Kuala Lumpur Archives - Escapes From The Little Red Dot

Kuala Lumpur 2017 Day 5 – Home Sweet Home

Posted on July 22, 2017February 4, 2018 by ziyi

The last day in KL started late at 930am, where everyone slept well into the morning. I must admit the huge comfortable bed was difficult to get out of.

K managed to squeeze 2 episodes of his favorite cartoon while his parents prepared for check out, having failed the attempt for a late check out. We left the room at 11 and checked out which was done quickly but had to wait for a while for the bellboy to take our luggage for storage. We went to visit the Westin Kids Club and K and I checked in the small area that had a mini playground, some toys and books, a PS3 and mega bloks, while mommy went on for her last minute shopping. It was a little expensive, costing RM30 for the first hour and subsequent ones at RM20 but it’s fine as K amused himself going around the play stuff in this room that was occupied by only us and another staff manning the place (another much older kid joined later as his mom left him there to play PS3). She made a balloon machine gun for K who coyly took it from her but didn’t play with it much afterwards.

Mommy came back at around 1225pm, some 5mins after I paid for the subsequent hours, having checked with the free public wifi that there weren’t any other playgrounds closed by and no other options if mommy hadn’t return. The staff was kind enough to return the RM20 and we were on our way to Pavilion for lunch.

We visited a Thai restaurant Celadon that was artistically designed place and served delicious pineapple rice and iced Thai green tea. Mommy wasn’t impressed with her Phad Thai and lemongrass but I thought it was alright and it came in a huge portion. K was moving about in the huge high back cushion seat having fun and being troublesome to manage while having his meals. The costs was around RM90+, expensive for meals in KL but expected for restaurants like this.

We dropped by the Padini concept store to buy some clothes for myself, having known that this local brand was really having low prices. Ended up spending RM120+ for 2 polo tees, one pair of berms and 5socks, a great deal. We returned to the hotel to pick up our luggage, changed K’s diapers and got a Grab, using the free public Wifi. It was a fixed rate of RM65 with RM5 off using promo code excluding tolls.

The silver vehicle that picked us up didn’t have enough boot space and the luggage had to go on the front seat which the driver complained about the wheels that were going to puncture his seat cushion. The rest of the journey was pretty much smooth with K falling asleep and myself dozing off. The driver also started chatting to avoid dozing off himself.

We arrived at 3ish and proceeded to check in at the SilkAir counter all the way at the end. It felt a little long for our counter as people were just moving on beside us. After luggage drop, we went through immigrations and took the train to the satellite gate, the train we were initially waiting had some technical fault and couldn’t alight the passengers and we had to take another one.

The last hour was spent buying goodies from the stores (local goodies were much more expensive) and having a cheese cake and some drinks at Old Malaya kopitiam before rushing to the gate for boarding.

Fountain within the airport satellite gate

The flight back was supposed to be a quick 45mins, with a rushed drinks service but because there was a backlog of planes trying to land, we hovered in the air for 15mins and queued on the ground for another 10mins before arriving at the gate 30mins late. Mommy then sent us to the wrong belt which we made us think that our luggage was lost and we didn’t buy insurance but thankfully we rechecked and it was found at another belt.

This trip was meant to celebrate mommy’s birthday and catered mostly for her shopping interest and therefore my babysitting K for most of the trip. The rooms that we stayed were mostly comfortable and other than dealing with K’s fussiness, the main objectives of keeping both of them happy were met.

Kuala Lumpur 2017 Day 4 – Sungei Wang, Berjaya Times Square and Indoor Theme Park

Posted on July 21, 2017February 4, 2018 by ziyi

After a nice nights rest on the super comfy bed, we woke up to Blaze on TV for K, had some bread that we bought from a bakery (no complimentary breakfast) and a pot of roast coffee that which wasn’t fantastic. After mommy was done with the lunch preparations, we left for the mall, first visiting the Sungei Wang mall and then Berjaya Times Square.

Westin separate entrance for executive apartments.

Sungei Wang mall was a mere 10mins walk away and by the time we arrived, not many shops were opened. Mommy did her shopping while I had the job of keeping K entertained with whatever I could think of, like stepping on certain colored tiles or playing with the interactive shop directory. Obviously, after a while, that didn’t cut it as entertaining and he asked to be brought to a playground.

