Journey to KL - Day 4

After exploring food and souvenirs in China Town the day before, that day we planned to find the bus station place for returning to Singapore the next morning, so we wouldn't be lost. We didn't like the breakfast menu in the hotel, we decided to eat snacks along the Alor street. We bought some fried snacks, such as cakue; also jerked meat and moon cake. At the corner of the street we visited the store which sells traditional foods, lucky that we met Mr. Lau. He offered us to drive to the bus station and Beryl's chocolate store just for 5RM. We're glad to take the offer, so we didn't need to bother to walk to the public transportation or finding a cab.


After buying mooncake, we entered his car, driving directly to the bus station at Imbi street. The location was quite convenience, my friend had relieved to know the place, so we didn't need to worry for tomorrow. The next destination was Beryl's the best chocolate production in Malaysia, my friend's relative asked her to buy some chocolates here. The store located near the bus station, 38, Jalan Utara, Off Jalan Imbi, 55100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, phone: 603-21458211. At the gate we were welcome by a cow statue at the front door, of course we took pictures with the cow and Mr. Lau our guide. Entering the store, you could see the history of Beryl's, the chocolate process including the production machine. If you need any explanation, the waiter or waitress were happy to help you.

The next room was full of various chocolate candy. Entering the room made you enchanted. Beryl’s Chocolate is a growing chocolatier that offers chocolate lovers some of the finest selections in the region. From ancient time chocolate had been a delicacy and a medicine for the human spirit. They offer you – and your spirit – an endless choice of chocolates featuring a variety of tastes, flavours and packaging to meet your every need! You could taste it before deciding to buy certain candy. The speciality was the fruit chocolate, such as apple, mango, kiwi, blueberry, rockmelon; they use the original fruit, but they also have the flavor fruit, so you could choose which one you prefer. It seemed that I want to buy all of them, but the price was quite expensive too. My favourite was the sesame chocolate and the mint chocolate. We didn't realize that we bought a lot, what a surprize, 1 big box for three of us.

From the store, Mr. Lau brought us to the other store, Sandaran Aktif, which was sold "Tongkat Ali", its scientific name is Eurycoma longifolia, has become popular for its alleged testosterone-enhancing properties. It has therefore been included in some herbal supplements for bodybuilders. Historically, South East Asia has utilised the herb for its suggested antimalarial, antipyretic, antiulcer, cytotoxic and aphrodisiac properties.Some scientific studies suggest that it enhances sexual characteristics and performance in animals. The store also provided oil for healing rheumatic or neuro pain. My right knee was aching, the waitress tried it on me, she asked me to put the oil on both of my palm, then I should put both of my palms on my knee for 5 minutes. It's very hot, it remained hot for 7 hours, but my knee had recovered after it. I bought 2 bottles of them, but I'm afraid to use it again, because it's very hot. My friend bought Malaysian coffee, she loves the white coffee, it's cheaper than in Indonesia.

Because our items purchased a lot, we asked Mr. Lau to send us to the hotel. We took a rest for a while in the hotel, then we continue to go for lunch to Kampung Baru, the oldest ethnic Malay residential area in the heart of Kuala Lumpur. Putra KLR was our transportation to go there from Bukit Bintang station to Kampung Baru station. About ten minutes away from Chow Kit Market, it was founded in 1899 and there are still authentic traditional Malay wooden houses there. We went to food areas, the restaurant was like a fast food restaurant, but they provided traditional Malay food and desserts. You could take by yourselves, whatever vegetables, fishes, meats, or chickens you want with the red rice then the seller would count based on quantity of the variant you selected, such as 1 meat + 1 vegetable, or 1 meat + 2 vegetables, they didn't care about the portion. Similar to Indonesia, they also provided sweet dessert, such as Pengat (Tapioca or Banana) a thick brown sugar mix together with the ingredient and cook, ice durian, etc.


After satiated with the food, we continued to go to Central Market, Jalan Hang Kasturi, 50050 Kuala Lumpur. Central Market, a cultural and shopping center, is the best place to witness Malaysian culture, art and craft. A variety of goods are sold here, including handicrafts, souvenirs and art, all at reasonable prices. Amid the stalls selling souvenirs are small outlets where Malaysian artists display their works. Visitors may even have their portrait painted or order custom-made crafts. Just outside Central Market is a riverside amphitheater, a venue for traditional dance displays, wayang kulit, which is shadow puppet shows and more contemporary entertainment. I bought soya green bean, because I'd never found it in Indonesia, apparently my cousins love it when I gave her for souvenirs. I love the market, the building architecture is good, the goods sold were various, and there was also a food court if you need something to eat.

KLCC was our next destination, it's around 16:00 o'clock, we went there using monorail again, it's good because the station was exactly inside the mall, so we didn't need to walk through the open area. The mall was very huge with 6 levels shopping malls contains of many branded store such as Bally, Hush Puppies, Vincci (Malaysia shoes), Kookai, Zara, etc. They also had spa and hotel, we're not interested in shopping here. Anyway we split the team, girls and boy because we had different interest for shopping. My friend and I only visited Body Shop to buy lipstic, then we sat on the stone seat under the lift, to rest our feet while we wait for meeting time.

After an hour in the mall, we continued going to the 50-acre tropical landscape in the heart of the KLCC development provides an urban sanctuary for all. The public park reflects the tropical greenery, vibrant colours and patterns of the country's rich cultural heritage while its calm setting help dissipate the tensions of city living. It features various amenities such as a two-acre children's playground, symphony fountain, wading pool, jogging track, shelters and benches, patterned foot-paths and sculptures. Another striking feature of the park is the Lake Symphony which comprises two water fountains. Located at the esplanade outside Suria KLCC, the Lake Symphony is programmed to provide 150 magical dramatic animations. The total effect is a light hearted and gregarious atmosphere. We could take the twin tower from the park, it's still light, so we waited the sky got dark to get better picture. Unfortunately we didn't notice that KL night is later than Indonesia. We had to wait around 2 hours in the park, because we were too tired to go back to the mall. We sat on the grass, although there were some ants, around 19:30 the sky became dark. We were glad that we could take the awesome 88-storey PETRONAS shiny twin towers with the black sky background. We were too tired to take monorail again, because you had to long all the way back to the mall, so we took a taxi to go back to the hotel. We only put our shopping bags, then we had dinner at Alor street in front of the hotel. Black noodle and some seafood were our selection menu, it's nice. To buy additional souvenirs, we only explored near hotel, then we returned to the hotel to pack the stuffs and prepared for the check out tomorrow. We slept very tight that night, because we were exhausted of walking, but we were glad that we could visit some places on that day.