Misty Weather in Genting Highland, Kuala Lumpur

I took a leave in April 2015 to have a small reunion with my elementary school friends, there were 17 of us from different cities (Kediri, Surabaya, Semarang, Jakarta & Singapore) without children. Our destination was Malaysia, we went with the morning flight, so all of us arrived in KLIA2, Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 around lunch time. Our meeting point was food court at 2M level before departing to Genting using rental cars. After lunch we searched for local sim card to avoid roaming fee, most of my friend bought 22 MYR to get free internet for a week. I didn’t buy it, just waiting for the free wifi connection. The new klia2 is quite huge, which could accommodate >200 retail outlets, anyway we didn’t have much time to explore it, just went directly to the exit gate waiting for the rental car to pick us up.

On the way to Genting, we stopped at Shell fuel station to buy some drinks and snacks, also went to the restroom. Arriving in Genting (perched on the peak of Gunung Ulu Kali at 1,800 meters high) for another hour, the place was covered with thick clouds, we could not see any panoramic view, it's common to have a misty weather in this location. The hotel’s front door was very wide, many doors decorating with beautiful lighting to enter. My friend had reserved 8 rooms at First World hotel through internet. There was no long queue, unfortunately we still had to wait for a long time as the room was not ready. I’m quite surprised as it was almost 17:00 o’clock while the normal check out hotel is at 14:00. The lobby was very beautiful, with many beautiful statues, carving and lighting. When I asked about free wifi, they said that I must pay 10 MYR for an hour or 15 MYR for 24 hours. I prefer not to buy it as we’ve just arrived and we’ll check out the next day, and I didn’t feel that I really need it.

After getting the room which was not as good and wide as the lobby, we went for dinner and exploring First World area, it’s a pity that the outdoor theme park was under construction. First World Plaza is a colourful shopping complex with restaurants, entertainment and boutique outlets. Finally after shopping, we decided to visit the only legal land-based gambling casino in Malaysia. We’re not allowed to take picture inside the casino, even we could not bring shopping bag inside, so some of our friends had to go back to the rooms. After going around in the casino, my friend decided to play guessing “small/big card”, others only as supporters. Lucky she could win 500 MYR, so we celebrated it by having dessert, and save the remaining money for durian on the next day.

In the morning we could see a very beautiful scenery from the lift’s window, as if we’re staying on the cloud. We planned to ride cable car called Genting Skyway (3.38 km) as the fastest and longest gondola lift in South East Asia, we had to walk quite a long distance through different hotels such as 5 star Maxims hotel, to reach the station. Lucky it’s indoor and so many escalators to connect one building to another building, so it’s not hot and we didn’t feel it’s far. We passed by some other hotels, such as the The cable car could only load 6-8 persons depend on the weight, but they had many cabins. It’s fun as we could see the trees and paths far below us, we also could see the mountains covering by the clouds. The peak overlooked lush valleys of rainforest stretching towards KL. It’s windy on the first quarter, the weather was mild and nice, after that we felt hot, as there was no wind and the sun was shiny quite strong to our cabin.

We directly decided to have brunch in Shanghai 10 restaurant, a dim sum, noodle and desert eatery. I was very happy as I could get a quite fast free wifi from the restaurant. While waiting for the ordered food, I was busy checking and update my facebook, whatsapp and bbm. Funny things happened when I ordered flower shrimp, it looked big and beautiful in the picture's menu. I'm quite surprised when it came it's not as big as the picture, but it's beautiful. I took picture then busy again updating my picture, suddenly when I want to eat it, only empty plate left :-( I decided to order once more then.

As it's already around 12:00, we had to go back to the hotel for checkout, unless we would get penalty if we were late. The good thing was the check-out kiosk, that’s fast and efficient, you don’t need to queue, because there were many machines for you to drop your room’s card there. It would connect automatically to the receptionist and cleaning service, so they could clean the room for the next guest.

The next destination in Genting was Chin Swee, a beautiful Taoist temple, as it’s built in the most scenic site of Genting Highlands in 18 years. It’s located 4600 feet above sea level, so the weather was quite cold although the sun shone so strong. There were a statue of Qingshui, a Buddhist monk which was popular for his abilities to summon rain and drive away evil spirits. A beautiful red temple was in the middle of the hall where we could see the giant Buddha statue, waterfall and its iconic Pagoda tower. We took many pictures there, sometimes the sun shone so hard, until we could not see clearly to take picture, but suddenly the cloud came.

The temple was built by the founder of Genting (Lim Goh Tong) to venerate Buddhist figure Chin Swee. A construction foundation dug from solid bedrock, modern machinery was eschewed because of the steep terrain. Many beautiful objects for taking pictures with its bright color and blue sky. I love to stay there as the weather was nice and the scenery was amazing, unfortunately we had to go to Kuala Lumpur. Behind the statue is a natural rock in a man-made flowing stream. The rock gives the necessary support to the statue while the stream provides clear cool mineral water throughout the year. This water has been named ‘Dragon Mineral Water’ was said to have healed the sick.

