Malaysia - Exploring Kuala Lumpur Day 3

During the whole trip my sister and I can't help  but notice that we had a lot of 'bloopers' on our Malaysia trip. First we were not able to make it to Genting Highlands the day before. Today we had a 'little adventure'. 


Coming from the hotel, we walked again to Imbi Station and bought a ticket to KL Sentral Station. I forgot to mention in my previous post that the KL Sentral Station of the the KL Monorail is on a separate location than the KTM Kommuter. You need to cross the street and walk a few more meters to transfer to the KTM Kommuter line, Kelana Jaya Line and KLIA Express. 


We went from Bukit Bintang to KL Sentral. We were already running late so we decided to have a quick bite at McDonalds and then bought the tickets for Batu Caves Station which was the last stop of the the KTM Kommuter line. It was already almost 10 am at that time and we alloted only until noon to explore the destination. So when we saw the train we immediately boarded it. We were busy looking at the through the window and chatting on the local culture when my sister suddenly paused to listen for the next stop... we were heading to the wrong direction! Haha so we went down on the next station and crossed and rode back again. 

after the ride we found out why they have one dedicated for us women

Looks like we're only in the Philippines ;)

Later on we found out that two trains were using one track starting from KL Sentral until Putra. (kindly see the KTM Komuter map from their site) The train would then turn left to TG Malalim and the other towards Batu Caves. We failed to check the sign on the train that says where their end destination will be. Too much excitement I guess. We only found out that we took the wrong train when we were about to stop at Rawang! Hah! 


So we backed tracked and finally arrived to Batu Caves. 

It was already past 1pm when we decided to head back to KL Sentral for lunch and to visit their tourism center for more brochures. My sister was deprived of Subway so naturally we had to have that for lunch. The six inch sandwiches disappeared in a snap. Haha. 

sister dear happily posing with her Subway lunch

After lunch we bought tickets for the Hop On - Hop Off Tour (HoHo for short). The tour turned out to be one of the best parts of our trip. When we arrived KL on our first day, we realized immediately that commuting around the city will not be easy. True there were train systems. But the station covers only a part of the City. There were also buses but they were also scarce. Made us miss the ever reliable jeepneys we have back home. So the HoHo Tour even sounded more enticing as it made it easier for us to go around the city with out paying much for cab fare. The 24 hour ticket was only for 38RM each.

To those who are not familiar with it, the HoHo is a tourist bus that follows a certain path around the city. The bus will stop at several tourists spots in KL. At each stop the tourist may alight from the bus if they want to explore the featured place or  stay on it and move on to the next attraction. 


Along the way here's what we saw: 

sungka!

Because of the rain and the tour operating hours were about to stop soon we were only able to go one round of HoHo. We went down Stop 6 since it was the nearest stop. We were also pleasently surprise because we were dismayed after seeing Berjaya Times Square the day before since it was liek Greenhills all over again. Little did we now the more 'modern malls were just right behind the block where our hotel located. 

My own way of helping Japan

Thinking of the tragedy that struck Japan, my purchases today was my own little way of helping them out.  I did not have to work today since Labor Day fell on a Sunday so naturally here in Singapore - Monday is a holiday. So after spending a lazy morning in our new flat I decided to venture down Orchard road for some chores and do a little shopping.

I have been meaning to buy a couple of blouses since some of my clothes don't fit me well anymore. Okay okay I am just reasoning with myself why I had to buy these:

Yeps, my favorite Japanese casual clothing brand -  Uniqlo (Singapore) finally had their Cath Kidston Charity Project shirts available here! I knew they had a  collab with the Europe based store since an online friend was able to buy a few shirts from Hong Kong. So when I saw that they brought it here I just could not resist and pick up a couple myself.

The shirts are made of 100% Cotton, so they are really comfy and cool which is very good since its already summer. I really love the way Uniqlo collaborated with other brands and comes out with products that are so cute and comfy to wear, not to mention their products are reasonably prices. I got the shirts at an introductory price of 19.90sgd each. Not bad right?

