2D1N in Kuala Lumpur
After about 10 hours of flight with Malaysia Airlines, finally I reached in Kuala Lumpur International Airport from Auckland. It was 830pm by then and time to hunt for dinner. It took about 45minutes to drive from airport to Sunway Pyramid.
Malaysia is a multi-racial country with so many races living together harmoniously. The food therefore affected by cultures and there are so much varieties here. We looked for dinner around Sunway town and decided to go for Murni Discovery Restaurant, Dataran Mentari. It is one of the only restaurants in town that serves fusion, custom-made food (Indian-Malay-Chinese-Western-Italian). Murni Discovery Restaurant is an Indian Muslim restaurant. We ordered the recommended dishes which are Nasi Lemak Murni Discovery, Roti Hawaii and 3 Layer Tea. There was a big projector screen located outside the restaurant showing the football match. At night there are many tables and chairs located next to road to accommodate more customers. This is a typical night life of Malaysians which is called “Mamak” (Indian-Muslim eatery). To locals, “mamak” is a popular term that also means to have late dinner at Indian Muslim restaurant with group of friends.
After dinner, we walked around Sunway Pyramid mall which is just next to Hotel Sunway Pyramid. Sunway Pyramid is located in the heart of Bandar Sunway, Subang Jaya. It was opened in July 1997. One of the mall’s most easily recognized designs is the Egyptian-inspired Pyramid with a lion “standing guard” at the entrance. The rest of the building is embellished in the monumental style, complete with pseudo-hieroglyphics decorating facades, along with numerous Pharonic statuaries. Then we went for a drink at Overtime bar outside Sunway Pyramid mall and ordered local well known beer, Tiger.
Next day, after breakfast then we had a walk around Sunway Pyramid mall. The mall was fully decorated in conjunction with Indian festival celebrated on previous day. It was Deepavali festival, a festival celebrated by all Hindus to commemorate Lord Rama and his wife, Sita’s return to Ayodhya after his 14 years exile. It was a dark night when they first returned hence his people lit their houses with little lamps (diyas) so that Rama and Sita could find their way.
Then we proceed to next destination, Batu Caves which is about 20km away from Sunway Pyramid. Batu Caves is a limestone hill that has a series of caves and Indian cave temples in the Gombak district, 13km north of Kuala Lumpur. It takes its name from the Sungai Batu or Batu River which flows past the hill. When we arrived at destination, the 140 foot tall concrete statue of Murugan is clearly seen at the foot of 272 stairs which leads to the temple caves. The caves are home to colonies of long-tailed mazaque monkeys which roam the stairs and the caves. After getting up to the temple caves, we could see small openings letting in natural light and there is a smaller gallery up another flight of stairs, mostly open to the sky. There are many natural formations cave features like stalactites and stalagmites which are precipitated from mineralized water solutions. As we walked towards temple, there are water droplets from caves ceiling and the floor is wet.
Before leaving, I tried on the Fortune-Telling Bird. I was asked for my name at the start then a bird was let out to pluck a fortune card from a pile in front of the cage. The Hindu priest would then open up the card and tell about your life with a book in hand. Personally I think it is pretty accurate.
Next, we visited a Tamil Muslim operated store in a portable van. It has been there for years and getting more customers nowadays. We ordered a dessert named Cendol and well known Indian food, Rojak. Cendol is a traditional dessert made with brown sugar, coconut milk and green worm-like jelly. It is very refreshing to have during a warm day. Whereas Rojak is a traditional fruit and vegetable salad dish and it means mixture in Malay language. Our next stop is a well known Durian stall located at SS2. Durian is the King of the Fruits with strong putrid odors. Its shape ranges from oblong to round. There are many hybrids of Durian; we had the popular one called ‘Mao Shan Wang’. The price is expensive due to its non-seasonal price with RM35 per Kilogram. After Durian tasting then we went to the nearby night market. There are even more local dishes offered by various hawker stalls, ranging from traditional Malay snacks, Keropok, Chinese Dumplings etc. You name it and you can find them all in the market.
As the night falls, we drove into Kuala Lumpur city centre for Petronas Twin Towers. Soaring for a height of 451.9 metres, the 88-storey twin structure is Kuala Lumpur’s crown jewel. The towers are connected with Skybridge which is the world’s highest 2-storey bridge. Even though we were trapped in traffic jam but we were lucky to be in time for the water fountain light show outside the Petronas Towers. The KLCC Lake Symphony is a new attraction in the form of light and music fountain whose virtuosic performances of lights and water “dancing” to music fire the imagination and illuminate the night. The water shows scheduled 8pm daily. We waited about 40 minutes for the show and it is worthwhile.
After the Lake Symphony show, we headed to another happening place in Kuala Lumpur, Bukit Bintang Street which is the last stop of the day. The whole stretch of street is full of bars alongside and usually is crowded at night. There are many shopping malls around the area like Fahrenheit, Lot 10, Pavilion, Bukit Bintang mall and etc. You may name it as the shopping paradise. About 10pm we bid farewell to Kuala Lumpur and headed to airport.
