January/February 2019 - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
The Mingle Hostel in the heart of Kuala Lumpur’s Chinatown almost felt like home as we finally engaged in some much-needed extended conversations with other people. The hosts were incredibly friendly and welcoming, as were the guests we spent our time with. We danced at the Reggae Mansion club, played beer pong, drank cheap buckets of G&T, swam in the rooftop infinity pool whilst sipping cocktails and ate at a food market trying many (well, vegetables and rice for me) local delicacies.
The Mingle Hostel in the heart of Kuala Lumpur’s Chinatown almost felt like home as we finally engaged in some much-needed extended conversations with other people. The hosts were incredibly friendly and welcoming, as were the guests we spent our time with. We danced at the Reggae Mansion club, played beer pong, drank cheap buckets of G&T, swam in the rooftop infinity pool whilst sipping cocktails and ate at a food market trying many (well, vegetables and rice for me) local delicacies.
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| Batu Caves |
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| Batu Caves |
A 30-minute train ride from Sentral Station can take you to the extraordinary Batu Caves - a limestone hill with a series of caves containing temples. The world's tallest statue - at 42.7m (140 ft) - of Lord Murugan - the Hindu God of War - stands outside the caves beside the 272 recently painted (August 2018) multicoloured steps. Despite the many wandering chickens, dogs and pigeons, one particularly beautiful temple inside the cave and the incomparable view from below make this a must-see.
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| Batu Caves |
In search of a bar, the very useful (but not always reliable) app maps.me directed us to what looked like a woman in a small box selling superhero figurines. Disgruntled, we continued our search but to no avail. From afar, I spotted two people enter the apparent toy shop. We curiously and cautiously entered the dimly-lit, niche speak-easy bar called PS150 and consumed arguably the tastiest cocktail ever (other than an espresso martini, obviously) in what seemed like the coolest place to be on a Saturday night in KL - and I would know (calling it KL is another thing cool people do).
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| Infinity Pool |
The free-of-charge National Art Gallery will be remembered more for its inspiring creative responses to those affected by cancer or a rare growth disease in the country than its several off-white canvases. The National Museum (also free) provided an overly-heavy yet an intriguing explanation of how Malaysia became the country it is today - from the pre-historic ages to their independence in 1963 from the British. The latter failed to provide air-con and made the endless reading all-the-harder to concentrate on.
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| National Art Gallery |
I found my first fix of football - or futsal - seven train stops away and have never sweated so much in the air-con-free sports hall. The Stranger Soccer website made it easy to find a game for English-speakers and the staff were very helpful. And yes, I of course scored some absolute worldies and everyone was gutted that I wouldn’t be returning to grace them with my magical feet again.
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