Kuala Lumpur is truly the melting point of the world. It’s the place where the west meets the east. It’s the great bridge between the life you live today and the life you always wanted to experience.

Now picture this in your mind: While Kuala Lumpur city is amazingly metropolitan, it is surrounded by dense tropical rain forests with great scope for adventure. While the people themselves are predominantly of three Asian ethnicities, almost everyone speaks English. The diversity of people means that one can experience three different cultures at the same time, the cuisine, festivities, and history. All of this, in a comfortable English speaking neighbourhood. And beyond this, travelling from KL within Malaysia is easy and inexpensive. If you ever wanted to pack your bags for a holiday, KL should be right up there on your list!

Petaling Jaya (PJ as locals call it) is a satellite town of Kuala Lumpur. My time in PJ was a joy ride both because of the kind of destination Kuala Lumpur is, and the kind of host Mr Sim is. While Kuala Lumpur and the adjoining PJ have many popular tourist attractions, a lot of the local life is beyond what the tourists get to see. Mr Sim, my host in PJ (and now a very good friend) can lead you to the best places to experience the real Malaysia.

Everyone knows about attractions like Petronas Towers and Cameron Highlands, and I’m not going to touch that. Mr Sim led us to places where you can live the life of a Malaysian. Ming Tien food court (PJ’s largest food court), Crab Island, etc are examples. I also happen to enjoy Toddy (a kind of Palm Wine available only at very few places in the world) also.

While Malaysia, and Kuala Lumpur the city are a very compelling places to stay or holiday, what compliments the amazing place is Mr Sim’s friendship and tourist guidance. If you plan a visit or stay in Kuala Lumpur, I would recommend PJ for residence and Room4U for Mr Sim’s hospitality! I lived a Malaysian while in Malaysia

– K Rahul Gupta (rahulkorada@gmail.com)