Malaysia - Kuala Lumpur - A family reunion a few thousand miles from home.


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Asia » Malaysia » Wilayah Persekutuan » Kuala Lumpur » Bukit Bintang
November 23rd 2011
Published: December 4th 2011
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Malaysia - Kuala Lumpur - A family reunion a few thousand miles from home.

A visit from my parents had been planned for many weeks and we had coordinated schedules several times to ensure I would be at the airport to meet Mum and Dad who would bravely (or foolishly) travel with me for ten days. Well I think it's fair to say I'm renowned for being an over the top planner as are my parents, this is why I was a little surprised at the airport when I asked where I could find the arrival area for the KLM flight from Amsterdam and their response was not here, different airport????

Not once did we consider KL has two airports and needless to say I landed at one and my parents at the other, Rodders you first class plonker..... After a quick bus journey I made it to the right airport in time to meet up with Mum and Dad as they landed. A very joyous moment for all, it had been way to long!

After a quick chat we hopped in a taxi and headed towards two very different hotels, mine was a windowless box and my parents a 5* hotel with great views of the city, I bet you can’t guess where I spent most of my time. I subtly informed them to make the most of their first couple of days because after this it would not quite the same as they are used to. But to give them both credit they seemed quite keen to experience what I had been doing for the past five months which meant a lot to me, I’m not sure there are too many parents who would be up for this and I feel very lucky to have a fabulous family around me who are adventurous and take an active interested in their sons crazy ideas.

Whilst in KL I broke them in gently by starting off with dinner in a nice restaurant with some Malaysian and Chinese food giving us a great chance to catch up properly with some of the news from the past months, not to mention giving me the chance to mess around with my new camera, thanks for the early Christmas present Mum and Dad, time just flew by as did the food and drink.

The following couple of days we hit all the tourist sights such as the Patronas Towers which are incredible, especially at night. We also went to the KL towers and walked round the viewing area at the top which offered an incredible 360 degree panorama view of the city, but sadly mums fear of heights got the better of her so she decided to stay down below with the tame tourist lizard for entertainment.

To ensure my parents experienced a more traditional side of Malaysia and Asia in general we also visited, the market area, reunification square, China town and some delightful street food restaurants (if you can call them that.) As you will see from one of the photos, the toilet facilities in this restaurant and generally all around Asia are quite consistent and for some reason Mum just wasn’t keen to experience these, I just can’t think why??

We all had a great time exploring the city and taking in the sights, sounds and smells of somewhere very different from back home. The best part for me was simply watching Mum and Dads facial and sometimes vocal expressions as we pushed their comfort zone a little further with each new experience, and believe me there was a long way to go on this one!

Our time in KL was short because my parents are only here for ten days, the plan is to complete the West Coast, the Highlands and one of the Islands called Langkawi during these ten days so we had to keep moving.

I think it’s fair to say we all felt the same about KL it didn’t set our world’s alight but it was still very enjoyable, I can’t put my finger on the reasons why but I just didn’t get the same feelings and vibes here as I’ve felt in many of the other cities I’ve been to, it just seemed to lack something. The only thing I can think of is perhaps it was a little to normal with similarities to Western cities and I’ve now become used to arriving amidst total Chaos??? Who knows?

In a nut shell that was KL and the gentle awakening for my parents of what was to come, they both seemed to be having a good time but I was very worried that was all about to change. Dad does not travel well on buses, so taking this into account and I had planned a five hour bus journey to Cameron Highlands, you’ve got to love your son for priceless favours like this! As much as I doubled check, rechecked and checked again I was praying the VIP bus was going to be as the pictures showed otherwise Dad was in for an interesting journey and this could really test our father/son relationship! As we sat patiently waiting for the bus, it pulled into the station and to my amazement it was……………. Until the next blog, I bet you’re all on the edge of your seats, but at least you have one!


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