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Malaysia 2010: Leaving Kuala Lumpur… and about going back

By Mithun Divakaran
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Apr 15, 2011
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Malaysia

Date: 4th October 2010

Today was the last day of our trip, and what a trip it has been: 3 whirlwind days in Singapore, 6 full days in Malaysia (1 day in Penang, 2 in Langkawi, and 3 in the capital city)

We woke up at a reasonable time and since I was done with all my packing yesterday itself, after breakfast I headed to Times Square just to roam about and see if there was anything I could pick up for the last time.

Berjaya Times Square shops morning closed — Unfortunately most shops were still yet to open

Berjaya Times Square shopping mall floors — Most shops only post 11am

Exclusive Nikon centre Berjaya Times Square Kuala Lumpur — There’s a fairly big exclusive Nikon store on the ground floor

I did go around looking for camera tripods but as mentioned earlier, most shops were closed.

Once all three of us were packed and ready, we checked out of Irsia and hailed a taxi. We initially asked him to take us to KL Sentral, from where we thought of taking the monorail to the airport. Then the taxi driver offered to drive us to the airport for RM60 (Rs. 875/$20/€14). The three of us looked at each other and wondered about all the luggage we had, sighed… and then said “fine” to the taxi driver.

Taxi driving to LCCT airport highway — The journey was nice — and long

Onwards KLCC Sepang circuit Malaysia — Sepang Circuit, home to the Malaysian F1 and MotoGP events, is close to the airport

We arrived at the LCCT (Low Cost Carrier Terminal) an hour later, and were among the first to check-in for our 3:30pm flight.

LCCT plastic baggage wrapping service — First, we had to shrink wrap our IKEA boxes; cost RM30

We had pre-booked for 20kg luggage (per person) and fortunately all our luggage came just under 60kgs!

Relieved everything worked out alright, we went through customs and made our way towards the departures lounge. There is a Duty Free at the LCCT but liquor prices weren’t that great (read: cost more than Bangalore Duty Free) but you get good enough selection of international brands and chocolates. I instead went to a store selling traditional Malay sweets and snacks, and picked up tea biscuits, chips, etc. Something different for a change I thought.

We had to sit a bit longer in the boring departures lounge because our Air Asia flight was delayed by 45minutes. By the way, there is a new LCCT set to open by the end of the year.

Once it was time, we made our way in. We pre-selected our seats as myself and Ramesh were keen on window seats.

Air Asia LCCT baggage handling laptops — Even laptop makers want to cut costs on flying

Petronas stations KLIA — Kuala Lumpur International Airport is all the way there

Petronas station KLIA take off runway — In case you wanted to fill up before taking off, there’s a Petronas station here 🙂

Palm trees new LCCT construction Malaysia — We took off…

Palm tree farms near airport Malaysia from sky — … and flew over lot of palm trees

New LCCT airport construction site from sky — Guess that’s the site of the new LCCT

Port Klang Malaysia from sky plane — Port Klang

Pulau Selat Kering island Malaysia from sky — Selat Kering island

Ships Malacca Strait Malaysia aerial view — Container ships making their way to Malaysia

I took a break from taking photographs to reminisce about the last few days. I guess its always sad when a holiday comes to an end, especially when you think how fast time flies by.

We began planning for this trip as early as March. Booked our flight tickets in April. Made arrangements for stay in Singapore first, since we were going during F1 weekend. We made most of our booking via Hostels.com and Hostelworld.com, with only our Langkawi booking done via Agoda.com.

We flew Tiger Airways (one way) to Singapore (which cost Rs. 4500 per person) and our Air Asia one way journey from KL to Bangalore (with 20kgs luggage and pre-booked meals) cost us Rs. 3600 per person. All in all, this 9 day trip (10, if you include today) cost us around Rs. 36,000 ($810/€560) — that’s flight, stay, food, commuting fares, and sightseeing expenses! 🙂

I didn’t do a whole lot of shopping, so I spent the least among the three of us.

