April 4–8, 2024 / Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
I arrived in Kuala Lumpur in the evening.
Had a quick meal at the airport food court,
then headed straight to the hotel.
I exchanged money at KL Sentral.
The rate is better than at the airport.
From KL Sentral, I took a train to Masjid Jamek,
then walked about 10 minutes.
I arrived at Hotel Transit Kuala Lumpur.
Went into the room,
and immediately fell asleep.
A rainy day
The next day, it rained.
I worked in the room until it stopped,
then went out toward KL Sentral and Jalan Alor.
At the edge of Jalan Alor,
I bought something like a chocolate shake from a street stall.
The staff were very friendly.
While drinking it, I went into a nearby convenience store.
Right when I was about to pay,
I dropped the shake on the floor.
I tried to clean it up,
but the staff said, “It’s okay, it’s okay,”
and someone came right away to clean it.
I felt a bit sorry,
and at the same time, grateful.
Around Chinatown
In the afternoon, I walked around Chinatown.
I passed through Kwai Chai Hong,
took some photos, and headed to Petaling Street.
At a local food court called Dong Teh Mun,
I had Hokkien mee.
Better than expected.
After that, I stopped by a Starbucks in Pavilion
and did a bit of work.
I said my name was “Hide.”
They wrote “Hita.”
It’s never quite right.
After working, I had noodles again at the Pavilion food court.
I think I prefer local places.
Rain, again
On the way back to the hotel,
it started pouring.
While waiting under a roof,
a man came up to me.
“Where are the Twin Towers?”
I said,
“I don’t know.”
After a while, the rain didn’t stop,
so I went back into Pavilion and spent some time at H&M.
When I came back out,
he was still there.
I couldn’t just leave him there,
so I checked on my phone and showed him the way.
He was from India.
His phone had run out of battery.
I felt a little useful.
Looking for cats
The next day,
I went to Jalan Masjid India.
I found my first cat near a jewelry shop.
When I tried to take a photo,
a security guard held the cat still for me.
That helped.
Walking around the area,
more cats started to appear.
It feels like something switches on at times like this.
Some kind of cat radar.
Got some good photos.
Mission complete.
A cafe in Chinatown
I went to a cafe I had been curious about,
leaf & co. cafe.
It has a nice atmosphere.
I chose a seat in the corner.
I like corners.
You can see everything from there.
I had beef rendang and a latte,
and worked for a while.
It’s a popular place,
so it might not be easy to stay long.
But the atmosphere was good.
A cafe at AVENUE K
On another day, I went to AVENUE K to exchange money.
On the way back,
I stopped by a cafe and worked.
The staff were very friendly,
almost like talking to a friend.
One of them was singing while working.
I laughed a little.
Then he laughed too.
It’s the kind of atmosphere
you don’t really get in Japan.
On the way back to the hotel,
a staff member from a nearby Chinese restaurant called out to me.
I wasn’t that hungry,
but the atmosphere was nice, so I went in.
Had fried rice,
and went back to the hotel.
To be continued →
Update
After writing this article, MeowSnap was released on November 13, 2025.
It’s a small app that lets you quietly keep track of the cats you meet while traveling on a map.
