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Published: June 18th 2006
Janice & John
Our lovely hosts!!!Hello All…well, we thought the ‘delightfulness’ of Kuala Lumpur deserved a blog all of its own. It all seems like a while ago now but we had a fantastic time.
We arrived in KL after a delayed Air Asia flight. As a lovely change we were staying with family friends - those of you who remember Wing King (who my Mum used to child-mind (Karen)) - it was his parents Janice & John. They lived in Northampton for about 18 months 20 years ago (whilst working at St Crispins and mum looked after their son). They moved back to KL but had kept in touch with mum and dad over the years. So, it had been a while since I had seen them (I was only about 6 when they left!!!). We were very excited as we landed though. What made it more exciting was that, for the first time ever, we had a sign with our names on it at the arrivals hall in the airport!!! Great!!! The sign was because (20 years on) Janice didn’t think she would recognise me. Her daughter - Tracy - was holding the sign but Janice, surprisingly, did recognise me so I can’t
Petronas Towers
The Petronas Towers at nightime. have changed that much in all that time!!! It was such a nice feeling to be greeted as we arrived. Along the way we have just been used to struggling to find transport, or setting off on a hike to find accommodation. This time we were travelling in style!!!
We went back to their lovely house and were shown our room. Another great feeling to be staying a house!!! - Something else that we have missed! After settling in, Janice was well-tuned to our thoughts and realised that we would be missing western food so they took us out for Steak! We had a gorgeous meal - the steak was delicious (and just what we had been craving!) As you will come to realise, food will feature a lot in this blog. Over the 5 days that we were with Janice & John we ate the best food that we have ever eaten (and probably the most!) In Janices’ own words - “the chinese’s favourite things are food and shopping - in that order - if they are not eating food - they are thinking about their next meal!!!” Hence, we ate a lot and it was superb!!! That
Lake Gardens
Lovely view from Lake Gardens. ‘motto’ of Janices’ or the Chinese could easily become ours (and probably already was to a certain extent!!!)
After dinner Janice & John drove us round KL ‘by night’ to see all the main sights. It looked amazing all lit-up and was a good way to see it all. It was getting late so it wasn’t very busy either. We stopped at the main sights, including Johns practice which was right opposite the Petronas Towers! We stopped in Chinatown and took a walk down Petaling Street (the main market street in Chinatown). It was close to packing up but it was still chaotic and very busy. Everything for sale and some real bargains. Janice told us that its mainly tourists who go in the evening though so we would go back in the daytime (when the locals go) to get better prices - its great having people to show you around and give good advice!!!
The next day (Friday 21st April) John was at work so Janice took us around KL. We went to Lake Gardens first which were beautiful. There was an impressive war memorial there and the grounds were stunning. There was a good view too.
Beautiful Butterfly!
Butterfly Park at Lake Gardens. We went to the butterfly farm and saw some colourful ‘beauties!!!’ We went for lunch after the butterflies which was our first opportunity to try the local food. Absolutely delicious. We tried local dishes Nasi Bojari, fried Hokkien Mee (noodles) and fried Kuay Teow. For dessert we tried a local dish called Chendol. It was quite strange - made with red beans, coconut milk, ice - it was very tasty though.
After lunch it was time to be brave (for me anyway) because we went to the KL Tower. I thought that I would be alright going up until we arrived at the bottom of the tower and I saw how high it was! Janice and Jamie managed to coerce me into going up though so, before I knew it, we were in the lift going upwards! It was scary (for me) at the top and I had to cling-on but there was an amazing view across KL. We did a whole lap round so we saw the many different sides of the City. The view of the Petronas Towers from the top was great too. Afterwards we headed back to the house.
In the evening we went
KL Tower
Us at the top of the KL Tower (view of the Petronas Towers in backdrop). Karen clinging on for dear life!!! for dinner at a lovely fine-dining restaurant. John took us two and Tracy and we met Janice, her mother, sister and friend at the restaurant. We had the best meal that we have ever eaten. It was an epic and totally delicious. Just because it was so wonderful we thought that we would share the menu with you (for all you food lovers!)…
Peking Duck (just the skin wrapped in pancakes)
Then (just for us to try) Dim Sum: Roast BBQ Chicken Bun
Prawn Dumpling
Meat Dumpling
Sharks Fin Soup with Crabmeat
Lamb Chop Chinese Style
Choi (with chicken stock and garlic)
King Prawn in Salted Egg Yolk (the biggest prawn ever)
Duck Meat wrapped in Lettuce (meat from the duck we had the skin of earlier!)
Flower Crab in Ginger Glutenous Rice
Soya Bean Curd
Dessert: Durian Puff with Mango Sauce
The Dim Sum was because we said that we liked it because that normally wouldn't have been included. They don't eat dim sum after lunchtime at the latest.
After the dinner we headed home completely full!!!
