The City of Kuala Lumpur in a Day

“What strange phenomena we find in a great city, all we need do is stroll about with our eyes open.”

Kuala Lumpur was a myriad of things mostly being a dreamscape city tall with superstructures, a splendorous nightlife and bylanes that inevitably end up in mega-malls!

Proof of our twenty four-hours, in order of appearance:

Petronas Towers
A giant, an extravagance of illumination and the heart and soul of KL, the Towers are the tallest twin buildings in the world. This architectural marvel stands among the stars frozen in the sky, making a mighty presence.

Kuala Lumpur Tower
An elegant addition to the skyline, this communications tower has a prominent antenna extending into the airspace. Atop, there’s a revolving restaurant which is magical post sunset.

Central Market
Established way back in the 1800s, this gorgeous facade overflows with stores of all kinds of wares, a melange of aromas and a street market vibe. We were like children in a candy store, you know?!

Petaling St, Chinatown
Inexpensive window(less) shopping in this haven was delightfully entertaining. Overflowing with hawkers and locals, we’re upvoting the visit to Chinatown!

Sungei Wang
Surely, the only thing you can’t find in this centre is yourself, and bad bargains!

Changkat
The pride of Bukit Bintang is avenues and sub-avenues luxurious with the choicest restaurants, upscale pubs, cute shops believed to be pre-war, and plenty more. We did a little gallivanting before finding ourselves with delicious drinks and food at Baan 26 and amazing music at Beach Club.

Berjaya Times Square
The highlight being a roller coaster, this mall is an unending maze of branded stores and an occasional flea market in its midst.

Heli Lounge Bar
This helipad by day, rooftop watering hole by night, gave us an overview of the dazzling metropolis. Located on the 36th floor, it was here that we spent unspeakably calm moments absorbing the city’s vivid sensory details.

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Into The Rainforests of Malaysian Borneo

Our transit from Kuala Lumpur to Borneo of the Malay archipelago, was an arduous one that included multiple espressos and naps on airport benches.

But soon we were saying selamat datang!

On reaching Sandakan, located in the state of Sabah, our eyes met the Nature Lodge named after Sungai (river) Kinabatangan - an inordinately beautiful sight, lavish with evergreens lining the banks and hovering like apparitions.

Our eco-friendly chalet was set as if in a mythical landscape.

We began with an evening safari on the balmy waters, a soft orange in the sky, in the hope of locating a few jungle inhabitants.

In the first round, the next day, we spotted a troop of shy proboscis monkeys on the higher boughs, pearly white egrets, a family of playful long-tailed macaques, a scheming crocodile sunbathing, and orang utan nests.

A wonderland in the wilderness.

That night, we went on a guided walk through a bewildering maze of the lowland dipterocarp forest. What could’ve been tricky if we gathered tiger leeches or wasp hives was actually nature at its benevolent best!

Finding camouflaging caterpillars, sleeping trogons, screeching cicadas, Gelotia spiders, occasional flycatchers, and the rustling of leaves, rheumy air, the scent of flowering plants, resulted in a new, incontestably cherishing experience.

There’s something magical about being in direct contact with the earth.

In the cool of the following morning, we encountered birds racing around in the sky: pied kingfishers, a preying fish eagle, a flight of barn swallows, bushy hornbills and others among the many exotic species that the Bornean rainforest houses.

As we careened across the river, pygmy elephant tracks in the midst of the lustrous, tall grass became evident too.

Breakfast consisted of eggs, fried noodles and kopi, delicacies from the region, and followed by a nap as the day progressed into a velvety summer noon.

Later, we hiked to Oxbow Lake, getting lost in the rhythm of the melodious sounds emanating around us. The route we took had pawprints of wild boar, several pill millipede, fresh elephant dung, coastal monitor lizards.

One and a half hours later, we were already dipping our feet in the profoundly warm water, tiny Mahseer fish nibbling at the dead skin.

At daybreak, we drove to Sepilok, in the same district and a few kilometres away from our lodge, believed to accommodate more than 60 free living orang utans and orphaned babies, taken into the reserve where their survival skills are honed.

Although we do not support the concept of man playing a role in the lifecycle of a wild animal, we understand that its current status pleads conservation. Orang utans, 94% similar to humans, are currently at a risk of extinction due to manmade palm oil plantations.

As a giant squirrel foraged, a clan of these demure red-haired creatures popped out of their hideouts, swinging from tree to tree. A glimpse and they disappeared!

We checked into Jungle Resort, ate noodle soup, coconut curry and rice in banana leaves and dawdled in our supersized bed, a sense of ambedo setting in.

Also endangered, mostly due to deforestation, are the Bornean sun bears who we chanced upon; this adorable, compact and the smallest species of bear stole our hearts in an instant!

“Every creature was designed to serve a purpose. Learn from animals for they are there to teach you the way of life.”

Worth mentioning is the charming Lindung Gallery restaurant that serves delectable root vegetable chips and organic, sweet Sabah tea.

With memories for a lifetime, we left this phantasmically stunning place called Borneo.

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