I went to Malaysia for seventeen days to visit family.

One of the reactions I get when I tell people, as a mixed race Iranian American, that I have family in Malaysia, is a look of shock. It’s not what they expect at all, especially because the average American probably could not point to Malaysia on a map even if they really wanted to. But when I found out my cousin was actually going to move from Malaysia soon and head back to her home country, I decided to come visit—especially because I probably cannot go to said home country.

So I booked a ticket to Malaysia from the main international airport in Washington D.C.: Dulles Airport. I could only fly through the Middle East, and my Etihad flight coming to Malaysia was roughly a 25 hour journey door to door. Coming home was even rougher: that was a 40 hour journey. More blog posts on that to come.

Despite having a middle aisle seat, I was in awe as I saw how green Malaysia was as we touched down. I flew in on a Thursday Malaysian time, at 10 in the morning, so no one was in the immigration line. It took me five minutes to clear immigration and then find my cousin’s husband.

I was staying with them in Petaling Jaya, and over the course of almost three weeks together, we did so much. We waited for my sister to arrive from the US before we did the bulk of it, but here’s part one of our highlights reel of Malaysia! I definitely want to come back if they’re still around, and perhaps go to Singapore and Malacca.

Little India / Brickfields has some amazing Southern Indian food.

My cousin and I decided to go to Brickfields for food before my sister arrived, as my sister does not like Indian food. We both absolutely love Desi food in general, so we arrived with open stomachs and minds in order to try whatever we could.

Our first stop was a banana leaf restaurant, where we started off with an order of chicken biryani on a banana leaf. This was served in a traditional style, so we had to eat everything with our hands! It makes it taste better, I swear.

In addition to the biryani, which came with raita, an egg, and some additional chutneys, we ordered garlic naan, palak paneer, and drinks. I got an orange lassi, as I had never seen this on the menu at American Indian restaurants, and it was so refreshing.

The highlight of that meal for me, though, was the palak paneer. It was so creamy and delicious! After the restaurant, we wandered around the area for a bit, heading in and out of shops. We loved to look at the elaborate jhumkas available to buy, and the necklaces the storeowners would sell. We also went into some grocery stores along the way.

We then ducked into another restaurant as it began to rain for a simple cheese dosa and masala chai. This was the first time I had a dosa, and I enjoyed the various curries it came with a lot. The tea was served in a way we had never seen before too: the waiter brought the cups out submerged in the tea, so they were burning hot to grab.

After that, we headed to the grocery store Lulu’s in Kuala Lumpur so I could buy some spices to take back home to the states—groceries were some of the biggest purchases I had bought throughout my time in Malaysia, if we’re going to be honest.

The Batu Caves are stunning to see in person.

Let’s be real: the Batu Caves are such a tourist site for those aren’t Hindu, but they’re a major holy site.

They’re pretty significant in the grand scheme of things, especially for me, as someone who studies South Asia, so we couldn’t miss out on such an opportunity when my sister arrived. In Malaysia, specifically Kuala Lumpur when we went in January, the rain was absolutely unpredictable.

It’d usually rain in the afternoons, but when we arrived at the Batu Caves, it was a downpour. We stood underneath the covered portion and gawked at the architecture, as this is a pretty elaborate place in terms of architecture. Lots of Hindu motifs scattered throughout the tops of the buildings, and there were various shrines inside.

Just as we got back in the car and prepared to leave, it stopped raining. So we packed up our umbrellas and headed up the stairs. Ladies, don’t be like us. We didn’t realize you couldn’t have exposed knees or shoulders, and we had to pay 15 ringgits in order to proceed. A woman put a sarong around our bottoms; we clearly missed the memo.

Up the entire walk of the rainbow colored steps are monkeys, so watch where you put your hands. My sister almost accidentally grabbed one while walking up, and these monkeys will steal from you. They’re cute to look at, but don’t get too close whenever possible.

At the top of the steps are some shops selling beverages and souvenirs. We bought some waters for three ringgits and proceeded to the temples that were inside the caves. It’s really cool to see the temples in there, but the natural beauty of the cave formation was the highlight for me.

My knees were killing me going back down the steps, but it provided me with another view of the gorgeous architecture. Driving along the roads in Malaysia you’ll see South Indian style temples on the side of the road, and we stopped at them a couple of times to just admire the beauty.

Merdeka Square was beautiful to walk around.

On the same day we ended up going to KLCC and looking up at the Petronas Towers (more on Malaysia’s malls in Part Two of this post, otherwise we’re going to be here all day), we decided to go and walk around as a small highlights tour.