One of the early bird stores that was opened

With that, I brought K to Berjaya Times Square first as there was a huge Indoor theme and park, and left mommy to her shopping. Walking out of Sungei Walk was difficult as there were many levels and I took a long time to find the route to the main entrance. Then it was a short walk but uncomfortable one in the hot and humid weather.

Once there, I tried to withdraw some money from the ATM as I was low on cash. But the machine was unable to dispense cash for my account when I choose both savings or Visa options (for the OCBC 365 account) and I gave up. Went to the 5th level and paid RM51 for the adult tickets using credit card whereas K entered for free, being under 3 years old. (was told re-entry was possible!). Then we proceeded to the 7th floor where the entire floor was catered for younger kids.

Sign showing the Berjaya Times Square indoor theme park

Entrance of the Berjaya Times Square Theme Park

The rides include a safari car and train that that goes around, a ferries wheel in the shape of a bus and a carousel that he wasn’t interested in. There was one mini pirate ship that he wanted to take but didn’t meet the height requirements and I couldn’t take it with him as it was purely for kids under the height of 140cm. After just a ride each, he asked to be brought to a playground. Thankfully, there was one there and he spent the big deal of time running around, with so many kids there. There was a kids theatre playing a cartoon show but empty and cold and K was too scared to go into. We were there till mommy called us to meet up for lunch.

Playground huge enough for the kids to run around

K was getting fussy likely due to exhaustion as he insisted to press the lift buttons and making a big fuss. We met with mommy and went to the basement level and sat in a Nyonya color cafe to eat curry noodles and Assam laksa while K had his pasta. Then as we walked back to the hotel, K fell asleep.

The rest of the afternoon was spent snoozing (not before fussing in bed for an hour because he woke up from his nap on my shoulder as I tried to lay him down) in bed for me and K while mommy prepared dinner before going to Pavilion mall for her shopping.

By the time K woke, it was almost 7pm and mommy also just returned. We left the room for dinner at a certain TG’s Nasi Kandar restaurant which was also high on TripAdvisor. It was quite a distance to walk and by the time we arrived at the crowded non-aircon eatery, we already broke into a sweat. The staff found us a table which was just outside a hostel entrance and we placed our orders of double Maggi goreng, mee goreng and one prata with egg and drinks of ice teh Tarik and carrot juice. The food was nice but not exceptional.

We finished our meals at almost 930pm but the night was still young for Kuala Lumpur, obvious for the crowded street that we had to walked through, one that had massage parlours lining the street with their staff loitering on the pavement trying to get customers in for massage. With K seated on my shoulder (his main mode of transport for the trip), I was asked if I want a massage which I thought was a worthless attempt.

We got back to the hotel after the passing through the streets brightly lit with huge commercial screens and lights and a short visit to a shop store Shoopen selling shoes ( I was doubtful of shoes not known for their comfort and later causing pain) but didn’t get any. Then night routine of Blaze and clean up and sleep.

Bright lights of Lot 10 at Bukit Bintang

Kuala Lumpur 2017 Day 3 – Sunway Pyramid and transfer to Kuala Lumpur downtown

Posted on July 20, 2017February 4, 2018 by ziyi

Last day at Sunway lagoon and with nothing planned for the day, we all woke up late but ended up at the buffet breakfast slightly earlier than it was yesterday, after we were done with the K’s lunch preparations. Similar to what we did the day before, we ate to our fills in a bid to save on lunch, at the same time trying out the other cuisines that we didn’t have morning before. Other than fruits that were slightly different, the rest was the same, even the same long queue for the omelette that I didn’t bother queuing for.

The rest of the morning was spent in front of the TV as K got familiar with the locally produced Boboiboy on Nickelodean channel while his parents packed the luggage for the move to KL in the afternoon. The check out time was 12 noon and we took to the last minutes to pack the lunch.

As we left, we were lucky to have the bellboy just at the corridor and he helped to bring the luggage to the left luggage while we went to the lobby. While at the left luggage, the staff handed over the luggage tag even before our luggage arrived, efficient!

