Friday, January 17, 2014

48 hour backpack trip to Kuala Lumpur

KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA

Truly Asia



As promised, here is my ELABORATED adventure and misadventure trip to Kuala Lumpur! YEY!

To start off, here is a copy of our itinerary during our 48-hour stay in Kuala Lumpur. O, my ticket only costs Php 3,000, back and forth!  Yes, I grabbed it even the flight schedule is wee hours. Lakas loob lang yan! HAHA






 There are pros and cons of buying ticket in advance. The advantage is that, they are on sale and you will definitely splurge on their enticing offer! HAHA. The disadvantage is that, you can't foresee what weather or environment condition will happen e.g. days before we went to Kuala Lumpur, there was a precaution about the haze that came from a forest fire(?) in Indonesia. Here a city picture with haze.




© REUTERS
Even though there was a haze, we(Ms. Claire, Ms. +Marianne Luisa , Gav and Ms. Olive) still decided to go! Upon arriving at KLCC, the haze was very visible and you can smell something like a bonfire but it's not alarming(or maybe I am just to excited to see the place). KLCC is a very small airport, what I heard about it is that, it is a cargo airport. Anyway, KLCC is different to KLIA. KLCC yung version 1.0 while KLIA is the version 2.0. HAHA. 


We did not have a hard time finding the immigration but their comfort rooms are so disgusting. eeek!. Anyway, the first thing we looked for was the Star Shuttle Bus that will send us straight to the hotel. You don't need to book ticket online, there are lots of ticket booth in the arriving area. Taking the bus is way much cheaper and safer that riding a cab. The ticket bus only cost RM 10! KLCC - Bukit Bintang! HAHA. 



I was also the one who booked our hotel, I ended up booking at Sky Express Hotel Bukit Bintang. Yes, they have discount when you book early on their website and you just pay them when you arrived but you still have to put your credit card info just in case you did not show up. I booked 2 superior twin rooms because the family room was not available. Anyway, their rooms are spacious that 4 people can share in a room. The wifi connection is strong. Their service is slow and their housekeeping is not 24 hours!

The location is great and very accessible to all. There is a 711 nearby. The hotel is near Jalan Alor (food district of Malaysia), only 5 minute walk to the Pudu Sentral(mini version of KL Sentral) and Plaza Rakyat (Yellow "Star" Train Station), 5 minute cab ride to Bukit Bintang (Shopping District), 10 minute walk to Central Market! Fair enough for a 3 star hotel.


Superior Twin Room

 

 We arrived at the hotel around 2:00 in the morning, we were all exhausted but excited as well. Anyway, upon checking in, we had problems because we were asking if they can adjust our time of check out pero hindi sila pumayag ang damot nila. HAHA. Hotel policy daw kasi. hmmp. We were opted to pay for the additional half day! Duh! Good thing, Ms. Marianne have a card. Swipe lang ng swipe. Joke. We paid RM 210 or PHP 2835  each for the 2 days and a half stay in the hotel. 

Since nakakagutom makipag-bargain sa receptionist, we went to Jalan Alor just to check what they have. O yes, it is a strip of restaurants where people can drink and eat on the streets! Aha! The place is still crowded even though it was 2 in the morning and it is a weekday! We stumbled in a Thai Restaurant and it satisfied my craving for PAD THAI!!! Yum yum yum! HAHA. 

Day 1. 
Walkathon going to Pudu Sentral
Pudu Sentral




At Plaza Rakyat

Early in the morning, Ms. Claire and I had a walk going to the Pudu Sentral, it a big station of different buses and a train station, just to check where to buy tickets going to Genting Highlands and how much is the train ride going to Batu Cave. (Bakit walang ganito sa Pinas) haha. 


1 RM train ride going to Batu Cave


We hired the whole train. HAHA




I was fascinated with their train! Hindi siya siksikan katulad ng MRT! HAHA. Ang galing, walang pila, makakaupo ka and may cushion! 
See! We even played inside the train! HAHA
 


Going to Batu Cave is easy. From Pudu Sentral or Plaza Rakyat Station you have to alight on the train going to Bandaraya (RM2). From Bandaraya just walk to the Bank Negara Station(it is just across the station of Bandaraya) and ride the train going to Batu Cave (RM1). This is the easiest and cheapest way to go to Batu Cave.





Mini forest besides Batu Cave



The Batu Cave



After roaming around Batu Cave. We went to KL Sentral, one train ride from Batu Cave costs RM 3 only. Ang bilis lang. When we got to the KL Sentral, this is the main terminal in Kuala Lumpur and almost all of bus terminal stops here, we had brunch at KFC. Also, there is a ticketing booth of the Go Genting Bus Express , where you can buy Bus + Cable Car ticket to Genting Highlands (Resorts World) for only RM 10.30 one way! 

Ahhh! this is the bus going to Genting Highlands!