If you like a mild weather, a breathtaking view and serene mountain environment, Genting Highland is a good destination for leisure with family too, as there was indoor theme park, shops and restaurants. It was fun to go together with my childhood friend while we could have the cheer and laughter together.

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Shiny colorful light at Bukit Bintang

If you like to go for shopping and eating, Bukit Bintang in downtown Kuala Lumpur is the correct place to go. I was staying in Novotel KLCC, at 2 Jalan Kia Peng - 50450 Kuala Lumpur, Phone: (+60)3/21470888 in Sep 09. The hotel location is quite convenience, it's just a walking distance to Bukit Bintang area, it's strategically located within the heart of Kuala Lumpur's Golden Triangle.


Across the street is Pavilion Bukit Bintang, the world-class shopping center which was launched last 20th Sep 07. It's a shopping paradise for the people who loves branded stuffs. You could find famous designer brands like Aigner, Club Monaco, Coach, Ermenegildo Zegna, Hermes, Hugo Boss, Prada and Versace, etc. There are also many restaurants to visit providing from Malay food, Japanese food, Chinese food, Western Food, and still more variety of foreign foods are available.


From Novotel I crossed the bridge, I entered at the street-level directly to the 3rd floor of Pavilion, it's welcoming ambience with large airy premises framed with high ceilings and wide corridor pavements is complemented by an exciting tenant mix. It also have many leisure outlets such as GSC Cinemas, RedBox Plus or Times The Bookshop.

Too many restaurants made me confused to explore, lucky there was a map directory signage for restaurant that could guide me to the one that I wanted. I selected Madam Kwan's restaurant at the 1st floor that provided Malay food, I wanted to eat Nasi Lemak, the waitress was very welcome and helpful. The waiter who served me, said that Nasi Lemak is spicy, he suggested me to select Nasi Bojari which's contained of a red rice with a very huge roasted chicken, shrimp and boiled egg, then I ordered a very yummy ice kacang as the dessert. The food portion here is quite big. It made me very full, so I decided to go for a walk for sight seeing.

I went back upstairs to the 3rd floor heading towards Bukit Bintang entrance. The signage was quite clear, so you wouldn't get lost. Anyway if you need to ask for direction, so many security officers around the area would be happy to show you the way. In front of Pavilion there was a beautiful colorful fountain, most people stopped by to take pictures which I also did it :-) I offered a couple to take their picture, so he could take my picture. That's the disadvantage to go alone, your friend could not help you to take pictures he..he..

Bukit Bintang area was quite crowded with vehicles and people. It's very bright and colorful suitable as the shopping and entertainment district in Kuala Lumpur. There were many shops, restaurants, cafes, hotels and also souvenir stalls. Bukit Bintang has always been popular and fashionable however in the last few years has undergone gentrification and come away as both historical and chic at the same time. Whether you fancy haute cuisine or hawker stalls, brand name fashion or quirky local boutiques it’s all available in Bukit Bintang.

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Journey to KL - Day 5

Finally we reached the last day of visiting Malaysia, we began with breakfast, not in the hotel, but at Alor street visited our favourite foodstall which sold prata with curry. Teh tarik (literally pulled tea or 拉茶 in Mandarin) was our selection to drink. It is prepared using a unique technique. The tea is poured from a hand held high into a container held in a hand below. The tea is poured back and forth in this manner to create a thick froth. Aside from cooling down the tea to drinking temperatures, it is believed that this method mixes the tea with the condensed milk more thoroughly. The main ingredients are tea and condensed milk. Ginger water may also be added to form teh halia, or ginger tea. It has become the de facto national drink of Malaysia. It’s cheap, only cost 3RM for food and drink. It’s very yummy especially for the prata, we bought some to eat along the journey back to Batam


Going back to hotel, we had satiated with the breakfast then we started bringing down the stuffs from the hotel room. The lift was full with us and all of the luggages. What’s a surprised that our hunting for souvenirs and snacks quite a lot. Each of us had to bring the backpack and 2 more bags. Lucky that there was a man in our group, but poor him, because he was the only man, he had to carry the box full of chocolate, it’s quite big and heavy (more than 10 kgs). He looked like a labour who went home from abroad  By cab we went toward the Pasarakyat Bus Terminat at. No 10, Ground Floor Jalan Melati off Jalan Imbi / Jalan Tun Razak 55100 Kuala Lumpur, phone: +603 2141 1771. We entered a nice cold waiting lounge decorated with Ikea furniture and glassware providing snacks and drinks while waiting for the bus departure. Before departing, we put all stuffs into the bus baggage, we still had time to take pictures around the bus.

The Transtar double deck bus was very big, but it only contained 16 passengers. We didn’t know that we would get the first class bus, it cost S$42 more expensive than our bus from Singapore to KL (S$33). Of course this one was more luxury and convenient, in each seat there was a 10 inch LCD TV set with your own set headphones, so we can tune into our favourite shows, listening music or even playing game. The leather seat was ergonomic with ultra spacious leg room, you can straighten your legs, it also had massage features device to knead away any tension during the trip that made you more relax and comfortable. All of passengers seat were on the top deck, while at the bottom deck, there was a spacious room providing a big screen with a long table and sofa to be utilized for either meeting or leisure such as karaoke. During the trip, a handsome young stewardess served us with snack, drink and meal (spaghetti). I was still full with breakfast, so I had my meal for lunch. We were lucky that we’d got the front seat, so we could enjoy the scenery along the trip.

