Traveling to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: Street Food, Skybridges & Surprising Value
In this episode, David and Tim explore Kuala Lumpur (KL), Malaysia’s dynamic capital—a place where Malay, Chinese, and Indian cultures blend into one of Asia’s most colorful urban tapestries. David shares why KL ranks among his favorite Southeast Asian cities, from sizzling night markets to infinity pools overlooking the Petronas Towers, while Tim reflects on his earlier visits and why he’s ready to give the city another chance.
Together they dive into where to stay, what to eat, and why KL is one of the best-value hubs for travelers exploring Asia.
Topics Covered
• Cultural Fusion & Modern Energy – How KL’s mix of Malay, Chinese, and Indian influences shape its neighborhoods, cuisine, and festivals.
• Digital Nomad Magnet – Why the city’s affordable luxury, coworking cafés, and serviced apartments draw travelers from around the world.
• From the Street Markets to Infinity Pools – David’s experience living like a local in budget-friendly high-rises with skyline views.
• Getting Around & Beyond – Why Kuala Lumpur is Southeast Asia’s ultimate air travel hub for quick, affordable connections.
Top Things to See & Do
Petronas Towers & Skybridge – Malaysia’s most iconic landmark. The 86th-floor observatory offers sweeping views of KL’s skyline and green spaces.
Rex KL & REXPERIENCE – A restored heritage cinema turned indie bookstore and immersive digital art hub blending traditional Malaysian art with modern design.
Jalan Alor Night Market – The heart of KL’s street food scene, alive with sizzling woks, satay grills, tropical fruit, and the scents of Malaysia’s multicultural cuisine.
Ride the LRT & Monorail – Affordable, air-conditioned, and scenic—one of the best ways to see the city’s diversity from above.
Where to Eat & Drink
Jalan Alor Food Street – Open late and packed with local favorites like satay, laksa, and grilled seafood.
Food Halls in Bukit Bintang – Upscale mall food courts offering clean, high-quality versions of the same beloved street dishes.
Tropical Juice Stands & Coffee Spots – KL’s café scene is thriving, with great local roasteries and fruit juice stalls everywhere you go.
Neighborhoods to Explore
Bukit Bintang – KL’s entertainment and shopping heart; home to Jalan Alor, rooftop bars, and luxury malls.
Chinatown (Petaling Street) – Packed with heritage architecture, market stalls, and hidden cafés.
KLCC – The modern business core anchored by the Petronas Towers and high-end hotels.
Where to Stay
Ceylonz Suites by Five Senses – Modern serviced apartments near Bukit Bintang with rooftop infinity pool, gym, and co-working spaces. Excellent budget choice and digital nomad favorite.
JW Marriott Kuala Lumpur – Central location, five-star service, and great value for a luxury stay (often under $150 USD per night).
Shangri-La Kuala Lumpur – Tim’s pick for its resort feel in the city; tranquil, elegant, and ideal after a hot day of exploring.
The Westin Kuala Lumpur – Great location, though now showing its age compared to other nearby properties.
Can’t-Miss Experiences
- Soak in skyline views from a rooftop infinity pool.
- Wander the night markets during Ramadan for peak atmosphere.
- Explore Rex KL’s art and bookstore maze.
- Ride the KLIA Ekspres from the airport into the city for a quick, scenic arrival.
- Use Kuala Lumpur as your base to hop around Asia—Bali, Thailand, Vietnam, and India are all just short, affordable flights away.
Gateway to Malaysia
Kuala Lumpur is the perfect starting point for exploring Malaysia’s rich diversity—whether it’s Penang’s street food, Melaka’s colonial history, or Borneo’s beaches and rainforests.
Final Thoughts
Kuala Lumpur is one of Asia’s most underrated cities—vibrant, modern, and remarkably affordable. From its fusion cuisine to skyline views and digital nomad-friendly vibe, it offers big-city energy with small-city charm. Whether you’re after culture, cuisine, or connectivity, KL delivers it all—at a fraction of the cost of its regional rivals.