If we had gone via a packaged tour, it would have easily cost us more than Rs. 50,000 per person and I doubt we would seen all that we saw the past 9 days. Sure, we didn’t check out Sentosa Island (and Universal Studios) but that’s due to lack of time in Singapore. It was either Sentosa or the Zoo — we chose the Zoo. In Malaysia, we skipped Genting Highlands as well because it was another theme park and casino — places subsidized package tours include so that they bring in droves of tourists in hopes the tourists will spend some money.

Indonesia shores from Malaysia aerial view — Looking at the world map, I believe this was Indonesia we were flying over

The long wait at the airport made me quite hungry and I was looking forward to the meal I had pre-booked. Not that I had high expectations, I was just hungry.

So would I go back?

To Singapore, that’s a definite ‘yes‘! Mostly because the experience of being in Singapore during F1 weekend is just too good. The whole city really comes alive during the Grand Prix. The main lesson learnt from this Singapore visit is that 3 days isn’t enough, even for such a small city state. You can spend an entire day at the Zoo itself — go see the animals in the morning and then the Night Safari once it gets dark. You can spend an entire day at Sentosa, for which they have activities from daylight to sunset. Next time, I’m definitely going to Universal Studios Singapore.

Also, next time, I’m going to carry a lot more money. SGD$250 is enough to get by for 3 whole days in Singapore (which is what we spent on getting around, eating, some shopping, and the attractions we visited). But next time, I’ll probably triple my budget and stay for minimum 5 days. I want to have fun in Singapore!

Aerial photograph Tamil Nadu India — By now, we were flying over Mother India

Would I go back to Malaysia? Well, depends really. I felt I saw all that I needed to see and do in Langkawi. I also saw quite a bit of what I sought in Kuala Lumpur. The one place I do feel ‘incomplete’ about is Penang. Just one day in Penang was a bit of a stretch, plus I didn’t get to see what was on the other side of the bridge, which apparently has its fair share of attractions.

Funny thing though, until last year, I didn’t even know there are two ‘sides’ that make the nation of Malaysia. Kuala Lumpur, Penang and Langkawi are all on one ‘side’ — but there is more to Malaysia, on the Borneo side.

Malaysia territories map — (Map image taken from Wikipedia)

Sabah and Sarawak are famous for its wildlife, lush forests and serene coast line — offering an experience quite different from that of the ‘main land,’ so to speak.

But because they are far apart, and not as developed, most tourists to Malaysia are often oblivious to Sabah and Sarawak’s existence.

Air Asia has flights to Sabah and Sarawak, so if I do go back to Malaysia, I would probably hop over to ‘the other side’.

Nandi Hills Bangalore aerial photograph view — Not sure if these are Nandi Hills

Bangalore outskirts aerial view from plane — The outskirts of Bangalore, from up above

As we descended, the nice and sunny outside suddenly turned dark and rainy.

Dark rain clouds from plane Bangalore — Rain

BIAL airport Bangalore rainy day — Landed at 5:30pm

After picking up some stuff at the BIAL Duty Free, we were out in half-an-hours time. We hired a cab who agreed to take us to Srajapur Road (near Total Mall) for Rs. 650. We opted not to take the airport bus due to the luggage we had.

If felt nice to return to the post-rain, fresh air and experience Bangalore’s greatest asset — its weather. But 30 minutes into our journey, and into peak hour traffic, it didn’t take long for all three of us to get frustrated and say the same thing:

“Man, I wanna go back!”

P.S: I also didn’t get to have bread ice cream in Singapore!