Shopping at Sunway Pyramid mall was the activity till lunch time, at least for mommy while I brought K around to see the ice rink, the arcade where he took a kiddy ride and played a water game and then back to the T&T Kidz park the day earlier. After spending some time at the playground where K was found annoying an older girl and frustrating her, we went over to the T&T Kidz park and took the drift cars of lightning McQueen, which I initially thought was too fast for K but it was ok after a single round of drift and K was not afraid (we sat together). But it costed RM15 for both of us. Then we paid RM6.50 to catch a fish where we won a small hand fan and followed by a last ride of the buggy car.

Machine shows 30, which is a small prize

Mommy met us there and we went up to the top level where there was a Snowflake dessert store and we ate desserts while K had his lunch of porridge. After that, we returned to the hotel to pick up the luggage and call a Grabcar to Westin KL. It costed about RM23 plus about RM6.5 of toll and he made a detour to pump gas but it was alright as K fell asleep.

We got ourselves a 1bedroom apartment in Westin and there was a separate lift for us to get the 12 floor. The nice thing about this was that the entire apartment had the feel of a hotel but came with a kitchenette. Another plus was that there many bottles of complimentary mineral water supplied for our stay (no complimentary minibar supply though). However, we had an issue with the stove not warming up and a lack of detergent which was fixed quickly with a call away. The view was not good though.

After lazing for a while, we got K to continue his afternoon nap and only woke up at 630pm. Took a bath in the tub and then we first left for Pavilion Mercato supermarket to get some sweet corn that mommy forgot to buy before walking to Jalan Perak BBQ nights for dinner, some 15mins walk away.

Brightly lighted facade of Pavilion Mall

The restaurant was crowded and I didn’t knew what was the big deal about this well regarded TripAdvisor restaurant until I tried the softest and tastiest BBQ fish and chicken in my life! Even as I was feeling a little sore in my throat, the food there was the smoothest, even though they were BBQ! Thoroughly amazed by the quality. The waiting and the costs were expected, almost 20mins of waiting, and about RM95 for 2 juices and 2 BBQ meals but it was all worth it. Even K loved the naan which he chomped down.

We walked the 15mins back to Pavilion and found the almost extinct DVD shop called Speedy Video at the basement. It was a huge store and there we found Blaze and the Monster Machines dvds for just RM19.9, the cheapest available in the market! There were a massive selection of kids cartoons including Dora and Paw patrol and even the Boboiboy which K said he wanted. The Blurays were expensive though. We only left as the store almost lowered the shutters.

Returning back to the room, K immediately watched 3 episodes of Blaze in the bedroom (DVD players available) while the parents washed up and prepared for bed.

Kuala Lumpur 2017 Day 2 – Sunway Lagoon theme park and the Parenthood

Posted on July 19, 2017February 4, 2018 by ziyi

The morning started late, and by the time we were ready to leave for the daily breakfast it was already 10am, 30 mins before buffet closing time.

The Resort Cafe was a huge area beautifully designed with quite a variety of food to choose from. Other than the usual western and local cuisines, there was also middle eastern choices, something I am unfamiliar with.

After a huge brunch, we went back to the room to pick up K’s lunch that mommy cooked before we went for breakfast, and we were off to visit the Sunway lagoon theme park.

The tickets were prebooked back at home online at KKday, a webby that if booked through Krisflyerspree would earn additional Krisflyer miles and at the same time, it offered the cheapest tickets for the Sunway lagoon tickets that I could find. The bad thing was we had to wait some 10mins at the ticket counter as the staff had a hard time trying to find the booking as they claimed it was not in their system. I couldn’t get online to try and recover the “emergency contact” they emailed for us to call if we had issues but ultimately, after embarrassingly hogging the line for so long, they gave us out tags and we were on the way in.

Entrance of the park with multiple signs

We headed past the water park to go through the wildlife theme park where we saw displays of pythons, birds, white lion, black panther and white tiger. K wasn’t very fascinated and then we proceeded to the amusement park, where there was a playground, a carousel, a ferries wheel, some kiddy rides suitable for 1.2m and below and a fun fair where we spent 28RM playing darts, nerf gun and scoping ducks that won us a miserable small prize of a green pokeball that K had fun throwing around.

After having lunch at the same location where it was so hot, we got ourselves some icecream and coke freeze before we headed back to the hotel, thinking that K was getting tired. We had to miss crossing a super long suspension bridge and the other 4parks that were dominated by water related activities including the Nickelodean theme park and an extreme park not suitable for K. Although we had prepared for water activities, K was looking tired and it was a little too sunny. Furthermore, re-entry was not allowed which sucked.

