Where to Visit in Kuala Lumpur?

Custom-Places, Food and Drinks, Genting Highlands, Kuala Lumpur

Yin November 24, 2009

So you have some friends stopping over to Malaysia for 3 to 4 days and you are wondering where to bring them?
Kuala Lumpur is a fascinating city that has lots to offer: night life, shopping, absolutely delicious food. Here are my suggestions… I have included direct links to the places of interest for those who wants to take a closer look…

Where to Stay

If your pals are putting up in hotels, it is good to look for one that is along the train lines. That makes travelling around very easy- especially if you are working and have no time to bring them around.
Except for weekends or night time (after 9pm), driving around Kuala Lumpur can sometimes cause headaches because of the traffic jam. Even when my oversea friends come around, we still commute around town using train because it is faster and jam free.

We have 4 train lines communiting around and within KL:
1. Putra LRT Train (from Kelana Jaya in Petaling Jaya to Gombak)
2. STAR Train (intersects with Putra via Masjek Jamek station)
3. KL Monorail (intersects with Putra via KL Sentral & Dang Wangi stations.
4. KTM Kommuter (railway). Slower trains but gets to Subang, Klang and Seremban (intersects with Putra in KL Sentral).

Arrival at airport.
We have 2 airport terminals in KL. One is KLIA where all international and domestic flights from all airlines except Air Asia arrives to.
From KLIA, for lone travellers, you can take the ERL (another fast train) straight to KL Sentral station in Bricksfields, KL. The fare per person is RM35. The train is comfortable, clean and air con and takes exactly 28min to make the journey. I always take the ERL when going to and fro the airport- definitely cheaper than the price of someone sending you there (cost around RM40 to go and come back to airport coz the person who sends you there have to come back as well). Also no danger of getting caught in traffic jam which can cause one to miss the flight.
If there are 2 persons or more travelling, then airport taxi can be a good option.
Important: Never respond to the touts as they charge high fares and give Malaysia a bad name. Buy the taxi coupon from counter. Taxi cost around RM60- RM90 depending on where you are going.
If the traveller is using Air Asia, then there is another terminal call LCCT (Low Cost Carrier airport). There is no train services linking to LCCT. For lone traveller, you may take the Air Asia bus (RM9 per person) to go straight to KL Sentral.

Where to go in KL

1. Day 1

–Arrive in KL, check in and freshen up.
-KLCC & Petronas Twin Towers
Assume it is evening time: Take the Putra Train and stop at KLCC station.
Visit KLCC, walk around the KLCC shopping complex and the park. Then, take a view at the breaktaking magnificience of Petronas Twin Towers (pic above). The view is very beautiful at night. However KLCC features mostly high end (expensive items).
Not tired yet? Well then you can take the Putra LRT to Pasar Seni station whereby you can get down and visit Petaling Street, also known as Chinatown. Normally there are a lot of people there and you have to bargain for a good deal. Like Bangkok’s Chinatown, please be very careful of your valuables.

Day 2- Shopping?
If you are planning for yet another day in sightseeing, head on to Bukit Bintang area.
It will take you an entire day to visit all the shopping complexs in Bukit Bintang area
Have breakfast at any 24 hour mamak restaurant like Lotus or any stalls. Or maybe you wanna try the nasi lemak (coconut rice with sambal- chili paste which you can mix with all sorts of tasty dishes such as curry chicken, squid, prawns, and many others). How about some delicious chappatis? For light breakfast, maybe bread with kaya (egg and coconut).

Then, take the monorail to Bukit Bintang stop. You can get to KL Monorail via Dang Wangi Putra LRT stop. KL Monorail is also located near KL Renaisannce and Concord Hotel.
You should reach there after 10am because most of the shops will not be open till then. And during weekdays, if you are travelling before 9am, the trains can be quite packed with daily work commuters.

You can start going around Sungei Wang (right in front of the Bukit Bintang stop). There are so many shops and floors there. Then you can cross over to Lot 10 and Star Hill. But Sungei Wang will have more things for you to buy.
If you are looking for electronic items, handphones, digital cameras, you can go to BB Plaza. Or for computer gadgets, you can try Imbi Plaza. Both BB and Imbi Plazas are located next to Sungai Wang.
Finally, cross over the bridge to Berjaya Time Squares.
After walking, you can take the monorail via Imbi station back to your destinations.

Day 3- Genting Highlands
Genting is located uphills at about 60km from KL city. The weather is very cooling and you will find yourself up in the clouds.
If you are going to Genting, it is not advisable to go on public holidays or weekends because the area will be really packed. Many KL folks flock to Genting Highlands to escape the hot KL weather. You can make a day trip (go really early and come back same day) or book a hotel (a lot of people book with First World Hotel- rooms are basic but clean).

