The next thing on my to-do list was to find a cheap yet nice-looking hostel where we would spend our three nights at. Agoda is my go-to website. After some extensive research, I decided that Alor Bunker Home was perfect: it was cheap, it seemed clean, and it was in the Bukit Bintang area.
Fast forward to September 11 and it was time to go. Doris and I met at NAIA Terminal 3 at around 10am since our flight was before 1pm. Unfortunately, I had checked us in online and had not wanted to pay extra for a window seat, so the system randomly selected our seats, neither of which was a window one, of course. (But the decision to check us in online on our way home would prove vital and I'm gonna tell you all about it towards the end of this blog post.)
The moment we landed at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA), I had a feeling my initial assumptions about the city were completely amiss. The entire airport was beautiful and I was definitely excited to see more of the city.
On the way to Alor Bunker Home, I couldn't help but compare Kuala Lumpur to Manila. The two cities are, in a lot of ways, very similar to one another, but it struck me how much cleaner the former is and how its train system is much more convenient and efficient than the latter. I was honestly impressed.
If you haven't been to Kuala Lumpur yet and want to have an idea of the things you could do there, I hope this entry helps you somehow.RECOMMENDED HOSTEL: ALOR BUNKER HOME
Before I go into detail about my KL itinerary, let me tell you that, if you want to stay in the Bukit Bintang area (and I recommend that you do because, if you love good food and if you want to experience the KL nightlife, both Jalan Alor and Changkat Bukit Bintang are there), Alor Bunker Home might just be the right hostel for you. In the last couple of years, I'd been to 4-5 hostels and this one is my favorite for four main reasons: location, price, cleanliness, and reliable internet connection.
We only spent around PHP 1400 (USD 30) each, which covered our three nights already and came with free breakfast!! (Hostels in SG and HK can't compare in terms of price; none that I know of, at least.) It was really the cleanest hostel though, which also provided free towels. My only issue with the hostel itself, and I'm just saying this because you might think so far that it's too good to be true, was that some of the cubicle and shower locks in the restroom were broken, so anytime you were using the toilet or taking a shower, there was a chance another female guest would accidentally walk in on you half or completely naked (do note, however, that this didn't happen to me lol.)
Anyway, here is Alor Bunker Home's address: 56, Jalan Rembia, Bukit Bintang, 50200 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It is a 5-minute walk from Bukit Bintang Station - KL Monorail. From the airport, take the train to KL Sentral and from there take the KL Monorail line; Bukit Bintang is five stations away. Some people might get lost trying to find the hostel, but your best bet is to look it up on Google Maps and print it. If you do decide to stay there, you have to know that the backstreet where the hostel is located is quite dirty and smelly, but it's not like you're gonna stay there so it shouldn't be a deal breaker.
Now, let me talk about the actual trip. What did we see? Where did we eat? And how was it?
DAY 1: ARRIVAL, PETRONAS TOWERS, AND CHANGKAT BUKIT BINTANG
I thank the heavens because I was able to plan our itinerary weeks before our flight. I had done some research on places to visit and things to do in between my meetings and events.
In a nutshell, I wanted to make the most out of our four days in Malaysia without making it complicated. I have to say that Doris was the perfect travel buddy for this. She just let me plan everything and didn't complain about a single thing; I can confidently say she enjoyed everything that we did haha.
The first on our list? The Petronas Towers. We both wanted to see the twins at night and they didn't let us down. We stayed there for about thirty minutes, alternating between enjoying the view and trying to get decent shots. It was quite amazing and I'm glad there weren't too many people around (it was already 10pm, after all).
It was around 11pm already; a lot of bars were full of people, so we settled for a less crowded one. Brix Kitchen & Bar was just right for the kind of nightcap we wanted. Aside from a bucket of beer (5 different brands of imported beer for MYR 110 / PHP 1200 / USD 26), we ordered their Nasi Lemak with Beef Rendang (MYR 26 / PHP 285 / USD 6) for sharing. That wasn't a bad first meal, although we would eventually find out about a lot of other better and cheaper food choices.
DAY 2: BATU CAVES, MASJID NEGARA, MERDEKA SQUARE, CHINATOWN, VCR, AND NAGABA
Aside from The Petronas Towers, Batu Caves is, of course, another iconic tourist destination. From Bukit Bintang Station, we took the train to KL Sentral and switched to the KTM Komuter line. Batu Caves is the last stop.
The world-famous golden statue is the tallest statue of Lord Murugan and stands at 140ft. To reach the Cathedral Cave / Temple Cave, we had to climb 272 steps.
The world-famous golden statue is the tallest statue of Lord Murugan and stands at 140ft. To reach the Cathedral Cave / Temple Cave, we had to climb 272 steps.
