Is Kuala Lumpur as dull as it looks?

[Rotty]

In a couple of weeks I'm heading out east and as flying Air Malaysia decided on a 3 night stopover in KL

Started looking for a few bits to do and it looks an extremely dull place

Anyone got any suggestions? forget the towers as not keen on heights and reviews of the caves are generally awful

 

[Rotty]

Thanks

So it seems it is as dull as I thought

Re the caves, I'm not going anywhere at 6AM

 

[Rotty]

We descended into bar hoping pretty quickly and that's great

thats probably what will happen, I hear it's expensive though

 

[Rotty]

Its certainly not the sort of SE Asia pricing I was anticipating.. It gets better as you dive deeper into the country but KL is basically any city price.

As long as a beer isn't Singapore / Hong Kong level I'll manage

 

[Rotty]

Plenty of places you can fly to 1-2 hours away, personally I’d go to Langkawi

We are off to Thailand after 3 nights so covered on that one, thanks

 

[Rotty]

Depends on what you are after, It was a while ago but I’ve had 2-3 day trips to Ankor Wat and Mt Kinabalu and they were much more memorable than the days I spent in Kuala Lumpur, air Asia has a base there and it’s pretty reasonable to fly in the region.

I’m sure it’s not a fair reflection but I remember nice malls, loads of steps at the batu caves, traffic and taxis with ‘broken’ meters

Broken meters are standard in a lot of Asia, I use Grab and Bolt where possible

 

[Rotty]

If I had to choose now and I was going that far I'd go to Vietnam again.

Having just experienced it however and having fallen deeply and somewhat hopelessly in love with it, I'd go back to Japan in a heartbeat.

Been to Vietnam 5 or 6 times and Thailand 10-12

Will have to try Japan sometime, what's put me off is, firstly, it's a bit weird and also I like to spend time with the locals and the Japanese are not exactly sociable, they aren't unpleasant just very reserved from what I have seen

 

[Rotty]

I was there Easter weekend this year. Stayed central, here. Great location, cheap rate and has a wicked pool area on the roof. Didn't do much other than eat and drink. Quite similar to most other big Asian cities I've been to except with a lot more order. Some good bars with a good variety of craft beers if that's your thing. Went to a couple of high level fine dining restaurants and they were great. Price wise I found it comparable with inner Melbourne, although it's expensive here when comparing with most of the UK.
Use Grab, not taxis. It's so ridiculously cheap. So much so that if the price was 10x more I'd still find it reasonable. For that reason we always chose the premium or exec option. Usually one of those cool black Toyota people carriers with the business class seats in the back.

we have a hotel booked, a junior suite at the Majestic , it's at the side if the big park but with hindsight maybe not the best location

Craft beers are absolutely my thing, any particular area to look at?

I always use Grab and Bolt in Asia rather than regular taxis

 

[Rotty]

BA just cancelled 6 months worth of flights to KL...including mine

EXCLUSIVE: British Airways cancels return to Kuala Lumpur

British Airways has cancelled its return to Kuala Lumpur, even though the first flights are due to depart in less than a month. We look at what's going on.

www.headforpoints.com

I'm with Air Malaysia, my return flight was dues to be BA's first day doing KL so I can imagine my flight being full of BA passengers now where it had looked quite empty

 

[Rotty]

They wanted to route us out and back via Doha on Qatar airways.

However, we had paid a bit extra for Premium Economy, and Qatar airways don't have a premium economy section so it would have been a downgrade and there was no financial incentive to do this (I didn't really fancy 2x 7 hour flights in economy to be honest)

In the end they moved us to a direct return flight to Singapore instead in premium economy and then an hour long connecting flight on Malaysia Airlines to KL

over last couple of years I had 2 returns to BKK cancelled by BA, they were business class so I was more than happy when thy put us on Qatar

 

[Rotty]

@Rotty

How was it?

Dull , people are really nice but it's not very interesting at all

 

[Rotty]

@Rotty The Japanese have 2 sides. A work side and a after work side. They have this unwritten rule where when it is drinking, they will divulge all their secrets to you. They really let their hair down when they drink. This video explains it quite well.

Cheers will take a look

they have a huge bird park that’s nice for a walk around

The mandarin oriental hotel buffet dinner was pricey but great when I visited a few years ago, the food was plentiful as you’d expect but was some of

The bird park was good

 

[Rotty]

Now or in general?

It's hot and humid like a lot of that part of Asia.

was ridiculously humid when we were there 2 weeks back, phone app said 32c with "feels like" showing 41c

 

[Rotty]

I've a couple of nights in Singapore in about 8 or 9 weeks, looks about as dull and even more expensive for a beer

 

[Rotty]

It's a Muslim country so not many bars outside of hotels, though we found a few.

Most seem to be concentrated around the Changkat area

 

[Rotty]

The Hawker centres are good fun. Decent food and street beers. Saves you a trip to Eden project if you go to Gardens by Bay

they the street food market places? got less than 48hrs there so will have to be very selective

 

[Rotty]

I thought you've been to SE Asia a lot, can't believe you've never been to Singapore.

2 days is enough to see most of Singapore, but the place is mostly just malls, hawker centres and man made stuff like the man made beaches in Sentosa and the Jewel, Gardens by the Bay and Marina Bay Sands.

It's basically a great place to eat for cheap. Alcohol is expensive and not that much in terms of fun compared to Japan or even historical things to see as it was all jungle 100 years ag

Thanks for the info

If you're into your whiskey though, most of the places I went to allowed you to buy a bottle and keep it behind the bar.

seen that quite a lot in Asia

 

[Rotty]

I personally enjoy KL, but I see it from a different lens owing to the wife's family being from that part of the world. We do it with a different lens of course, as a family thing, eating, seeing sights, tourist attractions, immersion into the culture. It's all an experience, especially with children.

Weather can be somewhat overwhelming during certain seasons.

As mentioned Singapore is well worth a visit, I think if I could live in Singapore for a few years I'd be happy, I just really enjoy the atmosphere there.

the humidity was ridiculous, made Bangkok seem like a pleasant climate

 

[Rotty]

Tut tut.

I've only been in Sing during the F1, 3 times I think, bit different then! The hawker markets and stuff are decent but overall it's pretty sterile.

Bangkok, Hanoi, Hong Kong are vastly more interesting places to visit.

I am a big fan of more raw edged cities

Bangkok, HCM we love, not sure re Hanoi , HK and KL were not for us

 

[Rotty]

Whaat? HK is awesome, it's got everything. Swanky bits. Dive bits. All kinds of markets. Amazing food scene. Great Music and arts scene. Beaches. Mountains. Sports. A short train ride to Shenzen.

Biased as I lived there, and tbh I don't know how much it has suffered since the great red curtain came down, but it's not comparable to soulless hubs like KL and Sing.

I thought Saigon was just a grubby soulless dive full of sex tourists like Phnom Pen. Hanoi has a lot more charm.

HCM really isn't a sex tourist place like PP and Bangkok are