Follow Us & Stay Connected
Instagram: @voyascapemedia
Disclosure
Some links in these show notes are affiliate links. If you use them to book, we may earn a small commission—at no extra cost to you. This helps support the production of the Travel in 10 podcast.
Transcript
All right.
Speaker A:Well, this week we are going to a city that really surprised me in every direction, from the vibrant street scenes, street food wafting through every alley, to the glass towers cutting through the skyline, the way in which Malay, Chinese, Indian influences all come together and collide in the architecture, in the food, and in daily life.
Speaker A:We are going to Kuala Lumpur this week, and it's somewhere that I know me and you have got slightly different perspectives on Tim.
Speaker B:Yeah, you know, I mean, I will say, you know, I've been in Kuala Lumpur a couple times, and David's going to do most of the talking on this episode because he's been much more recently than me.
Speaker B:I will say KL is.
Speaker B:It's a really.
Speaker B:It's a really interesting city in the sense that you get old and new happening all at the same time.
Speaker B:It's one of those cities where 19th, 20th, and 21st century, they're all happening at once.
Speaker B:You know, I will say it's one of.
Speaker B:And this is, you know, this is one of my least favorite cities in Southeast Asia.
Speaker B:Other cities in Southeast Asia, they have that patina of history.
Speaker B:You know, Bangkok and Saigon and Hanoi and even Manila, you know, you've got all these years of history going back.
Speaker B:Chaos feels like a much more recent city.
Speaker B:And for me, I mean, every city in Southeast Asia is this way.
Speaker B:But it is just hot.
Speaker B:And I am not a hot person.
Speaker B:I am a. I am.
Speaker B:I like Sweden in November.
Speaker B:You know, I'm happy there.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker B:But, you know, but, you know, it definitely has its positive points.
Speaker B:I had a good time there.
Speaker B:Both times I was there.
Speaker B:I used it as a jumping off point to go over to Borneo and had a good time over there in Borneo with the orangutans and the beaches and the jungles and everything.
Speaker B:But, David, I know you.
Speaker B:You are a fan of kl.
Speaker A:Yeah, I think it is one of the most underrated cities, and it is one of my favorite places in Southeast Asia.
Speaker A:So we are definitely going to have a different take on KL as we get into it here today.
Speaker A:But before we do that, one thing I did want to do.
Speaker A:I know we always, as we're going through these episodes, we ask people to drop us a review, drop us a note, and we love getting listener feedback.
Speaker A:It's super helpful.
Speaker A:And we got one this week, and it's kind of funny, so I thought I'd have to.
Speaker B:I just want to stop you for a second.
Speaker B:I'm slightly terrified about this.
Speaker B:You mentioned this just before the episode.
Speaker B:I have not.
Speaker B:David, of course has read the review.
Speaker B:I have not read this review.
Speaker B:I have no idea what it says.
Speaker B:Apparently it's not positive.
Speaker B:I'm a little afraid it's about me.
Speaker B:But anyway, so you guys are hearing at exactly the same time that I'm hearing.
Speaker A:So this is our latest listener feedback.
Speaker A:Always good to hear from people on the Internet.
Speaker A:It's entitled Ugg to start off.
Speaker A:Ugh.
Speaker A:And it is.
Speaker A:The review is two Canadian bros just dropping the Four Seasons and other luxury resorts as their wrecks for hotels.
Speaker A:Unrealistic and completely ridiculous for 99% of their listeners.
Speaker A:However, their food recommendation.
Speaker A:Sibo k sure sounds like these guys can eat.
Speaker A:Well.
Speaker A:I mean, okay, that's from Sophie in Sophie TN in the United States.
Speaker B:Come on, Sophie.
Speaker B:Come on.
Speaker B:Not cool, Sophie, bro.
Speaker B:I'm.
Speaker B:I'm really not a bro guy.
Speaker A:I don't think you are either.
Speaker A:But I do like the Four Seasons.
Speaker A:I can't argue with.
Speaker A:Can't argue with Sophie on that.
Speaker B:I mean, I mean, I.
Speaker B:Okay, I get it.
Speaker B:I mean, it's not.