On Saturday we were going to queue for tickets to go up
the Petronas Towers - or Twin Towers as they are also called. It is free to go up but you have to get there quite early in the morning to get tickets. As John's practice is opposite, we got a lift with him when he went to work. So we left super-early at 6.30am! We were shown his offices which already had a full waiting room at about 7am! Then we went for a walk in the park at the back of the Towers. It was so nice and peaceful because it was still early. We queued for about an hour and managed to get tickets fine - we were due to go up at 9.40am so we hung around for a bit (just more time for Karen to get nervous!)
You don't actually go to the top of the Towers but instead you go up as far as the Skybridge. We went up in the lift and followed the rest of the group out. I (Karen) barely got one foot on the bridge when I knew I wouldn't be able to go across!!! So, Jamie went ahead and got a great view and I was looked after by
Flower Crab
Wow what a tasty dish!!! (Flower Crab with ginger rice). a kind lady who worked there. You are only given 10 minutes to walk across the bridge etc because so many people go up in the day, therefore, we were soon back down at the bottom again! (Took 58 seconds in the lift). We did a little shopping in the KLCC Mall at the bottom of the Towers (it was huge!)
At lunchtime Janice picked us up and the 3 of us went for lunch at the 5-star Shangri-la Hotel. We went to the buffet restaurant which, again, was amazing food. It was a top-class style buffet with every variety of food that you can imagine. There was a Malay section, Chinese, Indian, Japanese (sushi), English style roast meats and vegetables, Italian foods too. There was no way that you could try every type of food with one visit. We went up several times to try and cover it all but we failed!!! There was also every kind of desert imaginable - including a fabulous chocolate fountain with which you could submerge strawberries or grapes or marshmallows and many other scrumptious delights (we made sure that we left just enough room for this one!)
After eating we went
Jamie on the Skybridge
Jamie and the view from the Skybridge (Petronas Towers) - note: Karen didn't take the photo - she didn't get this far across!!! Jamie was a little dizzy! back to Petaling Street (from the first night) in Chinatown. The market was definitely quieter in the daytime than it had been a few nights ago. However, we shopped fairly quickly as it was nearly teatime and thats when the stalls change for nightime. We brought some good things. A nice bag for me and Jamie got the latest Liverpool jersey (and an Australian one!) It was such a good market. We also walked through the food part where the locals buy their food.
Afterwards we went back to the house. We were eating at the house because Jancie and John were taking Tracy to the airport after dinner. We had a lovely home-cooked meal. Janices sister helped cook so there was 9 of us for dinner. We ate Roast duck and roast chicken - but not roast as 'roasted in the oven' ('Roast' chinese style!). We had chinese soup and veg and it all tasted delicious.
We relaxed after dinner but got a 'second-wind' late at night - just in time to watch the Liverpool Chelsea FA Cup Semi-Final. It was on about 12am but well worth staying up for!!! 2 - 1 to the Reds!!!
Can't
Chocolate Fountain!
Karen in heaven at the amazing chocolate fountain! wait for the final (wonder what will happen!!!)
On the Sunday we had a bit of a lie-in and then the 4 of us went for a buffet lunch at another of the fine-dining restaurants (in the same chain as Friday nights meal). You can probably guess - it was delicious again! Each meal was so different from the previous ones though. Again, there was a great choice and we tried lots of new things. We managed to try most of it this time.
After lunch Janice & John took us to Putra-Jaya. It was about 1 hours drive from KL centre. Its a new area - a brand new city which they built to put all the government administration buildings. It was really impressive. We started by going to the Convention Centre - which is higher up and further away from the other buildings so we got a good view across all the buildings. The road was really wide (apparently to cater for parades and celebrations in the future). There is also a large variety of bridges - each one different and equally as impressive as the others. The Palace of Justice was one of the best
Petaling Street
Famous Petaling Street Market. looking buildings, although they were all different - on the other side of the road there was a metal archway that has been constructed so that it acts as a picture-frame for the Palace. When you stand on the same side of the road as the archway - it perfectly frames the Palace. Next we went to the end of the huge road where there was a superb looking Mosque and the Prime Minister's huge Palace.
After Putra-Jaya we went back to KL and went to church. Janice & John are Catholics and because Jamie is too they had asked if we wanted to go to Mass. We went to the 5.30pm Mass. The church was packed out and people were sitting outside on plastic chairs! The service was very different to what we had experienced before. It started with 'jolly' singing and everyone clapped along. There was a guitar player and singers in the church! The service lasted about 1 1/2 hours. There was a funny moment at the end when the Priest was listing all the announcements and news. He asked if there were any newcomers to the church. Karen and I looked a bit hesitantly to
Putra Jaya
The view from the Convention Centre. each other and stayed seated but Janice was telling us to get up! So, we stood up and everyone clapped to welcome us. It was so surreal!!! I thought we would then just sit down but the Priest started asking us questions - how long we'd been in KL? Where we had been before? etc etc. We were about half-way in the church seats so, Jamie was doing all the talking - answering his questions. Sometimes the Priest couldn't hear his responses so people were calling them out louder on behalf of Jamie! It was so funny - the Priest was quite funny too - and very friendly. Everyone clapped us when we sat down as well and then people were turning to shake our hands and welcome us. On the way out of church people were also stopping us to welcome us and wish us a good stay. It was such a good feeling and we felt very happy after. One of those bizarre, surreal moments though!!!