Back at the room, K took some time to fall asleep and I took some time to explore the surroundings and the mall where mommy stayed in the room to catch up on her comics. There was a The Parenthood section that had a huge London theme indoor playground for under RM43 and a huge area that had stores selling kids stuff and preschools. I returned after a short walk through the mall which was really big, enough for a full day of shopping if you a shopaholic.

Hari Raya deco just outside the Resort entrance

Impressive entrance of the Sunway Pyramid mall

Multiple stores in a castle designed street.

K woke up at about 530pm and after we lazing around for a bit, we finally got out of the room to visit The Parenthood indoor playground while mommy stayed behind to cook. The same rules applied, the requirements of socks and so on. We spent a good amount of time there till mommy arrived at 830pm and I thought I broke a sweat too, following my little boy here and there.

We ended up at Papa Rich for dinner and spent about RM52.50 for noodles and chicken rice and 2 drinks. Walked the mall a bit before returning back to the room for bath and TV. Went to bed at 1130pm with some resistance from K who wanted a few “last” books before lights off.

Instant noodle with luncheon meat and egg

Kuala Lumpur 2017 Day 1 – Arrival in Kuala Lumpur and Sunway Pyramid Mall

Posted on July 18, 2017February 4, 2018 by ziyi

The alarm clock sounded at the same time that I was used to for work and I got out of bed to do the final packing before our short getaway trip to KL begin.

K was sleeping until the final hours and I managed to get him in his clothes without him waking up. Only when I tried to carry him did he finally stretch and wake up. Luckily the interest in getting onto a plane kept him in a good mood.

After scanning the options of Grab, Uber and Comfort Delgro apps, I chose Comfort as it was at a fixed rate of $30 excluding ERP charges but came with $3 off from some webby promo codes and also a $3 off again as a new sign up for the app. The rest were a whopping $40 for peak hour call on this normal weekday Wednesday.

730am and the taxi came and picked this family of 3 before we hit the road. Met the expected morning hours traffic for half the journey on PIE before it was smooth till the airport. We were prepared for any road sickness with a plastic bag on hand but K was alright.

820am and check in counter was not even indicated on the board of flights yet, which was filled with earlier flights. We went to the self help to print the luggage tag anyway and dropped off the luggage at the not too long queue of SilkAir before heading to the departure. The T2 fish pond and playground was a natural magnet attracting K’s interest and he spent some time looking at the fish and a lot of time running at the playground. Meanwhile we managed to get some drinks and I went to print a KKday ticket which I had forgotten to do so at Ambassador Transit lounge for $1.2 per piece.

Mommy bought herself some Khiel products and registered her receipt at the kiosk for the Changi Millionaire draw before we walked briskly to far end of F59 for boarding, being the last to board the full flight.

The journey of 40mins were uneventful and was even too short to notice or drink a beverage. It wasn’t so for another family who’s child was screaming the entire journey and only managed to fall asleep once the plane landed. We were thankful for K’s beautiful behavior.

KLIA hadn’t change since we last visit and we had to take a train ride to the baggage reclaim but at that time, it was pretty crowded with only one train with limited doors functioning. Immigration took a while to clear with at least a row of people queuing in front of us before we got our luggage from the belt. K spent some time exploring the MnM store wanting to test all the battery operated items until the staff warned about the excessive battery drain and we exit to the arrival hall.

With the free airport wifi, I used Grab to get us a ride to Sunway Resort and Spa for fixed rate of RM65 excluding tolls. Grab promo was available to shave off RM5. The driver was pretty prompt in keeping in contact with us and we were soon in the private car to the resort, a 40 mins drive where both K and I had a quick snooze.

After a short stretch of traffic at Sunway, we entered the entrance of a rather grand looking design entrance of the resort. The porter immediately helped with the luggage and we tried checking in at 1pm and luckily, our room was ready. 17th floor with a view of the park, it was a comfortable one though a little old. The best part in my opinion was the complimentary mini bar that came with 5 non alcoholic drinks and was refillable, I thought this was the only hotel fulfilling the main purpose of the minibar! Our luggage arrived shortly after we were about to leave and we proceeded to the Sunway Pyramid mall walking through a short connection.

