We headed back to the Malaysia Food Village for breakfast before our busy day. Wes got the breakfast set again and I went with a shrimp omelet this morning. I really wanted a pork & rice bowl, or some fried eggplant & dumplings, but neither of those stalls were open, yet. 😠 My omelet was really good with lots of shrimp so it wasn't a bad choice.
We spent the rest of the morning & early-afternoon at the Batu Caves. 🌄 If you look up things to do in Kuala Lumpur, the top 2 are the Petronas Twin Towers and the Batu Caves. The caves ah-mazing 😲 and hands down the best part of the trip for me.
How utterly cool is this?? 😮 I've never seen anything like it, obviously in not real life, but I also haven't seen anything like it in movies or travel shows.
The caves are a religious site with statues and temples throughout. There are 272 colorful stairs to climb to get up to the cave. We got there before it got busy so there wasn't too much congestion on the stairs. They were a lot steeper than I thought they'd be from the pictures I saw online. But, there are handrails and platforms where you can stop to rest (and take pictures📷), so everyone was managing just fine up & down the steps. The weather was somewhat nice. It was still really humid but at least it was cloudy that day with a slight breeze. ⛅
There are monkeys EVERYWHERE! 🐒 They are used to people so they were just going about their day while everyone was trying to photograph, feed & touch them. Some of them interacted with humans but most of them couldn't care less about us. One of them tried to take my sunglasses. LOL And we saw one snatch some snacks out of a guy's hand. The monkeys roam freely but chickens and a peacock & peahens were kept in a cage inside of the cave. We also saw one solitary squirrel and a stray cat.
After sweating up all the stairs and dodging monkeys, we entered into the limestone cave. It was probably only a couple of degrees cooler inside but it felt great! The cave is gigantic. I wasn't sure what to expect but I was completely blown away. 👀 It was like its own little village in there. There were souvenir booths at the entrance, a few temples throughout, a lot of statues & religious symbols scattered around, and other things we could walk around and look at. And yes, more pigeons & monkeys!🐵
I think it's so impressive that indigenous peoples felt so strongly about their gods that they not only discovered a cave in the center of a mountain to use as a place of worship, but then also built numerous temples and monuments inside of it.
You'll have to super zoom in but the mountain (largest picture) is covered in monkeys. They were all out and watching us, hoping someone would drop their lunch.😆
Our descent down the stairs was a bit more difficult (in my opinion) because the sun had come out by then, there were a lot more people, and I kept worrying I'd trip and come tumbling down. Luckily, we made it back to the base in one piece. 😁 The suggested time for visiting the caves is 1-2 hours. We gave ourselves 2 1/2 hours before the next Grab pick up. I think we only spent 1 to maybe 1 1/2 hours at the caves proper. But, there are shops, restaurants, and smaller caves & statues in the surrounding area so we spent the entire 2 1/2 hours looking around.
The best grass jelly I've ever had; partly because it was the only cold/refreshing food I could find and partly because it wasn't out of a can like what I usually get at the Asian grocery store. The other refreshing meal option is whole coconuts.
It was lunchtime but, once again, we were too hot to have any appetite. I really wanted to eat something cold and was SO EXCITED when I saw a picture of grass jelly in the window of one of the restaurants. I got the herbal jelly with rice balls and white sugar syrup. 😋 Wes just got some water and a soda.
There were nature "artistic" walks, more temples & smaller caves, and a "snow cave" in the area but they all cost money to go in, so we skipped. I was pretty curious about the snowy one, though.
We slowly headed toward the Grab pick up location after eating. We stopped to peer in some of the smaller caves but didn't go in because they cost money.
*an aside - We didn't think we'd need cash on this trip (assuming a credit card would suffice); another thing we got wrong from yesterday. The most common way to pay is with a digital wallet, but not any of the ones I have -- no CashApp and no PayPal. 😩 Wes attempted to download one via QR code but it was weird so we just got cash from the money exchange center (which are everywhere so it wasn't too much of a hassle). We also needed cash to use the public restrooms.*
Anyway, we walked along the path to the Grab station, taking more pictures of statues, saw some more monkeys, passed an ear piecing booth and other souvenir stalls, found our ride and headed back to the hotel.
