The Malaysian Adventure

March 1

Everyone of us took our usual breakfast. It's the day of our Malaysian Adventure. We are set to leave at 9AM in the morning to have an ample time to catch for our 2:30 flight to Malaysia. Everything was packed, we were already booked last November and all of us were prepared for the trip. The hotel accommodation was already booked as well. It was the first time our family will go together, first time to have our very much anticipated international trip.

Before, i am hiring a driver for us but now, i intentionally wanted to drive on my own. I intended not to get one since our arrival will be in the midnight of March 5 and i don't want my driver to wait in that unholy hour so i decided to drive instead. Beside, driving to NAIA is very easy as the net says. Unfortunately, the rotanda seems so confusing that i found my self swerving to NAIA 3's entrance. Good thing that theres no traffic enforcer in the area and just commuters who are blowing their horns because of my swerving. We headed to the night parking area of the airport. It was jampacked and no slot for us to park. Persistence and determination won because as we approached the farthest area of the parking, a car vacanted a slot and we were able to get one. According to blogs, parking at night is very safe in NAIA.Yes, its so safe that i found myself parking near a car with yellow tape and a broken windshield!!! So i just took a breath and say a prayer for the Lord to take care of our car. It is much cheaper to park here than in Park n Fly aside from some allegations regarding the driving of someone elses vehicle upon parking in Park n Fly.

It was an easy process checking in not to mention the very expensive Terminal Fee and Travel Tax which is very authentic here in the Philippines. I never worried about the Immigration because ive been travelling a lot and my profession made them believe that i wont stay that long in another country. We arrived early in the airport because we intend to have our lunch there. NAIA 3 is so nice. Unfortunately, the seats are not that comfty enough but the air conditioning and the free wifi can lessen the boredom of someone waiting for their flight.

We were seated beside each other after boarding. Thats the advantage of paying for the seat as you get your preferred seats. Our plane ride was very smooth and i was killing the time by talking to a malaysian seated next to me.

Touch down...Malaysia

We arrived in Malaysia at almost 7PM. Good thing that it was still bright and sunny. Our first challenge is to look for a taxi to drive us to the Hotel. With the language barrier, we managed to hire a smaller van for 200 RM. It was so expensive because 1 RM is 13 Php. But we cant do about it because we are six pax, so its impossible to hire a taxi because of the passenger limit. Hiring two taxis will cost us the same. So we opt to stay together as we really dont know where our Hotel is.

To Leboh Ampang Chinatown and Hotel 1915

It took us almost an hour to reached our Hotel in Leboh Ampang Chinatown. Good thing that the driver knew a little english so its easier for us to talk to him regarding the address of Hotel 1915 where we were booked for 4 nights. It's getting dark already so we happened to pass by Petronas Tower and see its magical glory at night. What a sight! We checked in at around 8PM.

The hotel is a small one with nice interior, the rooms are a little bit smaller compared to the hotels in Manila but clean and cold. I know that place is meant for me because there are lots of antiques and old materials incorporated on the design of the hotel.

Its been several hours since our last meal so our first itinerary is to look for something to eat. We have no choice but to look for a fast food chain as its getting late already. Good thing Mc Donalds was just walking distance from our hotel and still serving at 9PM. We took our late dinner and headed again to the Hotel for our first night and first sleep in Kula Lumpur Malaysia. It was an exhausting day but were looking forward for the adventure the next day.

March 2

We woke up early and prepared for our first day trip. First things first, we wanted to visit the Petronas Tower and walked on the park where John Loyd and Bea Alonzo walked in their movie. That was my dream and my request, so we headed for the train station. Since its our first time in Malaysia, looking for the right platform is also a challenge. But we managed to get to our destination because of the signage along the MRT tunnel. Its not very difficult for someone who knows how to follow direction and who can read english as well.

Petronas tower is really magnificent. I never thought that it is made up of steel and not concrete. It is very high and very beautiful. We stayed there, walked around, took pictures and reminisce the John Loyd and Bea movie. We even sit on the bench where they also sit. We looked at the Tower that seems like holding their hands and promising not to leave each other. We keep on smiling as we remember that movie. It was more of fun and excitement. A lot of joggers, photographers and health buffs are on the park since its early in the morning and they are doing their every morning routines.

Of course, we cannot resist on taking our pictures with the Petronas Tower as the background. Almost all our pictures are in front of the Tower. Thats the most famous landmark in Malaysia and being there will never be complete without the sight to behold.

Reminiscing the "Miss You Like Crazy" movie, me and Ken took our sit on one of the benches in the park looking at the majestic Tower. I cannot believe that i was there already. I was only looking at it on post cards and now its already up close and personal. I cannot describe how beautiful it was.

We took our late breakfast in one of the small restaurants below the Tower and ate an authentic Malaysian breakfast. It was with rice, peanut, egg, friend dilis, cucumber and spicy sauce. They even gave us coffee for free. Its nice to experience Malaysian food but unfortunately, my companions are not enjoying their first meal.

We stroll around the Mall after breakfast and prepared for Batu Cave adventure in the afternoon. We had a Thai Lunch still below the Tower. I enjoyed my Fish and Black Pepper while my companions are not enjoying theirs. I can sense that they wont be enjoying the food here at all. I hope we can discover Pinoy restaurants as this place is also dominated by working pinoys.

at BATU CAVE

I was so excited to see Batu Cave, especially their very big buddha statue. A lot of pilgrims went to Batu Cave to  pay respect, to cleanse out and make wishes. It was situated on the side of the mountain, a nice variation to the structures on the city. Once youre on the site, youll see the temples, the man made lake where the koi's are roaming around and the stairs leading up to the cave.

