall, a food court..even a theme park, complete with indoor rollercoasters and screaming thrill seekers. Beer is hard to come by and pricey in KL, and hidden deep within the labyrinth of Berjaya we found a supermarket selling a limited choice, so we opted for the Asahi as our nightly tipple to accompany the spectacular night sky views.

The girls were on sensory overload as they passed the toy shops with their brightly coloured plastic window offerings and every possible product known to wo/man. And the sellers were ready to pounce. I felt an inner sense of pride at the girls for walking past each time and not succumbing to the badgering of the sales assistants as they explained, “they won’t fit in our case.”

Our 4 year old did make one request though. Staring out at the city from the dizzy heights of the Petronas Towers, her eagle eyes spotted a sprawling colourful playground and waterpark in the distance.

“Can we go there?” she asked, so we did.

The Petronas Twin Towers sparkle 452m high in the sky. Their glass and metal facade glistens in the sunlight and standing underneath them is where you get a real sense of their brilliance. We’ve done a few of the ‘World’s Tallest’ (Petronas Towers had this title from 1998 to 2004) and from inside, this was much the same as the others. An elevator, a queue and then the highlight, the most incredible view of the city.

But the best part of the day was still to come.

Back in the hotel, we went to cool off from the day’s heat in the pool, which was always quiet and blissfully uncrowded. The little rhinos dived in the 4m deep end and splashed in the fountain jets of the shallow water. 

Whilst playing in the pool, they met a girl from China, who was only two or maybe three and they hit it off instantly, conversing in the only common language they had – play. Diving under the water jets to hide from each other, they laughed and loved in that brief moment. These chance encounters are the little moments of travelling that make the experience magic. 

“Titiwangsa Park, please.”

Coming down from the towers we were caught up in a taxi driver hustle. And they can be pretty heated. There is a little issue with taxis in KL. The blue taxis are regulated and the red ones are not. And they will seize any opportunity to exploit the naive tourist in you. This happened to us when we asked a red taxi to take us to Titiwangsa Park. 

Our monorail plan had failed when we realised we’d missed the right stop. Had it not been for the heat, humidity and four year-old who simply refused to walk, we would have gone the short distance on foot. The driver, disgruntled that the lack of distance was not worth his time, decided to take us to a completely different park, a good 20 km away. Thank goodness for GPS tracking. I sat in the back tracking the path and realised he was taking us in completely the wrong direction. 

“He’s going the wrong way.”

“No, this good way. I show you better park. Big park, it’s very nice.”

“We want to go to Titiwangsa, please.”

“No, this one better. I know.”

He persisted a while before finally backing down and turning around. We cut our losses and paid the fare. Sometimes you just have to accept that such losses form part of the travel education. We’d learned a lesson in KL taxi etiquette. 

Titiwangsa Park gives spectacular views of the city and its Twin Towers from the other side of the lake. It is also home to many species of local wildlife. This was where we got our first sighting of a monitor lizard, swimming across the muddied lake, crawling through a burrow and poking his little head out the other side. However, the most impressive monitor lizard sighting was yet to come. 

We’d taken the monorail to KL Forest Eco Park, left the station and walked to the entrance point, which by my map reading, should have only been a couple of minutes on foot. Failing to find the entrance, we realised we had walked thirty minutes in the wrong direction around the rainforest. We were melting in the midday heat and our four year old was a non-mover. To put it into perspective, it’s the equivalent of driving the wrong way around the M25. Turning back on ourselves, we walked past an open drain, just to the right of the pavement, and spotted a 6ft monitor lizard slowly plodding past, going about his daily food hunt. He paused, eyeballed Rhino, then swished his tail around to carry on his way. 

A chance encounter with a prehistoric species, right here in the middle of a bustling city centre. Simply because we were in the right place at the right time, having taken the wrong turn.

Sometimes you have to take the rough with the smooth.

The KL Forest Eco Park’s rainforest canopy provides welcome relief from the heat of the sun, both for us and for its many diverse species. Its pure green sanctuary sits in stark contrast to the bustling city outside and is a sobering reminder that the whole city area was once a rainforest home to many now endangered species. That was a saddening thought and a sobering reminder of the devastating consequences that rapid urbanisation in such developing countries has had. 

The girls were excited by the 21m high canopy walk (broken wooden slats and all) in the forest and learned about the incredible biodiversity of Malaysia from the small information centre. Upon exiting the forest we saw a sign warning of the dangerous species inside and just as we were feeling in the middle of the jungle, a tourist asked us if we knew the way to the Upside Down House and we were suddenly jolted back to reality as the girls asked if we could go there too. 

Petaling Street (Chinatown) is a crowded maze of shops, scooters, hustlers and food stalls. DO NOT SPIT was marked in capitals on the wall of the one we chose to stop in, to get a break from the midday heat. Our eyes were distracted by the craziness, the colours, the buzzing of bikes and the calls of the sellers from their stalls. We wandered through, and the girls asked what was hanging up in the food stalls. 

Roasted ducks and chicken. 

Complete with heads and feet. It suddenly hit me that they’d only ever seen a cooked chicken without its feet and head and they hadn’t made the link between the hens in their friend’s garden and the chicken they eat for their Sunday roast. You can imagine their astonishment when they learned that chicken’s feet were quite the local delicacy although we couldn’t quite convince them to give them a try, and Kitty was more than thrilled to find a Baby Shark ice lolly instead.

Jalan Alor is a feast for the stomach and for the senses. A myriad of food stalls and restaurants line the street, which really comes alive at night. The smell of Malaysian cooking fills the air and we wandered, drooling, past the fusion of cuisine on offer – Satay, Pork Buns, Curries, Crispy Frog…We settled upon a Chinese restaurant and ate some of the best Chinese food we have ever tasted for a very modest £15. Service came with a smile and the staff worked with purpose. There was nothing fancy about this place, and yet it was perfect. Ice cold Tiger beers, special fried rice, and an open drain under the table covered by a plank of wood. 

For this is Kuala Lumpur, Singapore’s poor neighbour.

And despite its rough edges and flaws, it delivered everything we really wanted out of the trip. What Kuala Lumpur lacks in sophistication and efficiency, it more than makes up for in the cultural experience it offers.

That evening, whilst wandering the Bukit Bintang in search of more food (pork buns, I think?), we experienced the weather that puts the rain in rainforest. A spectacular storm thundered down upon us and we dodged the busy traffic wading through puddles trying to find the pavements in the steamy streets. The girls were laughing out loud; we were all wet through. We stood still in the buzzing street, wholly contented and quite literally soaked it all in with smiles on our faces. I don’t think I will ever forget the joy we shared in that moment, and it was then that the realisation hit me:  

Kuala Lumpur may not be as wealthy as its famous neighbour, but it is certainly just as rich.