Malazya: June 29-July 11, 2013 Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia)

Day 144, June 29, 2013, Saturday, Malacca-UPM

It took a day or two for Andres and I to leave Malacca. 150km is a big pill to swallow. I slept through my alarm one day, and the next we chatted with Howard and friends over breakfast into the heat of the day. Maybe both of us were subconcciously stalling, either way, we didn’t want to start late.

Today we set off  under the stars and flew to Port Dickson hoping to get jumbo juices at a previous dinner spot. Closed. We ate at a previous lunch spot, got a refreshment and hit the road. Still have a ways to go.

Out of Port Dickson we came across Phillipe and Pascqual riding from Switzerland. Despite the lack of a place to sit out of the heat, we still chatted away on the side of the road.

We had to break away from the conversation and finish off our ride, another 80-something degrees through heat and palm oil. Plus a few rolling hills. And then the worst part came: navigating cities; It’s the worst. Go onto google maps and simply look up Kuala Lumpur. Seriously, https://maps.google.co.th/maps?gs_rn=23&gs_ri=psy-ab&tok=MG1whddKnQB_xF-tZSB5XQ&cp=8&gs_id=u&xhr=t&q=kuala+lumpur&bav=on.2,or.r_cp.r_qf.&bvm=bv.50165853,d.bmk&biw=1366&bih=667&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hl=en&sa=N&tab=wl&authuser=0

Isn’t that a total cluster fuck? Our average speed halves when we trudge through this shit. Stopping at every intersection, consulting our offline maps, smartphone and visible street signs. It’s a mess. At one of our stops, a cyclist, Aziz stopped to see if we needed help. We took up his offer to lead us to UPM, the university where Akmal’s bike shop is located. After a few kilometers, our leader turned into a gas station for a rest and told us the directions for the last bit. A bit of city, a bit of freeway, a bit of overpasses and we finally got to The Basikal by sundown. It was a long day.

We were met with a pleasant surprise when a few of our Malaysian cyclist friends, whom we met at Lake Toba, walked out to surprise us. Akmal was giving them a workshop on servicing their hubs. We showered up, all went out to dinner and then went to bed early to sleep off the ride.

Day 145-147, June 30-July 2, 2013 UPM

Akmal’s shop is a god-send. A complete set of Park Tool bicycles tools, bike stands, and a good environment. It was such a cool spot, Andres and I were there for three full days.

I rebuilt my entire bike. I did everything. Stripped it to zero, washed it, scrubbed it, tooth brushed it, wiped it down, lubed it up, greased it, re screwed, tuned it up, loved it. The pictures say it all.

Akmal also showed us the best spots to eat: thosai telur, naan, power sup, nasi lemak, coconut shakes! Akmal truly knows the way to our hearts.

And how could I forget to mention that “The Basikal” is a community bike workshop on his univeristy campus! Like Bicycal at UC Berkeley! Akmal rents out a full building and is in the process of turning it into a bike café/workshop. Where students can come rent folding bikes to traverse campus or utilize his workshop to repair their own. Akmal is a full blown bike advocate and “The Basikal” is just one facet of his effort. He designed his own graduate program, focusing on bicycles as a means for transportation, analyzing the true carbon footprint of cycling for commuting. He also takes novice bikers, helps them build their own bikes from the ground up, and then takes them touring through Malaysia!

Much respect for Akmal. Thanks for the brand new bike!

July 3-10, 2013, Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia)

Our next stop in KL was to reconnect with our good friend Steve, our riding partner in Indonesia! Oh how good it was to reconnect. And I won’t let it go unnoticed how nice it was to stay in a house, where we were served awesome, awesome vegetarian Indian meals, and hung out with Steve’s really nice extended family.

I utilized Steve’s homey environment and strong wifi to update my blog, connect with friends and family, do some travel research, reach out to travelers, among other various tasks. To balance out the computer time, I utilized a nearby pool which had an entrance fee of 2 RM!!($.60) So pleasant to escape the heat of Kuala Lumpur by swimming 1km in the water. Ahhh. I miss the water. It’s all land for me recently.

I ventured out into the city as well, checking out Masjid jamek, KLCC, Kampung Baru, and Little India, the fashion/electronic malls and China Town. KL is diverse, with some suburbs, houses, apartments, hawkers fare, restaurants, shops, stores, and malls. It also has a decent public transportation system(I can only speak to the metro and mono rail) The roads are dominated by the car. Utterly dominated. Andres and I tried to walk a few kilometers across town and ended up having to cross a few freeways, we got stuck on  onramp after onramp. We literally had to use the two iconic Malaysian skyscrapers and simply head in their direction because ground navigation was too complicated. Finally we crossed town, but it was a hassle. When we tried to go on a leisurely bike ride out of Steve’s neighborhood, within a few minutes we were forced onto a freeway. What the heck city planners!

Luckily KL, has a lot to offer in food options and Steve’s cousin Kumar showed us the best spots to sample, some mamak style food, chicken rice, fried ice, etc. Kumar even convinced us to push back our leave date so that we could experience the first day of Ramadan in the city, where Ramadan bazaars will dominate the evening eating scene and people will come up with the best fare they can. Steve, Andres and I crossed town to hit up the biggest bazaar in Kampung Baru, with Bahariah a friend through Akmal. Leading up to sunset, the streets were a mad rush of people darting from booth to booth picking up little packages of various food, adding up to a feast. Once it gets within five minutes of sunset, the streets are empty and the crowds hover over their food, waiting to tear into the first bite after fasting all day. I have a murtabak and chicken. Both were really awesome, especially after not eating all day! I don’t see how this is done for a month. Ramadan bazaar in KL, check. Now we can officially move on.