Kuala Lumpur's Key Areas

It has been 2 years ago since I visited Kuala Lumpur. I wouldn't go to KL but this time my favorite band, May Day, held their concert on 14 January 2006.

Took Konsortium Express bus from Golden Mile Complex. Woah! Bus was very new! 24 seaters single deck coach! Bus left promptly at 7pm. Bus quite slow b'coz of the peak traffic and finally reached Tuas Checkpoint. We were told to bring our passport and happily went to the immigration counter. But when reached Malaysian Checkpoint, we had to bring down all luggages we had. Once done, we hoped on the bus and off we go!

Most of the passengers fell asleep during the journey. I simply blasted to the music with my creative MP3 along the way. After 2 hours, we reached Yong Peng to have toilet and meal breaks. Yong Peng is a little town off the highway that most coach will stop to have meal break, normally 30 mins. Interesting is that it has a Chinese restuarant that gurantees to serve dishes in 8 minutes! If you are on budget or adventurous, you can choose to go next door to cafeteria that serves many kinds of food. There is even RAMLY BURGER stall selling at RM3 each, this is so well known for its beef and chicken burgers - it definitely tastes better than MacDonald! Very juicy while meat is so tender~~

When time was up, the bus didn't move. The bus engine broke down!! The driver took an hour to fix it up! Oh we reached KL an hour plus later!! It normally takes 5 hours to reach but this time round, it took slightly more than 6 hrs, arriving there before 1.30am.

When the bus reached Pudu Raya Bus Terminal, we were hogged by a group of taxi drivers asking if we wanted to take their taxi. Remember to negotiate the price before boarding their taxi. Their charges were damn too high! Like us, we took a cab to Hotel Capitol which cost RM20! My another group of friends told me they paid RM10 for the same route!

Nevertheless, we liked our hotel a lot! It is so clean and new! Never expected a 3 star-hotel is so value for money. Little did we know that this hotel won several awards. We stayed at room 209 (Superior Room). The room was very clean and new! It really looked like a boutique hotel rather. The bathroom comes with a separate shower and bath tub (no need to fight for shower. One can shower and another can soak in warm soothing bath at the same time). As usual, soap, shampoo, towel, toothbrush but they provide razor! I stay in many hotels, so far only highend hotels provide this! Deluxe room which is bigger and more expensive does not come with a shower and bathtub - Wonder why?! Just that room is bigger

Breakfast was pretty good but smaller in varieties - nasi lemak, omelette, bread, pastry, cereals, congee. But their breakfast timing is from 6am to 10.30am. So have to wake up early to have the breakfast.

If you want to try their local dishes, just out of the hotel, you will see the ever famous "RAMLY BURGER" stall. Along the same road, there are also many kopi tiam (coffee shops) selling nasi lemak, roti canai, mee goreng or even fish and chip if you want western food. Prices range from RM2 to RM6.

Behind my hotel is Plaza Low Yat. It has many shops that sell mobile & its related stuff. Plenty of them! There are IPod shop, Creative shop etc etc. But I found them more expensive than in Singapore. Food wise they have Sushi King (sushi on conveyer belt), chinese restaurants, starbucks!! There is a cafe at 2nd floor that sells hainanese coffee. Concept very similar to our Ya Kun. Too bad I didn't try.

In front of the hotel is BB Plaza and Plaza Sungei Wang. They are connected to each other. BB Plaza has nothing much, pretty quiet despite it is facing the main road - Jalan Bukit Bintang. But then as you go over to Plaza Sungei Wang, it is so happening!! So crowded!! Full of life!! I personally like it! This is the place where locals will come to shop during the weekends. It is similar but slightly backward to our Far East Plaza in Singapore. You can find Baleno, Giordano, NOSE, Vinnci..... Vinnci amd NOSE have very nice shoes and yet cheaper than in Singapore. Personally I find their designs are more daring, creative than those in Singapore. Don't know if you know Singapore also has Vinnci but the shop name is called VNC instead at Citylink but prices are higher. That's why everytime i go to Kuala Lumpur, I will buy at least 3 pairs back. Ke Ke.. Very sinful! There are many small shops that sell many different things -such pirated DVD at RM8, mobile counters etc. Need a lot of time to slowly explore the shops!! Disappointed, I didn't manage to finish shopping!!

