Malaysia: Top Things to Do and See in Kuala Lumpur

With the recent launch of Visit Malaysia Year 2014 (VMY2014), Malaysia will be expecting more visitors from around the world to experience our rich cultural and heritage diversity as well as its warm hospitality. There are obviously plenty of things to do in Kuala Lumpur which is the main gateway to Malaysia. For something with a local perspective however, Ramble and Wander has invited a Malaysian travel blogger who is from Kuala Lumpur, Yafieda Jamil of Travel Chameleon, to share her list of Top Things to Do and See in Kuala Lumpur.

Have breakfast in an art gallery

Photo © travelchameleon.net

The Warehouse KL Café is an art gallery cum café on the ground floor of a 100 years old former textiles warehouse, and one of the best steakhouses above it. The contemporary art displayed on the walls are by local artists and available for purchase. Apart from art, the café serves good food (especially the big breakfast) and special brewed coffee. The table is made of chalk board so you can draw anything you like while chatting or waiting for the food to arrive. I would say it's one of the best places for conversations and ideation.

Address: 198 Jalan Tun H S Lee, Chinatown, Kuala Lumpur.

---

Check out the birds

Photo © travelchameleon.net

The Kuala Lumpur Bird Park is the world’s largest free-flight walk-in aviary and it’s located in the scenic Lake Gardens area. The entire bird park is sprawled across 21 acres of verdant valley terrain and divided into four different zones such as the free-flight zone, Hornbill Park as well as the mini aviaries. What I love about the park is that visitors are able to roam with the birds as they fly freely in the compound area. The friendly birds in the special feeding area will also perch on you as you feed them making the park an interactive place between human and nature.

---

Hit the night market

Photo © travelchameleon.net

One of the best ways to know what the city has to offer is to hit the different type of markets in Kuala Lumpur. One of my personal favourites is the weekend night market in Taman Tun Dr Ismail (TTDI) because they have many authentic local and homemade food which can make one become greedy. Walking past the various stalls, you can easily get drawn to the aroma coming from the chicken rice, fried popiah, roti bom, apam balik, putu mayam, nasi kerabu, fried kueh teow and many other local delicacies. There’s also sugarcane, coconut and longan drink to wash it all down with. Bear in mind that most night markets don’t provide seats at the stalls and the purchases are all for ‘take-away’ so it’s always good to bring a bag to bring home (or back to the hotel) all those good food.

Address: Jalan Tun Mohd Fuad 2, 3 & 4, Taman Tun Dr. Ismail, 60000 Kuala Lumpur (Sundays only)

---

Watch the sunset from a helipad

Photo © travelchameleon.net

In the middle of the busy city centre sits a tower with a 360 degrees view of the Kuala Lumpur skyline. From the outside the tower looks empty but this is only because it houses offices during the day and most of them would be off work by the time evening comes. Take the elevator up to 34th floor and head to the dark glass door where a lounge area sits and order your drinks before walking up the flight of stairs to the open air helipad area. You can choose the middle seating area or the ones which are nearer to the yellow line. That is the safety guide, to not go beyond the yellow line no matter how tipsy anyone becomes. When the sun starts to set, the sky slowly turns to orange before disappearing into the night and replaced by the glimmering lights from the surrounding buildings. 

Address: 34th Floor, Menara KH, Jalan Sultan Ismail, Kuala Lumpur.

---

Enjoy dinner with a beautiful view

Photo © travelchameleon.net

Somewhere in Ampang is a hilltop from where you can catch the view of the entire Kuala Lumpur skyline at dusk while waiting for the roadside stalls to open. The breeze at this particular hilltop is cooling and I do recommend a light jacket in case it gets chilly. Another option would be to warm your tummy with fried kueh teow or meehoon from one of the stalls. The seating areas are a bit small so it’s best to come early if you wish to get seats and stay awhile to catch a glimpse of the glowing KL Tower and Petronas Twin Towers. That and good company make for a great evening out in Kuala Lumpur.

---

The guest blogger: Yafieda Jamil is a travel blogger from Kuala Lumpur. Her blog, Travel Chameleon, is about the journey of a Malaysian girl who loves a good road trip to uncover familiar places of interest by blending in with the locals when she’s not flying around the world. When she’s not on the road for her latest #RoadtripMY campaign, she’s at the beach with her trusted sun hat and slippers, instagramming the world. Travel Chameleon | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Google+ | LinkedIn

---

In conjunction with Visit Malaysia Year 2014, Ramble and Wander would be inviting fellow Malaysian travel blogger friends to share their knowledge and insider info, through a guest post, about places and things they would personally bring their guests to see, do and try in their local area. This is the first of such guest post. For other www.RambleAndWander.com blog entries on Malaysia, click here. For other travel blog series on "Top Things to Do and See in...", click here.