We arrange with the concierge desk of the condo for a ride to the airport. Our stay in KL has been very nice, but it is time to move on to Singapore. Our driver texts me via WhatsApp that he is here as we are in the elevator to the lobby. Perfect timing!

The driver turns out to be quite a talker - he didn’t stop during the full hour that we ride to the airport. We learn his life story. He discusses China’s loans to build infrastructure in Indonesia. He tells us that the government is in the process of building a new city closer to the airport which will become the new capital of Indonesia. He reminds us that the King of Indonesia moves every five years through a number of Sultan families. He talks about the collapse of the government over the weekend then adds “Sure, the government collapsed, but look around. People are still going about their daily life. No impact”. Whew, we’re exhausted from listening when we arrive.
 
We purposely have left the condo extra early because we were not sure what to expect at the airport with the coronavirus scare. We are concerned that there might be long lines due to extra screening, etc. It turns out that the impact is that the airport is almost deserted. There are six agents waiting to do check-in’s for JetStar Airlines with no one in line. We’re asked if we have been to China in the past 14 days. We walk towards Immigration and there isn’t a person in front of us, even though only three booths are open. We breeze through and go find the lounge to await our 50 minute flight to Singapore.
 
Arrival in Singapore is very easy and the taxi ride is less than 20 minutes to the Swissotel, which will be our home for the next four nights. Due to the coronavirus they have setup body temperature monitors as people enter the building. We must also fill out a form with our travel history during the check-in process.
 
The Swissotel is right on Clarke Quay where we have a room with a balcony overlooking the water and the restaurants on the quay. After dinner we lounge in chairs on the balcony and do some serious people-watching late into the evening. William enjoys a cigar (which is allowed on the balconies) and we sip a beverage. Fun!

On our last full day in KL we have a lazy start just hanging around the condo and doing a little organization for packing.

In the early afternoon we walk over to KLCC and pop into Galeria Petronas. This free art gallery is right within the mall at Petronas Towers. The pieces range in style, but one of the more interesting sections for me is the portraits of artists.

​Following lunch we waddle back to the condo - for some time by the pool for me and some time chilling in front of an old movie on TV for William. When I return from the pool I sit on the balcony and once again see the city in the distance that appears only when the clouds clear. It sometimes seems be floating in the sky. My curiosity is heightened and I text our host. He quickly responds that it is Genting Highlands, about 45 minutes away and one of the foremost tourist spots near KL. I look it up and learn it has a cable car to the summit and at the top are amusement areas and a resort. Flashback to Vietnam’s Sun World!!!

I signed us up for an Airbnb Experience (a.k.a. tour) to Batu Caves. Jeff (our host) picks us up at 10:30 and we join Ketan, a chef from Chicago for the tour. On the 30 minute drive to the caves Jeff gives us some background on Indonesia, talks about the resignation of the Prime Minister which occurred over the weekend and answers our questions.

As we arrive we learn that the caves are in a limestone hill. The caves contain Hindu shrines and are dedicated to Lord Murugan. To prove it a huge gold-colored statue of Lord Murugan is at the base of the 272 colorful steps leading to the caves. We go through the temples at the base, even receiving blessings from the priests who place and red and white dots on our foreheads.

​Jeff provides us with bottles of water, warns us about the monkeys stealing shiny objects and food, and we begin the climb up the steps. There’s a landing area after each section of steps which allows us to catch our breath as needed. The monkeys also like to entertain (or steal) along the steps.

​At the top we walk into the largest cave, appropriately called Cathedral Cave or Temple Cave. There are a number of temples on the floor of the cave then another set of stairs to reach the upper temple. We take our time walking around and learn from Jeff that the temples are the site of the Thaipusam Festival which draws Hindu pilgrims from Indonesia and across the world. The monkeys who occupy the cave seem to be as big of a draw for tourists as the temples.