Last picture from the Batu Caves - shops and restaurants.
Our Grab driver was watching Indonesian Idol (I hope Angie won; she was really good!🎤) on his second phone as he drove (while his first phone pinged more pick ups and text messages). Normally, I would think this is unsafe but this guy knew what he was doing! He was our youngest and most efficient Grab driver. 🚘 He skillfully navigated the rush hour traffic by weaving in & out of lanes, flashing his lights at other cars that were in his way, and honking at all the right times. 🚗 The traffic in Kuala Lumpur is always busy and the motorcycles zigzag in between cars without abandon.
Its hard to tell in the picture but the top left is a rainy view from our hotel room.
We saw a couple of American fast food chains around the hotel and decided that for lunch, we'd go see if they had any Malaysian versions of hamburgers & pizza on the menu. It started raining when we were on our way back from the caves so I was going to order take-out... but the quickest a Grab could deliver was almost an hour. Thanks, rain and rush hour 😩 The closest restaurant to the hotel was a KFC. 🍗The rain was spotty so it didn't rain on us the entire walk. And, luckily, this was the only time it rained on our entire trip. I got popcorn chicken (that tasted exactly like the American recipe of 11 herbs & spices) and a bowl of rice, spicy peanuts, cucumber, and a hard boiled egg that was sort of sweet. Wes got the classic chicken nugget meal with fries and a Coke.🍟
After lunch, we headed out again. 🎨 Immersify KL is a new immersive art museum that opened about a month before we visited. Wes said he's not a fan of AI generated art, but I've never been to a digital art museum so I was excited to see it. I was a bit worried that it would be crowded since it's still a new attraction in town, but we went on a weeknight and it wasn't busy at all. 😀 The museum is divided into 11 zones; each zone has it's own immersive theme. Some of the zones are small rooms with capacity limits, but we didn't have to wait in line for any of them.
Zone 1: we were greeted by a beautiful color-changing garden when we first walked in. I think all of the flowers are native to Malaysia but I can't fully remember the zone's artist statement. This was one of my favorite rooms 🌺 and great way to start our immersive experience.
Zone 2: we left the peaceful flower fields for a thundering waterfall. I did not like the second room at all! 😖 The change from tranquil music to loud rushing water felt really jarring to me.🐘 A baby elephant emerged from the waterfall and tried to climb up a rock. 🐘The mother elephant came out to help it and blew it's trunk, which was also super loud & unsettling.
I don't make a very convincing angel or astronaut. 😅
Zone 3: next was a small room dedicated to selfies. 📷 This was the first of 4 rooms that had a capacity limit. The screen showed a moon, angel wings, and flower with instructions to stand in front of the projections to take pictures of your silhouette. We were to pose as the projections changed to a new picture every few seconds. I think I did it right. LOL
Zone 4: was one of my favorites!! It was a small room made of mirrors that had lanterns hanging from the ceiling. 🏮 The lanterns hung at different heights and changed colors. It reminded me of the Kusama exhibit we saw at the Bentonville art museum a few years ago. I loved walking around in the darkness with the neon colors brightly shining around me 😄
Zone 5: was a pretty boring one. We walked into what reminded me of the old Microsoft screen savers from the 90's. 💻 I think there was some music, too, but I don't remember. We just quickly walked in & out of this one.
Zone 6: the next "room" was a tiny triangular closet that was made of mirrors. We stood in the middle as the art changed around us. 💥 There was a neon splatter painting (my favorite), one that looked like we were in outer space, and a techy one that made it look like we were inside of fiber optics.
This room was giving mega Lisa Frank vibes!
