Mall Walkers Unite!
Who travels halfway across the world to go to a mall? This guy! Raise your hand if you’re guilty of this too! Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone (unless, of course, you happen to mention it in the comments, but that’s totally on you). Well, I’m here to tell you that there’s no shame.
Don’t listen to all those snooty travelers out there telling you that you should be out seeing the sights instead! I used to be one of those other travelers, scoffing at the mere notion. Why don’t you go to McDonald’s while you’re at it?
While we’re being honest with each other, I guess I too can admit that I am guilty of occasionally frequenting American fast food chains while I’m overseas. Heck, when I saw Fatburger in Jakarta I knew I had to go! Sometimes you just have a craving, ya know?
But this isn’t about fast food. We’re talking about malls. And how I nearly spent a week in various malls around Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, meandering the various levels with the company of fellow bloggers Talon (of 1 Dad 1 Kid) and Juno (of Runaway Juno). Now, I know what you’re thinking… Not one but THREE (four if you count Talon’s 12-year-old son Tigger who was with us and would get a wee bit antsy when we weren’t walking) travelers just chilling in malls? But we had a (mostly) good reason! It rained every day we were there. And, honestly, who wants to go do stuff in the rain?
Not that we didn’t do anything. We made it to the National Mosque, where Talon and Juno donned some pretty fabulous lavender robes for their shorts-wearing ways. And, of course, when it started to rain we got stuck there. Kicked out of the mosque for prayers, we hung out on the steps, robe-less, I might add, which after an hour became a bit of a problem. “You in mosque!,” the lady working the front desk said as she ran and threw a robe over Juno. She was the epitome of all those visions you’ve ever had about strict Catholic school nuns. Now if only she’d had a yard stick it would’ve completed the image…
And we went to those famous Batu Caves, a series of monkey-fied Hindu Temples that are, you guessed it, in some caves just north of KL. The monkeys definitely stole the show here (as they always seem to do). And we joined Rab of Ramble and Wander for a trip to the cool Blue Mosque a commuter train ride away in Shah Alam.
But what will I remember KL for? Those malls! For in our rain avoiding ways, we not only got in a bit of exercise and enjoyed some great conversations, but we also got the grand tour of the mall scene in KL, which, as everywhere in Asia, is a bit of a big deal! The (mega) Mid-Valley Mega Mall, where it’s a maze from one end to the other. Suria at KLCC, which is the mall at the base of the Petronas Towers, offering some interesting tower views through the skylights! And the oddest of the bunch, Berjaya Times Square. Nothing quite like seeing your own city depicted in mall form. Why, yes, I’d love to take a walk through Central Park…
I even kept up my mall walking later on in my trip when I got to Bangkok, quite the city of malls, if I do say so myself. I was very familiar with the likes of Siam Paragon, CentralWorld and, my personal favorite, MBK, from previous trips. New to me this time though was Terminal 21, which, a friend, upon learning of my traveling ways, insisted on taking me to. Here, each floor is themed as a different city around the world. Tacky and Vegas-y, I know, but rather clever if I do say so myself. Up and up those “Departure” escalators I rode for my own mall walking exploits!
So don’t be ashamed of your mall walking habits! Embrace them! That’s what we did and we learned to appreciate mall walking for the art form that it is. So come right out and say with it me:
“I travel and sometimes I walk around malls and I am not ashamed to admit it!”
There, now didn’t it feel good to get that off your chest?