We looked for Old Town White Coffee in this huge mall and had our lunch of macaroni tomato soup, curry noodles and Ban Mian before we took some time to shop around. The mall short of remained me of Dubai Mall (in terms of space and variety and design) although it was not as huge as that one but big enough. There was ample walking space and stores of brands that we were both familiar and not. Spent some time at the T&T Kidz park where we took some rides ( car ride for RM5.5, whale RM 7.5 and a animal train ride for RM5.5, refundable top up card for RM3) and some time at the playground while mommy shopped in Parkson and got K some tees. She also did a money exchange at the money changer near the T&T Kidz park which offers very good rates of $1:RM3.1.

Different designs of the Sunway Pyramid Mall

We shopped for ingredients at the large Aeon supermarket before heading back to the hotel for the afternoon nap where K knocked out for almost 2.5hrs. The staff delivered a birthday cake during that time but it was 1 day too early. Mommy made K dinner and after having some fun at the bathtub, we finally got out of the room at 830pm and while back at the same mall, we went to another familiar name Secret Recipe that had a promo going for Maybank, where we ordered a chicken chop, a satay fried rice and hazelnut latte and getting a slice of marble cheese cake and an iced lemon tea for free as we hit the RM45 requirement. Expectedly it was a very filling dinner ( Mommy even got herself Hokkaido baked cheese tart to try).

Unfortunately for us, by the time we left, it was almost 10pm and everywhere was closing. We managed to catch a glimpse of the ice hockey game that was going on at the ice rink before we brought the disappointed K (because the rides were closed) back to the hotel.
It was some TV time while I washed the dishes before story time, milk and bed, ending the day at 1130pm.

Escape to Kuala Lumpur July 2017

Posted on July 17, 2017June 23, 2020 by ziyi

A brief summary on the itinerary

Escape Plan to Kuala Lumpur 2017:

Total duration 5D4N
Kuala Lumpur is in the same timezone as Singapore. Flight time is 1hr on Silkair from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur. Return is 1hr on Silkair from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore.

Flight from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur at 1015am, arriving at 1115am in Kuala Lumpur. Return flight from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore is at 510pm and touching down in Singapore at 610pm.

Day 1 – Arrival in Kuala Lumpur and Sunway Pyramid Mall
Day 2 – Sunway Lagoon theme park and the Parenthood
Day 3 – Sunway Pyramid and transfer to Kuala Lumpur downtown
Day 4 – Sungei Wang, Berjaya Times Square and Indoor Theme Park
Day 5 – Home Sweet Home

This trip was planned as a getaway birthday trip for mommy. We didn’t plan anything other than a visit to the Sunway Lagoon theme park. The rest of the trip was based on ad hoc shopping and just on impulse visits.

Budget – Quite affordable other than the accommodation.

Everything was quite affordable comparable to Singapore, especially with the currency of 1:3.1 now, effectively reducing the costs of living by a third. With free wifi at airports and hotels, Grab and its promos reduce the costs of transport as well. The accommodation was expensive but it was chosen for the purpose of comfort, and was worth it in my opinion.

Complexity – Easy with Grab

We didn’t go many places and for transfers, Grab was a good choice. For the visits around the area, walking was our choice and it was quite easy since everywhere was within 15mins walking distance.

Kuala Lumpur 2013 Day 3 – Home Sweet Home

Posted on November 4, 2013September 26, 2019 by ziyi

Knowing that it was the last day and we had some eating and last minute purchases in mind, we still woke up later than planned. When we were finally ready, it was already almost 9am. Wanted to visit the colleague recommended Komugi cafe in Pavilion for breakfast but the mall wasn’t opened till 10am and settled for the Loaf cafe which was also recommended for their breakfast. Ordered and waited. Was disappointed that we were told that there wasn’t any croissant and then we saw so many of them being served. Also, my wife finished her breakfast and my came after being reminded. Otherwise, the breakfast was really delicious and the coffee was kinda unique. Wifi was available luckily and we distracted ourselves from waiting while going online. In fact, many eateries in KL had wifi and you gotta ask for the password sometimes.

The Loaf cafe that served awesome breakfast!

My loaf cube -60. It has some icy expresso in latte. Interesting idea though not really tasty.

Tasty scrambled eyes with smoked salmon on rosti. Loved it!