Following the caves Jeff drives us to a restaurant/coffee shop. This is a very local place - we appear to be the only “outsiders”, but we are greeted with wide smiles by the staff and patrons. Jeff orders hot coffee for William and Ketan and a tea for me. All come with some amount of evaporated milk in the cup. Oh well. Jeff also orders us “toasts”, a typical KL breakfast or snack. They are tasty bread slices which have been toasted and a liberal amount of butter and jam spread in the middle. Mmmm.
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On the drive back we learn a little more about Jeff. He completed his first degree, worked for a while and now is in school to be a construction estimator. He runs these Airbnb tours on weekends and during his school breaks. Brilliant! William and I comment that we wish that it would have been a possibility for us when we were in school, especially when William returned to school for his second degree.
 
The entire tour took 3 - 3.5 hours, with an hour of it in transit. It was interesting, and good to get out of the KL city center, but it was nothing like our temple experience in Cambodia.

William is the chef of our protein heavy daily breakfasts at the condo, which means we are ready for lunch (our main meal of the day) around 2 pm. So we primarily try out Kuala Lumpur’s international food scene for late lunches. Unfortunately we have opportunity to try only a minuscule sample of what is available, mostly restaurants within a 20 minute walk from the condo.

Our first full day here we used Google Maps to help us find Tatto, an upscale Italian restaurant where we are one of three tables during the mid-afternoon. Their mushroom pasta brings a broad smile to William’s face and I thoroughly enjoy their whitefish entree.

​Two Sons Bistro is in the mall at Petronas Twin Towers. They offer an executive lunch with various Malaysian entrees. My chicken choice comes with a leg and thigh covered with curry, a spicy vegetable medley, and a tower of rice. I am careful to avoid the entrees with chili peppers next to the names, but still I feel heat - especially from the vegetables!

​Healy Mac’s is an Irish Pub which we repeat during our stay, partially due to the food, partially due to the Kilkenny beer, and partially due to their broadcast of New Zealand rugby matches.

When meandering near Merdeka Square we stop in a spot for Indian Butter Chicken. It helps that Little India is just a couple of kilometers away. The dish is okay, but not nearly as good as what I have experienced in Bangalore.

Again walking around the Mall at Petronas Towers in search of food we stumble across Thai Odessey, a cafe associated with a Thai spa. Ah... Chicken Massamam!

Madam Kwan’s is a Malaysian chain of eight restaurants owned by Kwan Swee Lian. We tried getting into the one in KLCC during the regular lunch hour and there was a long queue of office workers. We save it for a Sunday where there isn’t much of a queue, but after we are seated we find out that families love it - the noise level from little voices permeates. I choose Char Kway Teow as my entree, which is a dish of flat noodles, dark soy sauce, chicken, prawns, squid, egg and bean sprouts. It has just a bit of spice and it’s delightful. Apparently Madam Kwan’s is big enough to package their own snacks.
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We found all of the restaurants we tried to be quite reasonably priced. With a glass of wine and a beer we usually spent the equivalent of $31 USD including service charge and tax. Of course, if we would have gone to a high end restaurant with steaks imported from Australia or Japan the price would have been much higher.

If/when we return to Kuala Lumpur we’ll check out more of the food scene.

Yesterday we stopped at the ticket booth for the Petronas Twin Towers tour and bought tickets for today’s 12:15 tour. Reading reviews online it sounded like we had little to no chance of getting same day tickets and modest chance of getting tickets for the next day. We were surprised that there were plenty of tickets available yesterday as well as today. But then we remembered: the major tourist-providing country for this region (China) has stopped all tours.

Petronas Twin Towers were the tallest towers in the world from 1998 until 2004. Petronas is short for Petrolium Nasional Bernard, is an oil and gas company fully owned by the Government of Malaysia. I guess that explains where the money came from for such a magnificent building.

​We stand in line beginning at noon and promptly at 12:15 they begin processing our group. First we have a temperatures taken then go through the security check. First stop is the 41st floor Skybridge, which links the two buildings. It’s actually a double-decker bridge, but the 42nd floor is only used by the occupants of the building. We learn that Tower 1 is fully used for employees of Petronas and it’s subsidiaries - I think they said 12,000 people. According to a video William watched while on the tour the Skybridge is not actually attached, rather it slides in and out of the towers as they sway. I am very glad he didn’t tell me that until after the tour.

​After 10 minutes on the Skydeck taking photos our group is called to the elevator for our ascent to the 86th floor Observation Deck. The elevator ride is smooth and quiet other than when a woman coughs. She started laughing and everyone joined in - of course thinking about the Corona Virus.
 
