Two Days Exploring the Best of Kuala Lumpur

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We had just travelled from Malacca and spent two days exploring Kuala Lumpur.  Kuala Lumpur or KL as it is generally known is the capital city of Malaysia and is 350km from Singapore.

It pays to get up early when you are doing your sightseeing as the temperatures are often in excess of 30 degrees Celcius. We purchased a ticket for the hop-on-hop-off bus, a great idea to get our bearings and see some local places of interest.

KL Hop-on, Hop-off Bus tour
KL Hop-on, Hop-off Bus tour

Petronas Towers

The first tourist spot today is the Petronas Towers the famous twin skyscrapers. They were the tallest buildings in the world from 1998 to 2004, and at 452 m are still the tallest twin towers in the world. There is a 58 metre-long, double-decker Sky Bridge between the towers on the 41st floor, and a viewing platform on the 86th floor. Tickets cost RM80 for an adult.

But alas the viewing areas are not open to the public on a Monday. The Skywalk is also closed for two months refurbishment, Terry was so relieved. If you didn’t know he has had a little issue with heights. Read Terry’s story – How Travel Helped me Overcome my Fear of Heights. We will have to go up next time we visit KL.

the Petronas Towers
A worms-eye view of the Petronas Towers

Tourist Information Office

What to do next? We headed to the Tourist information. Well, this was an adventure. The roads in KL appear to be mainly circular when trying to get anywhere by walking. Hence we gained access to the Ministry of Tourism building from the rear staff entrance. We wondered why there were only one or two brochures in their stand and nobody about. After wandering along a corridor we met some lovely people who directed us to the front of the building and the KL tourist information.

KL Hop-on-hop-off Bus

The heat now up to 34 deg so we purchased a ticket for the hop-on-hop-off bus, a great idea to get our bearings and see some local places of interest.

KL Hop-on, Hop-off Bus
KL Hop-on, Hop-off Bus tour

One of the highlights was stopping at the Istana Negara National Palace. This is an imposing set of structures that was the residence of the King until 2011, it is now the Royal Museum.

Istana Negara National Palace
Istana Negara National Palace

 

Kuala Lumpur Bird Park

Tummies hungry we got off at the KL Bird Park and headed to the local eatery for some curries and pleased to see some vegetables at last. The food was nice and spicy, Maura now enjoys a little more heat in her meals.

 

The KL Bird Park was fantastic, the birds were so colourful. The bird park has open areas that provide a chance to wander amongst the birds.

 

The highlight of the day was our photo shoot with a group of parrots. It looks easy but “boy” those large parrots are heavy. The favourite bird today would be the Hornbill and he was quite happy to sit on Terry’s lap for the photo.

 

Back on the bus to the next stops – passing The National Mosque (the voice calling to prayer was soothing) before stopping at the Selangor Club area to view buildings from earlier periods.

Back to the apartment about 4.30pm for some air conditioning, rest and shower before heading next door for a chance to try some new dishes for dinner.

Batu Caves

Up early again we are headed to Batu Caves – a train is the quickest option due to traffic and cost-effective at RM4.60 return each NZD1.55, plus it arrives right outside the caves. This is also well worth a visit, especially the 272 steps up to the top of the cave and shrines, plus monkeys excited by the tourists.

There are two large statues, one is the Green Monkey God (Hanuman) 15 metres tall and the gold statue is Lord Murugan (3 years to build and 42.7 metres). The caves themselves provide shrines and so the dress code has to be followed, women, cover those legs and shoulders! Maura had to hire a wrap to cover her legs while Terry was comfortable in his shorts.

Time for a late breakfast and we chose a nearby vegetarian restaurant Restoran Rani. We started with a samosa – yum and so different from the ones we were buying in NZ. Next, some Roti and 3 saucepans were placed on our table for us to choose sauces for our Roti. Coffee (no sugar) and a masala tea to finish – great flavours.

Central Market and Chinatown

Back on the train, we headed to Central Market and Chinatown for a wander amongst the stalls – with only a small backpack – looking is all we can do!

As we are heading to Ipoh tomorrow we thought it best to organise our train ticket. This took 45min as we had to approach the first counter to advise of our destination, we were then issued a ticket (#3322) for the ticket counter. Luckily we had some snacks with us as we waited patiently. We chose a fast train with no stops which luckily we had decided on before reaching the counter.

Back to the apartment for a siesta before our evening meal which seems to be getting later and later around 8-8.30pm.

After our cup of tea and a lie-down, we headed out to dinner. On the first night when we were wandering around we had come across a street where all the restaurants had set up out in the street, so we had to head back there as some of the food looked great. This is the Jalan Alor Night Food Market.

Jalan Alor Night Food Market

We settled on Restoran Beh Brothers as it was busy and had the Food we were keen on tonight.  We order a couple of dishes and an iced coffee as it was still hot outside.

After we finished the meal we had some real coconut ice cream, very nice!

Back to the apartment for a cooling swim on the 20th-floor rooftop pool, aaahhhh.

We are off to Ipoh tomorrow to stay with our good friend Evelyn’s mother Judy who has offered us her hospitality.

Signing off from KL and the amazing view from our Airbnb apartment!

We often use Airbnb as one of our accommodation options. We like the input we get from the local host. If you are new to Airbnb, then this link will give you a discount on your new booking – Airbnb

 

4 comments

  1. Marion Llewellyn Smith says:

    Hi Guys,
    Monk and I are at present trying to sort out just what Monk can and can’t do after his hernia operation. His bronchites has settled and the operation went well but he has had some swelling in his abdomen so he has to stay very calm for a while. I have lost 5 kilos just from walking the dogs every day over the last two months. Hope you are continuing to enjoy your travels.Are you vegetarians? As I am trying to work out what you like to eat by reading your blog. Take care Marion

    • Terry&Maura says:

      Hi Marion
      Thanks for your email. I hope Monk has some good books to read while he convalesce.
      The dog walking sounds great as too hot for that here due to the high temperatures.
      No not vegetarian but we are missing the range of vegetables freely available in NZ due to our abundant rainfall and cooler temperatures. We are looking forward to Thailand for the sweet pineapples and mangoes.
      The travels so far are good, Melacca interesting and new, like Ipoh where we head today.
      Say hi to Monk for us. T&M

  2. Nicolette Veltman says:

    I am
    Loving the updates and learning about all
    Of these great places whilst salivating when you talk about the yummy local food!!
    You are both looking rested happy and great and it’s neat to see! Evelyn’s Mum just looks gorgeous like her daughter and I am sure Ipoh has been awesome too.
    Keep
    Enjoying I’m back down to
    Kapiti tomorrow so
    Last night of Nero on the bed – I will
    Miss him he’s very cute!!
    Till
    Next time xxx

  3. Terry&Maura says:

    Hi Nic, thanks for the feedback. We are certainly feeling more relaxed everyday, I think the food helps 😛
    Love hearing from you
    T&M xxx

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