Back to where it all began, Kuala Lumpur

Kuala Lumpur is the place my career break began early in October 2015. I like KL, so much so that my return here from India will be my 4th visit. I wasn't desperate to come back but it was the cheapest flight to South East Asia from Delhi. KL is a great travel hub so I knew I would be able to make onward travel plans easily and most important of all, many budget airlines have a base here.

Petronas Towers, Kuala Lumpur

I have already blogged about KL so this is an ideal opportunity to point any new readers back to the start of my blogs The Big Leap - First Strop Kuala Lumpur

Strangely KL International Airport (KLIA) is located over 50km from the cities Sentral Station. There is a very fast, clean and efficient train that does the journey at a cost of about £10 each way (55 Ringgit). I have always used this to get to and from the airport. 

Arriving at an early hour I had plenty of time on my hands before check-in at my hotel so I took the bus instead. The bus was just £2 (11 Ringgit) each way and was very clean and comfortable. They depart and arrive from the same place the only difference really is the time it takes to do the trip. I arrived in rush hour and it took over an hour, where as the train can do it in half that time. In future I will always use the bus to commute.

Once I'd got into my room, I was well overdue a shower as I was still in the clothes I wondered around the streets of Delhi in the day before and then spent hours on a plane.

The hotel I stayed in was run by Sri Lankan's who were enthusiastic about cricket. When I pulled out my photo's of the England v Sri Lanka game just two days earlier they could not believe I'd been at the match. The hotel had boutique in its name, personally I think that is stretching it a bit far. It was a clean tiny single room with bathroom and at a little over £8 per night including a decent breakfast was an absolute steel in my opinion. It was in a great location also just around the corner from restaurants, bars, clubs and shopping malls.

That afternoon I rekindled my growing love affair with the Petronas Towers. I had a walk around the park infront that gives great views of the magnificent structure. I didn't do the tour as I'd done it before, luckily really, as the connecting bridge was closed for maintenance.

I love these towers

Artistically Done

On the evening there is no better place to spend time eating and drinking on Jalan Alor. The place is a buzz of locals, tourists and touts. I had a beer and food in one of my favorite spots. I was home before dark due to the lack of sleep the night before.

Food and a beer before an early night

I'd had phone issues for the last week or so, it intermitantly stopped reading my memory card, kept over heating and turning off, often very slow to charge and quick to drain the battery. Sometimes the camera worked others it didn't. I felt if I didn't get a new one it would hamper my travels, afterall a phone these days is my camera, my guide book, my map etc. I'd chosen the one I wanted in India, didn't get around to buying it and ended up paying £30 more for the same model in Malyasia.

Setting up the phone took ages, by the time I was ready to go out it was after 2pm. I took myself on a little half day trip to Batu Caves. It is easy to get out here on public transport take the monorail, LRT or MRT to Sentral and catch a train direct to the caves. It is easy and under a £1 each way. The caves are also free so it is a cheap day out. There is a few bits and pieces up there that demand an entry fee, but none of them seemed to me to be worth the money.

The cave is located up some 272 steps, at the foot of which is a huge golden Hindu statue. The statue is 42.7m high and dwarfs the steps. Climbing the steps is easy, although with the sun beating down on your back you are bound to get a little sweaty. As you make your way up the steps there are monkeys playing, fighting, looking for food all around you. They think nothing of taking food of tourists. At the top there are a couple of big caves and temples.

Giant Hindu statue at Batu Caves - yes it really is this big!

View from the top looking down

My route back to the station was halted by some geezer feeding about 50 monkeys by the entrance. I bravely tried to squeeze past but one didn't look happy at the possibility of me steeling his food and did sufficient to make me wait until feeding time was over and the path to the station was clear.

Monkeys everywhere

The hotel gave me a City map with all the sights marked clearly on it, with a little bit of information on each sight. The KL City Gallery was described as the place you should go first when in Kuala Lumpur. I hadn't done it before so thought even though I was 4 visits too late I would head over to this. It wasn't bad in there, quite informative without information overload under a £1 entry fee and you could exchange your used ticket for either an ice-cream or a coffee in the gift shop cafe. I had an Iced Coffee and it was worth the entrance fee on its own.

Buildings around Merdeka Square

Buildings around Merdeka Square

The City Gallery is located at one end of Merdeka Square. A tip for a cheap eat around this touristy location. Under the huge flagpole is the entrance to a small underground mall. There is a food court at the back where locals frequent. I had Soup, Chicken Curry and noodles with an Iced Tea for £1.10. Very good food and excellent value for money.

All this for £1

Next up on my day tour of attractions I'd not done before was a walk around the Botanical Gardens. This was nice but it was crazily hot when you weren't in the shade. To cool down after an hours walk I went to the National Museum. Very informative and well presented.

Plenty of Greenery in the Botanical Gardens

I was leaving KL the next day and had a few options of what to do and where to go. One option was to head north to the Cameron Highlands for a break from the heat and to view the tea plantations. If I was to go north I would have continued up into Thailand making my way to Bangkok a couple of weeks later for the Songkran Water Festival. The second option was bus to Melacca and stay for the Friday night market, before heading down to Singapore where an onward flight to the Philippines was quite a bit cheaper than from KL. The final option was to fly straight into the Philippines.

I opted for the 2nd option booked an AirBnB but it got declined due to an over booking, so went for the third option and booked a flight to Manila for the following evening.

