First Time in Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur! Off to the Night Market Right Away!【51】

Utilizing the year-end and New Year holidays, I went on a 5-night, 7-day trip to Malaysia.

I flew from Narita Airport on Malaysia Airlines, transiting through Kota Kinabalu on the way there, and had a direct flight on the way back. Due to booking about a month in advance, the price surged for direct flights, so I reluctantly chose to transit. Still, it cost 85,000 yen for the round trip.

The late booking was due to the overlap of the year-end holidays and moving, which made it difficult to finalize the travel dates. However, moving closer to Narita has made it easier for future overseas trips!

The flight was scheduled to depart at 9:30, but a technical issue with the aircraft caused a one-hour delay. It's a common perception that LCCs often have delays, but it seems full-service carriers can also experience delays.

Malaysia Airlines is a full-service carrier, so in-flight meals were provided. I hadn't had breakfast, so I finished the meal quickly. (I didn't take a photo, and I don't remember what it was, but I recall it being tasty.)

Due to arriving over an hour late at the transit point in Kota Kinabalu, I was worried about making the connecting flight. However, the connecting flight was also delayed, so I was able to transit successfully.

Since we were already in Malaysia, I noticed a few individuals wearing Muslim scarves. It's a rare sight in Japan, so it heightened the feeling of being abroad.

After all that, we departed Kota Kinabalu and headed to Kuala Lumpur. As soon as we took off, it was time for the second in-flight meal of the day. It was a curry-flavored chicken rice, a macaron-like sweet, and peanuts. The rice had a slight sweetness, but I enjoyed it. The macaron? It was sweet and tasted good with tea.

Upon arrival at Kuala Lumpur International Airport, we took the KLIA Express to the city. The ticket booth was right before the gates, and it accepted credit cards. We could also purchase tickets from the machine, so boarding was smooth. We had been debating between taking a bus or a train until the day of, but due to being over an hour late, we chose the faster rail option.

We arrived at KL Sentral station in about 30 minutes. There was free Wifi on the train, so we meticulously checked our moves after arrival. We were a bit rushed since we were running later than planned. (It was a bit scary since it was our first time in the country and it was late at night.)

Once at KL Sentral, we headed to the connected shopping mall "NU Sentral" for currency exchange. We had heard that the rates were good, so we exchanged all our budget for this trip into Ringgit here. It was already past 9 PM, but one shop was still open.

After exchanging money, we headed straight to the MRT station. We obtained a "MyRapid" card at the ticket office near the gates. The lady at the ticket office was not very friendly, and her English was hard to understand, which left us with a slight distrust towards Malaysia as we headed to our lodging in Bukit Bintang.

We stayed at a guesthouse called "KLBackpacker.Com" this time. It was a budget-friendly choice at around 800 yen per night, and we stayed for 5 nights.

Although we arrived over an hour late, the staff was kind and accommodating. After a brief explanation of the facilities, they informed us about a convenient free bus service for sightseeing. They even showed us the nearest bus stop on Google Maps Street View.

After receiving the explanations and organizing our luggage, we ventured out into the night. There were several large streets and shopping malls near the guesthouse, making it one of the busiest areas in Kuala Lumpur. We strolled around until about 11 PM, but didn't feel any insecurity.

We briefly checked out the Pavilion and monorail station, which we would be using frequently during our stay, and headed to "Alor Street." It's a typical night market with numerous Malaysian local food stalls lining both sides of the street.

Amidst a crowd that made walking almost impossible, the first thing we bought was "Sugarcane Juice." We bought it because we were thirsty, but it was so sweet that it made us thirstier.

We weren't very hungry that day since we had two in-flight meals, so we bought some dumplings at the entrance of the street and ate them while sitting at a cheap terrace seat, observing the passersby. However, our attention was soon drawn to the erotic massage solicitors operating right next to us.

The dumplings were okay. I sensed a bit of a smell in the meat, but they weren't bad.

After finishing the dumplings, we headed back to the bustling area and bought a strawberry-flavored juice from a Korean-style? shop called "JUICY." Since there were no seats in the shop, we sat on some nearby stairs and watched the people go by.

Upon returning to the guesthouse, we took showers and went to bed while lightly planning for the next day.