Malaysia – truly Asia! Part 1 – Kuala Lumpur
On our first anniversary, we took a trip to Malaysia. It’s one of the countries in SouthEast Asia and I found it amazing (just like my country, Philippines, although not equally *wink*)! It is the home of the famous, 2nd highest building in the world, the Petronas Towers. Although I am not a fan of man-made wonders, the Petronas Towers were indeed something good to stare at! It’s just beautiful, especially at nighttime. It’s very romantic taking photos with it on your background (obvious?).
So most people think that when you visit Malaysia, you can maximize your stay by flying or taking the train to Singapore. Them people are very mistaken! Although I have not gone to Singapore yet, I strongly believe that Malaysia has too much to offer. Again, I mapped our trip out myself. 🙂 I decided that for a week’s stay, we should see its beautiful islands, too, and experience the other parts of Malaysia, instead of roaming around just the capital.
We booked for a 2-way trip to Kota Kinabalu, but after I figured how our trip should go, decided it’s best to book for Kuala Lumpur on our way to that country. It wasn’t my first time visiting Malaysia, but my boyfriend’s. What’s particularly noticeable when you land is that they have a separate terminal for low-cost airlines in KL. I wonder why. Next time, I shall see how the non-low cost terminal looks like, ’cause I haven’t. haha!
We took a cab from the KLIA to our hotel, Brisdale Hotel. The guys there are very nice! They received us warmly. I reserved through online. I asked if our room has a view of the Petronas because that is why I picked that area to book at. When they told me that it does not, they quickly offered an upgrade of our room, for FREE! How nice is that! Of course we did grab it! (Thanks again, Sir!)
The view offered by our room. It’s quite a sight!
We were too exhausted and it was already late to start roaming around, so we just grabbed the buffet dinner of the hotel before hitting the sack. That was my first time to try Nasi Lemak, and I did not even know that I was eating it already ’cause I did not know how it looks like, haha! I’m a fan of very spicy foods so I hugely enjoyed it! The buffet also included fresh fruits and vegetables, and very spicy squid cooking, some other viands that I don’t know the names of, and desserts.
Our hotel room was spacy and included a tv and a refrigerator. The bathroom is a walk-in space with a huge closet but did not have a bathtub. The airconditioning is not too cold, but I later on figured that maybe all airconditioning units in Malaysia aren’t as cold as the ones in the Philippines. Pity ’cause I found the temperature in Malaysia hotter than in my country. All the more, it was cold enough to not make us sweat and have a comfy sleep. 🙂 There were two beds at our room, but of course we slept in only one. The hotel offered buffet breakfast, but because I am not malaysia, I did not find all the food tasty and tempting. The breakfast consisted of nasi lemak (I figured this is a national food! haha!), an untasty scrambled egg fix, stew, few fresh fruits and veggies for making a salad. The food is fine but I really am not used to them. They could have offered more western food which everybody eats.
How Nasi Lemak looks like and is served at Old Town chains.
Then it’s the first “pasyal” day! We started walking out of the hotel and around the area where its located. I don’t know if that was usual in that area but there were too many bargain stores and a night market there. We then took a cab to the Chinatown. There we checked out the class A bags, but did not buy any because 1. they’re class A and 2. they’re more expensive than when bought somewhere else or in Manila. Such a shame because you expect to get cheap things when you go to a Chinese-dominated area. There was a cart vending bacons and other yummy meat products though, and we feasted for some!
It was quite pricey, but very very yummy! You guys should definitely look for this cart when visiting KL Chinatown!
After a few rounds around the Chinatown area, we crossed the street and continued walking while gazing up the Mexican-looking buildings.
We then went to the Central Market for a bit of shopping and for lunch. I have been intrigued about the Old Town restaurant because of its facade, this was the first time I tried dining there. I particularly loved the rootbeer float because it’s not very popular anymore in Manila. Old Town appeared to be a destination of professional diners in KL.
Goofed around inside the bus due to enjoyment!
With stuffed stomachs, we headed back to the road to look for the bus to the Batu Caves. I’ve always been curious how the actual caves looked like, but realized it was a great effort to actually see the caves! The bus ride highlighted our being tourists, haha! It was fun! We did not know that we’re supposed to have exact amount when taking a bus, good thing that the driver, like every other in Malaysia, was kind. 🙂 The fare to Batu Caves was (I think) RM 1.50 per person, I handed a RM5. He waited for other passengers to board and hand in RM 2 to him so he can give as change to us. He even instructed us where we should walk to and ride at on our way back. Touched. 🙂
And I was blown away at the huge, carved, decorated structure attached to nature!
We looked at the entirety in awe for a few minutes and took a few pictures before finally braving the climb to inside the caves. Oh, did I mention there are a few pigeons that flock on people a few steps from the caves’ entrance?
I tried to finish the climb to the caves but it was just too stiff and I have a fear of heights, so, I chickened out a few steps from the top. haha! Next destination was back to the city. We were lucky to have taken a cab with a very proactive Sri Lankan driver who took us to a chocolate store as a part of the trip. He wanted also to bring us to Pewter but we resisted due to lack of time. The chocolate experience was just sooo heartwarming! The store, which looked small from the outside, is quite big inside, despite being packed with tourists alike and student touring. They offered free tastes of almost every chocolate. And there was a huge chocolate sculptute in a glass box. I wanted to jump in to eat, looked very delish!
The pride of Cocoa Boutique.
In a few minutes, our arms were occupied with large bags of yummy chocolates for bringing back home to our lovies!
We drove back to our final KL stop – the Petronas Towers and the Suria LCC Shopping Mall. Had fun just resting our tired legs while looking at her and had dinner at Chili’s inside the mall afterwards. It was only overnight that I could not take any more Malaysian food, haha! My stomach began churning already! 😦
Sorry but I hafta cut up to this only, it’s going to be a veeeery long entry if I include the other places we went to!
thetravelmaniac 