[quote=“Mucha Man”]Yeah, it characterless is many ways, though it’s great how just behind modern highrises are still wide streets with little kampungs and neighborhoods of colonial buildings.
Travel: yes, Air Asia has incredible deals. Last fall we were looking at flying to Laos for NT$2000. Within Malaysia you can get deals for a few hundred.
The new cross island highway makes driving to the east coast islands much faster now. Lots of old roads for biking. Like I said, hiking around KL is excellent.
I like KL for daily living as it is so much easier to get all the food I like in one place (unlike Taipei where I have to go to several places and still can’t get things). So many expats in KL now that even obscure items are easy to find. Lots of organic produce now too.
I also love the natural element of the city. At least on the outskirts where we are. Our place is backed by a nature reserve and we overlook forest and a bit of the city. Monkeys and a variety of tropical birds play in our garden (yes, we have a lawn and garden - take that Taipei). Sometimes when we walk down to the bakery-cafe at the bottom of the hill we see wild pigs. In general we can just hang out having coffee looking out on a really lovely and ever changing environment.
The air is way better, even with the haze from burnign in Indonesia at this time of year.
Taipei is a much more vibrant city though and I love how you can walk for hours across the city now (can’t do that in KL as it is broken into sections). KL has more seedy areas, areas with lots of muggings (is anywhere in Taipei like that) and also much dirtier. Taipei has made enormous progress these past years but KL is still like Taipei 15 years ago.
I find Malaysia a lot like Taiwan 15 years ago. People are just beginning to find time for leisure (you see Malays on the hiking trails now, something you never did 10 years ago). There is growing concern for the environment. The opposition actually won the popular vote last election so change is in the air. Yes, parts of the country are still very conservative and Muslim but the cities tend to more liberal and also more Chinese and Indian.
Anyway, I plan to enjoy KL for the beauty and convenience of my daily life and travel to more interesting locales when I have time.[/quote]
Wow, thanks for the detailed description. I’m looking at moving there for a job where I would be more or less 50/50 in Singapore and Malaysia. Still figuring out which is the best place to live having already spent a fair bit of time in SG and not much in KL. Sounds like KL is much cheaper and has everything one would need in an asian city, so next step is to go there and check it out. MM are you there FT or just a regular visitor?