Speaker B:It's not.
Speaker B:It's not budget friendly, but I mean, sometimes the best property in the city often is the Four Seasons or talking about the best of the best.
Speaker B:And I will say Sophie's not wrong on the.
Speaker A:On the eating.
Speaker A:He's not wrong on that front either.
Speaker A:That's right.
Speaker B:A hundred percent.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:I can eat with the best.
Speaker B:You know, give me a pizza, it'll be gone, you know, so.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And I feel like, David, you're.
Speaker A:You're.
Speaker B:You're a fan of food as well.
Speaker B:I know we've traveled to global.
Speaker A:So I have good news for Sophie.
Speaker A:We take listener feedback seriously.
Speaker A:And today my hotel recommendations are going to be on the complete opposite end of the spectrum of the Four Seasons.
Speaker A:So Sophie in Tennessee or wherever she is here should appreciate it.
Speaker B:Sure.
Speaker B:Of course there's Four Seasons in Nashville, but if they're.
Speaker A:She should check.
Speaker A:She should.
Speaker A:Sophie should check out the Four Season.
Speaker A:She would enjoy it, I'm sure.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:I could guarantee Sophie, I can guarantee you you're gonna love it.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker B:But yeah, so in kl in Kuala Lumpur.
Speaker B:I don't have a lot.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:My one hotel recommendation.
Speaker B:I guess, you know, maybe we'll move into that now.
Speaker B:And Sophie's not going to like it, but it is the Shangri La, you know.
Speaker A:Of course it is.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker B:So whatever, you know, it's great hotel, you know, and again, I mean, it's.
Speaker B:It is like many cities in Southeast Asia.
Speaker B:It is a busy city.
Speaker B:It's a hot City.
Speaker B:There's a lot going on in KL and Shangri La has kind of that resort, beautiful, cool, sit by the pool feel.
Speaker B:And it's kind of a nice escape when I travel to Southeast Asia or India, places like that, where it's very, very busy during the day, it is nice to go to a place where you can just kind of relax.
Speaker B:And I will say for the record, just as we're still talking a little bit about Sophie, my, our last episode or one of the.
Speaker B:I'm not sure what the sequencing is going to be.
Speaker B:I did have a budget friendly option so a business hotel so, so that I, that I could afford.
Speaker B:So I don't know.
Speaker B:What about, what about you?
Speaker A:Well, so I was in Qual andor actually when we were first setting up our, our company Voicecape, I was spending some time traveling throughout Asia, meeting with different podcasters, attending some travel events.
Speaker A:And so I was traveling very much on a budget as we were, as we were bootstrapping and starting up our new company.
Speaker A:And I stayed at a super cool place in, in KL And Sophie, you will love to hear this.
Speaker A:It was $29 a night.
Speaker A:It was called the Ceylon Suites by Five Senses.
Speaker A:And this is one of the reasons why I love Kuala Lumpur and why it actually attracts a lot of digital nomads from around the world is it is a super affordable city to give you a sense.
Speaker A:Like this place, you could book it out on Airbnb or you could book it out on Klook Travel.
Speaker A:It didn't have a front desk, but it was very much like a short stay hotel.
Speaker A:But it's all, they're all individually owned so you know, you've got to book it through the owners.
Speaker A:You're checking in through a digital keypad.
Speaker A:But then once you get in there, there are great rooms with like mini kitchens, great amenities, amazing view of the city.
Speaker A:It's got a rooftop infinity pool.
Speaker A:It's got a cool bar up on the rooftop.
Speaker A:It's got a business lounge, kind of like a We workspace, a gym overlooking the city.
Speaker A:And it was $29 a night.
Speaker A:It was.
Speaker A:People who stay at the Four Seasons would appreciate it and Sophie would appreciate it.
Speaker A:So I highly recommend, highly recommend it.
Speaker A:I stayed there for about a week and a half and you will see it all over Instagram because it's iconic, this like infinity pool with the infinity, you know, edge overlooking the Petronas Towers and downtown and, and because it is so affordable.
