April 2026

Kuala Lumpur

We spend 3 day in Kuala Lumpur (“KL”) staying in Bukit Bintag area in Journal Hotel. It is centrally located, close to the metro and the food street Jelen Alor. Journal Hotel has a pool which is great since the weather was extremely hot and humid.

There are two things that impressed me beyond expectations: the amazing metro- fast, clean and reliable and the variety and quality of food both in KL and in Malaysia in general.

The first day we took a free walking tour with Hakeem, one of the best walking tours we took.  It was relatively long and at times tiring because of the weather but we saw all of the important sites in the old and the new areas of town including but not limited to Independence Square, Central Market, China Town and the Petronas Twin Towers. We also tasted some typical Malaysian drinks and at the end Hakeem sent us a very extensive guide with recommendations for other areas in Malaysia which we kept consulting further along the trip. https://www.guruwalk.com/walks/47313-kuala-lumpur-kl-introductory-day-tour-the-malaysian-experience

We also visited the Ramayana and Batu Caves complex. A very busy attraction center:  combining Buddhist religious artifacts with a Las Vegas Style neon lighting depicting the story of Ramayana. Keep in mind that there are many steps to climb for the both caves and beware of monkeys who try to steal your stuff.

Next we checked out a Textile Museum, interesting if you like fabrics and national costumes. It’s a very small and manageable museum which I liked. https://www.jmm.gov.my/en/content/national-textile-museum.

The last attraction we went to was the Putra Mosque, somewhat outside the city but because we were short on time and the oppressive heat we took Bolt and it was quite cheap and worth it being in an air conditioned car.  The mosque is indeed impressive by its size and the pink color but don’t get sucked into taking a boat ride around it. It’s not very interesting and more suited for families with little kids.

 For entertainment we spent time around Petaling Street area, one of the lively entertainment districts with bars, music, and nightlife. Because Malaysia is a predominantly Muslim country, alcohol is not served everywhere, but there are still many excellent cocktail bars and live music venues around Pataling Street and Pasar Seni metro station. One memorable stop was G-String bar, which had very good cocktails and live music in a relaxed atmosphere. Another good place was Bartolo Bakery with live jazz and good food. Obviously eating at Jelen Alor Street at least once is a must while the famous Heli Roof Top bar was overrated and overpriced, I don’t recommend.

Malacca

After KL, we took a 3 hour bus ride to Malacca from a central bus station (TBS) which is located few kms south of town. Malacca (or Melakka) is a UNESCO-recognized historic city with a fascinating colonial history. It was successively colonized by the Portuguese, the Dutch, and the British, briefly occupied by the Japanese during World War II, and later returned to British administration until Malaysia gained independence in 1957. The city center is charming and picturesque, resembling a small Amsterdam with canals and colorful historic architecture along the river. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malacca_City.

The town’s activity is concentrated around Jonker Street where night and food markets and most of the store are. We had drinks in Geographer bar, nice venue with live music and dinner at Pak Putra, famous for its Tandoori Chicken. We were told that people drive from Singapore just for the chicken there.

After dinner we walked around the center for awhile and stumbled into several live music venues.   

The next morning we tried to take the free walking tour in town, but the only available was pretty bad so we left and just walked around until our bus back to KL and the next one to Tanah Rata in Cameron Highlands.

Cameron Highlands

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cameron_Highlands

Situated above 1,500 meters above sea level, it features a “perpetual spring” climate with average temperatures around 20°C (68°F). It is famous for tea plantations, cool mountain air and strawberries. We stayed 2 nights in Tanah Rata, the main town in the area about 5 hour bus ride from KL. It’s a small town with large concentration of restaurants on its main street but everything closes pretty much around 9-10pm. The only open bar we found was Traveler’s Bar and Kitchen. Good atmosphere but mediocre food. The cool air and breeze in the Highlands was very much welcomed after the oppressive heat in KL and Malacca and we enjoyed it tremendously.  