Zone 7: found us leaving the small rooms and going back out into a large space. We were in the middle of the Malaysian jungle! 🌴 We were surrounded by plants, birds, and snakes. A tiger walked up to greet us. 🐯 Then a large curious gorilla walked up. He looked & sniffed at us, and decided he didn't like us! So, he started beating on the glass and shattered it to break out. 🐵 Then the scene ended and warped around again. I think we stayed to watch it twice, but I forgot to take a picture of the gorilla both times. LOL
You have to squint but me, Wes, Athena and Zephyr's names are floating around on one of those stingrays.
Zone 8: this was a room for children but I participated anyway. 🐋🐙 The room was a large aquarium made up of sea creatures that we colored. 🐟🐠 I dedicated a stingray to our little family, but you can't really our names on it. After coloring our art, we gave it to an attendant to be scanned in and projected onto the screen. All of the children were writing their names on their sea creatures, which looked so much better! 🐡
I showed my coworkers and they said my DDOK lobster was cool even if you can't see it. It's great to have a supportive team who always nod & smile at your silly ideas. LOL
Wes bought thoughtful souvenirs for his team at work when we were in Chinatown. I didn't get anything for my coworkers (ooops 😬), so I decided to make art for them instead! I colored the top and sides of a lobster but you can't see my writing when it was projected. 🦞 All you can read is a small blurry version of "Oklahoma." Maybe I should have written on a larger whale instead. LOL
In hindsight, I wish we had taken a selfie in this room. But at the time, all I could do was stand in awe.
Zone 9: this was both me & Wes's favorite room!! 💛😁 Wes claims that it is the only room that is truly immersive. A giant lantern hung from the ceiling and the light & shadow made it seem like we were in the middle of a revolving mandala drawing. It was also the only room that didn't have any white noise or music. We simply stood in silence as the drawing moved around us. It felt much cooler than I can describe!
This was the most immersive room because it had the giant projections, surround sound, and gusts of air blowing out to mimic wind.
Zone 10: I think this was supposed to be one of the highlights of the exhibit but I didn't really like it. We sat on the floor while a "movie" played around us. It started with a small tree and followed it's growth throughout the four seasons. 🌳 Then somehow we were in the sky, and the constellations came to life as whales started floating around us. 🌟 I'm sure there is a deep allegory within the movie, but I didn't get it and thought it was weird.
Zone 11: the last room was an art museum. 🎨 I'm not a huge fan of the Impressionists (which is why I hadn't gone to any of the Van Gogh immersive exhibits when they were the hot thing to do), but I enjoyed it. I think being "inside" of the painting makes it more fun, even if you aren't a huge fan of the style. Wes begged to differ and said that the fact that all of the renditions of the paintings being so obviously AI generated took away from the experience.
My favorite paintings in the "art museum" room.
We headed back to the mall for dinner after the museum (it turns out that all of the restaurants we wanted to try were conveniently located inside of Suria KLCC 👍). I've been wanting to try the famous Din Tai Fung soup dumplings forever! There are a few Din Tai Fungs in California but we didn't get to go when we were in San Francisco. 🥟 I am so glad we went here because the dumplings lived up to all of their hype. 😋 It was my favorite meal on this trip!! And, I think Din Tai Fung was the only restaurant in the mall that was properly air conditioned. It was super busy during dinner but we got seated & served pretty quickly. The soup dumplings were obviously delicious, but I also really liked our cold noodles and spicy green beans. 🍜 We got peanut dessert dumplings, which I may have liked more than the renowned soup dumplings.
My new travel goal is to eat at all the Din Tai Fungs.
And for the last activity of the day (is anyone still reading this, and if so, how much time have you wasted 😅) ... we headed outside to the Suria water fountains for their nightly show. The fountains lit up as the water danced & swayed to music. I would have liked to watch a bit more of the show but it was hot outside and we were tired from our extremely packed day (it was getting close to midnight by now), so we only stayed for one song.
Tomorrow is day 4 and ends our vacation. How have we already finished our once-in-a-lifetime anniversary trip?? 😱 It feels like we just got to Kuala Lumpur!?
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