Kuala Lumpur- Malaysia

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So we have come to the end of our trip in Kuala Lumpur. We almost didn't make it as we nearly missed our flight from Bali. Totally underestimated the traffic in Kuta and literally got on the flight with seconds to spare!! Phew!!

We have definitely had an interesting time here with a mix of good and bad experiences. The hotel has been great (apart from the fact that housekeeping threw out our dirty laundry) and the culture here has surely been an eye opener.
Not sure if Kuala Lumpur has been quite what we imagined. The locals here are predominantly muslims and of Indian descent. You would think we were in India or somewhere in the Middle East. They don’t seem to be as accommodating as the Indonesians or Thai. I guess they don’t really rely on tourists to survive as a major city, unlike the others.
The city itself has been incredible. Full of old and new, beautifully designed architectural buildings and surrounded by lush gardens and landscape. The railway stations look like old colonial buildings from the early 1900’s. Some beautiful sights to be seen,for sure. The city even has an open pool in the middle of the city which is open to the general public to take a quick dip. On any given day you can see many kids splashing around in it. Pretty cool. And who can mistake the wonderful Petronas towers! The tallest twin towers in the world. At night the way they light up, it is truly breathtaking.
The transport system is incredible. Ranging from the slower to faster paced commuter trains, to monorail, to hop on/off city tour buses, numerous Taxi’s. And so efficient! The only down side is that they are overcrowded the majority of the time.
We haven’t really found KL to be at the same par level in regards to expenses/shopping as other major SE Asian countries. I mean, definitely a lot cheaper then Australia but quite a difference to Bali. Being a major city, I suppose they can get away with the higher prices for things.
So the first couple of days were spent sightseeing and getting to know the city a little better. We travelled to Bukit Bintang, a major tourist hub, similar to that of Kings Cross or Melbourne city. Full of incredible shopping centre’s and plaza’s, unlike anything we have ever seen. If you visit KL, a must is Time square. How absolutely incredible this place is!! 10 huge levels of absolutely everything. We have even found Cotton on, Billabong, Quicksilver and Payless shoes stores! Food courts, supermarkets, arcades. It even has a built in theme park! Equipped with roller coasters and all!!! Truly unbelievable!
We have been to the Aquaria (an underwater aquarium with turtles, great whites, sting rays, puffer fish) and Sunway Lagoon (Asias biggest amusement park,) To be honest, Sunway is not what we expected. Alot of the rides were closed due to maintenance or lunch breaks , really disgusting toilet facilities and long queues due to overcrowding. The lines to get in were unbelievable. The only good thing about that park was the water side. A huge manmade beach, awesome slides (not as good as Waterbom in Bali) and a pool area which was set up like a nightclub Pretty cool. We have also seen many great Icons, as well as the towers we have visited Batu Caves (a Hindu temple over 400 million yrs old!) equipped with a steep 300 something stairs to get up there... We sure put our agility to the test. National Mosques, Lake gardens, and some pretty weird ‘playgrounds’ (more like outdoor gym in the middle of city!) Have gone down to China town and central markets. Ate at some great places. Peter loves the Sushi trains (not very Malay, I know)
And now landed in Phuket, Thailand! Although we have been here many times before we cant help but feel excited to visit once again, such an incredible place.... Will update soon on our Thai travels.
Mwah! xx

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