After touching down in Kuala Lumpur, the Air Asia slogan caught our eye. After recent events, maybe that byline should be modified. We were entirely grateful to make it in one piece onto the tarmac.
There are two best restaurants in Kuala Lumpur's KLIA2 airport. Both eateries are near the exit to the city-bound shuttles, and both serve delicious vego dahl and roti. The second pic below is from NZ Curry (nothing to do with our NZ), and both of us ate for 3.60 Malaysian Ringitt. That sounds unbelievably cheap, but in kiwi dollars it's even better - $1.29NZ. The place is packed with locals, so that's high praise. Next time you're there, splurge out!
We headed for Jalan Petaling, which is Chinatown's main street. The cantankerous hawkers and street food vendors jostle for your attention as you meander through. Above us were row upon row of crimson Chinese lanterns, festively welcoming in the new year. Kuala Lumpur is known as the city of lights, which is a juxtaposition because Lumpur translates as mud.
KL's Chinatown is the place for you if you're after a new pair of sports shoes, electronic gadgetry, tshirts depicting beer logos and silly sayings, faux branded wallets, replica Rolex watches, or some greasy duck noodles. It's a glorious tack-fest, with a few gems chucked in. We were in our element!
How does that work actually? How do you get a massive pedestrian mall with perhaps 1000 mini stalls, that have only seven or eight types of products for sale? Does a guy just turn up one day and say 'there's a fake watch stall, they look like they're doing well, I'll sell them too.' Then that scenario happens a thousand times, and you end up with Chinatown?
We haven't really talked about haggling with shop keepers in other posts, but it's been a constant feature of our time here in Asia. I've learnt that I detest conflict, and haggling feels like such a nasty argument to me. It's also become apparent that the locals are experts at haggling, and unless you have a plan in ya head before you start, you may walk away disappointed. Offering 60% of their bargaining opener is a good start, and usually you end up with paying about 75% of the original price. It's helpful to remember that it's all a game. And Asians hate to lose face, so a happy smile and a good natured banter is always appreciated by the locals.
We've found an effective strategy is to wander around to find multiple shops with the items we're wanting. Politely ask each shop keeper the price, and see what the response is. As you walk away, they'll often drop the price incrementally to their lowest offer. If it's good, turn around and do the deal.
West of Chinatown is the Central Market and Kasturi Walk, worth a check out. What caught our eye was scenes like the one below. Old world buildings mix with modern skyscrapers. Rich and poor go about their business. Asia is a melting pot of the dapper and the beggars. The chill of air conditioning co-exists with the Asian wet and warm newspaper smell. The haves and have-nots all eat rice, meat and veggies.
We were glad to try some new fruit in Malaysia. Ciku are similar to feijoas, except crunchy and a more mild flavour. Josepine and nashi pears taste a bit similar. Jackfruit have a banana-like flavour. And sengkuang is a crunchy, and rather dull version of a pear.
Kuala Lumpur is a burgeoning town, and quite a young town in Asian standards. About 200 years ago settlers made their home on the fertile plains between the two rivers and began the sprawling Malaysian metropolis. Now it boasts the sixth best airport in the world for people who wanna sleep over (Singapore's Changi airport is number one). There's even a website dedicated to such information! We had late arrivals and early departures, so we did it twice ... Highly recommend it if you can cope with hard floors and bright lights. Cheers KL!
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