Other posts in this series:

Singapore & Malaysia 2010: Planning and preparing for the trip

Singapore 2010: Day 1 – Little India, CBD, Clarke Quay, China Town… and a lot of walking

Singapore 2010: Day 2 – Orchard Road, mall-hopping… and already shopping

Singapore 2010: Day 3 – Singapore Zoo, Marina Bay Sands; leaving Singapore for Penang

Malaysia 2010: Day 5 — Langkawi (Ferry ride from Penang, Cable car & Sky Bridge)

Malaysia 2010: Day 6 — Langkawi (Island hopping tour, Pantai Tengah beach, Night market)

Malaysia 2010: Day 7 — Kuala Lumpur (Low Yat Plaza, Petronas Towers, Jalan Alor)

Malaysia 2010: Day 8 — Kuala Lumpur (Batu Caves, Petaling Street/China Town)

Malaysia 2010: Day 9 — Kuala Lumpur (KLCC Aquaria, Merdeka Square, KL Tower observation deck)

Malaysia 2010: Day 7 — Kuala Lumpur (Low Yat Plaza, Petronas Towers, Jalan Alor)

By Mithun Divakaran
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Mar 27, 2011
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Malaysia, Travel

Date: 1st October 2010

After two wonderful days in beautiful Langkawi, it was now time for the last leg of our journey. We reached Langkawi airport for our morning flight to Kuala Lumpur. After having our breakfast at Kenny Rogers Roasters (not a whole lot of options at the airport), we checked in and waited for our 11:45am flight.

Langkawi airport Air Asia morning flight — Our flight was on time (Above photos taken on Nokia E72)

We all sat together but Ramesh chose the window seat. The following are his photographs.

Langkawi wave breaker from plane Malaysia — That’s a wavebreaker

We landed at Kuala Lumpur Low Cost Terminal nearing 1pm and was out in 30 minutes. There were plenty of buses from KL LCCT to KL Sentral, which is the main transportation hub in Kuala Lumpur city.

KL LCCT to KL Sentral bus Manchester United believe — We got a ManU fan for a driver

LCCT to KL Sentral Kuala Lumpur bus journey — The bus ride costs RM8 (Rs. 117/$2.7)

LCCT to KL Sentral Kuala Lumpur heavy rain — Soon after, it began to rain heavily

Kuala Lumpur city highway powerlines — But halfway through the journey, the rain stopped

Kuala Lumpur city highway Petronas in distance — Malaysia’s landmark in the distance

Kuala Lumpur construction near KL Sentral — After nearly an hour, we arrived at KL Sentral

After reaching KL Sentral, we then hired a taxi to where were staying.

Kuala Lumpur city Proton taxi — It cost us RM35 from KL Sentral to Berjaya Times Square

Kuala Lumpur luxury building — (Above photos taken on Nokia E72)

After a 15 minute journey, we reached Berjaya Times Square. There is a metro service from KL Sentral to Berjaya Times Square, but with our luggage, we decided to just take a cab.

Kuala Lumpur Irsia bed and breakfast hostel — The tiny white building was where we would be staying: Irsia Bed & Breakfast

We chose Irsia after much deliberation and researching on the location. We made our booking for a triple room.

Irsia bed breakfast hostel triple room Kuala Lumpur — Which by the way, looks like this

After freshening up and making our payments, we headed to Berjaya Times Square for lunch.

Berjaya Times Square is relatively old but still remains one of Malaysia’s biggest and popular shopping destinations. It’s pretty huge, with 7 floors of shopping — high ends brands in the lower floors and more affordable stuff in the higher up floors. There’s also a 5-star hotel, Berjaya Hotel — among other things.

Berjaya Times Square hotel escalator floors — (Photograph by Loiyumba)

We headed all the way up to the 10th floor to the food court. We chose our meals from a place selling ‘mock non-veg’ food.

Kuala Lumpur Berjaya Times Square soya food court — Pick and choose

By that I mean, stuff that looks like chicken and fish but are actually vegetarian because they are essentially soya-filled made to look like non-veg items.

Kuala Lumpur city SJK Julimbi building — The view from up here

When I mentioned “among other things” earlier…

Berjaya Times Square indoor roller coaster — … there’s also an indoor theme park with a rollercoaster inside the building

Berjaya Times Square indoor theme park — I tried to the get the whole theme park section of the building in one frame

Berjaya Times Square mall Kuala Lumpur — We stepped out

Kuala Lumpur Times Square monorail line — And decided to check out the area we were in

We chose to stay at Irsia because it was close to a lot of places we wanted to go. One among them being Low Yat Plaza, Kuala Lumpur’s famous IT mall.

