Having extended my transit in Kuala Lumpur for a day, I was excited to get a taste of this multi-
cultural city. After getting through immigration I headed straight to the KLIA Express, the affordable
public transport from the airport straight to the city center in less than 30 minutes. Luckily for me, the
metro was offering a special deal where once you purchase your return ticket for the KLIA Express,
you get two days unlimited free trips on the metro. Off to a very good start!
I did not buy a sim card but I had previously downloaded offline maps and used that to navigate which
stop to get off at for the hostel I had booked. It was a brief walk from the metro to get there and
despite it being 10 pm, this part of Kuala Lumpur was buzzing with people out eating. I checked into
my hostel (24-hour check-in allowed) and went back down to grab some late-night ginger chicken
noodles.
After having some free breakfast at the hostel, I headed out to the Islamic Arts Museum. The walk
there was interesting, a lot of Islamic influenced architecture with a mix of big and small buildings. It
was also extremely heartbreaking to see a lot of homeless people. The museum area was beautiful
with the National Mosque being just across the road. The museum was 3 floors with each being totally
different but all related to Islamic culture in some way. The first and second floors are temporary
exhibits while the third is fixed and more related to historical artifacts. I would highly recommend a
visit.

For lunch, I decided to treat myself and went to a slightly pricey but absolutely adorable café called
Merchants Café, located in Chinatown. It is known for its take on fusion Malaysian food which I was
eager to sample. I ended up trying the chicken rendang curry with coconut pancakes, a fried egg, and
toasted peanuts. It was delicious! And the café itself is located on the second floor of a historic
building and has done well to respect that in the way it is decorated.

I went on a hunt following lunch to find all the street art that I could. I had done some research online
and it seemed that there was a lot located in the Chinatown area so I started off with walking around
there. I managed to find so many! A range of people, from an old man working to a child in a boat so
random little sketches I thoroughly enjoyed the character that the various artists managed to portray. I
then went on to the Jahan Alor area to continue the search and saw entire painted buildings with
various scenes.

Last but not least I paid a visit to the Petronas Towers, the tallest twin towers in the world, and
absolutely neck-craning beautiful. There is a little park in front of the towers and it was really nice to
have a coffee on hand and take in the immense power of the buildings.
Within a final ten minute walk I was able to see both Hindu and Taoist temples, completely different
styles and religions, and located so close to each other. Kuala Lumpur is truly a melting pot and how
incredible to be able to get a small taste of that!