Our 8-hour Air Asia flight from Sydney to KL was a classic case of 'you get what you pay for'... it got us there with absolutely no frills. No food or drink (even water!) is covered in the ticket price, leg room is a tight and there is no TV (not even shared ones). Thank goodness for colouring books and the iPad! Still, it was affordable and we arrived safe and sound.
We flew into KL at about 5.30pm. By the time we found our way through passport control and the baggage claim, it was already dark and still a humid 32 degrees. Our lovely friend Rachel, who was here with Alli and their family last year, had arranged a taxi to collect us so (after a little confusion), we were on the road to our apartment.
Arriving somewhere new at any time of day is exciting, but night time is my favourite. You get some sense of your surroundings - particularly the temperature, smells and sounds - but what it looks like is a bit of a mystery and you won't really begin to get your bearings until morning.
Please excuse the lengthy ramble to follow, I seem to have a lot to say about our time in KL!
We stayed in a very comfortable and roomy studio apartment in the Regalia complex complete with a 37th floor roof-top infinity pool with a stunning view over the Petronas Towers, KL Tower and other city landmarks. That was our first destination on our first morning and we swam at least once every day after that, usually more, including one very popular night swim. The pool was a wonderful refuge from the heat and hustle and bustle of the city. We barely saw any rain at all during our time in KL. One taxi driver commented that it is unusually dry.
After that first swim we caught the train to see Merdeka (independence) Square - complete with a cricket pitch and Tudor-style club rooms - and Chinatown for lunch and a spot of shopping. Eleanor is now the proud owner of a pretty fan and Leo a toy gun with a laser pointer. After returning to the apartment for another swim, we headed to Jalan Alor, the foodie street, for dinner. Thanks for the recommendation Max! We all enjoyed wandering the street checking out the options and nibbling on fried chicken before settling down to a delicious dinner of noodles, chicken wings and dumplings. I'm wondering if I'll ever tire of noodles. No where near it yet!!! Afterwards an ice cream was in order... we were lucky to find a vendor who made it in front of us. He froze the milk in a little dish, mixed in the flavours continually flattening it with a little tool before he scrapped it into little curls and added the toppings. The kids were mesmerised and so were we! We also began teaching the kids how to say "no thank you" to hawkers, beggars and the like - Eleanor is a natural, her line "maybe later" delivered with a smile seems very effective.
On day two we decide to follow the Lonely Planet's instructions to walk from Masjid Negara (the National Mosque) to Lake Gardens Park where there is a bird park, butterfly park and Museum of Islamic Arts. Unfortunately the instructions were in the wrong order (grrrr!), which lead to two wrong turns and about 2km of extra walking in the heat (and a hot, tired, hungry family) before a nice lady helped us find the right route. Lunch in air conditioning at the bird park got us back on track! And I had my first coconut milk of the trip. Yum!!!
The bird park was huge and we saw a great variety of bird-life, pelicans, parrots, flamingos, pretty pigeons (not the pigeon park variety), even a white peacock and lots of birds we didn't recognise. It must be mating season for peacocks as we saw lots strutting about with their beautiful tail feathers in the air. The park is covered by high nets and many of the birds are cage-free. It was exciting and a little scary for the kids to be in amongst the birds, some of which are at least the same size as them and no doubt considerably heavier. They loved feeding them bird food (which had obviously been in the dispensers a while given the bug infestation) in little cups and having their photos taken with several birds. As usual my feelings on this type of thing are mixed... a fantastic opportunity for people to see so much bird-life in one place and not all caged which is wonderful, but I think the space and close interactions with humans in must bring its issues in terms of being fed (ice cream etc.) and handled.
After a slow start that morning, unexpectedly long walk and long visit to the park, we abandoned other plans for the day and went back to the apartment for some cool and an early night.
Our last full day was Christmas Eve. We spent the morning at the excellent Petrosains Discovery Centre attached to Suria KLCC Mall (great shopping!). Another great recommendation thanks Rach! The Discovery Centre is a fabulous science-based learning centre with hundreds of hands-on activities broken into various sections, space, dinosaurs, speed, music etc. It is sponsored by Petronas, but there is relatively little promotion of their work. Eleanor and Leo ran from activity-to-activity and we could have easily spent the day there, but managed to get through about half of it in 2.5 hours before we needed to race away if we wanted to get to the Butterfly Park and swim before dinner.
Eleanor in particular loved the butterfly park, she waited patiently, coaxing them to land on her hand. She was thrilled to make a white and orange butterfly friend, which fluttered away and later returned. Leo preferred feeding the huge koi which gobbled up his fish-food with great enthusiasm. Again we ran short on time so missed the Islamic Arts Museum. Next time!
Our Christmas Eve dinner was a truly special treat... we had a delicious buffet at the rotating restaurant Atmosphere 360, which is 270 meters up the KL Tower with panoramic views over the city. Wow!!! We all over ate and fell into bed full and happy.
Today is Christmas Day. Happy Christmas everyone!! KL feels much more Christmasy than you might imagine, with Christmas trees, decorations and lights everywhere.
Much to Eleanor and Leo's joy, Father Christmas found them in KL, so they had stockings to open. Apparently they heard clattering on the roof over night, saw the light of Rudolph's nose and heard Father Christmas's footsteps. They have exceptional hearing, given that our apartment is on level 11 of 35 :). I now have my very own grown ups colouring in book, which I'm looking forward to getting into (so is Eleanor!) and Adrian is sporting a new hat.
After a final swim we taxied to KL Sentral to catch the train to Tampin, from where we will taxi to Malacca. The trains are immaculately clean, fast, air conditioned and comfortable. A great way to travel!
So, a few observations on KL (the parts we have seen at least)... I spent a day here in 2000 between flights and remember thinking it made an easy introduction to Asia. It is a melting pot of cultures and there are lots of familiar shops/brands, great bakeries, good coffee (served with milk and sugar by default), it is easy to get around, the food is delicious and the people almost without exception are very friendly. It is fairly clean for a big city and feels a little like Singapore in the rules (no eating on trains, no littering, no chewing gum etc.) and the way they are followed. Seat belts are readily available in taxis, the driving is good and we saw very few stray animals. Just one cat that looked pretty healthy really. I have a feeling we'll be back one day - I certainly hope so, there is lots more to do!
And now a note from Adrian:
A BMW SUV, black of course, immaculate, with heavily tinted windows and shadows for passengers, threads its way carefully down Jalan Alor, a street heaving with food vendors; slowly, gently, almost politely yet firmly dispersing the curious, the meek, the gawking tourists and the people whose whole lives are seemingly here on this street before it.
Gleaming dark towers of steel and glass soar above the low rise concrete brutalism, above the canopies and umbrellas of the hawker's stalls; a monorail whines past through the palm trees and flowers and beggars shake their stumps at the neon lit skies above. Mostly people make money and spend it just as they forever have.
The juxtaposition of near future and history; the clamour of Chinese mercantilism almost restrained by Islamic stricture and the vestiges of colonial British rule; indecent wealth shines in tiny pockets amongst the grimy vast ocean of hard graft, no safety nets and little welfare.
It is at once callous and noble; dystopian yet giddily optimistic; Dickensian and cyber punk; affirming, despairing; a heady, intoxicating mix of cultures and classes and creeds reminiscent of so many places but joined together in a manner all its own.
KL felt like this. it fells like a glimpse of the future. Not without hope, and not without concern.
KL by night
Annual reading of 'The Night Before Christmas'
KL by day
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