AspiringNomad

I’ve just woken up from a nap on my flight between Kuala Lumpur and Kota Kinabalu in Borneo. Much needed after an amazing weekend in Kuala Lumpur.

Molly and I successfully arrived at KL International and made it through immigration. Whilst I was in the line filling out the immigration forms, tricking the system to avoid having to book a plane ticket to leave Malaysia, Molly was a few rows behind me busily booking an unnecessary flight for Monday morning to Cambodia as she was worried she wouldn’t be let into the country! Once we both made it through with a new stamp in our passports, we met Bavo, who had just flown in from Osaka, Japan. We spent some time trying to find somewhere to store Molly’s extra bag of clothes that she brought in Hoi An but gave up after the airport luggage staff said they weren’t sure whether the bag would even fit in their lockers!

I experienced my first ever 7-eleven and we all had our first taste of the unbelievably slow Grab taxis in KL. Our taxi confirmed fairly quickly but after about 30mins of waiting for it to turn up, the man cancelled our booking. We agreed with an airport taxi man to take us into the center for the same price as the Grab taxis and after about 2hrs of arriving at KL we were finally heading into the city. Molly had arranged to stay at a Hostel that she could leave her luggage at whilst she goes to Cambodia and Bavo and I had arranged to stay at a Hostel about 10mins away from her. Both locations were very central and close to shops, markets, parks and all the impressive buildings.

That evening I had my first Mc Donald’s since I had arrived in Asia and it was delicious. The usual Big Mac Meal and Coke was ordered and it was just what I needed! We then decided to head to a pub nearby called Oasis. It was a small little bar that replicated a dingey town pub in England and although it had a sign saying ‘I love Oasis’, played English music, had a pool table and had karaoke, the fact that all the songs were being sung dubbed in Malaysian by Malaysian people, it was very much NOT English! We sat chatting to a Finish guy and his friend (who I think he had only just met) from South Korea and my goodness could he sing! He cracked out a fantastic rendition of Bruno Mars and it was the best karaoke performance I’ve ever heard, so he got the praise he deserved afterwards with a big cheer! We then walked to the edge of the China town market and sat down on one of the little plastic chairs and tables and had one more drink taking in the heat, sound and smells around us. The atmosphere and energy of the city is addictive and although it is different to Phu Quoc, the change was welcome.

The following day, we were all absolutely exhausted. We laid in to an hour that is too embarrassing to write down but eventually made it out and met Molly at a shopping mall in her direction. We grabbed a drink and Kevin came to meet us as well. Kevin took us in his car to a really prettily decorated vegan restaurant (for Molly) nearby. We then tried one of Kevin’s favourite desserts from a stall outside that had kidney beans in it but believe it or not, it actually tasted really good! We wondered through the Chinatown Market avoiding any eye contact with the sellers to avoid getting harassed into their little shops selling counterfeit Patagonia, Nike, Cartier, and all the rest! Molly, Bavo and I had already decided that we all wanted to get a new piercing and after searching on Google throughout the week, Kuala Lumpur seemed as good of a place as any to get it done! So Kevin dropped us back off at the mall and off we went to get our ears done. I decided to go for a ‘flat’ positioned piercing, the others had their various piercings done too. After feeling pretty tired again we booked a taxi to get back. Classic Grab taxi in KL took about 35mins to arrive and we spent most of the journey stuck in traffic that gave any other big city a run for its money in terms of a busy rush hour. We didn’t arrive back until about 8:45pm and decided to have a power nap and freshen up before meeting Kevin and his friends for a few drinks.

Once we had the address, Kevin informed me that it was a speakeasy bar. We turned up at a very unassuming location down a fairly dodgy looking street. I trusted Kevin though and it paid off. We entered a big steel door inbetween two shops and headed up the stairs. Jerome, the bar owner who looked no older than 12, informed us that he was actually just about to go home but since there was 10 of us and half of them were his friends, he welcomed us into his wine bar. The light was dime with sofas dotted around and a piano sitting in the corner. We sat chatting whilst Jerome opened up a few bottles of his finest wine and it was delicious. It might be because it was my 3rd or 4th glass, but it was some of the best red wine I have ever had, and I would argue it comes in above what I had in Argentina! Kevin surprised us newbies with his piano skills and we all sang at the top of our lungs around the piano. It was lovely to be surrounded by a complete mix of people who were enjoying their night together well into the early hours of morning. At about 4am we decided to call it a night! The electric scooters may not have been the most safe mode of transport to get home in, in hindsight, but watching Molly speed off down the one way streets and through the red lights of a very quiet KL was something I wont ever forget! After about 15mins, she disappeared into the city, and I thought that might be the last time I see her, until I spotted a little light in the distance hurtling towards Bavo and I with a very drunk Molly behind the wheel. We luckily made it back safely, but I think it was about 8am by the time I actually got to sleep and boy did I pay for it the next day. Gone are the days of bouncing back, I was dead to the world and so was everyone else. I’m ashamed to say that it was the kind of day where I needed l another Mc Donald’s to feel better. But, I did manage to put a wash on and hang it our strange little apartment/hostel. I also had a good chat with Lina who is living in the Hostel/apartment, but apart from that our day was a bit of a write off. The Malaysians had officially broken the Europeans! Since being in KL, Molly and I were desperate to get to a rooftop bar so after having another delicious meal, Kevin picked us up from the restaurant and took us to the Heli Rooftop bar and it is exactly what it says on the tin. An old helicopter pad that has been used as a bar. No walls or safety measures were put in at the top meant the view was unspoilt. 360° of pure magic! The clear skies meant we could see for miles, our eyes were being completely spoilt! The buildings in Kuala Lumpur are really something else. It was so impressive, it was hard to believe they were actually real. We had two cocktails with our ticket to get to the top, but feeling a bit delicate, they took a while to drink! After soaking in the lights, Kevin kindly took us back to our hostels.

