What is a straw? Why is it that the Chinese words are clearly written on the menu board but I can't understand it? Kuala Lumpur is a multi-racial city, creating a unique local culture here, although nearly half of the population is Chinese, but after all, most of them are Peranakan, some are already the third and fourth generations, and the living culture is definitely very different from Chinese mainland. This one, let's talk about some things that are rarely mentioned in online raiders and only learned after moving to Kuala Lumpur.
Pic via pexels @Mad Skillz
Chinese words that I can't understand
Malaysian Chinese common, the same use of simplified characters, for Chinese is not much of a problem, but sometimes it is clear that it is also a Chinese character, but do not understand its meaning, for example: SuDong (squid), la la (clam), aquatic weed (straw), 30,000 (ticket), Rory (big truck), MaZhi (mochi), sharp (little Polo honey), ma ta (police) and so on, because these words have been "localized" by other such as Malay, Fujian, Guangdong, etc. Friends who have just arrived will be very surprised, but over time you will soon get used to Malaysian Chinese, and friends from the southern part of the mainland (Fujian, Guangdong) should be more difficult.
Passionate Malaysians
Malaysians are very welcoming and like to chat with you even if they are just taking a taxi and waiting for the formalities together. Most of them just talk out of good intentions, purely want to chat with you, as long as they don't look into the family home, they can talk with confidence.
Ladies dress carefully on occasions
Although Malaysia is a religiously free country, Islam is still the official religion, pay more attention to clothing, religious occasions, to government offices or attend some celebrations, can not wear too exposed, long sleeves or at least cover the arms of the top, over the knee skirt, long skirt or trousers, is the safest dress, to the government departments especially pay attention to, many departments have clothing guidelines.
That thunderstorm in the afternoon
Malaysia is summer all year round, with an average temperature of 26 to 34 degrees Celsius, hot at noon, but in the afternoon there will be a thunderstorm, and occasionally lightning will kill you. If you go out at noon, it is best to close the windows of your home and prepare rain gear with you or in your car. However, the thunderstorm comes and goes quickly, and the heavy rain generally clears in 20 minutes or half an hour, and it just dissipates the heat.
It's hot outdoors and extremely cold indoors
The weather in Kuala Lumpur is hot, but the air conditioning in shopping malls, cinemas, office buildings and more is full of horsepower, which is two extreme experiences. Many young ladies only wear tank tops and dresses when they go out due to the hot weather, and they can't stand entering shopping malls or office buildings. In addition to indoors, the air conditioning of trains, buses and light rail is also very horsepower, if you are afraid of the cold, be sure to bring a thin jacket or shawl, especially into the cinema or take a long bus, jacket is a must.
Pic via unsplash @omarelsharaawy
Citizens usually use cars to move by car
Kuala Lumpur's LRT system is widely covered, but because the place is so large, each stop is quite far apart, unless the place where you live or want to go is right next to the LRT station, less than a five-minute walk. The weather in Malaysia is hot, it is difficult to walk too long under the hot sun, 200 meters is still feasible, more than one kilometer can sweat, so the citizens here will choose to drive themselves. Can't you do it without a car? It's actually possible, kuala lumpur LRT station has a shuttle bus, you can choose to get to the stop, and then transfer to these shuttle buses to your destination.
Install the car rental program, taxi is super convenient
Grab is the most popular taxi app in Kuala Lumpur and the whole of Malaysia, a must-have for tourists and car-free people. The use method is similar to China's Didi taxi, the coverage rate in the Xuelong area is very high, you can take you anywhere when and where, but pay attention to the busy period of the car will be relatively high, traffic jams and rainy days, may be more difficult to take a taxi.
Pray five times a day
Islam is the official religion of Malaysia, Muslims are the largest ethnic group, mosques can be seen everywhere here, and mosques pray five times a day, and can be heard in a radius of 2 or 3 kilometers. If you have a mosque near your home, you will often hear Muslim chanting, including at 5 a.m., and you may not be used to it when you first arrive in Kuala Lumpur, but it won't take long to get used to it and you can be completely unaffected.
Halal certified food and restaurants
We often see this sign in many restaurants or food packaging, which is the "halal logo" of Malaysian Muslims. In addition to not eating pork for Muslims, herbivores must also be slaughtered according to the procedures of qualified canon law, in order to be considered to be meat that meets the halal regulations, seafood and shellfish are not in this range, so we can see Muslims eating in seafood shops operated by Chinese.
Because Muslims are the dominant ethnic group, fast food restaurants and chains here take the halal route and do not sell non-halal foods such as pork and alcohol, and chicken is the most common meat here.
Local fast food – economic meals
Economic rice, also known as "miscellaneous rice", is called "economic rice" due to the popularity of prices, and can often be seen in hawker centers or tea rooms. Because the dishes are ready, guests only need to order what they want to eat, and then they can immediately sit down to enjoy or take them away, which is cheap and good, convenient and fast, so it is also called "local fast food".
Some Malay rice stalls and Indian flat rice are also sold in this form, because the dishes are mainly meat, especially the meat pieces of flat rice are quite large, and the general price will be more expensive than the economic rice in the Chinese tea room, so be sure to order.
Overall, Malaysia is still a very easy country to adapt to and is very friendly to foreigners. As the capital of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur has the convenience of a large city, with elevated highways and high-rise buildings, still retaining historical buildings and green areas, well planned landscape ecology, and a high concentration of Chinese, making the Chinese very highly universal.