It's a day for patronizing Japanese products for me today since after visiting Uniqlo, I found myself heading to another Japanese store I love, Muji ;) I am really amazed with all the practical and 'organizy' stuff I can find from this store. My HK trip is up two Fridays from now and decided to pick up a travel pouch with matching containers (lucky they were at 10% off today :)! ):

The travel pouch is sold separately at 19sgd while the containers range from 1.60 to 4sgd depending on the size and style. For all four items plus a cookie at 1sgd, I paid a total of 27.46 less of discount. What I like about it is the hook. I can easily hang it anywhere. Plus I can it has different zippers so I can put my toiletries in without worrying about the contents going topsy turvy.

I wanted to buy the travel document organizer as well but they did not have it in the Ion Orchard branch so I think I will drop by their Bugis branch tomorrow.

PS. Dinner by the way was at Yoshinoya ;)

Malaysia - Exploring Kuala Lumpur Day 2

Our second day in KL was supposedly Genting Highlands day. 'Supposedly' because we never made it to Genting! Hahaha

Wondering why? Well, we  were warned by our friend that we may not be able to get an early ticket for Genting at KL Sentral since it was Chinese New Year and a lot of people would surely be heading to the popular tourist spot. Still we tried and true enough when we got to the Bus Terminal we were only able to secure tickets for the 12noon trip. If we go the following day it would still be the same.

So after buying the ticket we decided to explore KL Sentral instead. The bus terminal was on the ground floor of  KL Sentral Station. If you go up you will find your self on the train platform levels. KL Sentral Station is actually one of the main stations where 4 of the 6 Train lines of KL meets. There are several fast food shops and other boutiques on the upper levels. They have:

• McDonalds
• Burger King
• Subway
• KFC
• Dunkin Donuts 
• Secret Recipe
• Kenny Rogers

to name the more popular ones. So I'm sure you will never go hungry. :)

After looking around we decided to have breakfast at Burger King. It was okay. Then we went around some more. There was actually little to see except the Malaysian Tourism Center which we discovered the following day.  After going round we ended up at McDonalds to conserve our energy and had ice cream. My sister was actually eyeing on their Prosperity Burger which seemed yummy but we never got to eat for some reason. 

My sister craving for McDo's prosperity burger.

By noon we were on our way to Genting Lower Station. The bus ride was comfortable and allowed us to see another side of KL. The bus ride took almost an hour to get to Genting Lower Station. Here we needed to take a lift to the upper floors to get to the Skyway where we needed to ride on the cable car to get to the Highlands. 

But before we did that we decided to buy our return ticket in fear that we may not be able to get a ride home at the right time since it seemed that there were a lot of people going to Genting on that day. True enough when we reached the upper floors, the line leading to the Skyway was snaking like crazy. And it was going on a turtle's pace. My sister's spirits and I went down. My Malaysian friend already warned us that there will be a lot of people going to Genting. But we didn't expect the lines would be so slow. 

While waiting  in line we weighed our options. We agreed that if we get to ride before 3pm then we will push thru but if not then we will just explore the building (there are quite a number of shops here as well). However as we were nearing the the escalator the other tourists became a bit rowdy and started pushing the others towards the escalator. My sister and I got alarmed because there was a possibility that we will get crushed amidst the crowd.

The crowd just before the escalator.

Eventually we gave up and spotted a nearby shop. Tidbits galore! More like Chinese fruit preserves galore! Hahaha I just love kiamoy and stuff. So we bought some then went around. 

When we have finished exploring the place we decided to go back to the bus terminal and waited for our bus ride to Putra Terminal (Gombak Station) which is on the end of the pink line. We were supposed to wait for the 5pm bus but decided to ask the dispatcher if we can take an earlier bus. Good thing he agreed but we had to be placed on the waiting list. 

