Unique Things in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Tag : Keseharian, Kuala Lumpur - Asep Haryono | Unique Things in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - Powered by Blogger

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I visited Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, from November 16 to 17, 2009. It was a really long time ago. I joined as an Indonesian young participant in the Youth Engagement Summit (YES) along with hundreds of youth participants from Southeast Asian countries, with Malaysia as the organizer. There are several tourism spots that are quite interesting to share here, including some unusual and unfamiliar things that you might find interesting. These are all the memories I have written here. 

 I hope you enjoy reading my travel notes. 

Thank you for visiting my blog

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I never imagined that I would have the chance to visit Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in November 2009. It has been quite a long time since then, but I still have many travel stories to share with all my blogging friends, including food experiences and many other interesting things. The trip happened very suddenly. 

What made it even more special was that my 2-day, 1-night visit to Kuala Lumpur was worth about Rp25,000,000 (around US$2,500 at the exchange rate of Rp10,000 per US dollar at that time). Just imagine how many klepon you could buy with that much money

It would not feel complete to visit Kuala Lumpur without seeing the famous Petronas Twin Towers, one of Malaysia's greatest landmarks. At that time, I went there with several other delegates from the Youth Engagement Summit (YES) Conference. We traveled by bus and left at around 10:00 a.m., oops, I almost said Indonesian time! It was Malaysia time, of course. 

We did not know the route very well, so we simply asked people for directions until we finally arrived. Unfortunately, we could not go up to the top of the Twin Towers because there was an emergency drill that day for fire safety and anti-terrorism training

For a moment, I remembered the exciting 1999 movie Entrapment, starring Sean Connery as Mac and the beautiful Catherine Zeta-Jones as Gin. Some scenes from the movie were filmed at the Petronas Twin Towers, so it was really exciting to stand there in person. Very cool! Then I started wondering what it would be like if a movie like that were filmed in Jakarta at the National Monument (Monas). Would that be possible? I think it could be, if someone really wanted to make it happen! Haha

AWESOME: The Petronas Twin Towers stand tall and impressive. Unfortunately, I did not have the chance to go up to the top during this visit. Maybe next time. Photo by Asep Haryono

A fun stroll around the Petronas Twin Towers with my fellow Indonesian delegates! 🇮🇩 I filmed this video myself, so please forgive the occasional shaky footage. Back then, I was using an ancient smartphone that probably belonged in a museum.

 This was me just goofing around during the coffee break between sessions on the first day of the Youth Engagement Summit (YES) – South East Asian Youth for Personal Change (SEAchange), held on November 16–17, 2009, at the Putrajaya International Convention Centre (PICC).I was doing a fake "live report" right under the massive dome of this magnificent building, pretending to be a TV reporter. No important news, really... I was just shamelessly showing off that I was there! 

CLEAN: The streets were clean, well organized, and not very crowded. It was a working day, so I wondered where everyone was. Why were the roads so quiet?

Photo by Asep Haryono

Walking around Kuala Lumpur was a pleasant experience. The city was clean, and I hardly heard any car horns at all. According to some local people, using the horn is not encouraged there, and it may even be against the rules. 

I also noticed that public telephones for emergency services, such as the fire department and the police, could be used without inserting any coins first. They connected directly to the emergency services. The roads were busy with traffic, but everything was well organized. I think this is possible because the people of Kuala Lumpur have a good sense of responsibility and take pride in their city. At least, that was my impression.

For dinner, all of us wanted to enjoy local food from the street stalls. Unfortunately, I forgot to take photos of the food. I do have a short video, but I was worried it would take too long to upload to YouTube because the internet connection was not very fast at that time. One thing I still remember is trying Nasi Lemak with curry chicken. It was quite affordable, costing only about 5 Malaysian Ringgit, which was around Rp18,000–20,000 at that time.

FUN FACT. 

One of the street foods I tasted that night was satay, which was cooked in a different way from the way it is prepared in my country, Indonesia. Beef or chicken satay is usually grilled over charcoal and fanned by hand. However, this was not the case in Kuala Lumpur. Instead of grilling it over charcoal, they boiled it in hot water. The local people said it was healthier than grilling it over charcoal because the smoke could be harmful to our bodies. Hmmm... that makes sense. 

That was much cheaper than what I once saw on the internet about a Padang restaurant in Sydney. According to the menu I found online, just one corn fritter (perkedel jagung) cost about AUD 2, or around Rp20,000. And that's for only one corn fritter! Haha. (Have I ever been to Sydney? Not yet! So how do I know the prices? I looked them up on the internet. Haha!)

After remembering this trip, I really wanted to visit Kuala Lumpur again in futrue. In fact, I wanted to go there so much that I even created a new blog header featuring Kuala Lumpur. I had already started planning the trip, although I did not know which month I would be able to go. God willing (Insya Allah), I hoped it would happen. 

PROTEST: I asked a local resident in Kuala Lumpur about ISA. I was told that it stood for the Internal Security Act, a law that was said to restrict certain protests and activities against the government. It reminded me of Indonesia's anti-terrorism law, although the two are not exactly the same.

Photo by Asep Haryono

CLEAR: Taking the bus was easy because the fare was clearly displayed. There was no need to worry about having enough money. The bus fare was 1 Malaysian Ringgit. Can you guess how much that was in Indonesian Rupiah at the time?

Photo by Asep Haryono

NEAT: This is not a voting booth! It is the entrance to a public toilet in a shopping mall in Kuala Lumpur. Visitors paid a small fee by putting the money into a collection box before entering.

Photo by Asep Haryono

SHOPPING AT DAY. Here, I was filming one of my fellow Indonesian delegates during the Youth Engagement Summit (YES) 2009 while we were wandering around a shop at Kuala Lumpur's Central Market one afternoon.The two shopkeepers were super friendly and loved joking around, so of course we couldn't resist having a little fun with them! 

Recorded by Asep Haryono.

SHOPPING AT NIGTH : On our last night before flying back to Indonesia, I tagged along with my fellow Indonesian delegates for a little night shopping adventure near our hotel in Malacca.The streets were lively, the food stalls were everywhere, and the atmosphere was just fantastic! This video captures the fun of bargaining for souvenir keychainsbecause no shopping trip is complete without a little friendly haggling! 

Recorded by Asep Haryono.

AIRASIA: I am standing in front of the AirAsia airline backdrop. This photo was taken during a break at the Southeast Asia Youth Engagement Summit in Kuala Lumpur in November 2009.

Photo by Asep Haryono.

A few days earlier last May 2026, I had also received a package from the Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board Jakarta (through the Embassy of Malaysia). It contained a book, brochures, leaflets, and a Visit Malaysia 2026 tourist map. I was sure these travel materials would help me plan my next visit to Kuala Lumpur much better.

Well, it was still just a plan. God willing (Insya Allah), everything would go smoothly and I would be able to visit Kuala Lumpur again. 

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A Message From Asep Haryono

 

"Thank you so much for your time here. I really appreciate your precious moment here as well.  Please leave any comment down below.  Let me hear from you.  Greetings from Indonesia"