Here is a little survival guide for everyone who have signed up for our Urban Street Narratives Workshop in Kuala Lumpur. We’ll cover here some things that may help you to get by, if this is your first visit.
Weather
The climate in Malaysia and Kuala Lumpur is tropical, which means hot and humid. There are some seasonal changes in the weather, but the average daytime temperature stays between 28-30C regardless of the month.
As you can imagine, a pair of shorts and a t-shirt (or something similar) is a great outfit at all times. It’s advisable to carry a water bottle always with you and drink enough to avoid dehydration, because you sweat a lot.
The best time to be outside shooting is the morning up until about 11:00 am when it starts to get uncomfortably hot especially in the sun. In the afternoon it often rains heavily for a couple of hours, which is one reason our meetups are from 2:00 pm on.
Safety
Kuala Lumpur is basically a safe city, but naturally you should always be cautious and never leave personal items unattended. If you use common sense and follow the basic travel safety rules, you should be fine. Generally speaking Malaysians are friendly and there is no need to be afraid of being scammed.
Walking around
Kuala Lumpur is very walkable, but the infrastructure is not quite on the same level it is in many European cities, for example. The city is reasonably compact, though, and if you can bear the tropical weather, walking is a great way explore the city.
When crossing streets, you should always double check every direction for oncoming traffic. Pedestrians are not safe even on a pedestrian crossing and the motorists often run red lights.
However, that being said, I highly recommend exploring the city by foot. You can see so much more and encounter plenty of photo moments that way.
Public transport
The train network (LRT and MRT) is pretty decent and very affordable. It’s a great way to get across the city quickly, because at certain hours there are pretty bad traffic jams on the streets.
You can buy the tickets from the ticket machines, but sometimes the machines are out of order and there is a long line. It’s recommended to buy a travel card and put 20-50 MYR on the card. There is a ticket office at most stations and they sell the cards. With the card it’s convenient way to pay the trip.
Grab
Grab is like Uber and another great and relatively affordable way to go around. Especially with a small group of 3-4 people it’s often cheaper than the public transport. The fare varies according to the demand and the weather. During the rain it’s more expensive. If you plan to use Grab, you have to download the app on your phone.
From the airport to the city
To get from the airport to the city the KLIA Express train is by far the smoothest way. The tickets can be purchased online and the return trip is slightly cheaper than two separate trips. The train station is right at the airport international terminal (KLIA terminal 1) and the train arrives at KL Sentral from where it’s easy to take a Grab to your accommodation.
Eating out
Kuala Lumpur offers a fantastic selection of Asian cuisines, Chinese, Indian, Malaysian and a combination of those. There is, of course, also so called Western food available, but my recommendation is to savour the local flavors, simply because they are so delicious.
The best value for money are the street food type restaurants, which offer the most authentic flavors for affordable price. Many such places may look a little suspicious on the outside, but the food is very inexpensive and usually really tasty. If you see a lot of locals eating in you can be pretty sure the food is good and safe to eat.
In the shopping malls you can also find many good restaurants, but the prices go up once you are in a tidy air conditioned space. The price level, however, is still reasonable for people from Australia, EU or USA.
Last but not least, and hopefully no one needs this advice.
In case of emergency, you may contact Malaysian Emergency Response Services by dialing 999 on your smartphone or any telephone landline. You will be connected to appropriate channels like the police or ambulance services as required.
I hope these little tips help your preparing for the trip to Kuala Lumpur.
Matti