Malaysia

Bobby and Karen, Stewart’s friends of many years, passed away in the Fall of 2021 in a mud slide on their organic fruit farm located 50km/30 miles northeast of Kuala Lumpur. When this happened, we were unable to visit due to all the Covid-19 restriction throughout the world at the time.

There were 36 people staying at the farm, 34 in the Chalets. 3 people died, one being a 6yr old child, the other 2 were Bobby & Karen.

Our original plan was to travel to Malaysia at the end of our stay in Vietnam. When we were checking into flights for that time period it was clear that the costs were going to be at least twice the price of travelling within the next month. At this point it was a no-brainer to book the flights to go in the middle of February as we were due for a visa run at that time and our visitors would all have left for other locations.

We left on a noon flight to Kuala Lumpur (KL), arriving around 3:30pm clearing customs was straight forward, we then caught the train to downtown KL and local transport to our hotel.

I had previously been in-touch with Bobby’s friend Richard regarding our visit. This was one of the people who had originally contacted us regarding Bobby and Karen’s passing, the other was Bobby’s Godson Gordon who we also had contacted before leaving.

Richard and his wife Yingshin arranged to pick us up at 8am next morning, and take us to breakfast (Dim Sum) at a renowned spot they frequented.

Richard, Yingshin, Catherine & Stewart.

From here we originally wanted to head out to Bobby & Karen’s farm to see the state of the situation. We were unable to do this as it is all locked up while the courts decide which family member will be awarded the property based on the will of the diseased. Instead, we visited the Memorial Park where Karen’s remains are interned as Bobby’s body has never found.

The Memorial Park is located approximately 45-minute drive south of KL.

After paying our respects to Bobby & Karen (their western names) which they used locally in Malaysia, we headed back to the city for some lunch. This time we were taken to the Raintree Club back in KL. As we were all still full from our wonderful breakfast we decided on a liquid refreshments.

Later this day we were going to meet Jimmy & Chris. Jimmy was one of Bobby’s life long school friends. Our meeting location would be Oktobers where we would have a couple of drinks in memory of Bobby & Karen and share a mixed food platter.

Yingshin, Chris, Richard, Jimmy, Stewart & Catherine.

The following day we would spend by ourselves, we wondered into KL center were we found somewhere to have breakfast, from here we wondered through Jalan Petaling (Petaling Street) which is in Chinatown and found these murals.

We left here and headed to Sungai Wang Plaza, we had been here many, many years ago. At that time, it was local market that sold everything you may need. This time it was completely renovated into a very modern sterile mall, this disappointed us so we left and returned to our hotel. While here we went to the rooftop viewing area, here are the views.

That evening we walked out for dinner at a local restaurant, while on our way the Menara Tower was all lit-up.

Next morning Jimmy & Chris picked us up at our hotel and took us down to Chinatown where we would visit a hidden gem, from the street you would not know it was there. This was an alley that had murals and other wall art.

From here we strolled over to a building converted to Restaurant/Tea House from a historic Post Office.

We again found ourselves on Petaling Street, the first time we visited KL they set up outdoor markets in the evening, now they have covered it and turned it into pedestrians only and the stalls are open day and night.

Later in the day we headed for dinner at the Banana Leaf, this is an Indian Restaurant that serves the dishes on Banana Leaves.

Richard and Yingshin’s daughter, her husband and their son arrived from England two days after we arrived and invited us to join them all for brunch (Kajang Satay) in Puchong Jaya where they lived, we accepted.

Mark, Thomas, Richard, Stewart, Catherine and Lin

Our last day Jimmy & Chris invited us to join them for dinner at one of their favorite restaurant’s.

We then went for a nightcap before saying our see you laters.

Next: Bangkok

2 thoughts on “Malaysia”

  1. Debbie Matheson

    What adventures. That is sad about your friends. 😢 I love the pics from Chinatown. The murals are amazing. Enjoy! Will you be able to visit with Nat?

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