After crossing the road, it was a short walk to Low Yat

Kuala Lumpur Plaza Low Yat side entrance — This isn’t the main entrance

Kuala Lumpur Low Yat Plaza five floors — 6 floors of gadgets

I couldn’t get to spend much time in Singapore’s IT malls to pick up the things I wanted, so I consoled myself assuming I could get them at Low Yat.

Sadly, the selection of camera tripods weren’t very exhaustive and I couldn’t really find everything I wanted. Also, more importantly, the prices we found for some items were far more than what we saw in Singapore. There isn’t an incentive for tourists either via a tax refund scheme like Singapore has with its GST refund and Thailand has with its VAT refund scheme.

Kuala Lumpur Low Yat Plaza stores — I checked out pretty much every floor

After lingering around for nearly 30 minutes, we left.

We were soon on Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur’s popular shopping district.

A short walk from here is Jalan Alor, also nicknamed ‘Food Street’.

Kuala Lumpur Jalan Alor evening — Not buzzing just quite yet

Kuala Lumpur city CBD traffic — Quite a lot of malls in Bukit Bintang

Kuala Lumpur monorail train — KL’s monorail service (Photograph by Loiyumba)

Kuala Lumpur monorail HSBC branch — We were walking towards Malaysia’s world famous landmark

Kuala Lumpur Hotel Istana Menara KL tower evening — It’s tall, but it isn’t KL Tower

Kuala Lumpur Petronas towers Monorail — That’s where we were headed — Petronas Twin Towers

Kuala Lumpur Menara KL Malaysia — I had plans to go to Menara KL too

Kuala Lumpur Menara Shangri La hotel Malaysia — Menara KL (or KL Tower) is in fact taller than Petronas towers, but that’s because it’s perched atop a hill

KL Petronas Tower Canon street ad — Even half of one tower is impressive to look at

Kuala Lumpur Suria KLCC shopping mall — Suria KLCC is the shopping mall (KLCC is the convention centre I believe)

Public Bank AmBank headquarter building KL — Plenty of bank headquarters in and around Petronas Towers

We walked into Suria but there was a sign saying at certain sections of the mall, photography is prohibited. So we just kept our cameras in and walked through the mall and out the main entrance of Petronas Towers.

Petronas is the Malaysia’s national oil company — and one of Asia’s largest companies. Petronas Towers is the company’s headquarters, thought I’m not sure if all 88 floors are Petronas’ offices.

Petronas Twin Towers bottom angle — But what an office to work in!

Petronas Towers building entrance lobby — The lobby is quite nice

Petronas Towers observation deck bridge at night — That’s the Skybridge observation deck. We planned to go check it out in the morning.

The reason why we we didn’t want to go up to the skybridge is because, one, we were already late as the skybridge closes at 5pm and two, there is a particular method to which you need to get the tickets to visit the observation deck — which I’ll get to in a later post.

Kuala Lumpur Petronas Twin Towers Malaysia — I had to step back a bit to get the whole building in my wide angle

We attempted a portrait shot of all three of us in front of the Petronas Towes, but because we didn’t have a tripod with us, Ramesh fit the tripod on his camera and used his Kata bag to stand the camera.

Petronas Towers glowing Mithun Loiyumba charity girl — Me donating some money to some Chinese school girl

Loiyumba Ramesh Mithun in front of Petronas Towers full — After a few attempts, we managed to get the shot

The Malaysian MotoGP was happening the following week, and they had some competing superbikes on display.

After nearly an hour just staring at this beautiful building, we finally left the base of Petronas Towers.

The Petronas Towers are a symbol of modern day Malaysia. Just like Burj-Al-Arab signifies Dubai, and now Burj Khalifa, the Petronas Towers are an architectural icon. Inaugurated in 1998, even to this day, the Petronas Towers design stands as ‘modern’ – and yet, truly Asian in its influence as it can be. No visit to Malaysia is complete without having seen what was once the tallest building(s) in the world.

