Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 2025

Travel Dates: February 18th - February 23rd

Our first time in Malaysia

After a lot of research about where to go in Malaysia, we planned a trip and visited Kuala Lumpur, Sabah, and Penang. We traveled from Minneapolis to LA, spent an evening in LA, then flew to Singapore and finally to KL.

Walking around the city, we explored temples, ate some great food, drank some incredible coffee and tea and cham, saw a lot of artwork, and learned a bit about Malaysia's history. Some of our favorite experiences were visiting the Batu Caves and exploring the KL Bird Park and the Taman Orkid Garden (near the bird park). Seeing so many free roaming birds up close was an incredible, sometimes scary, experience.

Aside from these places, I didn't photograph them, but we spent plenty of time in malls around KL to escape the heat.

Beverages and food items

Our favorite tea chain was Chagee but we also liked Mixue (their theme song is ridiculously catchy). Some of our favorite coffee was Old Town White Coffee tied with Oriental Kopi. Oriental Kopi also has some good food options. We also fell in love with cham (or kopi cham), which is a blend of coffee and tea. It's fun to make at home, as well. Pulled tea, teh tarik, is also very enjoyable and reminds me a bit of Indian mixed/pulled tea.

One of our favorite snacks/breakfast items was butter and kaya toast. It is traditionally served with a soft boiled egg, which you can pour into a dish, into which you can then dip the kaya toast. I really enjoyed all the spicy fried noodles often served for breakfast or lunch - such as Hokkien Mee or Char Kway Teow.

Photography gear taken on this trip

The in-city images captured below were shot with an OM-1, one with the 9-18mm attached and the other with the 14-150 attached. All the images from the KL bird park were shot with the 100-400mm or the 40-150mm.

Whenever we travel, being present in the moment takes precedence over photography. I don't travel with the intention of capturing the best images possible, but the best possible images in the moment without sacrificing me being present. If I end up capturing an incredible subject and composition, that's an incredible occurrence. Most of my captures are a mix of snapshots and the more thoughtfully composed captures.

This post highlights some of my favorite captures from our time in Kuala Lumpur.

Around Kuala Lumpur

Batu Caves

The Batu Caves consist of several caves with many Hindu temples inside. We arrived at 7am, as early as possible, to beat the heat and crowds. I would suggest the same for anyone interested in visiting. The stair monkeys weren't outside when we arrived, but were when we descended the stairs to leave.

KL Bird Park & Taman Orkid Kuala Lumpur

The KL Bird Park is the largest bird park in Asia. Birds are free to roam around and will fly/stop right next to you. There is no barrier separating you from the birds.

We also visited the Taman Orkid Kuala Lumpur which is near the bird park.

Conclusion

KL was the best starting point to ignite our love for Malaysia. While researching, we came across an incredible couple, named Travel with Lens, making Malaysia videos and blog posts. Their videos offer a level of detail and charm that other travel videos do not. We're very thankful for their posts and videos.

We would love to go back to KL, maybe retire there. It offers all of the amenities, health care, and infrastructure we appreciate in the USA, but is far better in terms of quality of life and safety. Malaysia is the tenth safest country in the world. The USA ranks in the mid to high 100s, depending on the list in which you're looking. If we could move now, we just might.