One Night in Kuala Lumpur

continued from How to Spend Two Action Packed Days in Singapore

There are a handful of ways to travel to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, from Singapore. We chose to take the bus. This offered us a new form of public transportation and it was cheaper than flying.

Singapore to Kuala Lumpur By Bus

Prior to selecting our bus company, I had read several reviews of folks being stranded at the customs counter while their bus driver left without them and/or 12-14 hour waits at customs in Malaysia. With kids in tow, I figured neither of those two outcomes would be very fun, so booked us tickets with Aeroline Bus Company, noted to be a “first class” bus company. For $543RM (~$110 USD) the four of us were on our way from HarbourFront Centre in Singapore to Corus Hotel, Kuala Lumpur on a double-decker, pretty luxurious bus (with in-seat entertainment, wifi, and power outlets.).

About 45-minutes after we left Singapore, we reached Singapore immigration. We left our stuff on the bus, went through the passport control, no problem. Another short drive and we exited again to go through Malaysian Immigration. The guards there were a lot more intense, carrying machine guns, but one took a liking to Greg’s glasses, so we got through that pretty quickly as well. Everything was smooth sailing on a Monday morning at 8AM!

Our Stay in Kuala Lumpur

After a journey of around 5-hours, and a brief rest stop where I was presented with the first of many challenging toilet situations, the bus delivered us into the heart of Kuala Lumpur, directly adjacent to the Petronas Towers. Our room for the night was at The Platinum Suites KLCC, which was a 15-minute walk from where we were so we hoofed it.

Drenched in sweat, we attempted to check in, but learned that we needed to wait for the owner to come and find us in the lobby. After a bit of a hassle between having to pay in cash (RM) and needing to communicate via “Whats App” (make sure you download this “app” before you go to Malaysia!) we were finally in our apartment.

The Rooftop Pool at The Platinum Suites

We immediately put on our swimsuits and traveled to the top floor to take a swim in the rooftop pool. Greg gravitated to the edge, because that is how he likes to live his life, but luckily there was not a way for him to plunge off the building from there so all was good. I just tried to avoid the ripped German man in the hot pink thong bikini who was doing back flips directly in front of me.

The clouds started to roll in, so we were pretty sure we were about to get a thunderstorm. Little did we know how significant those can be in Malaysia! We had discussed putting on our rain jackets and walking to the grocery store, but two women from Scotland quickly pointed to the errors in our thinking.

From the windows in our high rise, we watched the sky turn black and the rain come down in buckets. All traffic below stopped. The lightening hit the tops of the tall buildings and the visibility dropped completely. This lasted about twenty-minutes and then it was all over. It was then that we took our life in our hands (by crossing two major highways) and walked to the store.

As the sun started to set, the chanting began. We were there during Ramadan, the holy month of fasting and prayer for Muslims, and Malaysia is about 70% Muslim. Eating, drinking, and sexual activities are not allowed between dawn (fajr), and sunset (maghrib), so with it being sunset, the feast was just beginning. The prayers (chanting) echoed through the streets and up to our room until late into the night.

Just before the sun came up (oh, lets say it was 4:45AM?) the chanting began again. We were on the top floor, but we heard it all loud and clear.

The Petronas Towers

We had 9AM tickets to tour the Petronas Towers so we eventually got going and headed there. Standing at an incredible height of 451.9 meters, the Petronas Twin Towers have become the city’s top architectural landmark. From 1998 to 2004, they were officially designated as the tallest buildings in the world, but now only hold the title as the tallest twin towers in the world.

We were the second group to board the elevator to walk the 200-foot-long, double-decker Skybridge that connects the two towers. Next we boarded the futuristic, high-speed elevator to Level 86, the Observation Deck, where the doors open to a breathtaking view of Malaysia’s capital city.

Greg wouldn’t let us leave until we purchased the “staged” pictures that we took before we entered the building. I typically don’t purchase staged photos. When I did the math, the photos (+ digitals) added up to about $5 (US) so I went for it. Did I mention Malaysia was very inexpensive?

Renting a Car

After the tour, we returned to our apartment to pack our bags and walk to the Hertz Rental Car station. The address placed it fairly close by, so we dragged the kids and our stuff to a location that was most definitely NOT Hertz. After an attempt to get directions from a local, we resorted to “Whats App” and the Hertz woman informed us that the address was actually wrong, and we need to get to a different address that was another 30-minute walk. No one was happy, but we persevered and eventually got our car.

With a little bit of chaos, (wrong side of the road, wrong side of the car, in a city that dwarfs anything you could find in the US) I drove us out of the city. We stopped at the first gas station we could find, and purchased the “toll pass” that would get us through the rest of Malaysia. (A requirement, don’t forget to pick one up!)

The Batu Caves

The only other stop that we made in Kuala Lumpur was just north of downtown, the Batu Caves. Batu Caves has three main caves featuring temples and Hindu shrines. Its main attraction is the large statue of the Hindu God at the entrance, and the 272 climb up rainbow steps.

We parked just before the entrance and walked a short distance. The main attraction for us was the plethora of monkeys and monkey babies, none of which were scared of people. I was forced to purchase a sarong ($3 USD) to cover my knees, but no one else had to alter their appearance.

After leaving the caves, we drove out of Kuala Lumpur for about three hours to Taman Negara National Park.