Kuching

Kuala Terengganu and a little bit of KL.

The journey from Kuching to KT wasn’t quite as smooth as we would have hoped for. Our flight from Kuching to KL was delayed by an hour - which meant we would most likely miss our connection.  On arival KL airport was packed and after the usual massive queue we managed to check in for our next flight, which had, thankfully, also been delayed two hours. We finally took off three hours later, only to sit on the run way for 30 more minutes - oh the joy of travel.

Anyways... here we are in KT. We suspected the hotel we booked, The Primula, would be faded glory ... and it is. We finally got to our room at 9.30 pm only to find the wifi didn’t work so we had to move rooms.  

Little did we know this was the start of a pattern, the balcony door would not open and when it did, it would not close (don't forget it's raining); the lights don't work and when they do they drop in and out; the hot water disappears for two days; the TV reception disappears; we don't get any towels and have to keep asking for them; we only get two sachets of coffee and have to pay for more (by far the biggest crime, as far as I'm concerned) and to top it off our room door won't open and we have to call security, twice. What a hotel!!!!

KT is very traditional, very Muslim and the people are super friendly. There are far too many kids here, for our liking and it’s slashing with rain.

No snogging in KT!

We have four nights here and we are making the most of it. We found a couple of nice restaurants near our hotel. We also found a great cakey shop. So we are lazing around our room, eating cakes, watching TV and relaxing. Also on the upside, we’ll be giving our livers a rest!

We took advantage of a break in the weather and took a Grab car into town. China Town area was quite charming and the market was interesting. There are no shopping centres in KT, so it looks like our wallets, as well as our livers will get a rest! We chose to walk back to our hotel from the town centre, it was only about a 30 minute walk, although the pavement/roads weren't up to much. 

China Town, KT

We finally took a walk up the beach yesterday and found a lot of food markets and stalls. It looks like the place would be quite lively in the summer season. Richie had some local food, fried fish and rice. The beach is pretty average, but then we come from WA - with the worlds' best beaches, so we are harsh critics. 

KT Beach, okay but not exactly Coral Bay!

Richie enjoying the local food

We did manage to find a restaurant that sold alcohol and had an average meal to soak up the beer. Richie ordered the fish and we thought it may have been frozen, as it was completely tasteless and about ten times the price of the fish he had for lunch! However, I believe the beers somewhat made up for it. 

The pool at the Primula

We have booked our travel and accomodation for the Ipoh and Penang. We caught the 09.30 but from KT to KL, very smooth and arrived in KL about 5pm. Only issue is that the buses in Malaysia don't have toilets and this bus only stopped once.  Our back teeth were swimming by the time we reached KL.

 at the bus station in KT, feeling like backpackers again...

We took another Grab car to the Park Royal Hotel and when we checked in, they had upgraded us to a Club Floor room. So we had the same room as our last visit, room 414. Waiting for us in the room was a lovely card and chocolates to welcome us back. Very impressed, as it must be about four or five years since we last stayed here. 

Our favourite room at Park Royal

choccies and flowers.... they like us, they really like us

We are one spending two nights in KL, in transit from KT to Ipoh. We plan to stay longer in KL, on our return from Penang. So we didn't book the Club Floor this time and don't have breakfast included, it's good to break things up a bit (oh first world problems again).

The room is lovely, I think the Primula experience in KT is making it seem extra fabulous. The bed is enormous and we had forgotten about the shower. Oh the shower, it has three extra water outlets, one that provides a lovely warm gentle butthole wash - needless to say we are both having very long showers!

We spent our first night in Bangsar at (you guessed it) the Nirvana Banana leaf restaurant, our favourite and still as good as ever. Another fabulous, meal and mango lassi for $11 - this is why we LOVE Malaysia.

Back in Bangsar, at the Nirvana, where else...

As we are returning to KL, we decided to make the most of the weather and spent the afternoon by the pool. This was after a brunch trip to The Pavillion Food Court (my favourite place in KL). We had curry and nan for brunch - delicious. We purchased an ipad cover for me and stopped off at our favourite popcorn stand (and ate a huge amount of popcorn, as the seller insisted we try every flavour. They were all fabulous except the durian, which looked like popcorn, smelt like popcorn and tasted of stinky rancid onions, as durains do). 

Dinner, was another stop at the Pavillion Food Court, this time we shared a chicken shwarma, (also delicious, see the theme here?). Whilst hunting for a place to drink, we walked to KLCC . We didn't find any attractive drinking places but did take another million picture of the gorgeous Petronus Towers and watch the light and water show. 

Petronus Towers, as fab as ever

The Connection (which is the walkway in The Pavillion) is where we ended up having a drink or two. Smoke City would be a better name for it!! However, the people watching is second to none. You can sit with your beer and be endlessly entertained. 

On another note, did I mention how many Transsexuals we have seen in Malaysia? It has been fascinating us, since we arrived. We have seen an average of at least one a day. In Perth, we would most likely see one a month, if that. Also the transsexuals we have seen, have been working in all kinds of jobs, and nobody stares or seems aware of any kind of difference. Not sure what is going on here, considering Malaysia is quite a conservative country, anyway it's fascinating to see this cultural difference in action.