Kuala Lumpur

My last visit to Kuala Lumpur was in May 2007. I flew from Surabaya with Air Asia, the budget airline. It takes two hours to reach LCCT airport, KL. I landed in LCCT around 13.00 Malaysia time. LCCT is not as luxurious as KLIA, but it is an efficient airport. I went through the custom for passport checking and collected my luggage. Then, I bought airasia bus ticket going to KL Central. There are some busses going to KL Central and the cost ranges from RM8-RM9. Alternatively, you can take a cab to go to the city central, but it is expensive though ... around RM100. The trip from airport to KL central takes 1 hour. If it is your first time to KL, I suggest you to go to KL Central as your first stop. After that, you can continue the journey to your destination from here, because almost all public transports -taxi, bus, train- pass by and stop at this station to take passengers.


KL Sentral Station

My first destination was Bukit Bintang, the well-known tourist shopping centre. From KL Central, I crossed the street to take KL monorail going to Bukit Bintang. Beside shopping centres, you can find hotels and entertainment outlets here. You can walk around, do window shopping or even shop at the big shopping centres, Sungei Wang Plaza, Starhill Gallery, Bukit Bintang Plaza, Lot 10, KL Plaza, Berjaya Times Sq etc. I had my lunch at one of the small restaurants in Jalan Alor/ Alor Street. It is cheaper compared to if I have lunch at a shopping mall. The food was also very good and decent. I had seafood noodle and my wife had seafood laksa. All together I paid around RM 10.
Alor street is very famous with its good food, especially Chinese food. I love it. During midday, this street is quiet and not many restaurants open. But you have to go there at night, the street has a wonderful lively nightlife. Go and have your dinner there ... you won't regret it.

The next morning of my visit, I woke up really early in the morning, because my second destination was The Twin Tower. I took komuter/ the train from Pasar Seni station to KLCC station. I had to leave early, around 7am, to queue for the entrance ticket to the sky bridge of the Twin Tower. It is FREE. The sky bridge visit is open Tuesday-Sunday, 8.30am-5pm. When, I reached there the queue was not that long, there were around 30-40 people were lining up before me. There are 1,300 free tickets given out daily. They start to distribute the ticket at 8.30am and the first visit is at 9 am. So, you better queue early to avoid disappointment.


The Twin Tower

Petronas Twin Tower has 88 levels with 452 metres height. It has been recognized by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat as the tallest buildings in the world. The building was designed by the US architect, Cesar Pelli. The sky bridge is located at levels 41 and 42 (170 metres above the street level) which links the Twin Towers. You can view KL from these levels.

From KLCC, I went by cab to KL Tower. The train station is not in walking distance to KL Tower, so to save time, I decided to take a cab instead. Using cabs in KL is another thing you should know. They do not use the taxi metre to charge you. Most of the time, the driver will inform you how much you have to pay. If you think it is too expensive, you need to bargain with the driver.

At the KL tower, you do not have to queue for the tickets because you have to pay to go to the observation deck. The ticket was 20RM per person for adults. KL tower is located at the top of Bukit Nanas. KL tower is 4th tallest telecommunication tower in the world. The tower total height is 421 metres. The observation deck is 276 metres above the street and from here you can view all the places of interest in KL with the binocular provided. I think the KL view is better here than the Twin Tower. You will also be equipped with an audio tour to help you to identify all those places. It is recommended to visit this tower in the evening, so you can see the beautiful sunset. If you have enough time, try to come to the tower before sunset to take pictures and then just wait to get the beautiful view during sunset.

The last place I would share is China Town. It is located at Petaling street. I stayed at one of the hotels there. I chose to stay there because you can find budget hotels there and the train station, Pasar Seni, is within the walking distance. So it is very easy to go everywhere you want. Oh, one more thing, the food at the stalls is okey with reasonable prices. At night, this street is very crowded. At the both sides of the street, there are shops selling anything, t-shirts, jeans, bags, purses, souvenirs, Chinese medicine etc. If you want to do budget shopping or buy souvenirs, then do the shopping here, but you have to bargain so you can get a good price. Happy shopping .....

Well, that is all for now. Enjoy KL...