Kuala Lumpur

We reached Kuala Lumpur in the early hours of the morning and found ourselves in the rare position of not knowing where in the city we were. We are usually able to follow our progress into towns and cities on maps but our arrival in the capital caught us a bit unawares so we had no choice but to opt for a taxi and hope it didn't cost us too much. Our taxi driver, who was massive, seemed to enjoy telling us that we were lucky he was there or else we’d have no idea what to do which wasn’t really what we needed at 5am. We were closer than we thought to the hotel and had arrived within 10 minutes.

The Tropical Guesthouse was located just off Bukit Bintang which seems to be KL’s main commercial street which made it very easy to get around. We had booked the cheapest room available which came with just a bunk bed but found that we had been upgraded to a room with two single beds, but that was it. Our room came with nothing other than two beds, a bedside table and a mirror that was barley bigger than a playing card, and was itself only just big enough to fit all these things in. It was smaller than an average household bathroom but the beds we very comfortable and we were actually big fans of our tiny room.

Our room taken from in the corridor. Notice the mirror on the back wall!

After a few hours sleep we headed out to make the most of the day. Our first stop was just up the road at a sports bar where we thought we’d find some easy food. The service was terrible and our burgers were served in sliced bread but it was food so we left reasonably satisfied. The city’s sightseeing bus passed our hotel so we hopped on and saw the entire city in the following three hours before deciding to get off in Chinatown as it is one of KL’s most exciting neighbourhoods. As well as being able to take in the majority of the city’s sites and districts we were pleased to see how green the place is and how much effort they put into maintaining park and gardens.

About to hop on the bus (not sure why I seem angry with it though) 

We aimed for Petaling Street market which didn't disappoint with its two main roads rammed full of stalls selling a good range of stuff, albeit all fake. The highlight for me was continuing my hunt for a Malaysian football shirt which I had started on Langkawi as I came across a stall where I had a good chat with a Kelantan FC fan who gave me a good history of the club. Unfortunately he only had one shirt for sale which was only suitable for a small Malaysia man so obviously I got nowhere near fitting in it. This didn't stop me trying as I really wanted it so entered the stalls changing room (the street round the back) and fought my way into it in full view of many locals. My new friend offered to try and find another one in town suitable for a westerner so I promised to come back. We planned to walk round Chinatown for longer as well as Little India but we failed to locate exactly where we were on the map so ended up wandering aimlessly for a while before returning to Bukit Bintang to find dinner.



Linz getting eyed up as we squeeze through Petaling Street market

After dinner we headed south from the town centre towards Time Square shopping centre, via a huge electronics mall and some torrential rain, where we planned to find some books to read. Having tried only once on this trip to read a book aimed at adults (128 Hours – I completed one chapter) I opted to return to books nearer my reading age and bought Harry Potter. Time Square was almost more impressive than the version in New York as it was the biggest shopping centre I have ever come across. It had at least 10 stories including a rather impressive atrium, and was filled with shops ranging from one-off quirky shops to Gucci. Linz managed to buy a new pair of flip-flops as well as her own Harry Potter book before we got a taxi, to avoid the rain, to head to Central Market. The market let us down a bit as it was more of a small mall rather than a traditional market and it was starting to pack away so we headed back to the hotel.

Our second day started early as we were heading off to one of KL’s main attractions and most recognisable building; the Petronas Towers. We had heard rumours of a set number of free tickets for the Sky Deck which are given out each morning so aimed to get there for opening time around 8am. We will never know if there were any free tickets as hundreds of people had arrived for opening and by the time we reached the front of the queue, after an hour wait, we had to pay. We also had to wait until 10:40am until we were actually able to go up the tower as they only allow a people up in time slots. We killed time by visiting the mall attached to the towers, which again proved to be colossal, where we got some breakfast. The tower itself was a bit of a letdown as you are only allowed to go as high as the bridge connecting the two towers at levels 41 and 42 despite the tower being 88 stories tall. The view was good but probably not worth spending the entire morning managing to get up there.

The Petronas Towers with the Sky Bridge just under half way up

Back in the attached mall we went a science museum to enjoy some relatively cheap thrills aimed at 10 year olds including an opportunity to build your own Lego car and race each other. After a good start my car ended up in a crumpled heap at the bottom of the track. No wonder I didn't get that job at the Toro Roso F1 team which I had applied for months earlier. There was an F1 simulator though and we were able to race the Malaysian F1 circuit resulting in an easy win for me over Linz. I wasn’t taking any chances and took it very seriously given that last time we played a video game (Vinpearl Land in Nha Trang) Linz had beat me quite comfortably twice at football. Redemption.

My dreams in pieces

We boarded the city’s tube system to take us back to Chinatown where we could complete our walking tour from the day before. Chinatown leads directly into Little India so we enjoyed the few kilometre walk through these contrasting districts enjoying the colours of silk shops and food stalls, where Linz took the opportunity to buy her second pair of flip-flops in as many day, before emerging into Merdeka Square. The square is famous for two reasons as it was announced that Malaysia had gained its independence as well as having a 100 foot tall flag pole with a massive flag atop. After the square we returned to the Kelantan fan hoping he had managed to find another football shirt for me, but he had failed.

