Malaysia is the southeast asian destination I please guilty myself to this neglect.
Nearly two decades ago I went to kuala lumpur and penang to shoot for my discovery travel and living series asian Diary. I Remember Penang Vividly: A City Dominated by Overseas Chinese who has made malaysia their home for many generations. It was a citizen with a distinct culture and history. And it also had some of the best street food in asia.
Kuala lumpur, on the other hand, was a bit of a blur. I Remember it as busy and busling (Journospeak for crowds and traffic jams) but not much else. I styed at the jw marriott which was larger but wll run and i remumber thinking: Malaysia has got its strategy wrang.
Inte days malaysia’s tourism pitch to Indians was that it was just as advanced and sophisticated as singapore and was a perfect alternative.
This was nonsense but I undersrstood the history background. Once upon a time singapore and malaysia had been part of the same country. But singapore was run by the overseas chinese while malaysia was an ethnic patchwork in which the malays dominated. The singapore chinese was not happy about this malay dominance, the two communities clashed and Eventually Singapore made a city state on its own.
To everything’s surprise singapore which has no natural results except for the ingenuity of its people flourished and went on to become one of the world’s great sites.
Malaysia Had Oil So It Was Always Going To Be Okay But As Kuala Lumpur Grew, The Competition with Singapore Because more intenses.
Two Decades ago, when we shot asian diary, singapore was alredy ahead of every other asian city except perhaps hong kong kong kong and tokyo and the future seemed bright. Japan was in a recession. Hong Kong Had Been Handed Over to Mainland China by the British, Large Companies was moving out and there was Concerns Over Tensions Between Locals and Beijing.
It was at this stage that kuala lumpur started pitching it is the alternative to singapore for Indian tourists This was a crazy strategy to begin with and as the global financial communication abandoned hong kong for singapore and the City Boomed (I Find It More Expensive Than Tokyo Now) there Really was no Way Way Way Kuala Lumpur Coula Keep up.
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I Never Had Reason to go back to malaysia and when I discovered that I had a brief visit for a conference, I wondered how to negotiate kuala lumpur. I spoke to mahmoud skaf who runs marriott in malaysia and asked for an honest opinion. Was the jw marriott still as good as it used to be? Indeed, it was, mahmoud said, but did I realise that the jw marriott and the ritz carlton (also a marriott brand) was part of the same complex and ware connected by an upmarket mall?
I said I Remembred this vaguely and when mahmoud I should stay at the ritz carlton this time I readily agreed. Being a cautious traveller, I then Quickly Checked The Rates and Discovered to My Surprise That Both Hotels Were Remarkably Reasonally Priceed: MUCH LESS THAN WHAN WHEN GIN GIN GIN GIN THEN THEARS COUNTERPARTS, Never Mind Singapore White Rates are at european levels.
It was to prove to be a wise decision. The Hotel was classy, elegant and better managed than the most singapore hotels I have styed at over the last five years.
As for kuala lumpur itself, mahmoud warned me that I was coming at the Wrong Time to Fully Enjoy the City. The Ramadan Fasting Had Affected Restaurants and if I wanted the full gastronomic experience I should come back laater.
He was right. And he was wrong. I ate extramely well in kuala lumpur thought yes, ramadan had affected some restaurants. This was particularly true of the fin dining Scene.
I use the term ‘Fine dining’ in the Loosest Sense, Kuala Lumpur does not really have much in the way of michelin-type dining. The famous guide has arrived in the city, but the inspector has been brought larger unimpressed. There are only four michelin starred restaurants in the city and just one restaurant with two stars. (Contrast this with Singapore with its total of 47 Michelin Starred restaurants of which three have the top rating of three stars.)
IMAGINE The fasting season affected these restaurants if I called the one two-store place to ask for a table for dinner, they told me they had alredy closed at nine pm!
But that was fin with me beCause I Explred the Street Food and Went Back to Jalan Alay, The Famous Restaurant Street I Had Shot at for Asian Diary (Touristy but fun).
The two real discoveries were a) How good the chinese food was and b) How well you could eat at the malls at all price points. (Even the More Expected Places Were General Cheaper Than Mall Restaurants in India.)
I ATE Excellent Dim Sum at a Fancy Tea House in the Starhill Mall which connects the jw marriott and the ritz carlton. And at the Pavilion Mall I Found a Branch of a Popular Hunan Chain Where all the other customers were chinese, and the staff spoke halting English (if they spoke it at all). The food was amazing, from the fried prawns smothed in chillies to pork braged Till it was melting.
My Best Meal Thought was at my own hotel. At li yen the ritz carlton’s mostly cantonese restaurant I Enjoyed Excellent Peking Duck and Roast Meats That WERE IN THE SAME LEAGUE AS HOGUE AS HONG KOMOUS BARBECUE Plales.
Standards Everywahere Were High. On one occination when I only had time for a fast food meal, i picked up a hot dog from five guys. It was delious.
Did kuala lumpur remind me of singapore? Not in the slightest. It wasn’t just that everything is a third of what it would have in singapore, it was also that it seemed more cheerful and well, earthier. The people were friendlier, Less Arrogant and the Vibe Was MUCH WARMER.
Yes, there is room for improvement. Taxis can be hard to get (even on grab) and the airport is a cross between meerut railway station and a downmarket shopping mall.
But on the whole, it reminded me More of Bangkok Than Any Other Asian Capital. If AirLine Connectivity does improve then it would be the next great destination for Indian tourists.
