2010 - KUALA LUMPUR & PULAU TIOMAN
FAVOURITE PHOTO
At the time of writing this blog, Hubby and I have been to KL 6
times and have pretty much covered everything except for the Batau Caves. The thought of walking tons of stairs to view
caves to me is nauseating.
Kuala Lumpur is such a vibrant and
colourful city full of lovely people, great shopping, fantastic food and
reasonably cheap day trips to interesting destinations.
If you have read my previous blogs you
will already know that I do not cut and paste facts. Anyone can google that. I write how I feel about what I have seen and
done. Most of that is pretty exciting.
I also like to throw in a few funny
stories to keep both you and I entertained.
Hey at my age, embarrassment doesn't exist lol.
Hopefully my blogs along with tips might
be helpful to you if you plan to visit KL some day.
~~~oOo~~~
So, in 2010 hubby and I and our 2
youngest children - Janine and Jesse took a 5 1/2hr flight from Perth to KL to
check it out. My friend Paula also
tagged along.
We stayed at the park royal hotel in
Bukit Bintang which is close to the monorail and across the road from a great shopping centre Sungei Wang Plaza.
~~~oOo~~~
Obviously the first place we had to go see was the awesome Twin
Towers . Abbey, a long-time friend on Virtual Tourist had teed up tickets for
us to the sky bridge. I was looking
forward to finally meeting my friend Abbey.
After we headed downstairs to the food court and tried out some
new and interesting Malaysian food.
It was a pleasure meeting you Abbey.
~~~oOo~~~
TWIN TOWERS
The twin towers are an amazing structure and even better at night. Night photos to follow in later blogs as I
did not get my DSLR camera until 2012.
~~~oOo~~~
BUTTERFLY PARK
We loved the Butterfly Park.
So many different types and colours.
Such a peaceful oasis compared to the hive of activity and noise in the
city.
~~~oOo~~~
ORCHID
PARK
Across the road from the Butterfly Park is the Orchid Park. We saw our first Malaysian monkeys here. We
did not know that there was an amazing monkey experience for us to come. More about that later.
Anyway, the lush gardens were a pleasure to walk through. And the flowers (not just orchids) So pretty.
~~~oOo~~~
SHOPPING
The Central Markets are worth a visit. Brush up on your bartering. We hadn't done that since our first
experience in Vietnam in 2006. I usually
start at half the price offered then make my last offer about 75%. If not, walk away. That usually works in having the vendor
accept your final offer.
I enjoyed Chinatown more than Little India, which was the opposite to when we visited Singapore in 2006.
~~~oOo~~~
GETTING AROUND KUALA LUMPUR
KL is easy to get around.
The monorail is so cheap. It is
worth your while familiarising yourself rather than spending more on taxis which often don't use their meters on purpose to rip off
unsuspecting tourists.
You select your destination, put your notes in and receive a
token that you scan to walk through and at your destination, slot your token in. Great system.
This would have been easier than the local bus that we caught
first to take us to the twin towers.
For those of you that do not know. The
traffic in KL is quite horrendous at
times. Better off catching the monorail
if you can.
Speaking of transport, Kuala Lumpur has a fantastic high speed
train from the airports - KLIA 1 and KLIA 2 direct to Sentral Station.
You will see
many signs on where to get the train and tickets are sold right there.
So you can buy before you walk through the turnstiles to get the train. The journey only takes 30 minutes and is reasonably cheap, unless you have more than 2 people.
If you have more than 2 people, then catch a taxi. Taxi's from the airport are now regulated
meaning that you will not be ripped off.
You pay before you get the taxi.
~~~oOo~~~
WARNING
The one thing I hated about KL was the beggars at night. I was shocked when I first saw this and quite
Also, even though I have felt very safe in KL compared to other
cities we have been to. Recently, they
have had bag snatchers from people on motor bikes. So it is advised to keep your hand bag close
to you and just be aware.
~~~oOo~~~
VT
MEET
We met a few friends from Virtual Tourist at the federal
hotel. They have a fantastic buffet
which had food from quite a few countries.
Thanks to Chia for organising and Zue and Harry for coming
too. Hubby and I met Zue and Harry in
Perth when they visited.
~~~oOo~~~
PATRICK
Although Kuala Lumpur is a vibrant city, you need to know that
there is much more to explore than the Towers and Batu Caves that everyone checks out.
We have been here 6 times and every time we have discovered
something new.
For those of you that do not know, Hubby and I love exploring
off the beaten path places and mixing with the locals. If you are into the same
stuff, then I encourage you to read more of my KL blogs as I take you to some
popular places outside of KL and also some places that if you don't use our
friend and resident private driver Patrick, you may just get lost.
Speaking of Patrick - We asked the Parkroyal if we could hire a
driver for the day to take us somewhere interesting. That is when we me Patrick.
Patrick is now a great friend.
We have met his lovely wife now as well.
We catch up with Patrick every time we visit KL and have him take us
somewhere different. We have no
hesitation in paying Patrick well for his great service.
Anyway, Parkroyal recommended Patrick to take us to see the
fireflies in Selangor. Cool!
First stop - silk factory.
We bought the obligatory silk scarfs and hubby lashed out and
bought a silk shirt.
Next trip, Patrick realised that we were not just tourists. More about that later.