My cousin, who was able to cut through the heat, people, and high curbs with an expensive designer stroller while keeping a brisk pace, managed to walk all the way to Merdeka Square during this day. It’s only a four minute walk, and there are some nice views of not only the Petronas Towers, but local mosques as well.

Merdeka Square is full of colonial style architecture mixed with the more Malay style, and although there was construction going on while we were there, it was still really nice to look out. I took a lot of pictures here of the buildings, and had a blast just examining the architectural influences.

We ended up having a hilarious moment here as well: my cousin, sister, and I were standing around, just enjoying the views, when these two girls randomly came up to us and asked for a picture. We thought they meant a picture of them with the view in the background, but then they started posing with me.

The joke of the day was that I was a celebrity. It was kind of strange though, as I don’t look like a typical American. Oh well! It was entertaining though, and they ran away as soon as the picture was taken. On our way back to the car we had to walk very quickly, as the sky was about to unleash the afternoon downpour.

The butterfly gardens in Kuala Lumpur were mildly overrated.

My cousin kept raving about the butterfly gardens in Penang when we thought of the Kuala Lumpur butterfly gardens to visit, but because her little toddler had music class, she dropped us off. My sister and I met up with one of her friends, who was in Malaysia on her tour of the world. She was backpacking the planet, which is pretty cool.

We paid the entry fee of 35 ringgits in order to enter the garden, and there was a lot of greenery and butterflies indeed. However, while the butterflies were nice, it was kind of disturbing to see dead butterflies smashed into the ground at certain parts of the garden. Others were dead on the posts, which was sad to see.

I don’t know if they clean the dead ones up at the end of the day, but the ducks in the enclosure also looked like they were having a rough time down there. I mean, the alive butterflies were really pretty, and so were the little exhibits at the end explaining all the different kinds of bugs one could find in Malaysia.

All in all, I didn’t find this attraction to be worth it if we’re going to be honest. I’m coming from a very American perspective though, and I’ve been to some really nice butterfly gardens in the past.

Central Market was good for shopping, but was also a tourist trap.

One day we ventured to Central Market in order to stock up on our souvenirs, then had plans to wander the streets of Chinatown in search of something to do. We arrived at Central Market, but first ate lunch across the street from one of the local restaurants. I ordered the chicken curry, biryani rice, and then a teh tarik. It was pretty good! The naan there was also some of the best I’ve ever had.

We then went into the market, where my sister and I proceeded to buy our souvenirs. It is worth noting this is a tourist destination, and the prices are going to be marked accordingly. My sister and I bought goods from a Chinese decor store in here, and then I saw some of the same exact items I had purchased at Thean Hou Temple a few days later for half the price.

I also purchased batik pants at the market, which were beautiful. I didn’t realize you could haggle with some vendors, and I ended up paying 128 ringgits for the pants. I justified it in my head by rationalizing I was supporting a local business, as the pants were locally handmade in Malaysia. It also wasn’t that much when converted to American dollars, if we’re going to be honest.

After that we headed into Petaling Jalan, or Chinatown. It’s basically full of fake luxury goods. We didn’t buy anything here except some roasted chestnuts from a vendor, and they were delicious!

Thean Hou Temple was one of our favorite stops.

I had found the Thean Hou Temple on Google when trying to figure out what to do in Malaysia, and my cousin had not been here before. We came before our lunch one day, and immediately ventured to the external sections with the Chinese zodiac animals.

After having some fun figuring out what our Chinese zodiacs were, we wandered into the main portion of the temple. You have to go up some sets of steps in order to get to the main section, and man were they worth the journey to this part of town.

Thean Hou Temple is absolutely gorgeous. From the traditional Chinese pagoda shapes, which are often seen in these Buddhist temples, to the lanterns drifting on the breeze, I thought I’d died and gone to heaven. Like many other temples in Malaysia, you need to take your shoes off before entering the main space.

Before that, though, there are places to pick up incense, and then you can admire the lacquer designs depicting characters I’d recognize from Beijing opera, as well as cranes. We headed into the main section, where a big statue of Guanyin rests in the center.

We respectfully admired the details, especially as people had come to the temple to actively pray. Before heading out of the main room, we picked up our Chinese fortunes, and we all got fortunes that warned us of terrible fates. There are some side sections of the temple where there’s a wedding space, statues depicting mythological figures, and fountains.

The bottom floor, as we were leaving, had a gift shop. This is where I saw some of the items from Central Market, and I picked up a small token of a dragon, which is my zodiac. I also bought some soybean milk with grass jellies in the food court, then we headed on our merry way.