The following morning, Bavo and I met Molly at about 8am and grabbed a Starbucks near her hostel. She decided to keep her flight to Cambodia as she goes home in one week, so she wanted to get to see as much of the country as possible. This meant I had to say a very painful farewell to someone who has become a really close friend of mine. Not wanting to waste the day, Bavo and I decided to head to the Batu Caves and Botanical Gardens before meeting with Kevin again in the evening for some food. The heat of Malaysia was in full force, so we made use of the pool at the Hostel/apartment block we were in and we couldn’t believe we had only just started using it! It was an empty, large, CLEAN pool with amazing views of the city. At about 13:00 we decided to head to the caves. We got a Grab which surprisingly arrived in just 10mins and got us there fairly quickly. I wasn’t necessarily unwhelmed by the caves, but they definitely needed a fresh lick of paint! The photos you see on Google have been heavily edited. It was pretty busy and there wasn’t too much to see other than a temple that they had constructed at the top of some colourful steps in a large open topped cave. It was cool to see in the flesh, but we didn’t hang around long. We had booked another grab to take us to the gardens but as we were on our way, the forever changing weather of this part of the world struck again, a huge down pour with added thunder and lightening caught us out. I’m sure the Grab driver thought ‘crazy tourists’ as we got out of the car! We were still happy to find some shelter before exploring but as we approached the gates a big sign saying ‘closed due to bad weather’ halted us in our tracks. We found some cover from the rain and googled the nearest place to sit for a drink. Weirdly, although we were in the center, there was no where around for us to go so we had to swallow our pride and reteated to the nearest 7-eleven in the pouring rain until it passed. As we waited, we bought a Tom Yam noodle pot and hugely underestimated the spice of it! After a few mouthfuls, we bought some milk and after about 5 mins I had to go and buy some tissues to blow my spice induced runny nose! The cashier men were laughing at us as we struggled to finish the noodles at which point the rain had finally eased off. After another wander down the covered Chinatown Market (for Bavo to buy some rings) we came across a pool table bar and decided we had time for a game before heading back. I’ve never considered myself a good pool player, but after thrashing Bavo at a game, I think I might actually be half decent! Head in his hands, Bavo paid our fair for the one game and we walked through the city which was now drying up back to the hostel.

Later than evening, we met with Kevin again, who took us to a local 24-hour Indian/Malaysian buffet style restaurant. We went with his recommendations because I wanted to have something more local but mainly because we wouldn’t have been able to understand what we were ordering had Kevin not been there. We had a delicious dish called Roti followed by rice and chicken with all the sauces. We then walked down the road to the W Hotel that we heard had a good view of the twin towers from their bar. It was incredible, about halfway up the building, we entered into a boujee bar that had a pool and a minimum spend of £250 for a cabana. We opted for the free of charge table on the inside of the building and had a cocktail each while taking some photos and chatting. We then said goodbye to Kevin and thanked him for being our personal guide in Kuala Lumpur! Another sad goodbye and a ‘until next time’ and parted ways.

On Tuesday morning, Bavo and I were off to Borneo, Kota Kinabalu. We arrived in Borneo at about 17:00 & headed to our hostel that I picked purely because it says it had a ‘reggae bar’ at the bottom. It wasn’t lying, but their interpretation of reggae is definitely different to mine, so I am yet to have a drink there. I had been in contact with a French girl and a German girl from the Phu Quoc hostel and had arranged to meet them in Kinabalu for a drink. We met them at the beach with some new friends they had made, one from Bath, England and the other from Lièje, Belgium. We watched the sunset, had a meal at a beach restaurant and grabbed a smoothie from a stall nearby while a local played his ‘saucepans’ (yes, it was as odd as it sounds).

Bavo and I finally had a decent night sleep last night catching up on the hours lost from our weekend in KL. This morning we headed out for breakfast at a lovely little cafe about 10mins away and arranged with a tour company to do the Mount Kinabalu Hike over the weekend, which I am really excited about. We asked at the hostel if there were any nice beaches to lounge at and the receptionist recommended to head to an island called Manukan Island which is a short boat ride from the ferry port. The boat cost us £6 each for an open return ticket and we spent the afternoon dipping out toes in the sea and laying the overcast sun. I was hoping to still catch some form of rays through the light cloud, but I am yet to see any proof of that yet. Kota Kinabalu is a fairly established city. There are shopping malls and McDonald’s dotted around, which I am surprised to see, but in amongst the buildings there are still signs of being in a land mass mostly covered by jungle. There is still a big presence of bird song coming from the trees and in some areas the land is thick with trees and vines making it impossible to pass through. It’s a great place to start the Borneo adventure, but I am looking forward to getting to see some real wildlife on our tour on Friday.