So of course, with KL being my most recent port of call (and abode) and with some of my friends now departing KL for new jobs, a trip back there has been on my mind. I wondered what I would do if I had three days there, and thought it would make an interesting post. Both for reasons of nostalgia, and of interest, to see what would push further up the priority list compared to other things.
I thought this might be the subject of an interesting series of posts - I am thinking Singapore, Hong Kong, London, to name a few. Plus perhaps cities I have either never visited, or have not been to in ages. It would take some research, travel planning, and frankly a whole lot of fun thinking about travelling! So here goes with the first one - 3 days in Kuala Lumpur!
Day 1
I've been wondering how to approach these posts from the point of view of whether or not I would be travelling solo. These days travel is done as a family unless it is for work, and frankly I can't see too many work trips to exotic overseas destinations in my near future! However, for this post, there is some small chance that my previous employer would gain enough traction with their current due diligence interest to get some funds, pay me what they owe me, and perhaps need me to finalise any queries regarding the mine or the deposit. Still, I think I am going to write all these posts as if they are family trips, with perhaps some leeway for adult excursions after hours. They are all going on purely in my head after all!
So where would we undoubtedly stay in KL would be at our old haunt, The Westin, in Bukit Bintang. As I wrote in a previous post, my wife and I (and me on my own during my single days of 09/10) stayed here probably twice per month, racking up over 100 nights over a two year period.
We would probably arrive late evening and head to the hotel. We generally don't favour overnight flights these days, as they can be a nightmare with kids, but again for the sake of the post, I'll stick with that as a plan, so the trip can be planned around three full days in KL.
We're all early risers, so I reckon we'd start the day probably heading down to the breakfast buffet at Westin. I know my wife would likely be clamouring for mamak food (street hawker stalls) but I have a plan for that for later, and Westin has a wonderful buffet, which suits every palate.
The photo doesn't really do it justice, but gives an idea of the array of food - there would be easily a dozen different areas like this with various Asian options, Western staples, a bakery, fruits, you name it. Yum! I used to love it! Expensive, but not if included with your room, as is frequently the case in Asian hotels.
So that probably takes us to say 8am on Day 1. After breakfast I reckon we would wander across the road to Pavilion, my favourite mall in KL, grab a copy of Timeout magazine to peruse the latest places to eat, drink, shop and party, and perhaps a coffee at The Pressroom, which is in the open arcade area on the ground floor. Pricey, but superb, and a wonderful spot to sit and watch the world go by. When meeting friends at nearby La Boca or Malones for a drink, I would often arrive early, simply to enjoy a coffee and relax here. Great Spot!
From then (kids and wife willing!) it would be the start of our first little adventure. I used to love walking around KL (see many of my older blog posts), and I fancy the idea of walking from Pavilion, down Jalan Bukit Bintang, across Jalan Tun Razak, and up Jalan Ampang Hilir. This is our old stomping ground: firstly in Ampang itself, where I used to live in the old days during my initial year in KL in 08/09, and then at the start of our second stint in 13/14 at Mutiara Upper East condo in Desa Pandan, just a few minutes of Ampang Hilir. The walk would likely involve a refreshment stop at Great Eastern Mall, which is frankly a fairly average mall, but was very convenient for us when we lived in the area, and did have some good food (the beef noodle soup in the Japanese restaurant upstairs is a must try!).
The real goal though, is the hawker centre at the end of Ampang Hilir. It is here where the best pork noodle soup we ever found in KL was located. When we were in Desa Pandan we used to go there at least twice per week, sometimes more often! The photo below shows the outside of the food court. The stall we visited is visible in the pic, but hard to make out. I hope she is still there, as it would be marvelous to go check it out again one day. The food court was pretty good overall too, with a great bakery, good chee cheong fan, excellent pork ball noodle, and top notch Cantonese BBQ.
This would probably see us through until about 1pm I reckon. By now no doubt everyone would have had a gutful of walking, so I reckon we'd adjourn next door to the hawker centre to the Brussels Beer Cafe for a couple of cool drinks. When I looked on Google Maps, the picture of this area was taken basically when we lived there in 2013, so I have no idea if it is still there - check that, I just googled them and yes they are! I have some fond memories of that place. One in particular is going there for a couple the night my son Daniel was born. It's across the road from old Ampang Grocers, a staple of shopping for expats from the days before the western supermarkets came into being. It's still a decent place to shop even now.
