Kuala Lumpur
On Thursday, we arrived in Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia. We plan to spend 4 days here, going on walking tours, meeting up with some friends, and celebrating Harper’s birthday.
KL is VERY humid and hot. It is also monsoon season, which sounds dramatic, but what it really means is that we’ll have a few periods of rain throughout our days, which is a great way to cool down and stop us from melting. We kept “the rain will cool us down” in mind when we booked a walking tour of KL in the afternoon, the hottest part of the day.
Our guide's name was Ian and he was great! He was very smart, fun, and paid attention to us kids, but just to the point where it wasn’t too much attention! During our tour with Ian, we went to four different places, all relatively close to each other, but far enough that it can still be considered a walking tour.
Our first place and meeting point was Plaza Tugu Negara, a park and memorial for the fallen soldiers who died while fighting for Malaysia’s freedom. Here, Ian told us a little background information and history about Malaysia. He told us there are 9 states and explained what each part of the crest of Malaysia represents. There is also a bronze statue called Tugu Negara. It was built by Felix de Weldon, the same artist who made a statue in Virginia of fallen soldiers in Hiroshima, and pays tribute to the soldiers who fought for Malaysia’s freedom.
Next we walked for 20 minutes (in the refreshing rain!) to Dataran Merdeka, which translates to “Independence Square.” This square was built by the British, which is somewhat ironic, because this is also the place where the first Malaysia flag was raised after declaring their independence from Great Britain.
After a much needed break to get in AC and enjoy a lemonade and a delicious strawberry croissant, we continued our tour to the Central Market, where you can find many food stalls, restaurants, and shops owned by local artisans.
Our last stop was Chinatown, which was incredibly quiet and not crowded due to Ramadan; all of the locals were fasting. There are many hawker stations and shops along the narrow streets and later, we came back for dinner at a Chinese Restaurant recommended by Ian.
We have had some great walking tours in Asia, with Meyu in Tokyo, Paylin in Chiang Mai, Eunice in Singapore and – our last one in Asia (!!!) – Ian in Kuala Lumpur. Although Eunice was still my favorite walking tour guide in all of the world, Ian came in as a close second! Now I just have to get Eunice and Ian to meet and play matchmaker, because I’m telling you, they would be a PERFECT couple!!!