Masjid Jamek

"World city" is exactly the kind of description the Malaysian government would like people to use when describing their capital. It seems that the government has decided to put Malaysia's development into fast forward. The goal is to position Malaysia as a modern, first world, southeast Asian nation by 2020. In practice, this seems to involve pouring lots and lots of concrete and funding dazzling infrastructure projects. The airport, KL Train Station, the Petronas Towers, and the new suburbs of Cyberjaya and Putrajaya south of the city are all examples of this goal in action.

Kuala Lumpur's heart lies at the junction of the Sungai Klang and Sungai Gombok (rivers). According to Lonely Planet, the name Kuala Lumpur means "muddy confluence," which describes this location when it was first settled by tin prospectors in 1857. Today, the two rivers are not much more than concrete drainage ditches and above-ground oil pipelines. That being said, a beautiful mosque sits at the junction of the rivers and provides an oasis of minarets and palm trees. This mosque, Masjid Jamek, is open to the public for a few hours each day. During these hours visitors are able to walk the grounds. A great photo spot is located on the bridge just south of the mosque on Lebuh Pasar Besar looking back towards the mosque.

Just southeast of Masjid Jamek lies Medan Pasar, a square where numerous city bus routes intersect. South of that, also on the east side of the river, is the Central Market. It's filled with craft stalls, shops and restaurants. This is a hectic part of town, good for people watching and bargaining for stuff. Nearby is Sze Yah Temple, a small Taoist temple in an alley off Lebuh Pudu. Clinton made a small donation to the temple and in return one of the temple workers asked his name, sprinkled water on his head and then took a swing at a big gong while yelling Clinton's name along with a Chinese blessing. Of course this all happened so quickly that I couldn't get the camera out. See the Photo Gallery for a picture of Clinton shortly after his blessing and note his apparent blissful countenance.

Clinton became addicted to vegetarian sticky buns at the Good Good Taste Food Court in Chinatown. We ended up here more than once! The outdoor marketplace on Jalan Petaling, also in Chinatown, is a must see. We hesitate to try and describe it, though. Jalan Petaling is a north-south street with a series of narrow passages through hundreds of stalls selling mostly fake Nikes and sarongs. It just so happens that we were in the market for fake Nikes and sarongs, so we found exactly what we were looking for. There's also an abundance of clothing, jewelry, souvenirs, roasted peanuts, and flirtatious young men who only want to sell you something! The experience was claustrophobic but not scary. The guys working in the stalls were laid back and it's easy to walk away if you're not interested in what they are selling. When we finally squeezed our tall sweaty disoriented selves out of the stalls and back onto the street we turned to each other and proudly exclaimed "Holy crap, we're in Asia!"

We had a few bits of information about gay nightlife in Kuala Lumpur, but as with anyplace the information is hard to confirm and subject to change. Luckily I was able to strike up a conversation with a guy in the steam room of our hotel. While never acknowledging his own sexual orientation, he confirmed that the place to be on Friday nights for guys like myself was a restaurant bar called Frangipani. This place is located in the Golden Triangle area at 25 Jl Changkat Bukit Bintang. It was, in fact, extremely gay. The downstairs appeared to be a French fusion restaurant and the upstairs was a gorgeous lounge. If it's still around when you visit KL you'll definitely want to stop by.

The name says it all!

US State Department Information on Malaysia

Malaysian Government Immigration Information

Jamie at Merdeka Square

Kuala Lumpur is hot and steamy, and we struggled a bit with deciding what to wear. Why is this important, you ask? Well, Malaysia is a predominantly Muslim country. Many of the locals were extremely fashionable, yet it seemed that a conservative approach to clothing was the norm. Most guys were in jeans or pants and button down shirts. Nobody wears shorts. We settled on khaki flat front pants and short sleeve tee's during the day, and jeans with button down shirts made of light fabric at night. Tight fitting sandals or open toed shoes allowed us to avoid wearing socks which was nice for walking in the heat. Maybe it's a little silly to worry about your wardrobe while on vacation, but trust us there is nothing more conspicuous than a white guy in shorts and a tank top and flip flops walking around Kuala Lumpur. You don't want to be that guy! Follow the lead of the locals and you'll be fine.

KL has two metro lines. The Putra line runs from the Putra Terminal at Gombak to Kelana Jaya. The Star line runs from Sentul Timur and has two branches to either Ampang or Sri Petaling. These metro lines were built independent of each other and technically do not connect. It's possible to change lines at Masjid Jamek station, where the two lines cross, by leaving one system's station and walking to the other. Fares are based on distance travelled. Ticket machines are located outside the turnstiles of most stations, or you may purchase tickets from the attendants. You will have to tell the attendant where you are going so that he or she will charge you the correct fare. The system is extremely clean and rather futuristic. It is heavily used, however, so be prepared to get cozy with lots of go-go urban Malaysians.

KL also has an interesting monorail line that links KL Sentral train station to Titiwangsa metro station via the Golden Triangle. The connection at KL Sentral is tenuous and requires one to exit the ground level of KL Sentral and walk across an empty lot and cross a street to access the monorail. The monorail ride itself is cool and really adds to the Epcot Meets Blade Runner vibe that we kept feeling all over town!

As we just referenced, KL Sentral is the main intercity train station. Trains from Singapore arrive here and it is directly linked to the Putra metro line. The older train station, Kuala Lumpur Station, lies to the north of KL Sentral and is served by commuter rail trains. It is not well connected to the metro but its worth a look for its architecture. The western facade of the station faces the National Railways headquarters and both are elegant colonial masterpieces.

Kuala Lumpur's old train station

KL Metro System Information

Malaysian National Railways Information

There's more to Kuala Lumpur that we didn't have time to see, but we're definitely planning to return. Our visit coincided with a major national holiday, and the Islamic Arts Museum, which we were greatly looking forward to, was closed. Still, we feel that visiting Malaysia gave us a great opportunity to learn about Islamic culture. We were lucky enough to have a long conversation on the train with a college student about Islam and how modern Malaysians incorporate religion into their lives. In retrospect, talking to him in the cafe car of a train rolling through miles and miles of palm tree estates was a lot more fun than any museum!

We would definitely like to hear other people's advice and insights about visiting KL and the rest of Malaysia. We found it to be safe, easy to navigate, and full of very helpful people. We were approached several times by guys who just wanted to talk, say hello, find out where we were from, and give us advice on where to get the best chicken. All this friendliness was surprising in the context of one of the most cosmopolitan places we've ever visited. Bottom line? KL is modern, easy, safe, cheap, hip and friendly. Go now!