So assuming we're looking at 2pm-ish, it'd be a blue cab ride back to the Westin for a rest. From there, I reckon I'd leave the clan to chill at the hotel, and wander down to Cathy's (again from a previous post) to catch up with Michael and have a few icy-cold and very well-priced Tigers. Then it'd be a quick wander through the elevated, enclosed walkway (a brilliant feature in KL, linking Bukit Bintang and KLCC, enclosed and partly air-conditioned, and a wonderful way to traverse the area), back to the hotel to decide on how to spend the evening!
I've been wondering how to approach these posts from the point of view of whether or not I would be travelling solo. These days travel is done as a family unless it is for work, and frankly I can't see too many work trips to exotic overseas destinations in my near future! However, for this post, there is some small chance that my previous employer would gain enough traction with their current due diligence interest to get some funds, pay me what they owe me, and perhaps need me to finalise any queries regarding the mine or the deposit. Still, I think I am going to write all these posts as if they are family trips, with perhaps some leeway for adult excursions after hours. They are all going on purely in my head after all!
So where would we undoubtedly stay in KL would be at our old haunt, The Westin, in Bukit Bintang. As I wrote in a previous post, my wife and I (and me on my own during my single days of 09/10) stayed here probably twice per month, racking up over 100 nights over a two year period.
We would probably arrive late evening and head to the hotel. We generally don't favour overnight flights these days, as they can be a nightmare with kids, but again for the sake of the post, I'll stick with that as a plan, so the trip can be planned around three full days in KL.
We're all early risers, so I reckon we'd start the day probably heading down to the breakfast buffet at Westin. I know my wife would likely be clamouring for mamak food (street hawker stalls) but I have a plan for that for later, and Westin has a wonderful buffet, which suits every palate.
So that probably takes us to say 8am on Day 1. After breakfast I reckon we would wander across the road to Pavilion, my favourite mall in KL, grab a copy of Timeout magazine to peruse the latest places to eat, drink, shop and party, and perhaps a coffee at The Pressroom, which is in the open arcade area on the ground floor. Pricey, but superb, and a wonderful spot to sit and watch the world go by. When meeting friends at nearby La Boca or Malones for a drink, I would often arrive early, simply to enjoy a coffee and relax here. Great Spot!
From then (kids and wife willing!) it would be the start of our first little adventure. I used to love walking around KL (see many of my older blog posts), and I fancy the idea of walking from Pavilion, down Jalan Bukit Bintang, across Jalan Tun Razak, and up Jalan Ampang Hilir. This is our old stomping ground: firstly in Ampang itself, where I used to live in the old days during my initial year in KL in 08/09, and then at the start of our second stint in 13/14 at Mutiara Upper East condo in Desa Pandan, just a few minutes of Ampang Hilir. The walk would likely involve a refreshment stop at Great Eastern Mall, which is frankly a fairly average mall, but was very convenient for us when we lived in the area, and did have some good food (the beef noodle soup in the Japanese restaurant upstairs is a must try!).
The real goal though, is the hawker centre at the end of Ampang Hilir. It is here where the best pork noodle soup we ever found in KL was located. When we were in Desa Pandan we used to go there at least twice per week, sometimes more often! The photo below shows the outside of the food court. The stall we visited is visible in the pic, but hard to make out. I hope she is still there, as it would be marvelous to go check it out again one day. The food court was pretty good overall too, with a great bakery, good chee cheong fan, excellent pork ball noodle, and top notch Cantonese BBQ.
This would probably see us through until about 1pm I reckon. By now no doubt everyone would have had a gutful of walking, so I reckon we'd adjourn next door to the hawker centre to the Brussels Beer Cafe for a couple of cool drinks. When I looked on Google Maps, the picture of this area was taken basically when we lived there in 2013, so I have no idea if it is still there - check that, I just googled them and yes they are! I have some fond memories of that place. One in particular is going there for a couple the night my son Daniel was born. It's across the road from old Ampang Grocers, a staple of shopping for expats from the days before the western supermarkets came into being. It's still a decent place to shop even now.
So assuming we're looking at 2pm-ish, it'd be a blue cab ride back to the Westin for a rest. From there, I reckon I'd leave the clan to chill at the hotel, and wander down to Cathy's (again from a previous post) to catch up with Michael and have a few icy-cold and very well-priced Tigers. Then it'd be a quick wander through the elevated, enclosed walkway (a brilliant feature in KL, linking Bukit Bintang and KLCC, enclosed and partly air-conditioned, and a wonderful way to traverse the area), back to the hotel to decide on how to spend the evening!
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