More shopping was done after church. They took us to a shopping mall which had loads of computer and electronics equipment. We looked around for an hour or so and then
Palace of Justice
The Palace of Justice at the amazing Putra Jaya. (you guessed it) went to eat! This time we went to the KL Foodcourt so it was totally different again. It was a huge hawker venue, unlike any we had seen before. All the tables were in the middle and the hawker stalls surrounded them all round the edge. You could go to as many stalls as you wanted because, if you ordered from them, you just gave them your table number and they brought it over when it was ready. It was great. Jamie and I went round with Janice first and ordered from several different stalls. We tried a local pancake roll (not like ones we've had before), we tried pigeon, claypot rice, stingray fish and a few more dishes. Most of it beat us back to the table - so it was already waiting when we got back! It was lovely. We went round for a second time with John but we were so full that we 'only' got 2 more dishes between the 4 of us and that finished us off!!!
On Monday Janices friend Vincent came to the house and the 4 of us went to Genting Highlands. It is a resort built up
PM'S Palace
Karen, Janice and John and the Malay Prime-Minister's Palace in Putra Jaya, KL. in the hills. There are hotels, a theme park and a casino. The whole thing is massive. As we were driving up towards it we were in the clouds. We ate lunch when we arrived. A buffet style lunch again but with different choices. This time we had more Malay food rather than chinese. Very tasty. Then Karen and I went to the theme park whilst Janice and Vincent stayed inside wondering around. We had a great time - we went on lots of roller coasters (one like Air at Alton Towers - where you lie down). We also got soaked on the log flume which was really steep! After a couple of hours we met up with Janice & Vincent. The 4 of us went for coffee and cake before heading home.
Back at the house, John took me and Jamie to get our hair cut! Janice had visited her hairdressers in the morning and Jamie had mentioned that he wanted his doing, so John took us. We had a nice massage before getting our hair cut. I (Karen) just had a trim but Jamie finally went for it and had all his hair shaved off. It was
Us at Putra Jaya
One of the many impressive bridges of Putra Jaya in the background. hard to get used to at first because he looked like a hooligan (Jamies words!)!!!
After the hairdressers the 4 of us went out to dinner. This time it was to another of the fine-dining restaurants in the same chain. The menu was fantastic and still we were trying new tasty things! We had a lovely meal but were sad that we were leaving in the morning! After dinner it was back to the house to pack - taking in the last delightful views of KL by night.
Tuesday 25th April - Singapore
In the morning we said goodbye to John and Janice took us to the airport. We left at 6.30am as our flight was at 8am. We were really sad to be leaving as we had had a fantastic 5 days with Janice & John. They had been so friendly and welcoming. It was such a nice change as well to be staying in a lovely house and be shown around a new city. (For this we thank them very very much!)
So, on to the next destination...our flight to Johor Bharu (from KL) was delayed by an hour. We arrived about 10am and
KL Food Court
The busy Food Court - the lights in the picture are all the hawker stalls round the edge! then got a bus over the border to Singapore. The bus was simple enough but because we had to keep 'lugging' our bags on and off we were tired and grumpy!!! We made it to the centre of Singapore about 12pm! We went to Changi airport to get a hotel near there and sort out our ticket (date changes) - so, we checked in for our flight a day early (cool- technology these days!!!) We finally dumped our bags in a hotel nearby by about 2pm! It was raining and we were exhausted so our previous plan to 'do' Singapore in a day was kind of failing!!! We got the wonderfully clean and efficient MTR from down the road and headed to the centre to explore. We walked around and managed to see a lot of the colonial buildings. Next, we followed every tourist who comes to Singapore, and went to the Raffles hotel! Of course, we had a Singapore Sling at the bar and it was absolutely delicious - just wish the price went down as well as the drink!!!
That, unfortunately, was our effort of seeing Singapore! We did do a little more walking round and saw
KL Food Court
KL Food court, an amazing array of delicious food, this was just one of the Hawker stalls. quite a lot of the centre. We liked it a lot but didn't have much time. We got back on the MTR and headed back to the hotel. We had an early start again in the morning so thats our excuse! There was a parade going on in the main street near our hotel - so we watched a bit of that. We also went for some dim sum and it was really bad - disgusting in fact! We are, therefore, already missing Janice & John in more ways than one! (We need their guidance on chinese food!)
The following morning - Wednesday 26th April - we went to the airport for 7am. We were already checked in which was useful so we put our baggage in and boarded the plane for Sydney.......................................
Australia here we come!!!........................................................................
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jess (old orleans)
non-member comment
cool!
wow that looks so amazing!my sisters got pics of those two towers there like the tallest in the world or something arnt they!hope ouve been using the waterproof matches i bought you!the food looks um different too but nice well more exctiting then ribs n wings or anythin off our menu!keep posting blog as its making me excited for when i go go travelling after uni!xx