Kuala Lumpur

Thursday 13th was my first day in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia, the 2nd destination for my holiday. As soon as I arrived at Pasar Rakyat Bus Terminal, in Kuala Lumpur, I was greeted with plenty of rainfall. The rain was heavy, but yet heat soothing at the same time. At this point, I regretted leaving my rain jacket back in Singapore.

I was greeted by my great Aunty at the train station, and after a few checks on the map, we made our way to check-into my hotel at the Renaissance Hotel in KLCC. The hotel was a bit of a challenge to get to, because of the one way traffic, The ‘Kuala Lumpur’ traffic and driving etiquette did not work in our favour. After checking in, I had to go get my money exchanged from Singapore dollars to Malaysia Ringgit, and get afternoon tea in Chinatown.

Later on that night, I met up with my cousin Rachel and her Husband Gary for supper at the Pavilion. Max Lam, who is also my cousin and brother to Rachel also attended the supper with us later on that night. I was enlightened by the big news that Max is scheduled to be married this year. Congratulations to you Max!!

On Friday, I met up with 2 Friends, Wei and Eva, who both resided in Kuala Lumpur. These two girls were kind enough to give up their entire Friday to guide me around their home city. Wei was our designated driver, and what an adventure that was :) . At first we had to navigate our way to pick up Eva who was located at the train station. This had to be done whilst navigating through traffic and heavy rains.

Eva clasping the head of the Bunny

Once we picked up Eva we headed towards Pavilion for some lunch and some picture taking. We did the Bukit Bintang walk, whilst taking photographs. After that we all walked over to the China town area and Central market for some site seeing and more picture taking. At the Central Market I was intrigued by the fish spa and the unique artistry of design. The fish spa was very amusing, both in that it was a very different experience and amusing to convince both Wei Yuen and Eva to participate. Eventually the both succumbed to my constant nagging and complied…GOOD ON YOU GIRLS!!!

Eva for Sale!!

After the Central Market it was starting to get late into the evening and we were ready to seek dinner at Jalan Alor. I had my first Hawker style food in Kuala Lumpur, and it was quite nice. It was a good meal with the girls!!

Wei and Eva outside a Chinese temple at Chinatown.

On Saturday, I was only accompanied by Eva, Wei has unfortunately fallen ill, and was unable to join in for the day :( Eva came to my hotel at around 11:30 and the first thing we did was to devise a plan to walk to the twin towers by foot, We carefully discussed our route via the conventional method of looking over my hotel window and planning our path via a map that was on my IPad. With a bit of side-walking around buildings and crawling under fences and construction tape, we eventually managed to arrive at KLCC in one piece.

Eva and Wei at the Fish Spa at Central Market

Upon arriving at KLCC we decided to have lunch at Madame Kwan (may be mispelt) to try some ‘spicy’ authentic malaysian food. It was tough but I did try. After the meal we sat outside to enjoy some Starbucks dessert.

After the meal, both Eva and I walked around the KLCC park. It was a nice stroll around the area with a few stops for picture taking and ambient prayer sounds from the local mosque.

Eva at the Heritage

After KLCC, we caught a train to the old Heritage Hotel and train station. Here we stayed for a bit to take pictures of the oldest train station in Kuala Lumpur and the recently closed down Heritage Hotel. After the visit to the Hotel, the weather was starting to get very wet and it was time for me to part ways with Eva.. Very sad!!

Eva at the KLCC Park

Later on that Evening, I was acquainted with Perth friend Sarah and her boyfriend Tom. I caught a taxi to their hotel and from there we went to visit the skybar which was in the Trader’s hotel that was nearby. This place was a very chill and relaxed place to hang out. Towards Midnight it started to get a little crowded, so we all decided to go back to their hotel (The Crown Plaza) and chill at their lobby.

This was nice in that it was quiet, comfortable and had a small live musical performance. For something interesting, Sarah and I eventually got up on stage and Sang ‘Right here waiting’ by Richard Marx on stage together!!!

Eva Putting a Stop on the Brakes!!!

On Sunday, I was awoken by a pleasant SMS from Wei to go out and have breakfast together some’where in KL. She came around at 9:30am and then we embarked on the hunt for food around KL. After the typical 30 minute drive around the city, we eventually came to a nice place (forgotten its name :( for Dim Sum. Here had some really nice food at a VERY well priced menu – well at least relative to the prices in Australia.

Wei at Dim Sum

After Dim, we both went back to the Hotel, where I had to pack up the room and prepare for check-out. Once checked-out, we first drove to KLCC to try to visit the Skybridge that was there. Unfortunately the Skybridge attraction was closed for the day… This was a bit of a bummer, however; I came up with the alternative plan to go up the Menara Skytower instead.

Wei outside the Cultural Village of Menara

Once arriving at the Skytower I purchased a ticket for both Wei and myself to visit the observation deck of the tower. Once that was done, I convinced Wei to ride one of those ponies that we saw on the way into the tower. With very little resistance from her, she eventually decided to comply and ride one of the ponies!!

Wei on the pony rides at the Menara Tower.

Once Menara tower was done, it was time for me to go to the bus station… Oh man, this was a horrible ride, since we managed to get lost about 4 times and get stuck in the traffic congestion. It took us about 45 minutes to arrive at the bus station, but luckily I arrived in time for my Bus. Just like all the other places, It was always difficult to say goodbye to my friends in Kuala Lumpur!