I took a short trip to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia recently and hope this post will be useful for anyone planning a holiday or a stopover. My journey began in Singapore on a comfy massage chair in Transtar’s first-class coach, which took 5 hours to reach Pasar Rakyat Bus Station. Upon arrival, we took a cab to the hotel.

As expected, the Malaysian taxi drivers refused to switch on their fare meters and we probably ended up paying almost double the actual price, but we didn’t really haggle as the grey skies looked menacing (well, it did rain but about an hour later). Anyway lesson learnt: when in KL, bargain, bargain, bargain.

We arrived shortly at the centrally located Swiss Garden Hotel, which had newly-refurbished rooms and was about 15 minutes walk from KL’s Chinatown. I had made reservations through Asiatravel.com for a family room, which meant two connecting rooms (a king and twin beds), a bathroom and two 32″ Samsung LCD TVs. I decided to give Batu Caves a miss as there were older family members with me who won’t be thrilled by the treacherous flight of stairs.

Our first stop was the bustling Petaling Street Market (or KL’s Chinatown), which had a supposed 773 stalls and although better known as a night market, the place was already crowded by about 4 in the afternoon. Similar in flavor to Hong Kong’s famous Temple and Ladies Street.

The main thing that stood out about about Chinatown was there appeared to be many more Indians than Chinese peddling their wares that mostly include ripoffs of branded bags, clothing and shoes. Thereafter we trotted down to KL’s famous food street Jalan Alor (KL map), which was opposite the Swiss Garden, for a taste of local street fare, which included fresh seafood, Wong Ah Wah grilled chicken wings and of course the love-it-or-hate-it funky durians.

Next day, we lugged our luggage to the nearby PuduRaya Bus Station and boarded an hourly express bus to Genting Highlands, Malaysia’s only legalized casino resort perched on a hill. It’s advisable to buy tickets in advance or you might have to wait more than 1.5 hours for the next available bus, as we did, even though it was a weekday

We then transferred to the scenic skyway (touted as the fastest 10-minute cable car ride) en route to the resort. You might like to check out a shop selling popular local snacks and delectable tidbits in the skyway building, just a level below the cable cars. Can’t miss the ‘mountains’ of dried fruits visible from the escalator.

If you have an aversion to heights and wish to skip the scenic cable car route, there is a direct half-hourly bus travelling between Genting and the Pekeliling bus terminal, which is beside the Titiwangsa LRT/ monorail station (transit map, KL).

Upon returning to KL the following day, we enjoyed a leisurely dim sum lunch at Ah Yat Abalone Forum Restaurant near the KLCC. We then checked into the Marriott Renaissance Hotel and our rooms offered a splendid view — the crown of Kuala Lumpur, the 88-storey KLCC Petronas Twin Towers.

Room with a View – photo taken from room at Renaissance Hotel East Wing

Dinner that night was at the Spring Valley Chinese Restaurant (part of Kl’s well-known  Tai Thong Group of Restaurants) at the huge Mid Valley Megamall. There was a Chinese wedding dinner being held there and we were hurriedly bundled off to a dingy private room at the back of the restaurant. Despite that, the food and service was really pretty good. Recommended.

On the final day, we wanted to try the KL monorail which gets you around the Golden Triangle town area. Waited about 10 minutes and when it finally arrived, we happily boarded and got out 8 sweaty minutes later.. at the same station. Due to a technical fault.. Ended up taking a cab to Sungei Wang shopping mall in the Bukit Bintang area, which is KL’s main shopping belt.

Interestingly, no chairs at the KL-LCCT terminal check-in lobby (there were a couple of F&B outlets) where we caught a Tiger Airways budget carrier back to Singapore. It was a short 40-minute flight but the cab took over an hour to reach the airport from KLCC and include another hour for checkin.

Conclusion: Tried a mix of street fare and Chinese restaurants; the food was good and cheaper than in Singapore, shopping’s still better in Bangkok but overall, Kuala Lumpur’s good value for a quick and inexpensive getaway in Asia. Enjoy.