Tour Through Kuala Lumpur

Early start for my roomie and me. Anna had added me to the free city tour she’d discovered. So, after a hurried breakfast, we scurried through the streets of KL.

At this point, it feels apropos to mention that my feet are still undergoing maintenance work. Like the common sight of roadworks with no actual workers present to bring about the proclaimed change, my feet are similarly devoid of progress. In short: every step hurts.

The free tour, as it turned out, had a lot to offer. Hakim, our guide - a self-proclaimed nerd - was knowledgeable and experienced, having guided not only in KL but also in Scotland and elsewhere (if only I could remember). He also claimed to be multilingual - though most of the evidence suggested he could at least count to 13 in any language we threw at him. To be fair, he did know a few phrases here and there.

The tour lasted about three hours and wasn’t just walking and listening. We also tasted three fruits: mangosteen, rambutan, and another lychee-related fruit - small, round, green, and quite delicious: longan.

(I, of course, am already a fully initiated mangosteen enthusiast. In Singapore, I had 31 in less than 24 hours.)

We were also given a bottle of water, a free drink - I chose Bandung, a sweet, floral rose syrup drink mixed with evaporated milk, popular throughout Malaysia and Singapore; milky, fragrant, and surprisingly refreshing - and a small sample of a local dish. It appeared to be meat in a curry-like sauce served alongside what looked like soft, net-like crêpe rolls: roti jala.

Finally, we even got a free metro ride to the city centre.

From what I gathered, Hakim may have paid for parts of this himself and/or had arrangements with local vendors. Either way, for a free tour, it far exceeded expectations.

At the end of the tour, we wandered through the area of the Petronas Towers - the tallest twin towers in the world at 452 metres, completed in 1998 and holding the title of world’s tallest buildings until 2004. We had already admired them the night before from the Helipad, glowing beautifully in all their architectural flair.

Anna and I then grabbed a Grab - no, I’m not giving myself credit for a weak figura etymologica - and headed to the Batu Caves.Read more