The cable car that we did not get to ride.

The ride is much shorter. But the ride on the train was longer. We went down Dang Wangi station and walked towards Bukit Nanas (blue line). 

Petronas Towers from Dang Wangi Station

An interesting shop

We had to cross the street to get to the Bukit Nanas stations. Unlike in Singapore or Hong Kong interchanges are located in the same building but in KL sometimes you need to walk across the street to get to the other line.

On our way to Bukit Nanas we passed by the only virgin forest left in the city. From Bukit Nanas we went down Imbi. Walked back to Capitol Hotel to rest. 

My sister wanted to stop by and try the local street food. I think we paid 1 RM for a stick of 3 fish balls. Expensive huh? But the fish balls were so big too.

Dinner was at Berjaya Times Square just beside Imbi Station. I expected a lot from the places since they say there are levels and levels of stores in it but aside for a few good shops it was more like going to Greenhills. Tiange stores left and right. The structure looked grand but the stores I did not enjoy much. Or maybe because some stores were closed due to the holiday.

We went round and ended up eating at Tepanyaki (I know not so local food right?) but our dinner was great. 

Seafood Teppanyaki - my dinner

Chicken Teppanyaki - Cat's dinner

Forgot to post the Maki. See it's in the middle ;)

Malaysia - Exploring Kuala Lumpur Day 1

My sister and I left Melaka Sentral Bus Terminal by 5 in the afternoon and arrived at Bukit Jalil Terminal past 8pm. Unfortunately the rain poured just as the bus parked inside the terminal. It was hard to find the Bukit Jalil LRT Station since it was getting dark and it was raining. The terminal was actually only a car park with make shift tents. So we decided to ask the bus driver who was happy to show us the way. 


So from Bukit Jalil we took the train going to Hang Tua LRT (Malaysia Transit Network Intergration Map) then walked  towards the direction of Berjaya Times Square since our hotel was located near it. It took us a good 10 minutes walk from Hang Tua which was okay since we were sitting for 3 hours in the bus. 


I booked with Capitol Hotel based on a recommendation of an online friend. The hotel was nice and just right for its price since the room especially the bathroom was clean. The location was great too since it was in the center of the shopping district! :) I'll write more about the hotel after I finish with our trip. 


So anyway, check in was okay though the staff needs to go more customer service training. I think she was lucky I used to work in the front desk so I was more patient with her. Other guests would have a hard time. Story later. 


After checking in and settling down, I called up my Chinese Malaysian friend who is an ex - colleague. She and her husband picked us up and droved us around town. First stop was Jalan Alor - a street near by our hotel which was famous for their hawker center. True enough we had mee goreng and chicken and pork satay for dinner. 

Jalan Alor                                              

People from all races can be seen here

the place was really crowded

me with my friend, Angel

but i think my sister loved the pork and chicken satay
there were only two pieces left
when we realized we haven't taken any pics of our food.

we were hungry so we just digged in
i love singapore's mee goreng more though and the thing
looks different too.

After dinner, we went to see the Petronas Twin Towers. It was funny to find out that my friend though she was now based in KL for a few months have never taken a picture with the Petronas Towers as the background at night. She was just like a tourist as me and my sister were! The building was really a site to behold. Lucky we still had time to take pictures before the lights were turned off since my friend's hubby said that they turned it off by 12 midnight.

Since it was Chinese New Year, my friend also took us to the Thean Hou Buddhist Temple. The temple is one of the biggest in Kuala Lumpur and a lot of the locals visit the place during the Chinese New Year. True enough when we got there the place was full even if it was already past 11. I think this is the most red set of photos I have taken to date. A real experience for me and my sister.

As it was already getting late, Angel took us back to the hotel. But it did not stop us from taking more pics. :)

the KLCC Tower from a far

Menara Public Bank which is directly across the Petronas Twin Towers.