I arrive in Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia, a little after 1pm. Barely 30 minutes in the country and I find myself telling white lies in the most Malaysian accent I can muster. My prepaid number I purchase comes with a regular-sized SIM card which won’t fit into my iPhone and the special SIM card cutter the call centre is supposed to have mysteriously disappears (IKR, A SIM CARD CUTTER?? – Malaysia memang boleh srsly) so I comb the entire mall to find a phone shop with one. I eventually do but the guy at the counter gives me the stink “YOU MUST BE SINGAPOREAN” eye and asks for 5 bucks to get my card cut. U MAD BRO? 5 bucks for a service that’s supposed to be free? Sorry pal, you’re not touching my shopping fund. So I tell him a half lie. For 10 minutes, I become a tired, hungry girl who’d arrived after a 5 hour drive from Penang. When the man softens and does it for free, I feel the beginnings of guilt pricking my tummy but I remind myself, my maternal grandfather was originally from Penang so I COULD’VE been born there right? Right.

I’m having a hard time writing this entry because I don’t know where to start; so many memories were made and I’ve been to KL countless of times but this trip was just beautiful. It’s bad enough I’m in Australia most of the year but it is utterly dreadful when one of your best friends doesn’t even live in Singapore. Aaron and I start the day at our fave Japanese place, then we head to his design school to grab his grad tickets (AWW MY BABY’S GRADUATING ;__;) and mindlessly walk in the Kuala Lumpur rain to the bus stop. He stops at the most random spot next to the main road, I look around, and there is no bus stop sign (or seats lol).

“Hey where’s the bus stop?”
“This IS the bus stop.”
“Dudeeee.”

I think I love KL a little bit more now LOL. I whip out my iPod on the bus and we sing to all our BFF songs, including Gaga’s U&I and mp3 rips of Adele’s Royal Albert Hall concert which is tons more dramatic than her regular album version – guaranteed to heighten any BFF lip synching experience. We get to the KLCC mall and start filtering through the remnants of the Zara sale while peppering our speech with lines from our video du jour, Shit Fashion Girls Say II:

“Omg I’m convinced Daphne Guinness and Karl Lagerfeld are secretly the same person.”
“She kept calling it Net-a-PORTERRRRRR.”
“I’m really into statement necklaces.”
“I’m such a WHALEEEEEEE!”
“Fashion turbans! But I’m not trying to be political.” – what a reference to me tharrr lol.

We grab dinner at Ben’s, this spectacular restaurant in KLCC bedecked in monochromatic greys and black with visually welcoming pops of yellow. I AM IN LOVE WITH THIS PLACE OMFG. The food is incredible and a main dish only sets you back SGD$12 (!). SINGAPORE Y U NO HAVE?! Aaron and I can’t stop thinking about their wild mushroom spaghettini with mascarpone and truffle oil (!!), I should probably mention the other dishes I tried but I shan’t because everyone needs to trust the crazed foodie in me and order this damn pasta. It is SO totes amaze I shall say this with not the slightest bit of shame: I ordered it again the next day when I met up with Brian, my Malaysian friend from my university (see happy, satisfied smiles in last photo). You guys know I cook a lot of pasta and I tend to avoid ordering something I know I can cook well but this pasta dish makes me want to shake, cry and beg the head chef for the recipe lmao, it is THAT good.

Thanks to Brian and Aaron’s other BFF, Cheawen, I was pretty much driven around the whole of KL – thank you so much for your hospitality, guys! Don’t worry, I won’t be coming back so soon so your petrol tanks are safe 8D And to my bff who worries that he doesn’t spend enough time with me, we’ve only met 3 times in 4 years but that’s why we’re special. Magic can’t be measured.

All photos in this entry were taken with my iPhone via Instagram (follow me at @ilyana) and IncrediBooth.

Ben’s
Suria KLCC
Lot 140 First Floor
50088 Kuala Lumpur
Phone: +6 03 2163 1655
Opening Hours: 10:00am – 11:00pm daily

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