5 Nights in Kuala Lumpur with a Toddler

When you travel with a toddler, you’re going to miss a few destinations and sites here and there. That’s to be expected because there are nap times, eating schedules, and early bed times to think about. Jannika and I have never been the ‘take a picture and move on’ type of travelers anyway, so it works out. However, to eliminate any stress from a short visit to any destination you should think about what you want to get out of that destination before you arrive. If ‘go here, go there, see this, see that all in a day’ is you’re style, do it. For us, with a toddler, we try to do one thing per day… and in Kuala Lumpur, it was the markets… and the pool!

During our five nights (4 full days) in Kuala Lumpur we went to the Chow Kit Market, the Jalan Alor Food Street and the Petaling Street Market. Jannika and I love markets because the the food is usually local and authentic, and it’s great sensory overload for Freya. Markets are packed with people and goods that keep Freya entertained throughout the visit.

We also spent time just relaxing at the amazing pool that our AirBnB accommodation had on site… because, pools! We love pools! And Freya loves pools!

The Chow Kit Market has two separate parts: a wet market (selling fruits, vegetables, meats, and fish) as well as a dry market (selling electronics, clothing, apparel). The wet market section is not for anyone with a queazy stomach…we have pictures. We entered on the wet market side, where we were immediately greeted by the pungent smell of raw fish and meats. This section was the largest raw meat section I’d ever seen.

Beyond the meat section of the Chow Kit Market the market opened up to a different world of colors and smells…the fruits and vegetables. Intermingled with the fruits and vegetables stands were spice vendors and prepared food vendors. There was so much to choose from. We bought some fruit to take back to the apartment, then for our lunch we opted for some sort of indian-spiced meat and egg turnover that we had never seen before. It’s was so good!

I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned it before, but Jannika and I are total food show dorks. So, after we arrived in Kuala Lumpur I searched YouTube for clips of Anthony Bourdain in KL. Jalan Alor was where he was eating., so Jalan Alor was where we went.

Jalan Alor Street is a randomly placed, fairly short street that is simply lined with restaurants on each side. The restaurant seating spills out into the center of the street, so walking down Jalan Alor means that you’re bumping elbows with the callers trying to get you into their restaurant, and cars trying to navigate a street that really shouldn’t be open to vehicles in the first place. You see bbqed chicken wings, duck and pork in the windows of some restaurants, but the signature dishes of most feature the seafood… lobster, crab and shrimp are the stars. We made sure to order black pepper crab, which was one of the dishes I had seen Anthony Bourdain eating in the YouTube clip.

Located on the north edge of Chinatown, the Petaling Street Market is a massive dry market with cheap knockoffs of everything. ‘Brand name’s shoes, speakers, bags, backpacks, clothing, etc. This is definitely the place to haggle and get some amazing bargains. Some of the knockoffs are pretty funny though, like the ‘Nike’ (wink, wink) shoes I saw that were clearly a crappy pair of shoes with I hand-out leather swoosh sewn to the outside… I mean, they had another brand name on the soles. Ha! That said, Jannika got her $75 perfume for $5 with the same packaging as the department store version. Boom! (But, honestly, we’re sorry if it was stolen from somewhere else)

We usually try to seek out accommodations with a pool because Freya loves the pool, and it gives us a great escape from the heat and humidity. This pool was one of the nicer pools we’ve had access to on our travels.