Speaker A:And then of course my other favorite that I've stayed on a Previous trip was the JW Marriott which is also a great hotel.
Speaker A:And the again like one of the great things about Kuala Lumpur is you can stay in these amazing like international luxury hotels for, you know, I was checking last night, it was about $120 US right now to spend a night at the JW.
Speaker A:You know, that's, that's for a five star high end hotel in the center of the action of a major international city, a pretty great deal.
Speaker A:So that, that's one of the, one of the great things that, that I would, I would say really recommend Kuala Lumpur, one other hotel I will call it because when we are my first time in KUALA LUMPUR Like 10 years ago, it was one of my favorite hotels in the city.
Speaker A:I went back and visited here on my most recent trip and it has become a bit dated.
Speaker A:Is the west in there?
Speaker A:I would not recommend as much.
Speaker A:It's a great location and it's still a nice hotel.
Speaker A:It's just starting to look a lot more dated compared to some of the others that you could get for kind of similar rates there in the central part of the city.
Speaker A:I mean one of the things that you can see Kuala Lumpur has really become a magnet for is digital nomads from around the world, right?
Speaker A:People who can work remotely, people who are in many cases completely untethered and working somewhere else around the world every week.
Speaker A:I mean there are a ton of short stay apartments, Airbnbs in really nice newly built luxury condos throughout the city where I mean you can stay for under $500 a month for sure.
Speaker A: place where you can go with $: Speaker A:It's, there's a lot to recommend it.
Speaker B:You may, you may have convinced me, David.
Speaker B:I, I'm not being facetious here.
Speaker B:I really do think I need to give it another chance because you know, it was many, many years ago that I was there.
Speaker B:It was not necessarily such a cheap city when I was there because the Malaysian economy was sort of booming at that point.
Speaker B:I had a couple of bad experience, I had a taxi driver scam me and things like that.
Speaker B:So I think my overall impression was maybe impacted by some very small micro experiences.
Speaker B:So I think you've convinced me.
Speaker B:Next time I'm in Southeast Asia, which hopefully won't be too long from now, I'm going to give it another.
Speaker A:Well it is a great hub for exploring Southeast Asia too because they've got a huge airport and tons of connectivity.
Speaker A:AirAsia, I think their main hub is out of Kuala Lumpur and basically, I mean once you, if you can get yourself on points to Kuala Lumpur, you can pretty much get anywhere else in Asia.
Speaker A:I mean from the Maldives to.
Speaker A:The Maldives to India to you know, really anywhere for under $300.
Speaker A:I mean if you're, if you're looking to go to, to Thailand to Vietnam, to Bali, you can get there for under $100.
Speaker A:Like it's, it's, yeah.
Speaker A:Remarkably affordable once you, once you get there.
Speaker B:And their national airline, Malaysian is actually a very good airline as well and, and connects the country.
Speaker B:So even if you don't want to go with a low cost carrier, which I've flown all of those AirAsia many, many times, but MH is really a good carrier as well so.
Speaker B:And connects the customer country all over.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:What about.
Speaker B:Do you want to talk about food?
Speaker B:You want to talk about your favorite things to do?
Speaker A:Yeah, and they're kind of, they're kind of intertwined I would say because my, a lot of my favorite places in the city were the street markets.
Speaker A:So I mean where, where I was when I stayed there for about two weeks, staying at the Ceylon Suites there, we were only maybe two blocks away from Jalan Alor, which is kind of one of the main night markets in the city.
Speaker A:You've got, you know, sizzling walks, steam rising all around you.
Speaker A:You really see the blend of cultures there.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:You've got the Chinese influences, the Malay, the Indian, all sort of combined grilled saute, tropical juices.
Speaker A:It's just a great, really alive, gritty, authentic experience.
Speaker A:And it's open late into the night, so I love the atmosphere there.
Speaker A:I was there right around Ramadan as well, so that even kind of amped up the celebrations because there was a large Muslim population in Malaysia, majority Muslim country.
Speaker A:And so you know, there were celebrations happening all throughout the city and those street markets were even amped up that, that much more because of that.
