Kuala Lumpur

TL:DR: We came to KL thinking we would spend a month in the capital and then travel around to the other well-regarded cities around Malaysia. Six weeks later, we never left KL. Turns out, we have really leaned-in to the local Pickleball culture…as well as casual daily life in this city.

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Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia, is a large city with a swirl of energy—modern skyscrapers next to fragrant night markets, shiny malls next to colorful temples. It has a population of 8.8 million, with a population density of 21,000 people per square mile, making it just slightly less dense than New York City (27,000 people per square mile). The latitude is just north of the equator, resulting in a consistent hot and humid temperature all year round. In truth, I have never known this kind of sweltering heat. It is simply a guarantee that you will soak through your clothes with sweat if you are outside for more than 30 minutes. We seemed to face a constant battle of maintaining hydration. On the plus side, public (FREE!) toilets are readily found across the city. As I have been traveling around Europe for the last 3 years, this was a welcome change.

Photo of us at batu caves

Another fascinating dynamic of this city is the cultural blend. The city carries the voices and traditions of Malay, Chinese, and Indian communities, each influencing the food, festivals, and daily life. People here are kind—genuinely so—but also soft-spoken and not always direct (at least not as direct as German culture). It took us a little time to realize that “can can” means yes, while “Can… maybe can” actually means “No chance”. Fortunately, English is widely spoken, which makes life easier to navigate and allows us to directly ask about social rules and expectations.

Tyler playing pickleball

Another surprise was the popularity of Pickleball in Malaysia. Courts are scattered across the city, from community centers to rooftop spaces, and it’s surprisingly easy to find a game. Malaysians play hard but laugh easily, and even when we were the newcomers, people welcomed us right onto the court. There’s something about sweating together in 90% humidity that makes you bond fast. In the end we played nearly 50 hours of pickleball in our six-weeks here. The Malay appear to take their hobbies quite seriously, which is to say, we were the obvious weaker players; but we were welcomed nonetheless and got some great tips!

Getting our to go drinks in bags

And then there’s the food! Which might be the best part of all. Every day feels like a different culinary adventure. Every meal we had was a surprise with astounding flavor. The three cultures (Malay, Chinese, and Indian) bring their culinary A-game. Even simple meals are full of spice, color, and comfort. It certainly doesn’t hurt that the average meal cost us less than $5/person, including a drink…which occasionally came in a bag. We tried marinated chinese chicken feet, exotic fruit like durian, mangosteen, and dragon fruit, a wide range of indian curries, and sweet airy Roti Tisu (a sweet Malaysian dessert made from a thin, crispy, paper-like flatbread, similar to roti canai but stretched ultra-thin served with a light sugar coding and sweetened condensed milk). I think Malaysia may rise to be at the top of our list of countries with the best food (right up there with Mexico and Turkey).

Large roti tisu

Another interesting dynamic is alcohol in the country. Alcohol exists in Malaysia, but it plays a smaller, more cautious role in social life compared to many Western countries. Its place in society is shaped by religion, law, culture, and cost, which together create a minimization of alcohol consumption. Personally, I haven’t had any alcohol since we left Europe.

In general, the cost of living was a delight. We enjoyed going out to the movies for $4, a professional teeth cleaning for $31, a 60-minute Thai massage for $21, daily toffee hazelnut latte for $1, and groceries that were, on average, 60% less than in the US.

Daily Yoga Routine

We really enjoyed a somewhat dull, daily routine in KL. Given our life’s lack of standard stability, like a home for example, we seem to find novelty in redundancy…and really enjoyed it. We both started a habit of going to the gym every morning. Tyler participated in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu at a nearby gym 5-6 days a week. We join pickleball group-plays 4-5 times a week. I attempted to keep my daily German practice habit. Occasionally we treated ourselves to an indulgence we don’t normally do in the US, such as a massage, going to the movies, participating in a silver-ring-making workshop (new wedding rings!!), and enjoying street festivals.

Night market drinks

We were also delighted to enjoy time with friends while in Malaysia!! Several friends from Germany were also exploring southeast Asia and were able to arrange their trips to overlap with us in KL for a few days. It was so much fun to explore the city with fellow travelers. Tyler and I are a terrible influence on each other, regularly talking ourselves out of activities. Conversely, with others, we lean more into fun, cultural activities. We were so honored to enjoy time with friends we made during our time in Germany.

Next up: We head to Hanoi, Vietnam. We’ll be meeting some friends from Colorado to explore north and central Vietnam. And who knows, maybe we’ll find our way back to Malaysia before the southeast Asia adventure ends.