Instruction going to Skyway(Cable Car Ride)



My longest Cable Car Ride ever!
Scared of heights?? 
Genting Highland is one of the highlights in this trip! Swear! Cable Car palang pasok na sa banga. HAHA. I suggest that you allot a whole day trip for Genting Highland because the rides and some amusement closes at 6 in the evening especially the Outdoor Theme Park. What we did was we only spent a half day in Genting Highland and I tell you sobrang bitin, because we got there around 3 in the afternoon! HAHA.Though if you have budget you can stay to their First World Hotel.


Our first destination was in the Snow World. The entrance to snow world costs RM 30, which was a bit pricy but the experience was awesome! 

Brr. Sobrang lamig lang talaga. HAHA. Cameras are not allowed inside and the pictorial fee costs RM 50! IMAGINE THAT?! Gosh! Anyway, buti nalang Pinoy yung photographer, we just gave him our memory card tapos libre na! Yey! hahaha. Syempre. Super Pictorial. HAHA.








 We did not purchase their ALL PARK RIDES (RM70), since some of the attractions were already close. Ms. Claire and I just tried the Flying Coaster for RM 9! Weee! Best roller coaster ride ever! This is not an ordinary RC ride! 

As a group we tried the Rio Float for RM9, which Gav really enjoyed. HAHA. O, they have a special discount for children! 









 Here are some pictures inside Genting Highlands! :)


Minituare of Big Ben


Eiffel Tower yan, mejo blurred lang. HAHA.


Statue of Liberty inside Genting!
Ripleys Believe it or not!


We arrived at the hotel around 11 in the evening and we did not have much time and energy to go shopping at the Jalan Petaling(Chinatown).

Day 2. 

We all woke up late. HAHA. Napagod! Our 2nd day started with a breakfast at KFC. O yes, my companions are not that brave to try Malaysian food. HAHA. Anyway, we just walked from our Hotel going to Central Market. It was just a 10 minute walk! 






The Chinatown!

Central Market!





After buying souvernirs at Central. O, some vendors inside the Central Market are Filipinos! Ask some discount and they will surely give it to you! Amazing! Anyway, we had to go back at the hotel to check - out one of the rooms. After that, we went to Masjid Jamek but it was closed. Boo! So, instead we just walked our way to the Kuala Lumpur City Gallery, this is where you will find the I ♥ KL sign plus the 360 Degrees miniature of Kuala Lumpur and these are all for free!!! FREE!!!


Outside Masjid Jamek


On our way to Kuala Lumpur City Gallery

Textile Museum


Nagiinarte!

The mandated photo!
Inside KL City Gallery


360 Degrees Miniature of Kuala Lumpur




GO KL City Bus


 We tried the GO KL City Bus going to Menara KL Tower, again, it's FREE! HAHA. Since, we don't have much time. We just ate at a pizza restaurant near Menara KL Tower and proceeded to Pavillon at Bukit Bintang! 

Menara KL Tower





Around 6 in the evening we went to the Petronas Twin Tower to see her beauty! The sun sets around 7:30 in the evening, so we went for a little shopping at KL Convention Centre Mall. HAHA. 





goofing around petronas. HAHA

Our ticket to the KLIA transit





 So that was my experience in Kuala Lumpur! Sobrang ikli lang ng time namin dun pero sulit na din. I am very proud of this trip mainly because I gave all my efforts here. HAHA. Yes, and I only brought my BACKPACK! Masaya pala, because I do not have to worry about claiming baggage! So ano, TARA GUMALA?



CIAO.
---
GABRIELA



8 comments:

  1. Great adventure you have there. Congrats.. You showed that traveling, specially to other countries need not be expensive with careful planning and lakas ng loob ng Pinoy.

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    1. aww. thank you Herald. Yea. Lakasan lang ng loob yan and dapat tipid tipid. haha.

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  2. Hi Gab, when you only have 48 hours (less sleeping, eating, etc. time) to see a destination, I think the best way to enjoy it would be to choose only a handful places you really, really want to visit and then plan around it. In any case, looked like you enjoyed yourselves in KL. Traveling is infinitely rewarding, so keep at it! :D

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    1. Yep. You really have to maximize your time when you are out of the country. The experience you get from traveling is priceless! :) Thank you Rey.

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  3. So nice to see how much you enjoyed and how cheap the whole trip was! Congrats! It's like an inviting guide to do the same :-))) ty

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    1. Yea. you should also visit KL! :) Let me know if you are going. I could help you in the itinerary.

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    2. Yea. you should also visit KL! :) Let me know if you are going. I could help you in the itinerary.

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  4. Very nice photos and great trip to Malaysia! Hope I can visit to Kuala Lumpur in someday. For everyone who need to know about price of KLIA airport transportation, Please contact with GoAsiaDayTrip - the most trusted airport transfer and day tour company in Southeast Asia.

    ReplyDelete