Visited the Komugi store to bring back some beautiful pastries. Some last minute shopping and my wife snagged a few pieces of clothing. Since we had to check out soon, we went back to the hotel and repacked the new stuff into the luggages and checked out.

The reception did the check out smoothly but the luggage storage and the reservation for cab took place at the concierge in the middle of the lobby. Paid a reservation fee of Sgd20 and the balance of 40RM was due later. Tagged out baggage and left for lunch, our final eating stop and the return to Oversea restaurant.

There was a table already reserved for us and the Char Siew was served after we confirmed the dishes. As we weren’t really hungry, we only had the meat and a free soup. Still it was just satisfying to have that Char Siew at the restaurant itself as usually I only get to have it when I package it home after each trip. And it wasn’t any different this time as I had also reserved a package of Char Siew and roast pork home, though I wasn’t impressed with the big box for a small amount that required to be repacked.

Returned back to the hotel and our luggage was given to us. Repacked all the stuff that we bought into the luggage (including the yummy meat) and a whole later, a budget taxi arrived for us. It was the same 1hr heat back to LCCT. Again!

We arrived 2hrs ahead of flight time and proceeds to check in, without queues. It was kinda warm and we got ourselves a Mango Tango from Boost. Shopped again and bought some more local foodstuff before going thru the gate for immigration. There was a large waiting area and some shops with duty free products. Didn’t get any and waited for the call to board. There was a queue forming and once the call for the plane number, we proceeded to queue too. The gate soon opened, a 3mins walk to the plane, a short wait for plane to get ready before we boarded from the back of the plane (there were two locations to board, at both the front and the back). Home Sweet Home.

Last Boost Mango Tango for the cooling down from the heat.

The long walk back to the airplane which felt like “bus terminal”.

I had been to KL previously alone for business but this time it was with my wife and that we spent time shopping and enjoying each others’ company. Definitely a feasible getaway.

Kuala Lumpur 2013 Day 2 – Petronas Twin Towers, Berjaya Times Square, Sungei Wang, Fahrenheit 88

Posted on November 3, 2013September 26, 2019 by ziyi

Set the alarm to start the day early but overslept. Discipline wasn’t a priority, after all it was supposed to be a chill out getaway without an itinerary. Went to the 18th floor Club room lounge for our breakfast and saw that there were some dress code requesting no shorts and slippers. I was in chinos and we just tried our luck. There was 2 Japanese men already in the small area having their breakfast but no hotel waiter in sight. A small breakfast buffet was laid out and not much of a variety but there was a city view consisting of the twin towers and the Menara tower in view. Left soon after since we were already running “late”.

My Nasi Lemak breakfast mixed with American breakfast goodies.

Breakfast with a view. We can see the twin towers from the club lounge.

The Royale Club lounge on the 18th floor.

First stop today was Petronas twin tower visit. Walk to Pavilion mall and took the connecting bridge to the KLCC – a 15 mins walk in a sheltered air-conditioned walkway. From KLCC, you could see the twin towers clearly and a good photo opportunity. Continued walking under shelter to the KLCC shopping mall. The entrance of the mall led out to a nice little park and a place to strain your neck looking up at the towers. We went back to the concierge to ask for the directions to the ticketing counter for a visit to the top. It wasn’t really obvious and was located at a level below first floor, at a corner. Once below, a left turn led us to the ticketing counter where we lined up according to the curvy line drawn on the floor. A volunteer girl approached us for some details before the counter and informed that the morning tickets were fully sold out and the next available was 3pm. We didn’t planned for that and thus gave up and proceeded to next location. Having visited Taipei 101, Empire State Building and Top of Africa in Joburg, this came as a slight disappointment and a lesson learnt that we should book ahead if we wanted to visit the Twin Towers the next time.

Long pedestrian bridge linking Pavilion to KLCC.

Many floors of the KLCC mall, variety very similar to Pavilion.

Walked back the same way looking for the LRT as we wanted to visit Berjaya Times Square and it was really far to walk all the way there. Followed the signage and got to Raja Chulan LRT. Tried to buy the tickets on the automated machine and took a while to figure where we were and where we were going. A token per pax was dispensed for about 2.40 Ringgit for 2 persons for 2 stops. Went to the platform and a whole later, the train arrived.

