8. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Hi there! 

Hope your enjoying the blog so far - here is the Kuala Lumpur entry! 

We arrived after a speedy enjoyable flight - 30mins early - bonus!

The airport is about an hour away from the city centre so we got a airport bus and then a taxi to our hostel - it's so well known the taxi driver didn't know where it was - wonderful!! He phoned them up though and all ok!!

Our hostel is in the heart of the city centre - it's called Times Square! Kuala Lumpur style! (We are not in New York just yet!). We dumped our bags and headed off for some food...we were starving!!

Over the road is a underground food market. With different food stalls selling all sorts of different dishes! 

We had minced pork and rice - very nice! You can see them cooking it which is lovely to see and all the ingredients are so fresh! 

You can sit anywhere you wish there is no specific tables for each restaurant which is different! 

We then made our way to Low Yat Plaza (shopping!). We couldn't believe how many shops were selling IT related products, laptops galore! I don't know how you would choose where to go plus it would take you alllll day to price match!! 

Dinner time was in the food market - it's SOOO nice and cheap!! We had black pepper chicken and rice - delicious!  I'll definitely be trying that dish when at home! 

After that we went to a very posh shopping centre called the Pavilion. 

Lots of designer shops! No room in my backpack for any handbag treats though :(  

We called in to a very posh 5 star hotel - to enquire about tours to Batu Caves plus we were on the look out for F1 drivers seen as it's the Malaysia Grand Prix this weekend. 

No Lewis Hamilton to be seen though! :(

At the shopping centre there were messages on cards sending out love and prayers for the Flight MH370. Rachael and I did one to pay our respects. 

Around and about we see a lot of notices and billboards sending out messages.  You can feel the sadness in the air. 

Day two

Got up early and headed off to Chinatown! A lot of stalls selling the same things - bags, souvenirs, phone covers, fake DVDs, sunglasses! Was a great place to see though even though we didn't need anything! Plus we are heading to Singapore - don't want to get into trouble with fake goods!

We then made our way to KL tower but decided to hop on the FREE bus service - York take notice!! It takes you to all the main tourist places and was quick and very convenient! 

We didn't go up due to us going up the Petronas Towers and that's higher. We walked around though and spotted a table where you could have a origami lesson. We made a bird and a crab! I wanted to make a rose but she said that was too difficult - she knew our level of skill by just looking at us!! We managed though and here they are! 

I don't know what it is but Rach and I feel like celebrities due to people looking at us and taking pictures! They must not see English people very often :S 

We then had an episode at the KL Tower - we were at the bottom of the escalator and this guy was coming down and snapping away like paparazzi!! I said to Rach 'just smile and wave' - reminded me of the penguins on Madagascar seen as that's what they say! :) ha ha!! 

We hoped on the bus again and headed back to the hostel it looked like it was going to thunder! We got back just in time. Because it's so humid here it's very prone to thunder storms! We quite like them though so it doesn't bother us! 

Dinner time! We ran to the market and tried not to get too wet but it was tricky!! 

That night Rach enjoyed streaky pork and noodles and I had minced beef and rice again - very delicious! 

 

Day Three

Got the metro to Batu Caves. They have two carriages which are specifically ladies only which is very interesting. 

Batu caves was wonderful! 

Before you set off climbing the 285 steps there are three lanes of steps to choose from. Each one is representing Past, Present and Future and you will be forgive your past - help your present and guide your future. We chose our path and up we went! 

We must be getting fit because it wasn't as bad as expected! Well we had practice with the sunset viewpoint (see Koh Phi Phi entry!)!! 

At the top there were monkeys -  such a mixture. There were mums with their young babies holding on underneath, older dominant males and younger ones.  You had to be careful of your bags they would come so close! They were SOOO sweet but wild so you had to be careful! They had a tough climb! 

They got energy though from eating coconuts, nuts and of course bananas! 

We saw someone drop their Starbucks and they were there in a flash!!

We learnt they also like a sugar rush!

No need to undo the lid too!! 

 

After the climb up and down we fancied a treat so here we are being naughty! 

Whilst having these we saw this which made us giggle! 

Ha ha! 

We then got back on the metro and headed to the Mid Valley MEGA MALL - 5th biggest mall in the WORLD! 

We went to a pet shop selling cats and dogs as well as other animals - some were soooo cute but unfortunately weren't allowed to take pictures but there were some adorable puppies! 

We had a go on a vibrating exercise board - we were quite interested but couldn't fit it in our bags :( 

There was also a Barbie store!

But the best one which we HAD to see was.....

Day four 

Last day and it was jam packed! 

Went to a shopping centre after our free breakfast at the hostel - they are so big here! They have all sorts of shops too! A super hero shop to name a few! 

We were then getting a bit depressed looking at all the shops and having no room in our rucksacks so we left and headed to the free bus. It took us to the City Gallery which was also free - bonus! 

Along the way we got off and looked round a place called 'Central Market'. It was quite nice - very touristy. Here we had lunch and bought a bracelet.  

 

We then walked to the KL City Gallery. 

 

The heavens opened and it chucked it down! (It rained). 

So we took shelter before making our way to the  Petronas Towers. We enjoyed a sheltered walkway from The Pavilion shopping centre to the Towers. 

It was so nice to finally see them close up after admiring them from afar! 

 

We made our way in to the information desk and our bubble was shattered. We had not kept to our rota and we know why the Petronas Towers weren't down to the visited on the Monday......they are closed!!! 

Oh well we didn't want to go up them anyway!!!

We had a look around the shops to make our journey worth while. 

They had a Harrods shop - we thought we'd gone back to London! 

We then thought about it and decided to go up the KL Tower instead. We talked ourselves into feeling better by saying it would be better anyway due to you being able to see the Petronas Towers from there. 

So there we were again at the KL Tower.  

The views were lovely though and the best thing was the timing - we were there to see the city during daylight, saw sunset (well through the haze!) and saw the city at night! 

We headed back to the hostel and enjoyed our last meal at the food market. 

We collected our bags, said goodbye to our lovely hostel and were on our way to the coach to take us to Singapore!

We really have enjoyed our time in 'KL' (getting local now!). The people are so welcoming, friendly and helpful. You feel so safe with all the security around the main public places and don't feel uneasy walking around at night. 

We highly recommend visiting Kuala Lumpur! We will definitely be visiting again and may even go up the Petronas Towers!!! Oh plus an extra suitcase for all the shopping!! :D

We hope you're enjoying the blog - we would love to see comments and feedback below of your views. 

Lots of love, 

Nat! 

XxX