We have 15-20 minutes on the Observation Deck, looking out the windows at almost a 360 degree view, watching videos and looking at the displays. It’s a straight ride down the 86 floors in the elevator which lets us out in front of the gift shop (of course).  I look at my watch, and yes, the tour is exactly 45 minutes as they had advertised.

We use the second day of our Hop-On Hop-Off ticket to do Hop-Off exploring. We start at Merdeka Square, which is Independence Square. The British flag was lowered here and the Malaysian flag raised for the first time on August 31, 1957. Running alongside the square is the 1800’s Sultan Abdul Samad building with it’s clock tower and copper domes.

​We walk around for a bit, stopping by an area known as the River of Life. It is a walk along the Klang River. The city has invested significantly in cleaning up the river and turning the area into a venue for relaxing and dining.

​After lunch we check out Central Market. The market, built in 1928, is now a tourist attraction with various stores and stalls. Although there are some original products and handicrafts it has it’s share of cheap tourist stuff. Oh well.

Central Market is just a short distance from Petaling Street and China Town, a must see!  We wander through the booths and stores of China Town - many selling knock-off products ($10 Rolex, anyone?). At one point we take a route through the back-side of the kitchens for a block of small restaurants. Let’s just say it was a bit scary.
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On the edge of China Town is Sri Mahariamman Temple, the oldest Hindu temple in KL, founded in 1873. The impressive five-tiered gate tower with depictions of Hindu gods was built in 1972. From China Town we Hop-On the bus again and it takes us back to the Petronas Twin Towers, just a 15-20 minute walk to our condo. It has been a fun day.

​We spend our first few days in Kuala Lumpur chilling out and predominantly enjoying the condo while we begin to catch up on e-mail, photo processing and blogging. I savor relaxing by the pool in the afternoons. In the evening we sometimes go up to the rooftop deck and enjoy the Petronas Twin Towers - it is almost as if they are next door. The Towers at night as well as the pool chairs offer an opportunity for William to practice with our new photography tripod.

​Today, Tuesday, we are ready for some adventure so we purchase 48 hour tickets for the Hop-On Hop-Off bus. Each of the two routes takes two hours to complete. We do both routes by primarily sitting on the bus watching the people on the streets, the sites, and listening to the live narrative. There’s a mix of old and new along the routes. The city has some amazing recent architecture in addition to the Petronas Twin Towers, and there are cranes everywhere we look working on new condos, business buildings, hotels and mixed-used buildings. The Exchange 106 Skyscraper is now the tallest building in Malaysia, while KL Tower is a communications tower is the third-most famous building in the city. But the Merdeka 118 building is currently under construction and it will become the tallest in KL and South East Asia, and the second tallest in the world.
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Along the red bus route we spot Healy Mac’s Irish Bar. Since we have a track record of sampling Irish bars throughout the world we decide that is the spot for our late lunch. William sips on a Kilkenny while he waits for his rib lunch and I have a glass of wine to accompany my croque monsieur. Ok, so we didn’t go with traditional Irish food, but pork is not something we’ve found in the Kuala Lumpur restaurants up until now, a reflection of the Muslim population.

It’s been a wonderful trip but this morning we must go our separate ways. Dan and Martha fly home to San Francisco via Seoul. Jim and Monique extend their time in Vietnam, heading to Phu Quoc Island for some beach time. And William and I go south to Kuala Lumpur for new experiences. It’s hugs all around before we separate at the airport.
 
Our flight to KL is uneventful and we quickly pass through Immigration then collect our bags. This is Sunday and the roads are generally not congested, but it still takes 50 minutes for us to arrive at our Airbnb condo. It’s a very nice one bedroom on the 17th floor of 37 story twin buildings right in the central business district. The 6th floor connects the buildings and is home to the pools, exercise room and squash court.
 
We walk to the nearby Avenue K Mall for some food (the Nando’s Peri-Peri Chicken chain has outlets here) and get caught in one of the famous Southeast Asia downpours.  I have a rain jacket on but my slacks and shoes are sopping wet. Oh well, welcome to Malaysia!