After a quick lunch at one of the vegetarian restaurants (I can honestly never be a vegetarian, but there wasn't anything else we could eat and we were starving), we left Batu Caves to go to the National Mosque of Malaysia or Masjid Negara. We took the train again and got off at KL Sentral, where we got a cab to go to the mosque.
Non-Muslims aren't allowed to go inside during prayer time, so make sure to go there when it's open to visitors. We went there at around 3:30pm. I was quite excited about it. We had to take our shoes off and wear supplied gowns and covers for our hair. It was pretty cool to kind of feel how it is to wear Muslim clothes.
The mosque was clean and it was so peaceful. We couldn't go inside the prayer room as it is for Muslims only, but I was able to take a picture from the entrance. I think I might have a thing for colorful places and structures because I couldn't help but admire the beauty of the mosque. I'm really glad I decided to include it in our itinerary.
Next on our list was Merdeka or Independence Square or Dataran Merdeka.
A flagpole, which is 100-meter high, marks the spot where the Malayan flag was hoisted almost 60 years ago to signify the independence of Malaysia from Britain.
There are several beautiful buildings around the field like the Selangor Club, National History Museum, and the Abdul Samal Building, which has a clock tower also known as "Big Ben."
We had also noticed that there were flags all over the city, so we asked a cab driver about it and found out that September 16 is Malaysia Day. Too bad our last day was on the 14th.
After hanging out at Dataran Merdeka, Doris and I walked to Chinatown. We didn't want to buy anything, but we wanted to explore the area. While walking around (and slightly getting lost), we came across Sri Mahamariamman Temple. It wasn't part of the plan, but I couldn't resist.
Sri Mahamariamman is the oldest Hindu temple in KL. While I was inside giving particular attention to the different sculptures, a middle-aged man from Singapore started talking to me. He told me that, whenever he's in the city, he makes sure to visit the temple. It was a short yet pleasant conversation. I learned a few things and left with a new-found fascination for temples.
Despite our jam-packed day, I wanted to squeeze in a visit to a coffee shop in the Bukit Bintang vicinity. We almost couldn't find it, but our tired legs kept going and we eventually arrived at VCR, a cool café with a black facade, which definitely stood out among the rest.
We stayed there for a couple of hours, sipping on our iced coffee and enjoying the light rain. Once the rain stopped, we decided to go back to the hostel before heading out for dinner.
One of the things I really did enjoy in KL was that we could just walk around with no clear direction, yet somehow ended up surprising ourselves. We were supposed to go to Changkat Bukit Bintang for dinner, but for some reason, we had forgotten how to get there and found ourselves in front of Nagaba, a multi-space venue with a lounge on the ground floor, a club on the next, and a rooftop bar. We stayed at the lounge, where we got to order food from The Burger Bar (do try the Swiss Shroom if you happen to go there. SO GOOD! One of the best burgers I've ever tried! MYR 16 / PHP 175 / USD 3.7) and drank a pitcher of long island iced tea.
DAY 3: MELAKA, BERJAYA TIMES SQUARE, JALAN ALOR, AND CHANGKAT BUKIT BINTANG
On our third day, we decided to leave the capital and go to Melaka, a UNESCO World Heritage Site two hours away from Kuala Lumpur.
We left Bukit Bintang at around 11am. From KL Sentral, we went to the Rawang Seremban line and alighted from the train at Bandar Tasik Selatan, where Terminal Bersepadu Selatan is. We bought our bus tickets for MYR 11 / PHP 120 / USD 2.5 (cost depends on the bus you choose) and, soon enough, we were on our way.
Once we got to Melaka Sentral, we took Bus 17 to go to the Town Centre. We didn't exactly know where to get off; we just knew that we had to look out for red buildings. True enough once we saw the Dutch Square, we knew that was it.
It was already 1pm so, before we could enjoy our afternoon walk around Melaka, we headed towards Jonker Walk, where the only problem facing us was our choice of restaurant. There were several hole-in-the-wall types of restaurants with extremely long lines of people waiting to be seated and any of those was probably what we should have tried, but neither the hot and humid weather nor our hungry stomachs gave us much choice. I didn't even get the name of the restaurant where we had lunch, but I wasn't disappointed. Either the food was good enough or I was just too hungry to even care. At least the lighting was great, so I was able to take an instagrammable food shot.
Instead of going to the more touristy places right after lunch, Doris and I strolled along the river.
The colorful mural by Kiehl's was certainly one of my favorite spots, easily followed by a cute little nook where we ordered a bottle of beer to beat the heat.
We spent the rest of the afternoon complaining about the weather and exploring the Town Centre, particularly the Dutch Square where Christ Church is and St. Paul's Church.