Speaker A:Just not far from there is kind of the, the Bukat Bintang district.
Speaker A:And one of the things you would, you don't think of necessarily malls being a great place to eat, but the mall food courts there were phenomenal.
Speaker A:It's like all the street foods that you're finding but in a slightly elevated but still super affordable and accessible way to get to them.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:And, and they have a couple of these beautiful malls with luxury stores and stuff in them.
Speaker A:But then these great food courts that really are just a slightly more hygienic and step up from, from the street food but you're still getting all the same street foods there as well.
Speaker A:So from, from where to eat and what to do.
Speaker A:Those were two of my favorites.
Speaker A:And then maybe just one last standout that I'll.
Speaker A:That I'll mention and this is maybe kind of a what to do.
Speaker A:And my can't miss together would be a place called Rex Rex XL Was.
Speaker A:Was the.
Speaker A:Or sorry, Rex KL R E X K L was this amazing, really cool designed modern bookstore.
Speaker A:And it's hard to even describe it.
Speaker A:It had all these nooks and crannies and it was like an art installation.
Speaker A:The book store itself and you could spend hours there and people do.
Speaker A:It's this jam packed bookstore.
Speaker A:But then it's also connected to this immersive art installation space as well.
Speaker A:I think it's called RX Experience or rxp where they've got these kind of art displays that are digital projections on the walls.
Speaker A:You kind of sit in this, this massive sort of box room where we've got these digital projections of amazing.
Speaker A:All based on very traditional Malaysian art but done in a super modern interactive way.
Speaker A:So I loved everything in that sort of RX Experience complex.
Speaker A:It was by far my favorite thing that I saw when I was in town.
Speaker B:Very cool, Very, very cool.
Speaker B:But I have a couple things that I enjoyed doing in kl and again it was a bit of a transit through to go to Borneo.
Speaker B:But I did do the typical tourist thing and I went up to the skybridge and the 86th Floor Observatory at the Petronas Towers.
Speaker B:I believe at some point in world history the Patronus Towers were the tallest building in the world before, you know, Dubai kind of was, you know, put up all their tallest buildings in the world.
Speaker B:And the view, again, the view there really captured the thing that I do love about Kuala Lumpur, which is, which is that sense of centuries coming together.
Speaker B:So you could really see it in sharp relief from that bird's eye view.
Speaker B:You could see all those centuries spread out and how much green space there actually is in the city, which is a little bit surprising.
Speaker B:And then the other thing, I mean I talk a lot about trains.
Speaker B:It's one of my favorite things.
Speaker B:The, the, the monorail and the lrt, the light rail, this elevated railway that runs through the city.
Speaker B:You know, I could just sit on there.
Speaker B:I mean, same thing in Bangkok.
Speaker B:They have one of those in Bangkok too.
Speaker B:You know, I could just Sit on there all day and just A, enjoy the air conditioning and B, look out the window and you just see the city go by.
Speaker B:Try when I'm on those elevated railways in KL or wherever I am to just not be on my phone, to not be reading a book, just looking out the window.
Speaker B:Because you'll pass, you know, street markets, you'll pass all of this life on the sidewalks, you'll pass, you know, whatever.
Speaker B:You'll see amazing things in the city.
Speaker B:So that was one of my favorite things too about Kuala Lumpur was just riding the rails.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:And you do.
Speaker A:I don't know your experience, but coming in from the airport.
Speaker A:Well, first of all, I'll say the airport is a beautiful, huge international airport.
Speaker A:They've got there, as we've talked about.
Speaker A:It's this great gateway for connecting to the rest of Asia.
Speaker A:It's got a lot of great restaurants in it as well, if I remember correctly.
Speaker A:I think they had like a Din Tai Fung, they had a Jamie Oliver restaurant.
Speaker A:So lots of good things in, in the airport itself, if you're using it as a connection point to go elsewhere in Asia.
Speaker A:But it is quite a long ways from the city.
Speaker A:Like I, I don't know if it was just traffic the, the time that I was coming through and I think I took the, the train back, which was much faster.
