Overview
My first out of the country adventure was on August, 2013 when me and my travelling buddy, Arfem, booked a flight to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. There are alot of places to visit in KL but in order to get the best experience in a limitted time we planned our itinerary for the duration of the stay. Also we researched the things to buy and how much is the transportation within the area.Here are the means of transportation within the city:
- Bus from LLC to KL Sentral (vise versa) = RM 8.50 SkyBus / RM 10.00 Aerobus. You can buy bus tickets online or through their terminal just outside the airport.
- KL Sentral to Jalan Bukit Bintang = RM 2.00
- Taxi rate = RM 3.00 initial flag down. Succeeding distance, RM 1.00 / 1km
We booked a budget hotel online through Agoda.com. Normally a room is around RM 40.00 to RM 100.00 per night but if you booked ahead it will cost you less. We stayed within the shopping district Jalan Bukit Bintang where all shopping centers are within walking distance.
Places to visit
Day 1:
Beryl's Chocolate Kingdom
From the hotel, we took a taxi to Beryl's Chocolate Kingdom since it is far from there. The place is quite spacious for a chocolate shop. They have plenty of variety of chocolate confectionary, from Chilli to Durian flavor. Unfortunately, the chocolates here are quite expensive so we decided to just buy one and buy others in the mall.
Petronas Twin Towers
Since the Beryl's Chocolate Kingdom is situated far from Petronas Towers, we tried to hire a cab to go there. Unfortunately, there is no cab that was willing to take us there (unless we pay them an extorbitant amount). So we decided to take a walk to find the monorail to get to the tower. This is when we find out that there are LOTS of shopping centers through out Bukit Bintang.
BBK LCC Shopper's Haven
Pavillion
Fahrenheit 88
BB Plaza (Bukit Bintang Plaza) / Sungei Wang Plaza
Then we took the monorail from Bukit Bintang to Bukit Nanas and walk to Petronas Twin Towers via Jalan Ampang.
Day 2
Muzium Negara Dibuka ( The National Museum)
The museum is not that huge compare to the ones we have here in the Philippines. There are lots of information that they offer from Pre Colonization to Present. The museum entrance fee is RM 5.00 for non citizens.
The Kuala Lumpur Railways
Once we finished visiting the National Museum, we walked around and checked the Kuala Lumpur Railways building.
Central Market
This market place is swamped with tourist buying souvineers and local goods. However the price is still expensive compare to things you can buy in Bukit Bintang so we decided to shop there instead.
Sri Mahamariamman Temple
We stumbled to this place by accident. We are roaming around Central Market area and we found this temple situated in between commercial buildings along the area.
Places to Eat
Mary Brown
This is their local fastfood in Malaysia. They offer a meal of Nasi Lemak with fried chicken and regular soda. The price for the meal is RM 7.00
Coffee Box
This is situated in BB Plaza's food court. The food is RM 7.00 as well for Nasi Lemak with Curry or Fried chicken. No drinks with the meal. A bottled water is RM 2.00 and a glass of service water is RM 1.00.
Killiney Kopitiam
This coffee house is situated just across Bukit Bintang Plaza. They offer Teh Tarik (pulled tea with ginseng), Kopi Tarik (pulled coffee with ginseng), and toasts. This place have the cleanest restroom I have been during my stay in Malaysia.
Restoran SK Corner
This place is just around the corner of the hotel we stayed at. They are open 24/7 and offer authentic Malaysian food that is "wallet friendly". The proprietor is friendly and assisted us with the food choices. As low as RM 6.00, your belly will be satisfied with the varieties of curry and other side dishes. My favorite is Roti Canai with curry and a glass of cold Teh Tarik.
The Tips
The Adventure
Walking around Bukit Bintang and going around the Metropolis is quite an adventure. We felt like a certified travellers with only maps as our guide. There are lots places to see and lots of food to eat. One thing is for sure I will definetly go back just to try their food again.
The Misadventures
There are lots of misadventures we had along the way. Upon landing to LCCT, my travelling buddy was scolded by the immigration officer because he kept taking pictures in the immigration booth which is prohibitted. Since we landed in wee hours in the morning, we need to wait for the Monorail to open so we can go to the hotel. Since we did not opted for a airport shuttle, we got lost going around Bukit Bintang in search for the hotel. The hotel did not allow us to check in early so we opted to stay in KFC until 12 noon so we can rest and leave our stuff.
The Budget
If you will go and travel to Kuala Lumpur, you can spend as low as Php 12,000.00 or as high as Php 50,000.00 depending on how you would want to spend your holiday.