How to get to Genting Highlands:
Take the Putra LRT to Putra Terminal station located at Gombak. There, you can get down and buy the Genting bus and cable tickets (cost less than RM10 per person). The bus is about 1/2 hour or hourly. Comfortable and air con. The bus will take you to the cable station (halfway up the hill) whereby you get the take the cable car for the rest of the journey up.
Journey is comfortable but don’t drag heavy luggage along.
Of course, you can also take a taxi from KL Sentral or Pudu Bus station but there may be a danger of overcharging or formula one driving style (against the winding roads uphills) that can send your stomachs reelling sick.

What you can see in Genting.
Indoor and outdoor theme parks. The outdoor theme park have very up to date scarry roller coasters and other rides that guarantee to bring your heart out of your chest, hee hee.
Also there is a wet park. Of course, you can skip this park if you are intending to visit Sunway Lagoon (located near KL city) theme park.
Aside from that, you can walk around shops and enjoy the scenery. There is
a shopping area at First World Hotel. Sometimes, there are also special shows available at Genting Arena of Stars- which you can refer to Genting’s website for more details. But if you watch shows, would be advisable to put up a night there coz the shows may end late (well after the last bus leaves the cable car station).
Lastly, there are 2 casinos in Genting Highlands. One at First World area and another at Genting. I honestly dislike gambling thought. But I go inside for the free drinks (coffee and tea are free).
If you like the place, you can spend up to 2 days there.

Day 4 Sightseeing
When you come down to KL town from Genting, you can spend another day at Masjek Jamek area to visit Little India and many other shops/stalls nearby.
Take the Putra LRT to Masjek Jamek station. At the station exit, go towards OCBC bank (cross a bridge over the river) and walk straight… you will arrive at various stalls selling all kinds of knick knacks. Go long the road…. the stalls span very long. The road next to it is Jalan Raja Laut whereby you have the Sogo Department stall and many shops along the street. You can find a lot of traditional sarees and Indian attire and accessories from there.

Other Places that is Good to go:
1. Mega Mall, Mid Valley KL
Supposedly one of the biggest shopping malls in South East Asia, you can go to Mega Mall by taking the KL Kommuter and stop at the MidValley station.
If you are driving or taking a taxi, please note that on weekends, the areas going into Mega Mall is very packed and jammed.
Alternatively, you can take the Putra LRT to Bangsar station and there are buses from there to Mega Mall.

2. One Utama, Bandar Utama (Petaling Jaya)
I personally prefer this shopping complex to Mega Mall because I find it is more personalized and cater more for satellite city folks. It is also getting bigger and bigger.
How to get there: Metro bus no 99 (very frequent) which you can take from the bus stop when you get down at Asia Jaya Putra LRT stop (ask around because the bus stop is the one at the mian road). Like Mega Mall, the roads leading to this shopping complex is very packed during weekends. There is a huge Jaya Jusco department stall, Parkson and many other smaller stalls selling all kinds of things.
3. IKEA, Ikana Power Station, Tesco Mutiara Damansara & The Curve
These 4 places are located next to one another at Mutiara Damansara. The place is near to One Utama (but not within walking distance- got to take a short taxi ride there).
IKEA – world famous for selling furniture and various items for the house.
Ikano and the Curve: Shopping complex
Tesco- Hypermarket.
At The Curve, there are various hip eating places which features various types of food. At night, the place is well alive.

4. Sunway Pyramid.
I will advise you to visit this place in the evening and stay there to enjoy the beautiful night view- not to mention night life. There are many many eating spots and pubs scattered around the perimeter of the shopping complex.
The shopping complex is designed based on Eyptian concept. The main structure consists of a lion head (looked very much like a Sphinx).
Sunway Pyramid is located next to Sunday Lagoon Theme Park.
At night, the lights decorating the area and a nearby Sunway Lagoon Resort Hotel is magnificient. Then there are so many eating places to choose from.

Scenic view of Sunway Pyramid at night

Eating

Malaysia is truly a food haven. Because we are a multi racial country, we have a rich combination of Malay, Chinese, Indian, Nyonya as well as Western cuisines. No other better place to enjoy authentic food. There are so many of it that is impossible to name all. But the ones I can remember (note: the links are to other websites that has the pictures):
Delicious Malay food– nasi lemak, roti canai, maggi mee goreng, nasi dagang, nasi kerabu, satay, lemang, rendang, chicken curry, sotong dishes. Drinks: Air bandung, teh tarik, nescafe tarik, ice kacang.
Delicious Chinese food– bak kut teh, fried koay teow, all types of soups, curry mee, cantonese fried, hokkien fried mee, chee cheong fun, fruits rojak, pau, etc.