The view of the top was very beautiful. A lot of people especially indians are lining up to climb the stairs and wanting to reach the top. I am so curious on whats on it after the climb. But no one can ever ignore the very big buddha statue guarding the sacred place. Its grandeur and the color is picture perfect.

The stairs leading to the cave is very beautiful and in fact very easy to climb. You will be intimidated at first but you ll be surprised to find yourself in the top most part without any struggles aside from the monkeys who usually snatches your drinks especially the sodas but not the mineral waters. I guess they had learned their lessons that its more delicious grabbing the colored one.

The majestic area where the Buddhist considered as a sacred place is so amusing. Its as if you can have a big basketball court at the top of the cave. It was so calming and beautiful. Youll be surprised on how nature carved this wonder through time.

Another stairs leads up to the topmost part where a small shrine was located. This is where Hindus put markings on their forehead. I really dont know if the floorings are man made already but all i can say is that mother nature is really taking into action. Its as if we are on the crater of the volcano.

Once on top you'll get a nice view of KL City. The Petronas Tower and the Kuala Lumpur Tower are two dominating structures on their skyline.

Back to the city for Chinatown...

We went to Chinatown in the afternoon to buy all sort of stuff, from shirts, bags, watches, everything. Buying there requires talent and charisma. You got to have the talent in pricing and the charisma to let you bought the item in your intended price. I can say I'm good at it.

We managed to buy some stuff and just the experience of it is so wonderful. I wanted to have our dinner at chinatown but then again my sister find the food unappetizing so we just had our dinner at Kenny Rogers at Kota Raya mall beside chinatown. Adventuruous that i was, im a little bit disappointed since im no fan of eating in Fast Foods.

March 3

After searching for a place to eat because my companion are really craving for authentic filipino cousine, we happened to find one near our Hotel beside the St Johns Cathedral. Thank God, they enjoyed their meal for the first time. Unfortunately, pinoy food are so expensive in Malaysia as we are paying almost double the price. Sunday is a day to visit the church so we pay respect and thanked God for the safe trip to Malaysia. A lot of pinoys are selling different pinoy food on the road. We never got a chance to buy one since we still have places to go.

To Berjaya Times Square

Going to Berjaya Times Square is so hard because we have to transfer from a train to another and finding which way to go is so confusing. But we managed to ask and someone gave us the right direction so we reached Times Square without much hassle. The mall is so big that i keep on looking up all the way to 15th floor. We discovered that it also has this two level theme park where you can enjoy their thrill rides. We shop, shop and shop until we dropped, literally.

We had our lunch at an authentic chinese restaurant hoping that my companion can eat dim sums which we already have here in the Phils. Unfortunately, they are again not too adventurous so i happen to eat almost all of the stuff.

Meanwhile, I am very happy because i got to buy a pants and a sandals for 15 RM each. Best buy!!! They are wondering why i can spot super cheap items.

After the shopping, we went again to Chinatown to buy another stuff for our love ones. Our bags are slowly being packed by souvenirs and gift tems and i am slowly getting worried of having excess baggage on our flight back. But looking at those items makes me smile as i think we got a nice price for all of it. Those were really our best buys. I know my relatives and friends will be very delightful on those.

After shopping, we headed again to the Pinoy restaurant for our dinner. Again, my companion seem to be very happy as they can obey their craving for a real pinoy food.

March 4...To Genting Highlands

We woke very early in the morning to prepare for our trip to genting Highlands. I am so excited because my colleague said that Malaysian Trip will never be complete without Genting Highlands. According to the net, it will take us one and a half hours by bus to go to Genting. So we headed to the Bus Station, again after a series of asking and fortunately, found one taxi who can bring us all to Genting Highlands for 20RM each. It was a fair fare because its 13 RM by bus and the bus leaves at 9AM. I had a very nice conversation with the driver as he is very fluent in english and can understand us very well. We had enough time to enjoy, as we took the taxi for an earlier arrival to Genting. We went to the cable car station, bought our ticket and ride in the cable car to Genting. It was a little bit scary for my companion but not for me because i experienced one already in Ocean park HK. Honestly the wind blews our cable that makes the ride fun, exciting and scary too. Good thing, there are trees below that adds to my confidence that this is safer than in HongKong.

It was so cold in Genting Highland, the thing that i cannot ever forget about it. We thought that the cold weather is bearable but it was not. We cannot go out of the building because its colder outside. Coldest as i can describe. That's the lesson that we learned in Genting, bring jackets as to enjoy the outside of the Park. Its too funny because everytime that our rides will go out of the building, it brings shivers to us because we would be enduring the coldness of the outside and the thrill of the ride. we really enjoyed Genting so much and hoping to return someday with our jackets on.

In the afternoon, we were again in Chinatown for the last minute shopping. By dinner, its unfortunate that the Pinoy Restaurant was closed so we went to Kota Raya because there is this small restaurant serving pinoy food according to the hotel receptionist. Again, my sister find the food unappetizing despite so she ate a little while me and my brother in law enjoyed the food!

March 5...

The last day of our Malaysian Tour. It is a rest day for us after several days of enjoying our stay here in Kuala Lumpur. We took our breakfast at Mc Donalds and sumptuous lunch at the Pinoy Restaurant.

We hired a van to KLIA for 150RM, cheaper compared to when we arrived. KLIA is such a beautiful airport. Unfortunately, it was a misunderstanding that we are not supposed to go to KLIA but to Kuala Lumpur Low Cost Carrier terminal for Cebu Pacific.

So every traveller to Malaysia should check on where their departure airport is. We decided to be in the airport so early so that we can still have time to shop (again) or be ready for untoward circumstances. Better be prepared for it.

Touch down to Philippines...

We arrived in the Philippines at 10:30 PM. It was a good travel. We reached the house almost 12:30AM already. Exhausted but excited as well to be back for work after the vacation. Looking forward for another adventure again next year.