Kuala Lumpur. I wish I could regale you with tales of off-the-beaten path adventures of how we hopscotched around the city indulging in delicious street food eats and taking pictures that highlighted the long history and rich culture of this impressive city. Before I tell you where we actually spent our time, in our defense, we did visit the Batu Caves on New Year’s Day, which was a fun cultural excursion. WE SAW MONKEYS.

We also went to the top of the Petronas Towers, checking off my Mission Impossible moment in SE Asia.

Otherwise, I hate to break it to you seasoned travelers, but we were, errrrrr, Mall Rats.

We landed in Kuala Lumpur early evening on NYE and promptly got stuck in a traffic jam going from the airport to the city center. Our energy was waning, but it was New Year`s FLIPPIN Eve and we were in Kuala FLIPPIN Lumpur. (So envision us doing high kicks and hair whipping to Sia’s Titatium once we finally got to our hotel room.)

I had read about a reggae bar in Chinatown – with my Japan brain that didn’t strike me as an odd combination – that I wanted to check out. Alex and I also got lost since neither of us have any sense of direction. This time it was even worse than in George Town because anytime we’d ask for directions, someone would point us in the way we just came from.

Back and forth. Back and forth. We f.i.n.a.l.l.y found it, nearly empty. TWAS AN EPIC BUST. TWAS NOT HIP. What a bummer. Do not trust Internet advice about reggae bars in Chinatown in Southeast Asia. Mmm, kay? Alex and I played a game of pool before leaving around 10 p.m. We were tired and didn’t feel like dealing with crowds of people. I fell asleep before midnight.

Afterwards, we spent two solid days at The Pavilion or Suria or Sephora or Starbucks or going to the movies (only $3-$5!) or just wandering around the Malaysian grocery stores. Hahaha! So, I wasn’t at the best of my travel game in KL, buuuuuut we did find some gems amidst the mass-marketed stores and sale racks. Like hair products for curly hair, the movie Pitch Perfect, and the most rockingest doughnuts in all of Asia. JCO Donuts & Coffee. Yeasted-sugared-ring-of-amazingness. We went there every day and even took them to the airport with us!