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07/12/2009
After a scenic and extremely comfortable coach journey on what turned out to be a first class massage coach, even though it was the cheapest option, we arrived at around 5pm into the manic rush hour of Malaysia's Capital city - Kuala Lumpur. We got dumped off the coach by the side of a main road, not knowing exactly where we were so jumped in a taxi and taken to China Town. After having the taxi driver rip us off, charging us 15RM to take us 5 mins down the road we went in search of a hostel. We looked at a few places, some suggested by our Rough Guide but all were horrible. Then we found one that was a little prison-like but only 40RM for a double room and fairly clean so we took it.
On the bus ride into the city we quite a quick glimpse of the infamous Petronas Towers so went for a little walk around to see where everything was. Turns out the towers weren't quite in walking distance so we decided to wait until to tomorrow to visit them and instead looked for a spot of dinner and a walk around the bustling China Town market.
The next morning we got up early so we could visit the Petronas Towers. Tickets are free to walk along the bridge connecting the two towers and they are available from 8:30am so we got there a little before then and queued for a good hour. We were given an alloted time of 3pm so had the morning to kill. We decided to head out to the suburbs of KL where there was a really nice park and the countries National Planetarium that I wanted to see. It was good fun, and very interesting. Whilst there we watched a show about the history of space exploration in one of those big domed theatres looking up at the stars. With hunger kicking in we jumped in a taxi back to China Town for a bite to eat and then caught the monorail back into the city centre for our visit inside the Petronas Towers.
It was great fun. We were shown a 3D video first of all explaining the history of the towers and how they were built. Then we were taken up to the 41st floor in the lift to the bridge. we had a great view of the city from up there - the KL Tower, all the surrounding skyscrapers, parks and the hills in the background. After spending 15mins up there taking photos and admiring the view our time was up and we were sent back down in the lift.
At the base of the two towers is a very plush shopping mall that Steph and I had a wander around, all very much out of our price range we settled for a more relaxing walk around the park. Eager wait around and see the towers all lit up at night we made our way to a more stig-rack shopping mall not too far from here that we had heard about. It turned out to be not that great, mostly selling quite bizarre tat but it was set on Star Hill, a quite expensive area of KL, so we wandered around and stopped for a drink that was ridiculously overcharged.
Saving our tired legs we jumped on the monorail back to the towers, just as the sun was setting and the lights were being turned on. They look even more impressive at night. Well worth the wait.
Tired, after our long day, we went back to China Town for some food and a good nights sleep.
The following morning we checked out of our hostel and booked ourselves on the night bus to Singapore - leaving at 11pm and arriving at 4-5am. This would save us a nights accommodation but meant we would have to wait around at our hostel there before being able to checkin.
Making the most of our last day in KL we went for another walk, this time to the Central Market and Merdaka Square. The Market was cool, it had a whole range of stalls selling almost everything. Merdaka Square was where Malaysia declared independence and is now home to a huge flag pole with the Malaysian flag flying high and an array of colonial style buildings. After that Steph wanted one last fix in the China Town market and came out with a Rolex and some flip flops while I bought another t-shirt and a pair of shorts all at bargain prices.
We had some dinner and stocked up on a few supplies before boarding our first class massage bus to singapore (decided to go with the same company as before because it was so good and cheap)
Next stop - The southern most point of Continental Asia and the 'Island' of Singapore.
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