We found quite a few of these insanely detailed Hindu temples. There's around 100 people on each
side of the roof.

By this stage it was getting late in the day so we headed for the markets at Chow Kit in the north of the city via it’s monorail system. The market once again was closing down by the time we got there and being outside it was hard to enjoy considering the torrential rain had started up again. It’s been a very long time since I had shoes without holes in them so rain was never a pleasant experience for my feet. However, I had established by now that Malaysia is one of few countries in the world who seem to sell Mountain Dew, considered by me to be the greatest soft drink on earth, so I was quite happy.

The most bizarre sky i've ever seen.

We hopped back on the monorail to head towards the KL Tower which is the capital’s tallest building and, unlike the Petronas towers earlier, actually allowed you to reach the top. The rain was still brutal but our hotel had lent us a couple of umbrellas that morning so we weren’t completely drenched. A friendly Malaysia man approached us as we left the station and asked for us for a lift which seemed slightly odd given our lack of car but we soon established we actually was asking if he could share our umbrella for a while. He seemed like a good lad and was apparently running late for a meeting so I obliged and we wandered off while having a good chat. The tower was a surprisingly long way from the station as it was harder to find than we thought so we took refuse in a bus stop where, having already said bye to the businessman, befriended a Malaysian chef who told us all about where she worked and how to get to the tower.

The tower is built on a small hill in the centre of tower which frankly I consider cheating from a tower as it appeared taller than it actually was. There was a free shuttle bus to take you up the hill but we didn't want to stop in the rain to find it so set about the climb. Eventually we reached the top and bought our tickets to the observation deck. The rain had turned into a storm so we watched from the base for a while which gave me another opportunity to fail at getting photos of lightning. Why do I even bother trying?

As I write this I cant help but think I’m coming across as really negative and that every attraction in the city was a letdown, but actually we had a really good time. The reason I am thinking this now is because the tower was once again a bit of a disappointment as, not for the first time in, too many shops had been crammed in the tower an so all you could see was the reflection of them in the windows. In addition clouds would occasionally devour the observation deck resulting in no view at all, but if you did find a spot with little reflection and no clouds then the view was very good. We had intended to do KL’s towers at different times in the day so we could enjoy both daylight and night-time views of the city which we were pleased we did.


The KL Tower taken the day before. There was no point taking any photos from the top



Our journey back down the hill was considerably easier as finding the shuttle bus was much easier and soon enough we were having dinner at the TGI’s at the base of the tower. By this point in our travels I must admit I am starting to lose the effort to try local food, having done reasonably well so far, so unfortunately Malaysian food didn't get much of a look in.

The following day saw the end of our time in Kuala Lumpur as we checked out the hotel and headed for the long distance bus terminal to catch a bus south to Melaka. Once again I find myself questioning how this blog seems so negative when we had a really good time. I can only assume it’s because the best thing to do in KL is just walk around and explore rather than pay to experience its attractions and it’s not so easy to fill a blog with stories of just walking around.

Our bus to Melaka was another very comfortable one and dropped us off at Melaka Sentral which is both a major shopping centre and transport hub. A relatively short taxi ride took us to L’Amarda hotel in the centre of town where we had booked just the one night. The hotel was unusual as we could never figure out who worked there as there was no reception the staff we did identify could have quite easily just been other travellers.

In the evening we ventured into Melaka to find dinner and stumbled across a great street market selling everything from living mice to cuddly Angry Birds. The town appeared completely dead except for this market so coming across it was vital or else we may have never seen anything of not in the town. We found a restaurant on the corner where we could sit right in the street so we could continue to enjoy the bustling street atmosphere as well as live music from our restaurant and the one across the road. We walked back the way we came towards the hotel as we could enjoy strolling across Melaka’s main attraction; it’s river. At night boats cruise up and down and there is an elevated walkway over the river lit up with pleasant lights which we could take pleasure from alone. Our hotel was opposite an impressive fountain which was lit with many coloured lights and timed to music, however it did look a little odd placed in the middle of a fairly average part of the town.

Crossing the river in Melaka

Tuk tuk drivers in Melaka compete for fares with the contents of the
Christmas decorations box

 The next morning we decided not to bother with the other attractions in the town as we would only be doing them as we felt we had to. Instead, as we were both very excited about it, we decided to leave and reach Singapore early enough to enjoy the day there. Yet again we couldn’t establish who actually worked at the hotel, partly because there didn't seem to be anyone anywhere, so we just ditched the keys on a table and left. Melaka continued to be deserted and our hope of easily finding a taxi quickly faded. However, a man identified our issue and hurried off to get his friend who had a taxi so soon enough we were back at Melaka Sentral. Having approached every one of the bus companies we found a cheap bus to Singapore and left Melaka, and Malaysia as a country.

We left Malaysia slightly disappointed to have only seen a small portion of it as what we had seen we really liked. However, although we are leaving for now there is still the possibility of flying out of Singapore to the Malaysian owned section of Borneo to the east of the mainland, if time and money permits. Having said that, Borneo is known for its rainforests covering and I'm not sure if Linz has recovered from her last rainforest experience yet.