Malaysia

Malaysia is situated in Southeast Asia, it’s capital city is Kuala Lumpur or KL as it’s commonly known. With a population of over 1.5 million it’s not surprising that it takes a while to get from one side of town to another.

The cultural, financial and economic centre of Malaysia, KL is the official residence of the Malaysian King Yang di-Pertuan Agong.

You’d be forgiving for thinking that Kuala Lumpur international airport was located in KL; in fact, it’s located 28 miles south of KL’s city in a place called Sepang in the district of Selangor.

The Journey

Whilst we were on an emirates holiday they do not offer, what they class as, internal flights to Malaysia from Singapore. As a result, we sourced our own flight with Malindo airlines. Now, if mum wore wigs, she would have lost it when I told her this would be the case. But it wouldn’t have been worth flying back to Dubai (4hrs) to flight to Malaysia (another 4hrs), especially when the Malindo flight went direct from Singapore to Malaysia in one hour and only cost around £50.

Being her naturally risk obverse –self, she researched all available options and settled on this airline. It was a very simple check in and included 30kg worth of baggage allowance, perfect as we were travelling with Emirates who also allows 30kg as standard.

The plane was simple, the equivalent to a Whizzair flight if you’ve ever done that. It’s just below Easyjet for comfort, but gets the job done. We were given a drink and small a cake within the hour-long flight. We were in Malaysia in no time at all.
Now when they say you arrive at Kuala Lumpar Airport, what they don’t explain is that they are point blank lying to your face. Whilst it has this name, the airport is nowhere near Kuala Lumpar and roughly an hours journey to our hotel (in Kuala Lumpar).

The transfer driver was very nice and conversation flowed as he gave recommendations of what to do and where to visit within our stay.#

The hotel experience

This 5* hotel was beautiful to walk into. Decorated in black, silver and glass with marble floors it was chic and I was ready for my stay. The room was a good size with everything you could need. The bathroom was very modern, and the wall made of glass so needed a curtain for privacy. It was strange, but quite a cool niche addition to set it apart from other hotels. The bathroom had a shower and a free-standing bath along with a TV in the wall and Jack and Jill sinks. It was a nice lift to a simple room.

For my birthday, mum treated me to a full body massage at the hotels spa. From beginning to end this was quite an experience. Mum had never had a full body massage before, so it was funny to see how ticklish she is.

Starting with complimentary cocktails we were then lead into the changing rooms. We changed into our robes and were guided up the stairs to a private area to start our foot soaks and head, neck and shoulder massages.

Following this we were lead into the massage room where we choose our individual massage oils and began the hour-long relaxation experience. I fell asleep whilst mum continued to giggle away as her feet became the area of attention. They really know how to get out them knots.

The whole experience was just under 2 hours including cocktail time and it was magnificent.

As we exited the spa, we found the infinity pool that shimmered in the moonlight. It was the perfect end to my birthday.

Food

We only stayed in this hotel on a Bed and breakfast board basis and this was probably the first holiday we had ever tried this. The breakfast was nice, but simple. A massive step down from the spread put on by the Shangri-la in SIngapore that we had experienced from just the day before. As usual, I stuck to my favourites of smoked salmon and an omelette, so I was happy.

We tried to experience the street-food by visiting Jalan Alor on our first night. I was very excited jumping in our cheap taxi and being dropped off then realised there was no way my mother would eat here 👀 I can’t even give you a comparison, but if you have a delicate stomach you would want to skip this experience. I was gutted, as I really wanted to try something, but it just wasn’t meant to be.

We went on to find a lovely little restaurant where I had a veggie pie and chips, very unexpected for a meal in Malaysia, but very tasty.

We had food in the mall – we visited 2 and I cannot remember which one, again not authentic Malay food, but it was nice.

My favourite place to eat was where I spent my birthday meal. We visited the Atmosphere 360 revolving restaurant and it truly does revolve 360degrees. Located in the KL tower, the worlds 6th tallest tower and situated 282m above ground level the views were mind-blowing. Decorated in a spaceship style with starry ceiling lights it was a one-off a kind experience.

The meal was a buffet style which continued to disorientate you as the kitchen area rotated in a different direction to the sitting area and again to the windows. It was funny trying to find your table each time you tried to get food.

There was live music with a singer and pianist and a lovely surprise was being given a cake and being sang happy birthday too. She even called out my name!😊

The restaurant gave us free entry to the viewing deck of the KL tower, which ironically was the floor below and not what I was expecting. This is the problem when you’ve already gone for the stars (or starry ceiling on this occasion), other things fall short of the expectation.

Our recommendation – go to the restaurant and enjoy a meal whilst taking in the sights.
The Olive Tree – Authentic northern Indian multi-cuisine. This was the lunch that was thrown in due to the tour providers error. Curry, rice and naan breads coming out of our eyes. If you know the Whitgift centre in Croydon, you know the dark area at the back that no-one goes too, just tucked away. Well this restaurant was in an area like this.

So unexpected, but the flavours blew our minds and the buffet setup meant it was unlimited. It was clearly a place that mainly locals knew about and we felt like typical Westerners being the only one eating with a Knife and Fork, but everyone was so welcoming and friendly and the staff were fascinated with us being black and British.

Places of interest/activities

Malls: We visited 2 malls in Malaysia and both were pretty uneventful.

Private full day city: KL tower, Putrajaya and Batu Caves.

Self organised tour: We organised this tour via GetYourGuide a tour company advertised by emirates.

Our self tour started off pretty rocky with the tour provider forgetting the start time of our booking. As compensation for the late start they threw in a free lunch.

As it was a private tour it didn’t really matter what time it started as we would still get the same trip duration.

This tour included a visit to the museum to learn about the history of the country, Petronas Twin towers, the King’s Palace and independence square, the golden triangle and the old Railway Station. It also allowed us to walk up the 272 steps at the Batu cave and view the 140foot tall lord Murugan.

Now beware of the cheeky monkeys on this part of the journey, they understand the term grab and go in way that is just vicious. Don’t hold anything and definitely do not eat any food around them – it will be gone in 60secs or they will attack you until you give in.

This part of the trip is not for those who are afraid of heights, I mean those who are truly afraid of heights, not just like my mum who are afraid of everything. I get my comedy from just being with her. The sun was so hot and there’s no shelter, but I could have sworn some of that moisture on her face was tears.

There was so much to see and we were exhausted so we didn’t really want to do the last part of the tour, the visit to Putrajaya, but boy were we glad that our tour guide forced us. Kuala lumpar is a very dusty and old ruins style place, but as soon as you crossed into Putrajaya it felt like I was Dorothy on the yellow brick road. You could smell wealth, professionalism and order, there was not a piece of litter in sight.

Putrajaya, we will be back and we’ll stay in one of your hotels for some peace and tranquillity.