There are numerous travel agencies all offering the same one day itinerary: tea plantation, strawberry farm, where you pick your own strawberries, a walk in Mossy Forrest and sometimes a visit to a butterfly farm.  We decided to do the same on our own. The only hurdle was that you cannot take a taxi to Mossy Forrest because you can only go up with a 4 wheel drive vehicle but it all worked out. First we took Grab (local Uber alternative) to BOH tea plantation from where we negotiated a ride to Mossy Forrest and joined a day trip group just for that visit. Interestingly the driver turned out to also be a guide so we got a guided tour of the Forest. Unfortunately the walk was very short because due to a previous landslide the boardwalk was mostly closed. After the Mossy Forest the driver returned us back to the tea plantation.  I was looking forward to an afternoon tea British style, but it was not exactly as expected.  Lots of people, long lines, the tea was good but the desert were disappointing and the whole experience was more fast food then upscale tea and crumpets. Notwithstanding, the views and the cool air were very nice.

Later, instead of visiting a strawberry farm and picking our own we took another Grab to the market and bought couple of kilos of strawberries. From there we ran into a problem. We couldn’t get any taxis, the traffic was terrible and after waiting for 2 hours in the rain we paid some random private driver to take us back to town. So we had a little bit of an adventure but we took it in good spirit.

Penang and Georgetown

From Tanah Rata we took a bus to Georgetown in Penang and right away took a free walking tour that lasted 4 long hours but was totally worth it. The town has a beautiful and interesting historic center designated by UNESCO as World Heritage Zone. The rest of the city has a more modern and somewhat Miami-like atmosphere.  

Besides an extensive tour of the historic center, we took the funicular ride up to Penang Hill, https://www.penanghill.gov.my/index.php/en/. Unfortunately it was raining but the top of the hill offers great views of the city and welcoming cool weather. But the highlight in my opinion is the Leong San Khoo Kongsi Chinese center in the old town. https://www.khookongsi.com.my/.  It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and it has one of the most beautiful temples I have been to. We also learned the history of Chinese immigration to Malaysia and of a large Chinese community in Georgetown.

Penang is the culinary capital of Malaysia so the food is one of the highlights of Penang and one of the main reasons to visit. There are several Michelin noted restaurants and food stalls in the city that can be found thru Michelin app. And there is no way to try all of them. The highlight for me was a Michelin noted stall at the night market famous for its seafood Char Koay Teow. You cant miss it as there is a long line in front of it. I did stand in line for about 40 minutes but got one of the best meals on this trip.

For nightlife and music go to the corner of Chulia and Love Lane where several bars with live music and cocktails are open till very late. For shopping Armenian Street in the historic district is a place for souvenirs and for its famous street art but it closes pretty early around 7pm. There are lots of cookie cutter shopping malls outside the historic center as well.  

 Langkawi

From Penang we flew to the Langkawi. The island is known for beaches, nature, and scenic landscapes, making it a great contrast to urban Malaysia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Langkawi.

The first night we stayed in Cenang Beach which is the center of activity: restaurants, shopping and travel agencies located on its main street.  Most restaurants on the main street are very good for food but have no alcohol. Cenang Beach is mostly oriented to traditional family tourists. The northern part of the beach has some bars that serve alcohol and tourist come to watch the sunset in total tranquility while sipping an afternoon Aperol.

For the next 2 nights we moved to a nicer beach resort in Tengah beach few kilometers south. At first Tengah Beach looked very quiet and boring after exploring it we realized that it has more than meets the eye. It has few good restaurants and bars with live music catering to more western tourists.  We had a great fresh fish meal at Orkdria and listened to live music at the Freedom Bar next door.

One of the main attraction for which Langkawi is known for is a Jet Ski tour of the island around Langkawi. We took the 4 hour option, one Jet Ski for both of us, which was amazing but very hot and no matter how much sunscreen we applied the exposed body parts got sunburned. The best way to go on this tour is to check out different stalls on the beach advertizing this and to bargain for a good price.  The tour has several stop so you can jump in the water and cool off. It also stops at some fresh water lake but it was very crowded and not worth it. The beast stop was a tranquil Diamond Island where we swam for about half an hour.

Another major attraction is the Sky Bridge. https://panoramalangkawi.com/skybridge/. Of course it’s a must visit while in Langkawi, the bridge is a marvel of engineering but being there we were wandering why was it built at all?  It connects to uninhibited and unused mountain tops and seems not to serve any meaningful purpose besides being an observation deck. They could have just built one with a much smaller investment. While lots of recourses were used to build it and to create the infrastructure to access it, it seemed a bit of a white elephant.  The facilities below the sky cab are very Disneyfied making it mostly a children attractions site.

From Langkawi we took a short ferry ride back to Thailand to Koh Lipe, but it is all other blog…