Southeast Asia: Malaysia

After Bali, Indonesia was Kuala Lumpur (KL) in Malaysia! This blog spot about KL will be extremely short because we did not cover much as we were there for only a day and a half. And also, to be honest, I chose KL for two main reasons: 1) To see the Petronas Towers, and 2) Dinner in the Sky. Once we landed in KL, we were faced with a long immigration line – the longest line I have ever been in personally. It took us over an hour to go through immigration and I was not expecting the lines to be so long because…I mean, it’s Kuala Lumpur, not Bali or somewhere in Thailand. 🙂

Once we made it through immigration, we got in a taxi to head to our hotel. If you do not have the Grab app for Malaysia, you should definitely exchange money at the airport as the public taxis do not accept card – just cash. As we were making our way to our hotel, it started to rain heavily and that was when I should have known this trip was going to go downhill but I was still very optimistic. For our hotel, I chose The Face Suites because I originally saw it through Dunni of Dooney’s Kitchen Instagram page when she went to KL. As most of you know, I love chasing views – specifically sunsets and sunrises and The Face Suites advertised a shot from their infinity pool facing the Petronas Towers and I was so hell-bent on getting that exact shot. When we finally arrived at the hotel, check-in was a complete nightmare. Apparently, their system had shut down a few hours prior and they were not able to give out keys. As a temporary fix, they had one or two key people escorting guests up to their room using one of the few master keys that they had. If you needed to leave your hotel room, you could do so freely, however, you would need someone to escort you back up to your room again as you needed a key to access the elevator and to access your room.

Since The Face Suites has been advertising the shot below, the hotel was extremely crowded and the wait times for the elevators were absolutely ridiculous. We also found out that some of the floors were actual apartments while some of the floors were dedicated specifically for hotel rooms, a little over 100 rooms. I started to feel bad for residents who actually lived in building as tenants because I cannot imagine the nightmare of going about your business a few years ago and then being told that some of the floors would be converted to hotel rooms.

While all of this was going through my mind, I was still optimistic because all was going to be well once I saw my view. L O L. Let me preface this by saying that a few days prior to KL, I had this “feeling” that the view that I was desperately chasing would no longer be there due to construction. Trying to be optimistic, I brushed it aside because ahn ahn, ko possible. How can a hotel publicly advertise a view and not give an update on their website stating that the view was no longer present? Not possible please!

Once we checked in and got settled in, I tried to make my way upstairs to see the view – the GRANDE view, as I called it. Obviously, I was not able to get up there because I needed a key, which we did not have. I ended up asking some folks who were already in the elevator to buzz me to the Sky Deck floor and they were gracious enough to do it.

While in the elevator I was just praying to myself like, “Hayyy God – please do not let my enemies win. This view has to be there o, it will be there in Jesus name.” Ladies and gentlemen, I get upstairs to see this view and to figure out a plan for my photoshoot later on during sunset only to see that the view I was chasing was no longer present. I felt like I was dreaming. Imagine choosing a specific city just for two things and one of the main things ended up not being there. I was furious. Once we checked out later on in the week, I sent an email to management (twice) but of course they did not respond because they are well aware of what they are doing and I think it is so trash. Since I do not have any real power, I decided to leave it up to the universe to do its thing because I mean, won’t they also travel one day? The Universe will take care of them, I’m not even worried.

The other thing I wanted to do in KL was Dinner in the Sky and just as the name sounds, you literally just have dinner in the sky – you can view pictures on their website here. Since it was raining heavily and I had no idea when it was going to stop/start again, I decided to skip it altogether because they do not operate when it is raining. Plus, God forbid thunder strikes while I am several feet up in the air. What will I tell my parents?

Even though Day 1 was a bit of a nightmare, I was still optimistic. The following day we went to do a bit of sightseeing and started with the Batu Caves. It was well worth it and at least I got a chance to experience something, despite everything else that was going on. While in KL, I also took a stroll to see the Petronas Towers at night and it was a magnificent sight. I highly recommend going to see it twice – during the day and at night time. The following day, Oumou and I walked to the KL Tower to see the city from the very top. The hike up to the main box office was extremely long, we thought it was going to be just a short walk but it was not. Pro Tip: Take a Grab Taxi directly from your hotel to the Tower, or if you want a good workout, you can walk there – depending on where your hotel is located, of course. Once we finally made it up to the Tower, we purchased our tickets and went to the Sky Box but it was really underwhelming. Another pro tip: If you go with someone else or in a group, make sure everyone gets a separate picture ticket – not the actual tickets to go up to the top; once you purchase your tickets and you get up to the top, someone else stands by the entrance and hands out individual tickets to take pictures in the Sky Box, make sure everyone gets their own ticket. When we got to the top they asked if Oumou and I were visiting together and we said yes so, they gave us one ticket. This meant that we had 2 minutes only in the box so we had 60 seconds each, which is definitely not enough time for the amount of money we paid to go up to the top. So, make sure to grab separate tickets so you can have at least 2 minutes to yourself.

All in all, if I had known what KL was going to be like, I would have skipped it and stayed longer in Bali or started our Thailand trip a few days earlier. However, I am trying to see the positive in everything nowadays so at least I can say I got the chance to visit a different country – even though I did not have the best time.

Once I posted my KL adventure on Instagram after I left, some folks actually reached out and told me that they there is a whole lot more to see in KL. Not sure if I will ever go back on my own dime but you know what they say, never say never.  Enjoy the pictures below!

Total cost of Malaysia trip:

Airfare from Bali to Kuala Lumpur: $136.10 via AirAsia on Expedia

Hotel: The Face Suites: $294.40 via Expedia

You can view detailed expenses from the trip here.

SB: The total cost in the attached spreadsheet does not reflect dollars changed to various currencies, some personal food costs, and souvenirs purchased.

Stay adventurous, dear friends, and always remember to stay golden. All ways, always.

Sincerely,

Samuella/Rich Auntie Sammie