Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Written by Narelle

2004/5

We spent 3 nights in Kuala Lumpur at the newly renovated Park Royal Hotel (they've done a fantastic job!) on the way to Australia for our "month in the sun" xmas holiday and 1 night on the way back. On the way over, we had a full schedule planned out including a visit to the Batu Caves to see the wild monkeys, a trip to the sky bridge on the Petronas Twin Towers, shopping (of course!) and eating.

We arrived in KLIA (Kuala Lumpur International Airport) at around 7am and booked an airport taxi for 95RM. The drive takes about an hour and I fell asleep about 5 minutes after climbing into the back seat, so it was a quick trip for me! When we got to the hotel, we had a short nap until 12noon and then walked across the road to the Sungei Wang Plaza to check out the shops.

2000 and 2003

On my flight over to Europe (March 2000) I had a stopover in Kuala Lumpur. I stayed at the Park Royal Hotel opposite the Sungei Wang Plaza, and arrived at 11pm. No-one else from my flight was staying at this hotel, and everything outside appeared to be closed so, being by myself, I decided to order room service and recover from the 8 hour flight. I ordered a pizza, drank a coke from the overpriced mini-bar and watched Malaysian TV on the queen sized bed. It was a very unadventurous but relaxing end to a long day.

The next day I woke at around 10am. It was very warm inside and I thought that perhaps the air conditioning wasn't working. I went down to breakfast and poked at some undercooked eggs, slimy bacon and a chewy croissant. Yuck. If only I'd tried the local food, I'd have been much better off! In 2003 Yves and I had Nasi Lemak for breakfast and it was brilliant!

Later on I walked across the road to do some shopping and sightseeing. When I got outside, the air was so thick that I had a hard time not choking! It was very hot, humid and misty. The smell of petrol fumes and the sounds of hundreds of mopeds whizzing along the road attacked my senses and I set out a bit shocked, looking for a nice place to shop.

My first stop was the Sungei Wang Plaza. The travel agent had recommended it to me before I left, but at the time I didn't really think much of it. I got a watch that I got to haggle for.. that was fun! It was a copy of a Calvin Klein watch and actually served me well for 2 years.

In 2003 when Yves and I went back to Kuala Lumpur together, we spent most of our time in the Sungei Wang Plaza and it's actually a fantastic place! I guess I just didn't take the time to check it out properly.

Afternoons in KL bring vendors into the alleys. The food smells great, but it's cooked next to an open drain and the polluted air is so thick, it's hard to breathe. I didn't want to risk food poisoning with my flight leaving in 4 hours time. In hindsight, and especially after having visited K.L. again with Yves in 2003, I should have tried the food. The Malaysian's really know how to cook a good curry. We've been trying to re-create the dishes we tried in 2003, ever since! And it's perfectly fine to eat anything that is cooked... actually we even ate freshly washed fruit, so either we have strong stomachs or the water is really okay.

The twin towers are just a short walk away from the Park Royal Hotel and I had to take a look. On my way over, down came the rain in bucketloads. I made a mad dash for shelter at a taxi rank, but it didn't prove to be much use. The road was flooded within 2 minutes (finally I understood why the drains are so big and the gutters so high!) and I was drenched. Eventually I was rescued by a taxi driver, who drove me the rest of the way to the towers (5 minute ride) for 4RM (30p). I couldn't believe how cheap it was!

I wandered around the twin towers for about 2 hours. There was plenty to see, many glitzy top of the range fashion and jewellery stores, that I felt afraid to go into, with my wet shoes and clothes.

Shopping is very cheap in KL. The stores look very run down, but inside there is a lot of good stuff going cheaply. I got the impression that the twin towers are visited more by tourists and wealthy residents (it's something like the Rodeo Drive of Malaysia in tower form I guess!).