4-DAYS IN KL AND MALACCA WITH JAPANESE FRIEND

I met this Jap early of this year when both of us were travelling alone staying at the same guest house in Siem Reap, Cambodia. And we decided to go to travel around Siem Reap together fow few days. In the mid of this year, I got an email from him saying that he planned to come to Malaysia and for few days. So I spent few days with him to travel around KL and Malacca.

23 December 2009 - Wednesday.
Syed Restaurant near Bangsar. Had chicken sate - one of the famous local couisins. It is marinated chicken and grilled over charcoal. He managed to finish around 10 sticks of sate.

After short rest in my apartment, headed to KL Twin Tower Park and Bukit Bintang.

Had some Thai seafood in Jalan Alor (Alor Street).

Dataran Merdeka (Merdeka Square) and Sultan Abdul Samad Building. And the naughty (and dirty) area of Haji Taib Street, a street filled with numerous social problems.

24 December 2009 - Thursday.
KL Twin Tower again in the morning to get a ticket to the skybridge. It was full and decided to KL Tower.

After KL Tower, we were leaving to the downsouth, Malacca which took us 2 1/2 hours journey.

Stayed in Tang Guest House in Jonker Walk - RM 70. Very good hospitality and Tang's black coffee and nasi lemak was superb. Place visited in Malacca: Jonker Walk, A Famosa, Studhuys Building, Cina Hills, Maritime Museum. The handsome Shigeru bought me a seafood; black pepper crab, grilled prawn and fried squid for dinner. We had a famous chicken rice ball in Jonker Walk but I can't remember name of that Chinese restaurant.

25 December 2009. Friday and we didn't care about Christmas.
Back to KL and straight to Batu Caves - one of the famous Hindu shrines outside India and we climbed a sets of more than 200 stairs to the end of the cave. (20 minutes from KL). China Town / Petaling Street. Shige was compensating himself for tiring Batu Caves climbing with Tiger Beer here. hehe

Kampung Baru - the oldest Malay residential area in the KL city.

26 December 2009. Saturday.

Shige was leaving to Mindanao, Philippines. And I got this email after few hours of his departure...

So, why Malaysia?

This is my first entry, so I hope this will make a good kickstart. I have few reasons on why you should spend few days/weeks or even months in Malaysia.

DIVERSITY
Malaysia has a lot to offer because of its diversity. A number of races and religions have made Malaysia home for hundreds of unique places, culture, architecture and almost every month festives which related races and religion celeberated. They are Malay (generally Muslim), Chinese, Indians and a dozens of indigenous ethnic groups accross the country.

COST
A typical budget traveller who stay in the backpacker ghetto in China Town needs USD 15 for hostel, USD 5 for meals, and few dollars for beer. It is generally equal to Thailand, much cheaper than Singapore, more expensive than Cambodia and Laos. However, everything in island is relatively higher than any place in the mainland.

GEOGRAPHICALLY
Two parts of Malaysia; Peninsular and Borneo. Northern part of Malaysia is Thailand, and you can see Singapore if you are in the southern tips of Peninsular Malaysia. In Borneo, Malaysia's adjacents are Kalimantan of Indonesia and Brunei Darussalam. Malaysia has modern city, namely Key Ell as they said (remember Twin Tower), islands; beaches; national parks and historical city. In terms of transportation, a good highway, homegrown budget airlines AirAsia and Firefly; and reliable ferry to most of the islands have given Malaysia more points if compared to neighbouring countries.