There is a first time for everything. Losing my passport is one of those. I never thought it would happen to me and when I travel I always compulsively check if it is still there. But that Monday afternoon, March 2nd, when I arrived at the Mandarin Oriental near KLCC, I could not find it. Did I leave it at the airport? Or did it fall out while rushing out of the taxi in heavy rain because the traffic was not moving? I still don’t know.
What I do know is that it gave me something unexpected: a full week in Kuala Lumpur.
The next morning, March 3, morning I was at the Dang Wangi police station for a mandatory missing passport report. After being sent to several floors I ended up waiting a long time in a room full of other people. And the occasional inmate, shackled, looking confused and passing by.
A German couple who had exactly the same ordeal were sitting next to me. After almost two hours of waiting I suddenly learned the report required a cash payment of two Malaysian ringgit, about fifty euro cents. Unfortunately I had no cash. Paying meant going to an ATM and repeating everything again. The waiting, the floors, the paperwork. After hearing from the German couple that I was “the nicest Dutchman they had met”, I took the gamble and asked if they could lend me two ringgit, adding that I had never begged anyone for money in my life. They laughed and happily gave it to me. I was saved.
Dutch Embassy Kuala Lumpur
The Dutch Embassy was another surprise. In many cities Dutch embassies are large villas or impressive buildings like in Tokyo, Bangkok or Beijing. In Kuala Lumpur it turned out to be basically a small studio apartment with one non-Dutch person working there. The Dutch taxpayer can be happy, I thought. For my new passport I had to wait (only) five working days, so it was time to explore the city.
KLCC Park
The embassy happened to be located right next to KLCC Park, the same park where my hotel was. The park sits between the Petronas Towers, several skyscrapers and the Suria KLCC mall, yet somehow feels green and relaxed. It had that nice feeling of being connected and dynamic, yet also peaceful. Over the week I kept coming back here.
At the park I started to notice the crowds in Kuala Lumpur. Malaysia is interesting in that it is not always clear who is local and who is not. The population is made up of Malays, Malaysian Chinese and Indians, and you see that mix everywhere, giving the city a less uniform character. At times a bit confusing, but also diverse and interesting. A taxi driver told me they all get along well, and from what I saw that seemed to be true. Most people were friendly.
Chinatown
Now it was time for the hop-on hop-off bus. I had to go early, as the traffic in KL felt more intense than 12 years ago when I was last here. Ramadan didn’t help. I guess being hungry makes everyone leave earlier, as the jams already started around 4 pm.
Chinatown is usually not my favorite. Many of them feel loud and touristy. But the one in Kuala Lumpur surprised me. Discovering it was actually a coincidence. The main Petaling Street area felt slightly disappointing at first and when I reached the bus stop I missed the bus by about five seconds. So I had some time to explore more. That turned out to be a good thing because I discovered smaller streets with cafés, interesting lighting and a much nicer atmosphere. Sometimes missing something leads you to something better. From Chinatown it is also easy to walk toward Merdeka Square where Malaysia declared independence, surrounded by old British colonial buildings.
Over the following days I wandered through many other parts of the city as well, from the busy Bukit Bintang and Jalan Alor area to the botanical gardens and bird park, where birds fly freely around you in a mix of beauty and slight stress. I also stopped at the rather over-commercial Thean Hou temple, which was not worth it, and spent time in several of Kuala Lumpur’s large shopping malls, with the new TRX Exchange standing out the most.
Visiting Malacca
Then a nice moment came when an Italian tourist I met at a vegan café tipped me to go to Malacca, a historically famous trading city with strong Dutch roots. So I went.
Standing on the hill in Malacca where Dutch officers were buried in the old church, I was reading stone texts written in old Dutch. I could recognize words but still needed the English translation to fully understand them. Having a beer with a Dutch person from the 1600s would probably not have gone very well, I thought.
The red colonial buildings, painted later by the British, were interesting, but the real highlight for me was the Chinatown across the street. Much of that area had originally been built by the Dutch after reclaiming land from the sea. Chinese traders later settled there and the neighborhood slowly became Chinatown, which means it is basically a Dutch-built Chinatown.
It felt charming and delicate. The Baba Nyonya Heritage Museum, showcasing the history of the local Peranakan Chinese-Malay community, was a highlight.
On my last day I returned to the small studio apartment that is the Dutch Embassy. This time when I walked out I was a man with a passport again. And after seven days it felt like a good time for a new place, Penang Island. More on that in the next blog post.
Reflection
For me Kuala Lumpur is a nice city. Not as chaotic as Bangkok or Jakarta, but not as organized as Singapore or Shanghai either. It sits somewhere in between. The people are friendly, English is easy, it is relatively cheap (not unimportant), and the traffic is manageable if you avoid Ramadan afternoons. It might miss a bit of character at times, but it makes up for it in convenience. Not a bad place to lose your passport.
Some extra tips
-For really nice and fine vegan food. Visit Kuki Vegan in KL. Vegan restaurants are often not that tasty but this one delivers.
-If you want to escape Kuala Lumpur central visit Sentul Depot area and Bistro Richard. It is a 20 minute ride but nice, spacious and peaceful.