~~~oOo~~~
MONKEYS
Who doesn't love monkeys, especially when they are not what
you see every day back at home.
Janine and Monkey were popular with the
paparazzi.
What fun!! Those monkeys never cease to entertain us every time we visit. Believe me. It's the monkeys here that we prefer to see now rather than the main attraction which is the fireflies.
It is pretty much impossible to get pictures of the fireflies. Maybe I might prove that theory wrong at another trip that I have planned driving around Malaysia.
~~~oOo~~~
SELANGOR
But for now, our first visit began at a special seafood dinner right on the river at Selangor.
Patrick had arranged for us to have a table right with a sunset view!! Amazing!!
Patrick had arranged for us to have a table right with a sunset view!! Amazing!!
FIREFLIES
The fireflies were phonomenal!
But as much as I tried, I couldn't get a good photo nor video. Well the videos I took are funny. Glitter lights (fireflies) and occasionally
a shooting star (a flying firefly).
~~~oOo~~~
MELAKA
Melaka is about 2 1/2 hrs south of KL.
From the moment we arrived, hubby and I just loved this place! So much so, that we have visited now 3 times.
From the moment we arrived, hubby and I just loved this place! So much so, that we have visited now 3 times.
Being our first time, we did the obligatory walk up the hill
from Dutch Square to St Pauls lookout.
MELAKA
CRUISING
We also took a cruise around the small canals which I highly
recommend.
if you have viewed some of my other blogs you will already know
that I love all sorts of cruising. In
fact we own a boat and my prime position is sitting in the font, feet up with a
glass of wine.
Traditional Portuguese House
Campung Morten
STREETS OF MELAKA
~~~oOo~~~
BABA
NYONYA FOOD
I love Baba
Nyonya food - also known as Peranakan.
It is a mixture of Malaysian and Chinese. But there is a definite Indian infusion due to the spice trade many years ago.
We
found a restaurant called Peranakan. We
have eaten there 2 times now and just love the food!
Sadly it is now closed. Good thing there is a Baba Nonya restaurant across the road that serves equally great Baba Nyonya at less than the price we paid at the Peranakan. That is probably due to the fact that this new restaurant does not have the lavish decor and trimmings that the Peranankan had.
I would describe the food as an infusion of spices with lovely
juicy sauces.
~~oOo~~
GEOGRAPHER
CAFE
We
finished off our day at this lovely pub.
This is a great place to have a cold beer
and people watch.
Every time we come to Melaka we end up
here.
And what better way to end the day than being driven in comfort
along with a couple of roadies.
~~oOo~~
PULAU TIOMAN
DIVING AND SNORKELING PARADISE
FAVOURITE PHOTO
Tioman Island is located in the South China Sea on the eastern
side of Malaysia. The best way to do Pulau Tioman is a package. We chose a
3 night/4 day full board package.
There
are so many choices for accommodation on Tioman from tree houses to 5 star
luxury. I chose a 3 star resort with a
stunning beach.
I wanted us to stay
somewhere right on the beach and Paya Beach Resort delivered that and much
more. When we come back to Tioman I
would not look anywhere else.
Our friend Paula stayed in a garden cabin.
We
flew Berjaya Air from Subang airport not too far out of Kuala Lumpur.
Flying Berjaya Air only allowed cabin bags so we stored our big luggage at the airport. I believe Subang Airport does not have
lockers any more so if you plan to travel to Pulau Tioman, you will need to
make arrangements to store your big luggage elsewhere or alternatively, catch the bus from KL
to Mersing Jetty and grab the boat over to the island.
There is no transport on Pulau Tioman. All transport to accommodation is by
boat. They go pretty fast, so don't wear
a hat or cap. Arriving at Paya
Beach Resort we were greeted with this stunning view!
~~oOo~~
SNORKELING
Pulau Tioman is well known for its snorkeling and diving. The snorkeling was amazing! I would have to say that it is the best I
have ever experienced - better than the Great Barrier Reef or Tahiti which are
great in their own right.
Jesse dropped his snorkel and our kind snorkel and dive
instructor dived a long way down to retrieve it.
~~oOo~~
PAYA BEACH RESORT
Having full board at the resort was nice. They put on a great buffet. Paya Beach also has a spa and a pool. But swimming just off the beach was so much better.
Paya Beach also had a beach bar. I have
always wanted to experience a beach
bar.
~~oOo~~
1ST
DIVE
The fun thing here is that we didn't do any pre-dive instruction
in the pool. They taught us everything
we needed to know on the boat going to the dive spot. Then it was just a big
step off the boat and we were in the water ready to dive.
They had a rope going down which we could hold onto and do our
ear popping when we needed. The bottom
was around 9 metres.
It was an amazing experience and a great 1st on my 50th.
Dive finished. Time to
celebrate and have some fun.
ater Howie ended up getting a lift on the boys golf buggy. All of 20 metres to our cabin lol. And we heard him stumble loudly up the front
stairs.
aussirose and Adrian, diving
instructor.
As the sun went down we were greeted with the most amazing
sunset.
And then the diving instructors bought out some fire crackers
and had fun playing with the kids with the drop downs and then let young jess
light a big cracker on the beach.
Check out the video. So
much fun.
Unfortunately our good time was about to end.
We have been to a few other islands in Malaysia since but our hearts are always with Pulau Tioman and one day we will be back.
~~oOo~~
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