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Published: August 5th 2009
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KL
Petronas Towers 7 hours it took! Not 5 like advertised, but 7! Apparently Malaysian bus drivers are known to drive very fast, but this one was way too slow!
Anyways, we were dropped off near Puduraya Bus Terminal near Chinatown with the idea that we'd check in to Backpackers Travellers Inn but were disappointed when all the more decent rooms were taken. We headed to another one with the same result and started wondering if we were ever going to find anywhere to stay once again! Lo and behold we came across the Hotel Petaling in the heart of Chinatown and found a bargain (we think!). 58RM for a double with hot water, aircon, TV and a phone, yes a phone! Happy with it and trying to erase memories of the flea pit in Alor Setar we paid up for the 7 nights stay in KL.
As we were staying in the heart of Chinatown we decided on a little wander to try and grab some of the hundreds of street food options around (we were starving at this point!). The food in Chinatown is a little pricy but good nonetheless.
Friday 31/07/09,
The first thing we needed to do
KL
After a night in the Flea Pit this was luxury! was to sort out our Social Visit Visa for Indonesia at the Indonesian Embassy in KL and after getting there we realised we didn't have all the details from our sponsor...dammit! That was a wasted journey and until we get the info we can't apply. We'll be trying again at some point fingers crossed. Anyhoo, we decided to amble across town to the beautiful Lake Garden. It's amazing that such a lush green environment can be found in the middle of the sprawling metropolis that is KL! We wandered around trying to find the Butterfly Park but it happened to be closed (this is becoming a habit now in Asia!) so after trekking around (mainly uphill) we decided to go to the Bird Park (SE Asia's largest...and it was LARGE!). After some time you get bored of birds but the highlight was definitely paying 2RM to feed some parrots. Fun until you get pooped on a few times!
That evening we decided to check out the Reggae Bar & Restaurant in Chinatown. This is apparently a pretty famous place in KL but it seemed as if the staff there were all on cannabis...never waited so long for a couple of
KL
ChinaTown! cokes and everything really did seem like it was done in slow motion!
Saturday 01/08/09
We decided to spend the day not really doing a whole lot. We took the monorail to KLCC (KL City Centre), home to the Petronas Twin Towers and the Suria KLCC Mall. We decided against going up the Towers as it was a weekend and it would be way to busy to actually enjoy it, so we spent the day trawling through KL's malls, including SE Asia's largest. We were actually in search of a book Dan has been looking for since leaving Thailand but even the biggest stores (Border's, Times etc) and no such luck! We stayed around the awesome Bukit Bintang area (KL's answer to Time's Square or The West End) and found a great place to eat at the Pavillion's (yet another mall!) food court! This is worth a mention as the price is reasonable and the food is great and the choice is neverending! We also decided to have a massage at a place in Chinatown and Dan decided to have the "fish massage". This isn't really a massage but involves dipping your feet in warm water and been fed
KL
More China Town on by loads of various sizes of fish. The end result is that all the dead skin in eaten and your feet end up being really smooth. It was pretty nice actually, and the end result was pretty good!
Sunday 02/08/09
Another lazy day (Amy had an eye infection, Dan had a cold and was worried he had Bird Flu from the parrots...what a girl!) was spent half in bed and the rest of the visiting another mall in the north of the city and having a quick wander around Chow Kit Market (a manic, but very local market with everything from "fresh" fish to electronics.) We sadly didn't spend too long as Dan was moaning about his man flu. We seeked more comfort in SE Asia's largest mall (complete with Asia's largest indoor fun park!!) and settled on KFC for dinner. For those who are saying we're missing too much of the local culture, let us tell you that malls ARE part of Asian culture and are absolutely fasinating places to spend a day!
Monday 03/08/09
We woke up earlier after an early nights sleep feeling better and set on visiting Batu Caves, 14km north of KL.
KL
And who in the right mind would name their business this...! These caves are a Hindu pilgramage point every Jan / Feb and are pretty impressive (even if it did take 1 1/2 hours by local city bus to get there!). The 270-odd steps to get up there take you into a mammoth cave with a few very worn looking Hindu ornaments and a few monkeys and.... well that was it really and half an hour later we were back at the bottom and heading back into KL!
Tuesday 04/08/09
Sorry to say it was a wasted day! Dan was cooped up with a cold (don't worry it's not of the pig or bird variety!) and Amy went to get her hair done!
Wednesday 05/08/09
Our last full day in KL and we decided to finally head up to the KL Tower and check out the views of KL. Sadly it was a very wet day (the first rain in over a week!) but we braved it and headed out anyway. The observation deck at KL Tower was pretty much like any other observation deck that you get. Sadly the views weren't great because of the weather but it's got to be done! The rest of the day was
KL
National Museum spent...wait for it...visiting yet more malls and booking our bus tickets for the next day out of KL to a small town 2 hours south called Gemas. This is where we'll pick up the Jungle Railway all the way back up north to Kota Bharu.
So with pretty much all of KL checked out and enjoying our 7 day "break" we're looking forward to getting back on the road again and seeing more of what Malaysia has to offer us!
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Dad
non-member comment
hi from dad
You've been on the road a long time already and I hope you're still enjoying it. Look after each other. Cold tablets in Indo are very effective so I recommend you take them quickly. England is wet and bloody cold. It hasnt stopped raining most of my visit. Back to Bali next weekend. love Dad