Speaker A:But when I initially came in, I took an Uber in and it was a good like hour and a half or longer to get from the, the airport into, into downtown.
Speaker B:So I had one night there.
Speaker B:So I'd stayed at Shangri La, flown to Borneo and then I think I had one night back in KL&I, so I booked the night beforehand.
Speaker B:I'd booked the whole stay before I'd ever been to Kuala Lumpur at the Shangri La in central Kuala Lumpur and didn't understand how far it was.
Speaker B:And I had that one night stay.
Speaker B:I think I flew back from Borneo at like 6pm and I flew up the next morning at like 7am or something.
Speaker B:And I had, I probably should have just rebooked, you know, when I understood the distance, but I didn't.
Speaker B:And I ended up going all the way into the city, you know, whatever it was, an hour and a half or then an hour and a half, back out the next day and had, you know, a very short night there.
Speaker B:But it is far, but it is one.
Speaker B:I mean, Southeast Asian airports are exceptional and KL is a beautiful, beautiful airport.
Speaker A:And in addition to being a great gateway to the rest of Asia, it's of course, the gateway to get in and explore the rest of Malaysia.
Speaker A:And there is so much to see and do in Malaysia, which I'm sure we will do many, many more episodes on some of the great, great things to see and do around the country.
Speaker A:There.
Speaker B:Absolutely.
Speaker B:No, there really is Penang and Sarawak and Kota Kinabalu, and there's really a lot Malaysia to see.
Speaker A:So probably the best diving I've ever done in Malaysia off the coast area.
Speaker A:It's, it's.
Speaker A:There's a lot to recommend it and.
Speaker B:Overall, totally agree that Malaysia is one of the most underrated people think about the Philippines or Thailand, you know, as destinations in Southeast Asia.
Speaker B:And Malaysia definitely is an.
Speaker B:Is an underrated destination.
Speaker B:Destination straight to Malacca is really, really interesting from a historical perspective.
Speaker B:Interesting ethnic mix, as you said, you know, Chinese, Indian and then Malays as well.
Speaker B:So very, very interesting place.
Speaker A:All right, well, with that, we have gone well over our 10 minutes, as we have in the last few weeks.
Speaker B:Too much to talk about, you know.
Speaker A:That's right.
Speaker A:But even, even with the review we started it off with, I will still ask people.
Speaker A:We love getting feedback and we love hearing your questions, too.
Speaker A:That's super helpful to, you know, know what destinations that you want to know more about or questions that people have.
Speaker A:Please reach out to us with those on our.
Speaker A:On the website@voicescape.com or through Instagram or elsewhere.
Speaker A:We love getting your reviews even.
Speaker A:Even ones that challenge this event, like today.
Speaker B:Yeah, absolutely, absolutely.
Speaker B:We're always happy to hear from people.
Speaker B:So, yeah, at least people are listening.
Speaker B:That's good.
Speaker A:That's right.
Speaker A:All right.
Speaker A:And where are you off to next, Tim?
Speaker A:Any travel on the books?
Speaker B:Yeah, tomorrow, I think, right after we finish recording, I'm going to start packing.
Speaker B:Tomorrow evening I fly to Miami and I get on a ship and do an inaugural cruise through the Caribbean with.
Speaker B:With msc and then I've got a conference in the Bahamas and then I've got.
Speaker B:Yeah, some other travel lined up after that, including a trip that we're both doing.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:What do you have lined up?
Speaker B:You.
Speaker B:I think you're headed down to Mexico.
Speaker A:I'm headed down to Mexico here shortly, also to a travel conference I'm going to be speaking at down in Zacata in Mexico.
Speaker A:So looking forward, that's a part of the country I've never explored before, so really looking forward to checking that out.
Speaker A:And then me and you are meeting up down in Orlando.
Speaker A:So looking forward to getting down there and exploring a bit more of that as well.
Speaker A:Although by the time this is aired, we've probably already coming gone from Orlando.
Speaker A:Thanks, Tim.
Speaker A:Look forward to seeing you soon.
Speaker B:Thanks, David.