Got off at Imbi station where the shopping mall was and went in for shopping. Things here were cheaper than the mega malls but this was in place of quality. Before taking on this mall, got ourselves a Boost energizer fruit juice and some donuts from Krispy Kreme. There were many floors of stores and we were merely browsing quickly. There were some areas where there were themes such as a Taipei shopping street and a 1st Avenue Street. Things of interest were handphone covers as there were a variety of stores that sold a variety covers. There were many clothing but were not really of our taste, in that aspect Bangkok would make a better shopping place. Before departing for lunch, we bought a taro flavoured soy milk with red beans – liked the tasty beans.

A boost Energizer drink against the hot weather.

View of the entrance of the Berjaya Times Square mall. High ceilings made the place spacious.

Many floors of the Berjaya Times Square mall.

Soy buddies shop for different flavour of Soy drinks.

Our restaurant of choice was Oversea restaurant as we were yearning for the famous Char Siew. After we sat down and served the cold dish slices of soya sauce chicken, we were informed that the Char Siew was sold out already! Opened at 1145am and at a quarter over 1pm, it was sold out. No choice, we ordered some dishes and made a reservation for lunch the next day, and also to packet some Char Siew and roast pork home. After lunch, proceeded to Sungei Wang for more shopping.

Lunch at Oversea Restaurant. Malay vegetables with honey ribs and fried rice.

Sungei Wang had many floors of shops too and linked with BB plaza, it was also quite a feat if you want to see everything. The difference was that the shops here were more compact that those in Times Square and there were a chaotic bunch of people moving around. We got tired and went to the ground floor where we saw an interesting cafe selling bear palm printed burgers and we can’t resist and ordered one to try. It was pretty tasty and the store was decorated with an interesting pictorial story telling. After this, we walked around the ground floor shops but couldn’t find anything of interest and left.

Multiple floors of the Sungei Wang mall.

That’s how the “bear palm” burger came about.

As we walked towards Pavilion, we visited another mall en-route called Fahrenheit 88 since we had some time and wasn’t that hungry for dinner yet. Went to the basement and bought some cheap tees. Shop around the upper levels and saw that there was a table soccer competition going on with many representatives from various countries there. Didn’t spend much time looking at them as my wife thinks that there was a weird odour around the playing space. Proceeded to the top level where there was an anime theme deco of the place. There we bought some interesting tees too. It was an unexpected place to have purchase clothes but it was satisfying though. As we were about to leave for Pavilion, we found ourselves stuck as rain started to pour and we only had a small umbrella. Tried waiting out the rain while sitting at one of the benches in which I fell asleep due to tiredness and woke up some 15mins later. Still raining. So we braved the rain to get across the street, with wet shoes and crossing the roads with light against our favour but together with the crowd, we got to a crowded entrance where many were waiting out the rain.

Fahrenheit 88 did not have as many levels as the previous malls.

Proceeded to the basement where Madam Kwan’s restaurant was located and waited behind a queue. Wasn’t too long and we were seated by an old lady whom I suspected having the same name as the restaurant but didn’t further verify. The food was mostly popular Malaysian street food but at inflated prices. Ordered a bowl of curry noodles and my wife ordered dumpling soup and otah. The curry noodles was too spicy for me though the other 2 dishes was delicious. I was in the opinion that it wasn’t worth that much as I could have paid the same price for better choices in some other restaurant such as oversea restaurant. Went over to the DVD shop to browse and bought some cheap DVDs. As we left, stores were already beginning to pack and we realized it was almost 10ish.

Madam Kwan’s restaurant at the ground floor of Pavilion.

Walked back to our hotel along the busy Jalan Bukit Bintang where there were jammed road of cars and many massage parlour touts and provocatively dressed ladies along the street, seemingly trying to get some business going. We went into a shop selling some local food products to buy home and a few steps away, we were back in the hotel. A really long day out and pretty soon we hit the sack.

The street view of Jalan Bukit Bintang outside of our hotel.

Kuala Lumpur 2013 Day 1 – Pavilion Shopping

Posted on November 2, 2013September 26, 2019 by ziyi

The Airasia flight to KL was at 1210pm which I mistakenly thought it to be 1240pm and realized a little late. As we waited for a frustratingly long time for a cab and when it did finally arrive, the cab somehow went to the customers waiting behind us when we were standing in front begin the earliest people there. Didn’t make a fuss over it since it was their Deepavali after all and quickly made a call to book a cab after fumbling with the app unsuccessfully. The cab arrived soon after at about 1050am and by the time we reached row 13 for Airasia check in at about 1115am, there weren’t any queues and luckily, it wasn’t closed. Hoped things get better.