I always like to shop at supermarkets to see what kind of food locals eat. There is a supermarket - Giant which you have to go through Parkson Grand Department Store at the basement. The signage is so misleading! It said it is in that corner but when you reach that area, you only find Parkson Grand Department Store. Then I realise you have to walk in the dept store before you can see the supermarket. Find it bit stupid - Me look like a fool walking round and round. Dun worry, prices are not that expensive. Their range of tidbits are good with many varieties as compared to us!

Walking along Jalan Bukit Bintang after Plaza Sungei Wang comes Lot 10 where Isetan is there. Prices same as in Singapore. Many major brands are there such as Esprit, The Body Shop, Shu Uemaru, Top Shop and eateries such as Olio Dome, Delifrance etc. Better to buy these brands back home.

Further down is KL Plaza where Planet Hollywood is situated. It is pretty old building. Find it a bit dim. Pretty quiet. But we managed to find F.O.S., a factory outlet that sells cheap Ambercrombie & Fitch, Hollister causal wear. Example is a top selling at RM29.90. But design wise generally are not really very good - but may able to dig out good ones.

Another good place to shop, provided you want branded stuff, you can go to Berjaya Times Square along Jalan Imbi. It is very big with 8-9 storeys with an IMAX theatre. Well known shops are Tag Hager, Esprit, The Body Shop, Borders, Starbucks, Dome Cafe, Bata, G2000 are located at 1st to 2nd floor. 3rd floor onwards are shops selling bags, shoes, accessories, toys. At 3rd & 4th floors are the restaurants. But then the higher you go, not much shops occupied but even there are, mainly eauty and hair salons. There is this Thai restaurant - oh.. it is quite expensive, may as well go to bangkok and eat till you drop. But we tried Secret Recipe - a local cake chain that serves very good cheesecake. We tried the stewed lamp - Woah... it was very nice and inexpensive - RM19.90. The chicken lasagne was bit oily - I didn't like it despite a set with brownie of the day and a glass of softdrink at RM14.90. Eating in certain restaurants in Malaysia is subject to 5% government tax and 10% service charges. At 5th floor, you can find an indoor amusement park!!

Slightly out of the city, about 15 mins from Jalan Bukit Bintang, you can go to this Mega Mid Valley. Taxi fare is around RM8. The mall is really big!! It is even bigger than our Suntec City! It has movies theatres, many shops (too many to describe), and a very big pet shop. If you like to sing karoke, you can go to myKTV (like our Kbox). We went after the concert so reached there around 12+am. Just need to buy a drink and you can sing for 3 hours! Cheapest drink is softdrink which cost around RM9.

Hate to take taxi here. Basically there are 2 type of taxi - one needs to negotiate before boarding and one goes by the meter. But they are neither stupid. B'coz we travelled after midnight, the taxi drivers wanted to charge us midnight charge which is 100% additional. I checked with a staff from myKTV and he said there was no such thing as midnight charge. Heard from my friend that b'coz we all girls took the taxi, so taxi drivers would dare to ask for extra $$. So you must be FIERCE to them!

We realised that KFC Chicken tastes better than in Singapore that we had them for 2 meals! YUMMY!!~~ On our way back home, we bought as usual at Yong Peng, cuttlefish, crunchy fish, dried bananas etc. Surprising you cant find these in KL supermarkets. Thought i can buy them cheaper b'coz there is only one shop in Yong Peng that sell these so would be expensive. But not true. Some items sell at almost the same price as in the marts.

On departure day, a representative from Konsortium came to pick us up at the hotel and brought us to the coach parked in front of Hotel Bukit Bintang. The coach was a double-deck bus! Very comfortable! We reached Singapore at 8pm! Within 5 hours, isnt this fast? Would choose this company if I wan to go to KL again.