Even though Taipei 101 took over the throne of “Tallest building in the world” in 2004 (until Burj Khalifa did the same in 2010), the Petronas Towers are still one of the best looking skyscrapers in the world in my opinion. It shows how important good architecture is in creating a true global landmark. You can play the game of attempting to build the tallest structure in the world, but unless it looks good, the investment is futile.

If you disagree, just go around and ask people if they are aware of ‘Taipei 101’.

Kuala Lumpur city TANGS store — TANGS is a department store

We walked back and through some of the malls in Bukit Bintang district.

Kuala Lumpur Pavilion Mall street musicians — Musicians performing in front of Pavilion Mall

Pavilion Crystal Fountain, the Tallest Liuli Crystal Fountain in Malaysia

Kuala Lumpur Uniqlo store Bukit Bintang — Japan’s UNIQLO is now in Kuala Lumpur’s Fahrenheit 88 mall

Ferrari F430 parked in front of Fahrenheit 88 mall Kuala Lumpur Malaysia — This Ferrari F430 was parked in front of Fahrenheit 88 mall

Bukit Bintang street performers at night — There are a few street performers at Bukit Bintang

Bukit Bintang street dancers Kuala Lumpur at night — These guys were trying to perform street dancing but looked nervous when the crowd grew big

Kuala Lumpur Bukit Bintang monorail station — Bukit Bintang monorail station

Bukit Bintang street KL at night — It was time for us to now figure out what to eat

Jalan Alor food street Chinese restaurant tourists — So we headed to Jalan Alor a.k.a ‘Food Street’

Jalan Alor food street Kuala Lumpur at night — Quite a change of scene from earlier isn’t it?

Jalan Alor food street water sprinklers — These restaurants even sprinkle water in the air to cool off its guests

While myself and Loiyumba found enough options for dinner, as was the norm on this trip, Ramesh didn’t. So I ordered what I wanted to eat, so that we could head to some place Ramesh could get his dinner.

Jalan Alor food street KL kitchen — I ordered some duck dish, forgot what it was called

Jalan Alor food street fried fish — Was tempted to order some seafood too

Jalan Alor food street Chinese restaurant — A lot of the restaurants on Jalan Alor are Chinese

It maybe a bustling place by night, but if you feel like staying amidst all the food, here are some hotels on Jalan Alor:

Jalan Alor food street Apple Inn hotel KL — Apple Inn (http://www.appleinn.com.my/)

Once I got my takeaway, we headed back to our rooms only to stop at the 24-hour Subway store on Bukit Bintang where Ramesh picked up his dinner. (There’s also a 24-hour KFC on the same road)

We also pick up a few drinks from a convenience store on the way and had our dinner outside our hotel, where Irsia had put up a few tables for its guests.

KL street food duck meat Anglia shandy — My dinner

Berjaya Times Square from behind at night — When I say we stayed right behind Berjaya Times Square, I’m not kidding

Dinner over, we hit the bed early. Our plans were to go see the famous Batu Caves tomorrow, which we knew were on the outskirts of KL… which meant getting up a bit early.

So what was our first impression of KL? Not so good, to be honest. In fact, after a whirlwind 3 days in Singapore during a buzzing F1 weekend, it’s understandable we were a bit disappointed with Kuala Lumpur. But the fact is, things are a lot cheaper in KL, so it’s no surprise Malaysia’s capital city isn’t as glamourous as glitzy Singapore. Unfair comparison I’d say.

Oh well, we still had two more days in the city to change our minds about the place.

