We arrived in KL bleary-eyed and groggy, but were able to get a cab to our hostel and the three of us ate breakfast at a 24-hour café while we planned out our day. Since we were already up, we decided that our first stop should be a visit to the Petronas Towers to wait in line for tickets to visit the sky bridge. The Petronas Towers only give out 1400 tickets a day, and they are usually gone by 11:30 each morning. The good news is the tickets are free. You go, wait in line for a ticket, and then come back later at a designated time to go up to the sky bridge. Our ticket time was for 2 p.m., so we had a few hours to kill before we had to be back.
This picture is of us getting excited for Chinese New Year. Unfortunately, we discovered that all the Chinese New Year festivities started the day AFTER we left KL. We were so sad because we had been looking forward to seeing a lion dance or two!
We decided to go to the Lake Gardens, an area of the city with a variety of gardens, animals, and a planetarium. Since some things cost money to visit, we checked out the orchid garden (free) and the butterfly garden (which had an admission fee). The orchids were gorgeous, and everything was so lush and green and tropical.
In the butterfly garden, all George and I kept thinking was how much both of our mothers would love the experience. There were thousands of butterflies of many different varieties flying around, landing on flowers, and playing with each other. Everywhere we looked there was a new kind of butterfly.
Before we knew it, it was time to head back to the towers for our 2:00 sky bridge tour. We were first in line and were given passes, then we watched a seven-minute 3D movie all about the Petronas petroleum company. I was really excited about the 3D aspect, but it turned out to be disappointing because no cool 3D effects happened and the movie was all about endorsing Petronas. I guess it makes sense, since they own the towers and all, and the tickets were free so I can’t complain too much. On the sky bridge, we loved looking at the view of KL from the towers. Each group gets 10 minutes on the sky bridge, so we wandered around for a while, took pictures, found the Batu Caves in the distance, and then it was time to head back down.
Later that night we met up with Kevin, Len, and Shamsia in Chinatown and spent some time walking through the Petaling Street Market. George bought some fake Ray Bans, and we also got a pirated copy of the movie Stardust which came in handy later on in the trip. We enjoyed hanging out with everyone and spending a relaxing evening together.
On Friday morning, George, Gwynne, Len, Shamsia, and I started our day by visiting Merdeka Square (Independence Square) – the place where Malaysia declared its independence from Britain – and the national court, a beautiful building across from the square.
That afternoon we headed for the Batu Caves (or, as the woman on our bus was calling it, “BATUCAVESBATUCAVESBATUCAVES!!!!”) The caves are 13 kilometers ourside the city and are a series of caves and Hindu temples within the caves. Here’s a little info from Wikipedia about the caves’ religious origin:
"Batu Caves is said to have been discovered by K. Thamboosamy Pillai, an Indian trader, in the 1800s. He was inspired by the 'vel'-shaped entrance of the main cave and was inspired to dedicate a temple to Lord Muruga located within the caves."
We enjoyed seeing the temples, but actually the most interesting part of the caves was watching the dozens of monkeys in the caves wander around and fight with each other for food.
On Thursday night, George and I set out on an adventure to find the Firefly Park Resort, a place we had read about and were anxious to see. The trip was a little complicated, because the park is about two hours outside of KL and we were risking a pricey taxi ride home (the bus services stopped at 7:30 p.m., so we wouldn’t be able to take a bus back into town), but we took the risk and never regretted our decision. The bus ride up flew by, and when we reached Kuala Selangor we met up with three Chinese girls from Shanghai and shared a taxi to the firefly park. After waiting for tickets for a while and negotiating prices with our taxi driver for a ride back into KL, our firefly experience began. First of all, the night sky was absolutely incredible because we were so far outside the city. I don’t think I’ve ever seen more stars, except maybe in the Western U.S. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky and George and I couldn’t stop looking up. Then, we boarded a boat with about a dozen other people and slipped quietly away from the jetty. The water was smooth and silent, and the engine on our boat was barely a hum. Everyone naturally fell silent, and we began to float along the shore, looking at thousands of tiny twinkling lights in the bushes lining the water. The fireflies looked like blinking white Christmas lights, so much so that George wondered if the whole situation was fake. A firefly flew into our boat at one point, though, and one of our new Chinese friends caught it, so the validity was proven. Riding on that quiet river with George, surrounded by the magical glow of the fireflies and the amazing, starry sky was one of the most special moments of my life. Unfortunately, we don’t have any photos from the event because we weren’t allowed to take pictures, but I don’t think George and I will have any trouble remembering the experience!
We ended up being able to ride back to KL with the three Chinese girls, and were even able to find a cab driver that had a van, so we were able to fit comfortably. George and I had brought my laptop along, so we spent the ride home happily watching Stardust in the back row of the van. As a close to a perfect evening, we walked around near the Petronas towers (possibly the most beautiful buildings in the world at night, we decided) and the busy new Pavilion area of the city with tons of outdoor cafes, coffee shops, and ice cream stands.
Saturday was our last day in KL, and our last day together. George and I started the day by getting our favorite Malaysian breakfast of roti canai (a delicious bread served with curry) and teh tarik, and then heading to an area of town called Kampung Baru, which is basically a collection of small outdoor cafes, similar to ones you might find in more rural areas of the country but with an urban backdrop. We got some lunch but it was cut short when George found a large, unidentified, black bug thing in his rice. Yuck. We enjoyed our time in Kampung Baru, though, and think we saw a wedding about to start, so that was interesting.
Next stop was Chow Kit market, and at first the area was so smelly that we just wanted to leave – it was awful! Eventually, though, we made it into the heart of the market and it turned out to be one of our favorite market experiences. We loved wandering around looking at the bajus and strange fruits, and George picked out a sarong that I got him for his birthday.
To finish our wonderful trip, George and I treated ourselves to 45-minute foot massages (absolutely incredible, especially after walking all around the city for a few days) and then to lattes at Starbucks, something I had been really craving in Terengganu.
Then came time for goodbye, which is always the hardest part. I rode the bus with George to the airport, about an hour outside of the city, and we were able to eat dinner together and spend some precious time with each other before he had to head through security to board the plane. I got back into the city with plenty of time to catch my 10:30 night bus, and met up with Gwynne at the station. George was supposed to have an extra day in Singapore, but he was able to bump up his flight to Seoul and get home Sunday morning, which was great. We had a great time together and are looking forward to more dual Malaysian adventures in the future!
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