Kuala Lumpur

Food & Drink

• Wanjo – one of the best meals of the entire trip. Family owned and operated since 1964. Get the mango smoothie and the marinated chicken with rice and veg. I ate here twice in 3 days

Sights

• Batu Caves – honestly a bit overrated; it's really just two big chasm rooms, and extremely touristy. Skip it if you're also planning to see the caves at Phong Nha–Ke Bang in Vietnam

Experiences

• The markets — Pesar Seni, Petaling Street, Chow Kit Road Market, Pasar Malam Taman Connaught
• Drinks on a helipad thirty stories up
• A heavenly food tour
• Watching a Malaysian cover band play Western hits with real vigor

Getting Around

• Walkable in the center, with markets and nightlife spread through easily reachable neighborhoods

Travel Tips

• Don't skip the food tour — it might be the single best way to understand the city's cultural melting pot
• The Petronas Towers are, in my opinion, some of the most beautiful buildings I've ever seen — worth seeing lit up at night

Overall Review

This was arguably my favorite city of the entire trip. Maybe it was the friends I made, maybe it was the drinks on top of a helipad thirty stories up, or the heavenly food tour, or the truly remarkable cultural melting pot and earnestness of the people who call this place home. Maybe it was the infectious nightlife, or the Malaysian cover band playing Western hits with perfection and vigor. Whatever it was, I was not bored for a second. Even just walking the streets felt different from the weeks prior. I can't fully explain what made this place stand out to me the way it did, but if you visit, I hope it stands out to you too. Also — the Petronas Towers are probably the most beautiful buildings I have ever seen in my life.