New in Kuala Lumpur? 5 apps you should download now

So, you just moved to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and you’re all excited. You want to see all the sights, eat all the food, attend all the events, meet all the people and generally, do everything.

But you don’t know anyone here yet, and it would be nice to (not necessarily with a guide) do things solo. Well, there are apps (and websites) for a lot of that.

Events happening around you

For all (or most of) the events happening around you, the best place to go is Timeout Kuala Lumpur. They publish the events at least a week in advance, so you can schedule your visits accordingly. The app is just a glorified magazine reader that you need to have subscribed to, but the website works very well.

Notable mentions:

If you have a Facebook account, you may want to download and check out Facebook Local for events that are publicly listed on Facebook. There’s also LinkedIn Local if you are more interested in business networking.

Getting around

Well, of course, you need to have Grab—that is the ride-hailing service rival that took Uber out of the game in Southeast Asia. Whether you drive or not, it may be a good idea to sign up and have the app on board in case of emergencies. If you don’t drive, Grab ‘taxis’ can take you directly to where you want to go or help you connect to your train commute.

For public transit information, get Moovit. In practice, it may not offer the fastest routes, but it is convenient, especially if you have no idea where to go. All you need to do is specify where you are and where you need to go, and it finds the nearest stations, bus stops, and whatever else you need to reach your destination.

Food

Big fans of takeouts and fast foods have a ton of options to choose from. If you don’t want to crowd your phone with many different food-ordering apps, then go with Grab Food. Yep, the same Grab from earlier also ‘grabbed’ Uber’s food operations in Malaysia. The good news is that you have more than a few restaurants to choose from on the app.

Other options include ordering directly from your favourite fast-food chains' websites. From McDonald’s to Domino’s to Pizza Hut, et cetera.

Renting (or buying) property

Maybe you already have your own place, but if you don’t, the top of our list is iProperty, available on the web and as an app. We’ve found this to have more listings than the other property rental/sales sites. What are the others? There’s Mudah (which also works for your shopping), Propwall and several others. Check out our post on finding and renting property in Kuala Lumpur.

Online shopping

You get two options. There’s Lazada, which is more like an all-in-one platform where you can buy everything from hair products to barbells. It sometimes sources items from China, so make sure you check the delivery time and where it ships from. You also have to be cautious with A+ copies. The second is Zalora for all your fashion needs. On both platforms, you can choose to pay on delivery (for some items), and you get to do just that. They are both available on the web and smartphone app stores. See our top 6 favourite online shopping platforms in Kuala Lumpur.

If you want to do your grocery shopping online, you have a few options as well, such as Tesco, HappyFresh, and honestbee.