Bus 17 had a longer route going back to Melaka Sentral and, when we got there, there were no more trips going back to Terminal Bersepadu Selatan. Luckily, there was a 5:30pm bus going to Berjaya Times Square (a mall which has nine floors I think???) at Imbi, only a station away from Bukit Bintang. Our bus got delayed, so we arrived in Kuala Lumpur at past 8pm. We decided to go window shopping (clothing shops at Berjaya Times Square are quite cheap; they're better versions of the 168 stalls and Greenhills shops) and check out the indoor theme park. When I go back to KL, I'll make sure to go shopping there and ride the roller coaster!
Since it was our last night, it was also our last chance to eat and drink at Jalan Alor. The bustling and lively street famous for its seemingly endless food stalls and outdoor restaurants caters to different types of cravings. Any of the eateries at Jalan Alor would probably satisfy you, but I'm looking forward to going back and trying more local food selections. I should probably make a mental note to dedicate an entire blog post about the Jalan Alor food experience.
The night wouldn't have been complete if we didn't drop by Changkat Bukit Bintang for a last drink. That was a Sunday, so there weren't a lot of people. We didn't want to walk far, so we went to Opium, which was just around the corner. After finishing our drink, we went to 7/11 and bought cans of beer. We went back to the hostel, where we ended up drinking and talking for a couple more hours.
DAY 4: FEEKA, KLCC PARK, JALAN ALOR, AND DEPARTURE
And, just like that, our last day came knocking. We checked out at 12noon and headed out to have late lunch at Feeka, a beautiful and cozy café inspired by "fika", a Swedish social philosophy, which means taking a break with friends and family. Feeka is the perfect place for that. I absolutely fell in love with it and left a piece of my heart there. I could just imagine myself living in Kuala Lumpur and making Feeka my second home.
After our brief mall visit, we spent some time at KLCC park where we once again admired the twin skyscrapers.
Once we got our luggage at the hostel, Doris and I had a quick meal at a Jalan Alor food stall then rode the train to KL Sentral. And here is where shit started to happen. It was almost 7pm. Our flight was at 9:15pm. We went to the ticket counter only to find out that our money wasn't enough to reload our travel cards. The next train to the airport was leaving in 15 minutes and we would have to wait another 30 minutes if we were to miss that. I frantically looked for an ATM, but the universe was clearly testing me as there was a long ass line!!! I kept looking at the time and considered talking to the people in front of me to ask if they could let me withdraw before them, but I couldn't bring myself to do that, so I patiently waited. As soon as I got the money I ran as fast as I could, only to find out that the train had left already. I was panicking, but what could we do??? I had checked us in online, but trying our luck and seeing if we could make our flight with barely an hour left wasn't certainly part of the plan. The train ride to the airport seemed like an eternity; my heart dropped when we got to KLIA and couldn't figure out where the check in counter was, BUT THEN WE SAW THE MOST BEAUTIFUL THING EVER -- an AirAsia kiosk!!! I got my phone, scanned the QR code which was sent to me, and in less than 10 seconds, our boarding passes were printed out!!! I could finally breathe again! I swear I'll always make sure to arrive at the airport at least 2 hours before any flight. (Although if we ended up missing our flight, I wouldn't have minded extending our stay for a few more days lol kidding.)
TIPS
- Buy a Touch 'n Go Travel Card. It's really convenient if you plan to use the trains and/or buses a lot. It costs MYR 10 (around PHP 110 / USD 2.5).
- Buy a sim card (although I can't recommend a particular brand here; the one I used was just good enough to surf the net a bit; I definitely have to look into a brand with a different data plan the next time I visit Malaysia), but not at the airport as they tend to be more costly.
- As much as possible, don't take the cab if point A is quite far from point B (in our case, for example, cab drivers from Chinatown didn't want to use the meter going to Bukit Bintang, but we were too tired to take the train) or if you're going to, make sure the driver will actually use the meter. I believe you'd be better off using the MyTeksi app if you really want to go around the city by cab.
Writing this blog post has made me miss Kuala Lumpur. But I'm already excited about my next trip. Guess where? :)
If you're still reading this (hello and thanks!!), here below is a compilation of my snaps while I was in Malaysia. If you have Snapchat, feel free to add me at tristinalyana! :)
Ate! More vids of yourself, please!
ReplyDeletelove love your blog!
I have been an avid follower of yours since formspring days!
tapos tumblr! tapos ask.fm... then this!
I really like your style of writing!
Paki ramdam ko tumatalino ako kapag nagbabasa ako ng blog mo :)
*kilig* Thank you so much for the kind words! Can't believe there's actually someone out there who's been following me for the longest time. I'm glad you enjoy my blog. I'm planning to take more videos, not of myself tho haha. Thanks again! :)
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