Passing the immigration post in KL was ok, but at the next immigration post in Singapore it’s rather troublesome, because we had to bring down all of the stuffs including luggage through the immigration by ourselves. It’s very heavy and troublesome, we need to queue quite long although there were many lines open for checking. The bus dropped us in front of Golden Mile shopping mall in Singapore, actually it’s near Lavender MRT station, but we decided to take a taxi to Harbourfront Center, because of our stuffs. Arriving at Harbourfront Center we checked in at the boat ticket booth on the second floor of the mall. Lucky that we could drop our luggages, so we got a chance to explore the Vivo mall while waiting for the boat. From Harbourfront terminal to go to Batam Center took around an hour, our colleagues in Batam were kind enough to pick us up from the terminal to the hotel.

Finally our adventurer journey was ended, with so many unforgettable memories. Our legs were painful, but we were glad that we had visited many places in 2 countries with a limited budget, and we still could bring back some snacks and souvenirs. So many stories and pictures could be shared with our friends and relatives.

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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.

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Journey to KL - Day 3

Finally on Sunday we could start exploring Kuala Lumpur. After taking a bath and having breakfast, we split into 2 groups, the couple were tired, so they didn’t want to go too far, just exploring around our hotel. That morning it was raining, my friend bought an umbrella, because he stayed in different hotel and he had to walk to our hotel.

Lucky that the rain was stopped when we had finished the breakfast. Three of us started exploring Bukit Bintang area, entered some shopping mall such as Sungei Wang. Bukit Bintang, whilst apart of the Golden Triangle, is really more of a neighborhood than anything else. Bukit Bintang has always been popular and fashionable however in the last few years has undergone gentrification and come away as both historical and chic at the same time. Whether you fancy haute cuisine or hawker stalls, brand name fashion or quirky local boutiques it’s all available in Bukit Bintang. We took some pictures at the garden and also in front of some cafés along Bukit Bintang. The mall looked same as in Indonesia.
My friend wanted to buy some set of spoons in Ikea. The IKEA offer - a wide range of well designed, functional home furnishing products at low prices. The IKEA store has thousands of square metres of ideas, offers, solutions and suggestions. I like Ikea, so I preferred to go there than going around malls.

We took KL Monorail from Bukit Bintang station to KL Central continuing to Kelana Jaya using LRT (Light Rail Transit). Malaysia is more modern than Indonesia for the public transportation, they have monorail with aircon inside, it’s quite comfortable. The ticket price is quite competitive too and it’s much faster than car. Anyway it’s a little bit different from Singapore, most of the station are in open area, we were lucky, because it’s raining in the morning, the weather was not too hot. We had to go pass through a traditional market to different line of the LRT station, the station was not connected to the monorail. Kelana Jaya was the nearest LRT station to Ikea, then continuing by bus which’s free of charge. After waiting more than half an hour, we gave up, because it's very hot and we were starving, so we took a cab directly to the mall. The restaurant was our main destination in the mall right after arriving Ikea complex he..he... I took roti prata, one of my favourite food with kickapoo juice in cane. My choice was quite right, the juice was fresh and delicious, the roti prata was so so.


There was a bazar at the mall's area, so we split and promised to gather in the middle of the place after an hour, because we had different interest. There were so many things sell, but most of them were clothes. I bought a beautiful light blue stone bracelet and I wore it right away. The center of the fields were decorated with flowers and fountain, of course we didn't forget to take pictures.


Ikea was our next destination, it's very huge, and amazing. So many things we wanted to buy, unfortunately we were afraid that we had difficulty to bring it back to Indonesia. I bought set of spoons that my colleague recommended for my sisters' gift, because they'd just moved to a new apartment. It's quite heavy, but the quality is good, with a very reasonable price. I was also interested to a blue vase, I doubted to buy it, but it's very attempting, then I decided to buy it. It's easier broken, so I had to bring it with care. I had to be extra careful to bring it home. Actually I was also interested to buy some desk lamps, it's so elegant and simple, but I realized that it would be very difficult to bring, so I had to forget it :-( Anyway I got a chance to take some pictures in front of some beautiful lamps.With so many stuffs on our hands, we decided to go back to the hotel. Although our feet were sore, we didn't want to waste time by exploring more places.


We had dinner at Alor street, in front of our hotel, then we continued exploring China Town at Jl. Petaling. It's 22:00 o'clock when we arrived at Petaling, we spent around an hour there to shop Malaysia souvenirs for our friends and relatives in Indonesia. The price was very competitive in this place as long as you are expert in bargaining. It's very satisfying when we could bargain and get half price than the offer he..he.. that's woman nature I think :-)

My friend was naughty, he was upset because we spent more than an hour to shop although we'd complained that we were very tired. He asked us to walk returning to the hotel, he said that it's near, but it took around 45 minutes to walk. It's very far, and it made us terrible tired that night. When we arrived in the hotel, we could not do anything else but sleeping.

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