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- What’s Kuala Lumpur like? Not for me
What’s Kuala Lumpur like? Not for me
I left Kuala Lumpur after spending over a month there, and it wasn’t exactly what I expected. There were aspects of it I found really interesting, but in short, it’s a fairly loud metropolis, which isn’t really my vibe for the long-run. But let me break it down for you a little more.
Accommodation was tricky
This was trickier than I expected. From what I understand, rentals get much cheaper for annual contracts, but on the monthly, I ended up paying $465 for one bedroom in a three-bedroom apartment. Not terrible, but more expensive than most places in Southeast Asia. That being said, I was in a popular nightlife district (Bukit Bintang). This wasn’t so much by choice. It was more about finding a good enough place located centrally. But, it did mean I got to walk past lively crowds, insistent bar staff, and sex workers whenever I wanted to get groceries.
Social Life is Decent
Kuala Lumpur is a lively city, and I think without too much effort it’s definitely possible to find a good community and activities. I went to several group fitness activities and a boxing club through ClassPass (referral link), highly recommend checking it out. I also went to Salsa Classes at Ritmo Latin Dance School, played board games with a group I spontaneously met at Starbucks, and joined a few traveler meet-ups through Couchsurfing. I highly recommend the Couchsurfing app as always for meeting fellow travelers and group activities. So, not much to complain about on this front. It’s a really vibrant and active city, and I think if I had stayed longer, I could have developed some good friendships.
It’s kind of walkable
I tend not to explore as much as I’d like to. I think it’s really just part of the working digital-nomad lifestyle. On recent trips, I’ve found myself generally staying within a couple of miles or kilometers of my residence. I don’t necessarily see this as a bad thing, it does give me the opportunity to more deeply explore the area I’m in, but it does mean I tend to only see a few parts of a city. That being said, I was primarily near the central KLCC area, which is a cool area to be in. It’s where the impressive Petronas Towers and other mesmerising skyscrapers are. This area was very walkable, or scootable. I liked using the electric scooters, and they are plentiful and fairly cheap to ride here. But KL still feels more built for cars than pedestrians. Crossing roads can be chaotic. Lights are more suggestions than rules, and breaking them is often a necessity, as crosswalks can take unreliably long to turn. Moving beyond the center becomes more challenging and unpleasant. But for that, there is a really nice metro system. There’s also Grab (Uber equivalent) that works very well and is fairly affordable.
It’s a city of contrasts
That seems like a cliché thing to say; big cities are often full of contrasts. But, here you just feel it more than others. Kuala Lumpur can feel very fancy, advanced, and expensive in parts. There are massive shopping malls everywhere, that are frankly a pain to navigate. There are also huge populations of migrants; generational Chinese and Indian populations, and newer migrants seeking refuge from economic and political situations: Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Somalia... It’s an East meets West safe haven of sorts. It’s very Muslim, and yet also fairly liberal, where all appear free to live as they wish. Though, it is more complicated than that for locals. From the little I’ve heard, there are common struggles between liberal and conservative values here too, and challenges to civil liberties. But as it is now, I found it impressive in this regard.
Not my vibe for the long-run
I have a lot of good to say about KL. Yet, its chaotic nature felt at times too much for me. This is likely also related to the area in which I was staying. I do look forward to visiting Malaysia again, and exploring beyond Kuala Lumpur.
Have you been? What are your impressions of it?
Excited to explore more of SE Asia.
Take care,
Naser
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