Malaysia: Kuala Lumpur 16-Hour Visa Run Adventures
“Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them, humanity cannot survive.”
~ Dalai Lama
Here waiting at my gate in the Denpasar Bali airport to board my second flight in two days. In need of a quick visa run for Indonesia, as tomorrow will mark 30 days of me being in this country, hence that will make me an illegal unless I leave and come back to get another 30 day visa stamp. I don’t have accommodations or a plan so will wing it for the next 16 hours or so. This is what adventures are all about, excitement of the unknown. Definitely looking forward to what Kuala Lumpur has in store for me.
I deplaned around 10:30pm and it took me a bit of time to get my bearings together, get Malay cash and figure out the game plan for the next 12 hours before my next flight back to Lombok, Indonesia. At the airport information booth, one of the representatives recommended a local night market in down town Setapak. The drive was about 45 minutes from the airport and they are open until 4am. It worked perfectly and I got an Uber to get me to my destination for a few bucks. The market was huge and had everything from iPhone cases to a variety of knock off items, ranging from clothes to accessories as well as a good amount of food options. Thinking since I’m here for such a short period of time, being a foodie I had to at least try the local food. It was friend heaven but other than a gyro I’m not even sure what the other snacks were. I was looping around for a bit as I had a specific item in mind, a soccer jersey for a friend. One guy manning a gyro stand noticed I was looking a bit lost and decided to help out. As we got the talking and he ended up being a sweetheart. He left his gyro stand to help me find the A.C. Milan jersey, which was my purpose for coming to this market in the first place. A little about my god sent helper; his name is Motaz and he’s a Syrian refugee working in KL for the last few years while waiting for the mayhem to be over in his home country. I told him I’m only here for the night and picked his brain on what’s possible to do before I head back to the airport. He suggested a bar area which will be open until about 4 am, armed with just enough time to get a drink, making that my next destination. I hung out with him for a bit and he was nice enough to order me a taxi back to Bukit Bintang (bar area), while making sure I don’t get ripped off. I was very grateful to him for showing me incredible kindness when he really didn’t have to, but choose to be an amazing human being.
Once I got near the Bukit area, I had to stop by the famous twin towers before I headed to the next open watering hole. Figured since I’ve been doing all the running around I deserved at least one drink. Settling in the bar stool of the Rabbit Hole, I got a Stella and realized the bar is about to close, of course that’s my luck as ususal. I was lucky enough to have stumbled into a place with amazing staff. The whole crew was Filipino, which I found kinda funny as I was in Malaysia. All of them were super sweet, one of the guys who worked there named Charles, assured me I didn’t have to rush, so I ordered another beer. As the conversation picked up, he asked how long I am visiting for, with the most sarcastic voice I replied “I have 9 hours to kill and I’m out”. In this city with no real plans it was my luck Charles and his coworker Nivrek invited me to chill as they both had the next day off. We got a few more beers for the rest of the night and kept it rolling. These guys were so awesome and great fun. In the process I got to learn a lot about the Philippines and the secret spots to visit when I’m ready to head over there. I have always wanted to check out the country as I seen beautiful pictures and videos, which surely won’t do real justice compared to the actual destination. We chilled until the sun came up and by 9am I was heading back to the KLIA airport. The cherry on the top of my sleep-deprived adventure is I got to play with puppies. In the cab, I realized the last 24 hours of my life could have had bad consequences in so many ways, instead this adventure turned out to have the best outcome possible. I met incredible people who I will remember for the rest of my life plus this short stint in KL really restored my faith in humanity. Contrary to popular belief, most people are not assholes and there are so much kindness circling the world, one just has to be open mined and open hearted to see the goodness all around them.
*Dedicated to Motaz, King Charles and Nivrek. Thanks guys for showing a stranger your kind nature and just being sweethearts.
Date of Travel: 2/10/17
Modes of Transportation: Uber, Grab taxi
Food to try: Egg noodles with BBQ pork, fried spring rolls, apam balik, gyro
