The Busy City Life of Kuala Lumpur

After staying put in Miri for about 3 weeks, I was itching to travel and experience new cities in and around Malaysia. Unless I am working at a city, I don't stay put in one city for that long when travelling around so the need to roam was very important to me.

We decided on a 2 week trip spending 4 nights each in Kuala Lumpur, George Town Penang, and then Singapore. I have only visited the latter city but that was very long ago when I was about 8 so seeing it at my ripe old age will give me more of a perspective and appreciation. I truley don't remember a darn thing from my trip at the age of 8 even if photos were shown to me.

The first stop on this trip was KL. KL is situated in West Malaysia as Malaysia is physically divided into 2 parts (districts) because of the South China Sea - West Malaysia and East Malaysia. Miri is in the East so we had to fly there. We were going to take the cheap flight of Air Asia but with all the hidden fees once you start booking such as fees for seats, baggage, etc. Malaysia Airlines was the better choice despite being slightly higher. I would rather pay for good service than to save a few bucks with an airline that apparently has a reputation of being delayed or cancelled. Many of my relatives here used to take it and suggested we go with Malaysia Airlines instead and we were happy to have taken their advice. They were great. The only fees you pay is if you chose your seat but that also depends on your destination as well as departure. For example, we didn't have to pay for seats from Singapore back to Miri.

The flight was about 2 hours long. And once you arrive at the airport, you will need to take the train or taxi into the city. It's about 30 min by high speed train for 35RM per person or a taxi for 45 min. The price of the taxi is set at the airport as you would have to buy a voucher from the booth and it depends on baggage and the number of people. A note, please ask for the budget one as I didn't see that they issued a premier voucher for us that costed more. For the 4 of us with 1 luggage and a few hand luggages, the price was 102RM. I can see why the taxi is priced the way it was as we had to go through 4 toll boothes along the way to the city (15RM, 12RM, 2RM and 1RM). Throughout the taxi ride, you could see the lush green landscape of the palm trees and vegetation going towards the city. The buildings along the way would give you a sneek peek of what you are heading towards so in a way it provided you a transition to the craziness of what KL would be. But who doesn't like craziness especially if it's the good kind.

Like any other asian city, the traffic seems to be unruly but there is a sort of culture and understanding between drivers here. The pedestrian traffic also reflects this as most of the locals here have no fear crossing the streets with all the traffic. Most would force the cars to yield for them. Then there's tourists like us waiting for the right moment that seem to never come with the neverending traffic unless you catch a break or it comes to a stand still because there's a local crossing! One morning in the middle of the morning rush hour, there were many of the locals and tourists waiting to cross a main street. We waited and waited and then we all started walking. The cars started honking. I woke up from the zombiness that I was in and noticed we were all crossing on a red pedestrian light! We all took one local's bold move and ended up moving as a herd that stopped all traffic! No one noticed til I said it out loud and a couple tourists beside me heard me and snickered at what just happened. Then again, maybe they all noticed and don't care. The longer we stayed, the more we were able to weave our way between cars while crossing the street. It's a great skill to have when you are living in Asia.

There is so much to do in KL. Besides the endless shops and restaurants, there's also malls - lots of them. Of course, they are all well air conditioned as well. We stayed in Bikut Bitang area at Hotel Capitol which was great esp. location wise. A bit of a warning, there's a karaoke bar I think (or maybe open mic night?) near it as I was sung to sleep every night. I wasn't able to sleep the first night as my brain started to play, "guess what song this is?" and even picked out "Nothing's Gonna Change My Love For You" :) Most of the singers were surprisingly not that bad! The most requested song of the week belongs to Adele's Someone Like You.




Here's a quick rundown of what we were able to see in 4 nights here (in no particular order):

• BB Plaza which also connects to Sung Wei Plaza 
• Lowyat Plaza - about 6 levels of electronic toys
• Petronas Towers aka Twin Tower with Suria KLL shopping centre at the base on one of the towers - 15 min walk from the hotel using the pedways - almost 90% there which were air conditioned. The park behind it is a must visit as was a nice break from the crazy city life and there's a wading pool there too. Also loads of good shopping with big name brands.
• Jalan Alor street (food stalls galore - once you sit, expect 4-5 different vendors coming at you with menus)
• Time Square mall (all your brands and more) - we saw a little dance of about 6-8 mascots from different restaurants which was very entertaining. My fave was the frog from a sushi place because it was so cute to see it trying to waddle to walk and dance at the same time. I had to push my way in to be in a photo with it as it was also everyone's fav.
• Shops around Bikut Bitang (you are able to haggle with some of them)
• Pavillion (mall with lots of fav brand shops) - We were lucky to have the United Buddy Bears world tour stopping there. Each country is represented and it is to promote peace and international understanding between countries and their culture. I took a pic of course with the Canadian Bear but went crazy taking all the others for all my friends. At the end I realized I may have missed a couple :)
• Central Market - showcases Malaysian culture, heritage, arts and crafts (there is also a free heritage walk around the area everyday at 10:30 am)
• Chinatown and the night market - the night market is located at Petaling Street and you will find fake brand name bags to watches to t-shirts. It's a great place to try your haggling technique!
• Fahrenheit 88 Mall 
• Orchid Garden - There are other different gardens in the Lake Garden including Butterfly Garden and Bird Park; they are a great get away from the hustle and bustle of the everyday life in KL. All have their own admission fees; the Orchid Garden is free everyday except for weekends and holidays where it is only 1RM