kuala lumpur text

Almost 10 years ago on my way back to Europe from Australia, I decided to make a stop over in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia’s capital city. It might have been the jet-lag or the blazing heat or the huge crowd always wandering around, all these and much more, but KL, as the locals call their city, didn’t touch a cord in my memory. I actually kept a few nice memories, like the beautiful orchid nurseries and the vast Pudu open food market, but nothing more. I was drawn back to KL by “word of mouth” that the KL I once knew has changed. In fact, the instance I touched Malaysian soil, I wondered, then doubted that I flew into the very same city.

On my first trip we landed on what seamed to be a nondescript spot, somewhere in the open countryside, with a terminal that was nothing more than a huge shapeless concrete box located more than an hour away from the city center by old busses or taxi cabs. Now, when one lands in KL International Airport is greeted by a steel, marble and crystal terminal of stylish design, accented with lush tropical flora, coffee shops and high-end shopping. The entire complex is conveniently connected to the city via modern high speed rail. Not a bad first impression. And then one gets in the middle of the spinning and changing swirl.

Where before confusion was the king, one can now find large interconnected highways lined by palm trees, bougainvillea and hibiscus flowers; where once anonymous buildings dotted the horizon now stand the tallest skyscrapers on the planet, the Petronas Towers, and Menara KL, one of the tallest communications towers in Asia, not to mention a forest of other sleek high rise buildings; where once ordinary museums were opening their doors to occasional tourists now one enters the highly elaborated domes and black and white marbles designs architectures of rich collections of Islamic and Asian art. And more, let’s talk about shopping opportunities and nightlife. The first are as vast as Americans’ and as trendy as European capitals shopping streets, the second goes on all night in bars and restaurants lining Telawi streets in Bangsar and around the Beach Club.

The metro system is completely automated. There are numerous beautiful city parks, dotted by ponds, fountains to refresh spirit and the body, since the blazing heat is the same I remembered from my first visit. Actually, there were a few things that didn’t change: the people’s kindness and smiling courtesy; the busy crowds, the odds and ends for sale at Petaling street in Chinatown; the air conditioning, more odds and ends, the always convenient currency exchanger at the Central Market; the huge hell-like cave of the Pudu Raya bus station; the peaceful oasis of Masjid Jamek, the Friday Mosque; the colonial buildings circling Merdeka square; the densely populated suburbs and the laundry covered facades of the projects; the personal safety felt anywhere at any time of day or night.

In just a few years, Kuala Lumpur has risen from anonymity to the thrilling forefront on the Asian stage of interesting capital cities. It has become a first class destination and a base port for which you embark on you journey to explore the rest of Malaysia’s colonial and Asian history, world renown diving locations, pristine beaches, untouched tropical forests rich in unique flora and fauna. Curiosity was the only reason that brought me back, now I definitely have many, many others.