This night was the semi final of the Cricket World Cup England v New Zealand. My night started with cheap food and not too expensive drinks again down Jalan Alor. I had sourced a bar with the cricket on 5 minutes walk from Jalan Alor, but had also noticed that drinks were expensive. There were many bars on this strip each one having a seemingly good deal on until you worked out it was still expensive. I settled on a bar, had a few beers and a couple of celebratory Mojitos as England won the game comfortably.

Jalan Alor Selfie

Bar with the cricket on

The next morning I met a chap from Manila and bloke from KL over breakfast. They were very helpful and informative in telling me where I should stay in Manila and what Islands I should visit during my 4 week stay.

One of the restrictions of a free Visa into Philippines is you need evidence of your exit from the country so I had to book my onward flight to Taiwan, booking early meant I got it for a cracking price.

The Mojitos the night before all but wiped me out of Malaysian Ringgit. That afternoon I headed back to the Petronas Towers park and sat in the shade reading Lonely Planet - Philippines.

KLCC Park

Last view of the towers

My flight was ridiculously timed leaving KL at 02:30 and arriving in Manila at 05:00. The good news was that I had managed to arrange with the lady of the place I was staying at to let me check-in at 7am.

Spending my last Ringgits on dinner before my very late flight

I was looking forward to the Philippines, another new country for me and my first new country since entering Laos late in November.

KL Tower at night

I still love KL

The big leap - first stop Kuala Lumpur

After years of dreaming of doing it and months of seriously considering it, I finally took the plunge and handed in my notice at work and decided to come travelling.  Is it the right decision, was it the right decision, only time will tell.  Currently 4 days into my travelling it feels like the right decision, and as this can longer be undone I need focus on the future not what might have been.

Wandering around Kuala Lumpur (KL) on my first day of the trip I obviously gave ‘life’ plenty of thought.  It was nice to be in the reasonably familiar surroundings of KL as this was my third visit to the Malaysian capital and the 2^nd in the last 12 months. 

I grabbed a map from reception and set out walking the city.  My walking tour was quite extreme in the heat and humidity and looking back, perhaps a 24.86km walk on my first full day was not the best of ideas, but it give me the precious opportunity of time to think. 

I thought to myself, time, yes time, that is something that I have never not had the luxury of since my working career started.  Whilst at work I’ve been extremely lucky to have some fabulous holidays, but all of those have been done at ultra-speed power ticking my way around countries to quite literally tick them off.  Parts of this trip are time bound, but much of it is flexible and I now have that luxury of time.  Time to think, time to relax, time to do nothing with if I want.



My walk around KL took in the glorious Petronas Towers, it is nice to walk around the surrounding park taking in the magnificent structure of the twin towers connected by a sky-bridge.  I limited myself to taking just a handful of photographs to add to the many I have of the towers from other trips.

The other great landmark of KL is the Minerva Tower, so I headed across town directed by various glimpses of the TV Tower.  Again I didn’t feel it necessary to go to the top of the tower especially as it was around £15, and after all I’m supposed to be on a budget as I don’t know when or where my next pay packet will come from.  My walk was interrupted both to and from the tower by serious rain downpours the second of which lasted an hour or so and was accompanied by flashes of lightening and rumbles of thunder.



With the air cleared I headed to Chinatown and the famous Petaling Street, which as far as I’m concerned is an indoor market with pushy salesman selling fake watches, clothing and general tourist tat.  From here I visited Merdeka square which is essentially a cricket pitch in the centre of the city surrounded by great buildings, museums, clock tower and a cricket pavilion.  A huge Malaysian flag overlooks the square from one end.  What a cracker of a place this would be to play cricket.  The view from the middle allows you to see many of the sights I’d hiked around to see during the day.

The view from the wicket

After a short nap back at the hotel I set out in darkness.  From my hotel you could just see the twin towers poking up above the rest of the buildings and looking beautifully illuminated against the black sky behind.  I’d not been up to the towers at night so headed over and soon got my camera out and took many snaps to add to my collection. 

As I was leaving the area a large crowd had gathered by the lake in front of the towers, as I investigated soon a sound system soon started blasting out classical numbers with the many fountains perfectly choreographed to the beats of the music.  Not only were the fountains dancing they were accompanied with a vast array of colours passing through them, it really was quite spectacular.

On my second day I found out that a Ladies PGA golf tournament was on in the city, tickets were a bargain £4.50 and included plenty of freebies including lunch, cider, and umbrella. It was great to wander around a golf course getting so close to the world’s best female golfers.  A beautiful course with plenty of lakes and bunkers that made for a pleasant day.  It was hot standing out in the sun all-day though.

The final thing for me to mention on my short stay in Malaysia is the food and nightlife.  I purposely stayed by my favourite neighboured of Bukit Bintang.  One street I have always enjoyed is Jalon Alor.  It is a street that stimulates all senses, it has tables and chairs spilling out into the street from restaurants and street stalls selling a variety of Asian foods.  The smells are great (some less so) as you pass from BBQ to BBQ.  The street is lit with red lanterns above and is packed with locals and tourists alike.  I ate on this street every night and also drank here as it is the cheapest and most atmospheric place to drink in the city.  Around the corner is an upmarket version, with many bars and restaurants offering the same food and beer at significantly greater prices.  The clientele on this street is predominantly ex-pats and up-scale tourists.  I kept away from this area on this visit so not to blow my budget in the first few days.

KL provided me with a nice introduction to my trip, but I’m looking forward to bagging a new country in my passport tomorrow when I'm off to Yogyakarta on Java Island in Indonesia.



Plenty of food to choose from on Jalan Alor, KL

A cold beer on the busy street



Minerva Tower KL 

Petaling Street, Chinatown, KL

A day at the LPGA golf at  KLGCC