Went to look for disposable underwear since I didn’t bring any, and managed to find a packet at Watsons that costed me Sgd5, more expensive that what it would cost in town. After a some window shopping, boarded the plane amongst the earliest in order to secure luggage storage space (since usually people bring carryon luggages). Flight was smooth and arrived earlier than planned.

It was my first time flying Airasia and it landed at LCCT International Airport instead of the more familiar KLIA which I mistakenly thought to be. The airport looked like a bigger size bus terminal where people gotten walk pretty long distance to the immigration counters, in non-air-conditioned sheltered walkways. There were many passengers trudging their luggages along the way and as expected, queues were long. Took almost an hour to clear immigration, with the occasional inefficiencies due to officers chatting and ignoring the passengers.

Once out, we booked the taxi to town at the counter just before exiting the arrivals. Pleasantly surprised that there were any queues, unlike the previous time I visited KL where booking a taxi required queuing too. Took the budget option for about Sgd30 that was ok when I took it at KLIA.

Our buying and eating trip started just outside the airport where we had our lunch at Oldtown cafe. Made and paid the order at the cashier and soon the yummy Malaysian cuisine was served to us in the non-air-conditioned eating area. I had dry Mee Siam and my wife had Curry Mee. Portion was ok and tasted ok too. Coffee was good as expected.

After lunch, walked further away towards Coffee Bean for the taxi. Had to cross the road towards a “Budget Taxi” signage and gave the ticket to the dispatcher and we got into a red coloured vintage looking taxi. We realized this was not a good idea then about taking the budget option because the aircon wasn’t cold enough and the heat was coming in thru the windows, making the taxi felt like a sauna. It only got better when we were about to reach town, some 1hr from the airport.

Our hotel Royale Bintang sits on the extremely busy, usually jam packed street of Jalan Bukit Bintang. The Indian taxi driver then started his complaints about the jam and such and we had a amusing conversation for a while till we got off the taxi, after some squeezing thru traffic with more cars-then-lanes experience.

Bath tub with a toilet bowl with a water nozzle spray.

Check in took awhile as there was already a guest before us. We had booked the Deluxe Club room due to the 30% discounts with an additional 7% with Maybank Agoda deal and on top of the points we had, the price was shaved to about Sgd90 per night. The room was at 17th floor just 1 floor below the Club Lounge where breakfast was to be served for Club room guests.

Our first impression of the room wasn’t good, there was a salted fish smell once we stepped in and we saw an opened bottle of water and a hand towel on the sink. It seemed like either someone has used the room or it wasn’t made up before our arrival. Then we saw the water in the toilet bowl was yellowish and flushed it, that’s when the smell subsidied. To think that we paid more for a better room, what about the rest of the normal deluxe rooms we wondered.

Furthermore, we were promised a combined bed rather than a separated twin beds and this was not given in the room, which said so much about their service. There was however complimentary wifi with login and password required and so we surfed awhile and charged up the handphone for a while before heading out to Pavilion Mall, 10mins walk away.

It was a huge ass of a mall (thought it was comparable our Singapore Ion) with lotsa variety of shops from luxury goods to popular clothing labels to departmental stores. Difference was the space and although there were many people, it wasn’t squeezy like Ion. After window shopping, we sat down for some desserts at Taiwanese style cafe.

Continued to window shop around. It wasn’t sale season so there weren’t great offers for purchase. And then it was dinner time. We were meeting up with friends whom had moved back to KL for dinner and were introduced to Grandmama’s for some good Malaysian cuisine. Ate and caught up what’s going on around till it was 9ish that we decided to call it a day. They offered to fetch us back to our hotel and there we experienced the jam again. By the time we arrived, it was already 10pm. We probably could have reached earlier if we walked.

The lingering smell of saltiness was still there and again the water looked abit yellowish. I guess the toilet system was the culprit for this smell. Saturday night was football night, and luckily there was Fox Sports and I had managed to catch my team’s match and retire for the night.