Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

While this side trip was by no means planned, it worked out perfectly for us. Instead of traveling by land and incurring hefty boarder crossing fees, we saved a few bucks by taking a flight to Malaysia and spending a day layover in seemingly the most diverse city in the world. Everything about KL (except for the language and the "wrong" side of the road driving) was familiar: high scale malls, Skyscrapers, Wendy's, nice cars.. And despite the Malay-inscribed advertisements,everyone spoke English. Our one full day was enough to enjoy Malay food (fantastic seafood), climb the KL tower to look at the Patroneus towers (the 4th and 3rd tallest buildings in the world, respectively), and even get a taste of home with a Wendy's lunch and Outback Steakhouse typhoon bloom. After our brief visit, we found ourselves flying in seaside to Surat Thani, Thailand for a couple weeks of island life.