Other posts in this series:

Singapore & Malaysia 2010: Planning and preparing for the trip

Singapore 2010: Day 1 – Little India, CBD, Clarke Quay, China Town… and a lot of walking

Singapore 2010: Day 2 – Orchard Road, mall-hopping… and already shopping

Singapore 2010: Day 3 – Singapore Zoo, Marina Bay Sands; leaving Singapore for Penang

Malaysia 2010: Day 5 — Langkawi (Ferry ride from Penang, Cable car & Sky Bridge)

Malaysia 2010: Day 6 — Langkawi (Island hopping tour, Pantai Tengah beach, Night market)

Malaysia 2010: Day 8 — Kuala Lumpur (Batu Caves, Petaling Street/China Town)

Malaysia 2010: Day 9 — Kuala Lumpur (KLCC Aquaria, Merdeka Square, KL Tower observation deck)

Malaysia 2010: Leaving Kuala Lumpur… and about going back

Thailand 2009: Day 10 – Wat Pho (the Temple of the Reclining Buddha) and finally leaving Thailand

By Mithun Divakaran
/
Feb 05, 2010
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Bangkok, Thailand, Travel

I had read that Wat Pho was close to the Grand Palace so after asking for a few directions from the local police, I began my 15-minute walk to the Temple of the Reclining Buddha.

Walking through what some people refer to as ‘Old Bangkok,’ one comes across decades old remnants and descendants of the Chinese community in Bangkok.

After passing by shops selling traditional Chinese medicine and an assortment of dried fish, you reach the lane that leads to Wat Pho.

There was no entrance fee, or at least I didn’t come across any, so I just went in and began clicking photos.

And with that, ended the last of my sight-seeing in Thailand.

I took a taxi back to Sukhumvit but man, can the traffic in Bangkok get on your nerves. Coming from India, I’m used to bad traffic — and even though Bangkok traffic isn’t noisy or haphazard like in any major Indian city — it just moves at a snail’s pace.

I pity the taxi drivers who have to work through this every day. It isn’t calming I can assure you. It’s frustrating — and I’m an extremely patient guy.

As it neared 3pm, I finally got fed up and got down near Siam Center. It’s not that I was getting late or anything, I just got irritated moving at snail pace and staring at the traffic in front me. I didn’t even bother asking the taxi driver for the change, instead, I told him to keep it. 90% of them will not fleece you so you can be extra nice to them if you wish.

Since I had some time to kill, I went to Siam Paragon and had lunch from KFC. Yeah, KFC… I know. But I didn’t have the usual. KFC Thailand had introduced a Hot’N’Spicy variant which I thought I’d try out. I went in for the combo meal which packed 2 pieces of chicken, mashed potato in gravy, salad and a drink. The mashed potato looked and tasted so artificial, it was scary to even look at. As for the Hot’N’Spicy chicken, it was essentially the KFC flavour with a lot of MSG thrown in. Tasted a lot like the flavouring that you get with a regular pack of Maggi noodles Masala. Just about okay.

After lunch, I took the BTS (for the last time) and went back to the Thai House Inn. Collected my bags, took a taxi and headed for Suvarnabhumi via the elevated highway (cost 400 baht/Rs. 560).

Taxi ride to Suvarnabhumi airport — The sun setting on Bangkok… and on my holiday

I was at the airport by 5:30pm for my 8:35pm Thai Airways flight back to Bangalore. Got my VAT refund forms stamped, checked in my bags, and collected my VAT refund money from the counter after the security check. I had an hour and half to kill before my flight, so I got myself a Dairy Queen Blizzard with whatever change I had left that I didn’t want in my wallet and then sat by my gate thinking about the last 10 days.

Despite all the planning, things didn’t go the way I wanted to. I ended up taking more flights than I thought, a lot of mishaps, and couldn’t see everything I had hoped on seeing…

… but all I could really think about was how I wanted to quit my job and wanted to be back to do it right, a second time.

Other posts in this series:

Getting ready for my trip

The day I left for Thailand

Day 1 – Suvarnabhumi, Pantip Plaza, Fotofile & MBK

Day 2 – Bridge over the River Kwai and Tiger Temple (Wat Pa Luangta Bua) in Kanchanaburi

Taking the bus to Chiang Mai from Bangkok

Day 3 – Maesa elephant camp, ‘long-neck’ tribe village near Chiang Mai

Day 3 (Part 2) – Chiang Mai Night Market

Day 4 – Doi Suthep, Chiang Mai… and back in town

Day 5 – Leaving Chiang Mai for Phuket

Day 5 (Part 2) – One night in Phuket