We flew to KL from Bali with Air Asia arriving not long before rush hour. We’d been texting our friends all morning trying to decide the best way into KL from LCC Terminal and had decided the easiest way was bus directly from the airport. We purchased the bus tickets on the flight so when we landed we just had to go direct to the bus. The bus was just setting off when Syd’s phone picked up a network and a message from Shelagh saying that the bus was probably not the best idea. The train now stopped at LCC Terminal and would get us into KL Sentral in less that a third of the time. Too late we were already on our way. Rush hour in KL is horrendous. We moved at a snails pace, but eventually we were dropped off at KL Sentral where Shelagh met us and we took the underground train to KLCC which is the station under the Petronas Towers. We walked through the shopping mall to the park entrance where we were picked up by the buggy which is available to residents in Larry and Shelagh’s Condominium. The buggy deposited us at “Binjai on the Park” which is directly opposite the towers at the other side of the park. Larry and Luke were waiting for us in the apartment with a nice cold drink. Their apartment here is beautiful with a great view over the Petronas Towers. It is amazing at night when the towers are lit. They seem to sparkle. There home in Kuala Lumur is certainly a complete contrast to there cottage in Auchnagatt.
Luke was our self appointed guide to KL. So while Larry had to work, Luke, Shelagh, Syd and I set off to see the sights. KL is not really a tourist destination, it’s more of a business hub. Most people go to KL to shop. Practically every building contains a mall.
We were taken to a mall where there is an area called Little Tokyo. Luke decided one of us had to try the “Wasabe” ice-cream. I decided it should be Syd. I had coffee flavour. Unfortunately Syd decided we all needed to sample the taste - it tastes like mustard!!
We went to Food Street to see all the street stalls. It was still quite early (it’s busy in the evening) so not many stalls, but we decided to have lunch which was very good.
Went to another mall where Luke showed us the “Toilet Restaurant”.
Could be another display for your showroom Dave Cameron. All the seats are toilets and the tables are sinks. The menus are amusing and the food comes in a mini toilet.
Guess how the food tastes............................................delicious I believe although we only tried the desserts and drinks. You can imagine the toilet humour – would be right up Alan Johnstone’s street. I had a drink called “Lemon Sour Plum”. Luke said it looked like a sample jar with floaters in it. We did think of ways they could improve things, like toilet rolls for napkins and soap and shampoo dispensers for the mayo and ketchup.
We went to the Aquarium which is located under the Convention Centre. We had a great afternoon seeing all the fish and animal’s they keep there. They have a large tank with many fish, sharks, turtles etc.
Larry was off at the weekend, so on Saturday we headed off in their old Mercedes to Genting Highlands. It’s about an hour and a half’s drive out of KL, but it was a holiday weekend and the road was busy. Traffic was nose to tail for the majority of the way. The road is very twisty going up the mountainside, but the views were great.
We arrived at “Chin Swee Caves Temple” which is a Chinese Temple almost at the top of the mountain. It is built into the side of the mountain and has many levels. It was interesting to watch those who came to pray and make offerings. At the highest level there is a Pagoda style temple with about 12 floors, also an enormous budda and carving telling the story of “The Journey to Enlightenment.” It was all very interesting. While we were there the weather seemed to turn to that of Aberdeen. A thick fog blew in and at times totally blocked out the views and the pagoda. It even got quite chilly. There is a really good Vegitarian restaurant there. That is all it serves, but you wouldn’t know it. They serve chicken dishes, spare ribs and other meats, but they are all mock. The spare ribs even look like they have bones. The waiter was really funny. He decided what we’d have. We’d say something and he’d say no you want this. Or you can’t have rice and noodles – one or the other. Larry who is the vegitatian among us doesn’t like mushrooms, but he was told that he would have these deep fried mushrooms and he’d like them. Guess what – he did! Our trip back down the mountain was adventurous. Thick fog and instead of driving with lights on the locals use hazard lights. Scary but we made it back in one piece.
Most of our time in KL was spent socialising with our friends and their friends. We spent a great evening around the pool at the condo with another two couples who also live there. Georgina and Ian also come from Scotland and although they don’t originally come from Aberdeen, they stayed there for a long time and still have a home there. The other couple Halvard and Sissel come from Norway. We all got on really well and enjoyed the conversation along with the drinks and nibbles.
On the Sunday Pom, Steve and their family suggested that we all go to this Indian Restaurant outside the city for brunch. The Raju Restaurant serves Indian Food Street Stall style. The plates are banana leaves and your cutlery is your fingers. They come round filling your leaf with rice, roti bread, curries, vegetables, fish etc. It appears that they start cooking at about 10am and when it’s finished they close. It was a bit strange but the food was good. We had an enjoyable time.
Late Sunday afternoon Larry got a phone call from a work collegue Alex asking us to meet him and his girlfriend Dada for a drink. They were in “The Library” at the other side of the towers, so we set off to meet them. When we arrived they were into their second bottle of champagne, so we got some glasses and joined in. They were really good company. Alex has been all over the world in the Oil Industry for many years and has lots of funny stories. He intends to write a book when he retires. It’ll be a best seller. We’ll definately buy it. Dada’s english is limited, but she makes herself understood. She’s very funny, uses her hands a lot and speaks very loudly. Alex hopes to retire in a couple of years. He has a home and boat in Thailand. He did offer us a loan of the boat but don’t think either of us could pilot it, or take the responsibility.
After another couple bottles of champagne and beers we were invited back to their penthouse apartment not too far away. It was a five minute walk. They had just moved in so were in the process of unpacking. The apartment is on three floors. The top floor being a roof top garden. Dada proceeded to pour drinks for everyone. Various drinks and one of each kind for each of us. We had a great night dancing, talking and having a laugh but Larry had to work in the morning and I was beginning to feel a bit delicate so we set off home.
I spent our last day in KL in bed. Wouldn’t have been a good idea to be more that two feet from a toilet. Don’t think it was a good idea to substitute water with alcohol for the past few days.
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