Andrew

Day 5 Part 2 – Friendly Uber Drivers

tl;dr More museums, Chinatown, and an awesome bar on a helipad

Activity 1 – Merdeka Square and the surrounding museums:

Merdeka Square is the area where Malaysia first raised their flag after obtaining independence from the British. My first stop was the KL City Gallery.

The KL City Gallery showcases the city’s skyline. I was initially very disappointed as it was quite gimmicky and geared towards tourists. Luckily, I waited in a random line and ended up entering a room that has a model of the entire city! The room darkens and a video plays on the far wall while the various parts of the city light up. It was very cool.

Next up was the National Textile Museum. I was bored pretty quickly here. It covers the methods by which quilts and such can be made and then progresses into various styles of dress throughout Malaysia’s history. I did not spend long here.

The next few spots are more visual: Merdeka Square, Sultan Abdul Samad building, and Masjid Jamek. Pictures below for your enjoyment.

Sultan Abdul Samad building, KL Tower, and Petronas Towers

Activity 2 – Sheraton Lounge:

Ok, so I had yet to book my accommodations for Chiang Mai (and I was arriving tomorrow) – this meant I needed to take some time to find a place, have backups in case I can’t use my Citi Prestige card benefit of 4th night free, and actually book it. The Sheraton club worked perfectly as I was able to use their computers (easier than using a phone) and enjoy snacks/drinks.

Activity 3 – Petaling Street Market and Chinatown Dinner:

Side note, I chat with my Uber driver on the way to Petaling Street and we end up exchanging numbers. The plan is to go sightseeing together tomorrow and get a ride to the airport.
Petaling street is a massive street market (literally on the street) where they sell everything from fake rolexes and Calvin Klein underwear to souvenirs and clothing. If you go here, which I recommend doing, and want to buy something, make sure to haggle. I was looking a ‘nice’ pen and brought the price from $85 down to $10 by seeming mildly interested and slowly walking away. I did not purchase the pens as I had no real interest in them, I mainly wanted to find out how much they were being sold for.

After exiting Petaling Street, I walked by a bunch of restaurants before picking the one that looked best. I don’t know the name of the place, but they cook your food inside tin foil in clay pots. I had tilapia (spicy) and it was so good!!

Activity 4 – Helipad Lounge:

I know, it is a Sunday night, I’m exhausted, and I have to wake up early, but how can I not grab a drink on a helipad with amazing views?

I call an Uber and first thing the driver asks me is where I am going…to which I respond Helipad Lounge. The driver seems confused, so he asks: “Are you sure you want to go there?” I am a little confused, but respond with the affirmative. I end up chatting with the driver (second time tonight) for the duration of the trip.

Two takeaways: 1. A festival ended the previous night, and if the driver had driven me yesterday, he would have invited me over to his house to celebrate, and 2. He was confused that I was going to a bar because he thought I was an Arab and that I don’t drink.

The Helipad Lounge is awesome. Part of the bar is in the building, while the awesome part is on the roof on the helipad. It is absolutely worth grabbing a drink here. You have tremendous views of the whole city, including the KL Tower and the Petronas Towers. I could have spent hours there just drinking and taking in the view…but sleep.

View of the KL Tower from the Helipad Lounge

Day 5 Part 1: History of Malaysia and Petronas Towers

tl;dr Great Kaya toast breakfast, learned a lot about Malaysia’s history (and the surrounding region), and the PETRONAS TOWERS!!
Activity 1 – Breakfast at Yut Kee Restaurant:

Sunday morning, around 9am, and this place is packed. It came highly recommended (google) and was right by my hotel. There was a wait to sit down, but since I was only one person, they were able to add me to a table right away. This time, the Kaya toast came on traditional white bread, and it was delicious.

Activity 2 – Muzium Negara:

This museum covers the history of Malaysia; from the first human remains discovered in Malaysia to the present time. It was really interesting to learn detailed history about this part of the world. It was especially useful to do this before going to Merdeka Square (independence square) later in the day.

Activity 3 – EXPECTO PETRONAS TOWERS!!!:

In case you are wondering, Harry Potter has nothing to do with the Petronas Towers (different spelling). The Petronas Towers are the tallest twin towers in the world and were formerly the tallest buildings in the world having past the Sears, I mean Willis Tower. **Fun fact** The Willis Tower’s antennae actually make the Willis Tower a taller structure, but due to the Petronas Towers having a higher architectural height, they took the title.

Taken from the grounds right in front of the buildings

Also taken from the grounds in front of the Petronas Towers

People were trying to sell phone lenses – used one for this picture (it was def extremely poor quality though)

Make sure you buy your tickets well in advance if you go during tourist season. I bought my ticket the day before and there were only two time slots left. Due to security reasons, they only let 80 people up the tower per 45 minutes (or something similar).

The Towers have a bridge that connects the two towers near the middle height of the structure. That was our first stop. The bridge has two floors – 1 for workers and 1 for tourists – and they give you about 10 minutes to walk around and take pictures.

Next stop was the top floor of one of the two towers. This area had a few interactive spots, but mainly you are there for the view. The lights are not set up well for taking pictures of people and flash proved to be ineffective. Also, tripods and selfie sticks are not allowed.

The other tower and KL Tower in the background

The Petronas Towers are currently the tallest buildings in KL, but a couple of buildings are under construction that plan to dethrone the Petronas Towers.

View from the park behind the Petronas Towers

Day 4 Part 3 – KL at Night

tl;dr Awesome views from KL Tower, even more awesome views – but with a drink, and Zouk (again, but this place is the original)
Activity 1 – KL Tower:

The KL Tower is a tower sitting on a hill in downtown KL. It is shorter than the Petronas Towers, but appear to be close in height due to the hill. The highlight of the tower is the glass floor. There is a second glass floor, but it doesn’t have the view of the Petronas towers, so I skipped it. Also, for those so inclined, there is a rotating restaurant in the KL Tower. It is buffet style, and, from what I have read, probably not worth the money.

It is worth it to go up the tower though – for views like that.
Activity 2 – SkyBar at Traders Hotel:

The SkyBar was ranked as the best bar in Asia by some ratings company (according to a certificate by the entrance. The bar is at the top of the Traders Hotel and encircles a swimming pool (the pool is technically closed at night, but I did read that often times people will fall in and ‘fall in’). The views from the SkyBar are incredible. Be warned, there is a cover charge if you are not a guest of the hotel, but you do get drink coupons – so net net even.

Activity 3 – Zouk Nightclub:

This is the original Zouk, the one in Singapore opened after the success of this one.. Zouk actually moved locations recently and build a massive club that has 6 rooms. Each room had its own DJ. The first room I walked into was playing amazing music, so I camped out there before forcing myself to explore the rest of the club.

Zouk also has a VIP/members room, which I walked into. The best part about this room was the slide. I wasn’t able to access the second floor of the room so I am not sure if the slide was decoration or accessible – but still pretty cool.

Zouk KL is definitely one of my favorite clubs! I will also say that I definitely saw. A very diverse crowd (inclusive of sexual orientation)) – which was great to see.

Day 4 – Part 2 Hello Kuala Lumpur

tl;dr Landed in KL, had some delicious food, and got a good feeling the moment I started walking around the city
Activity 1 – Sheraton Imperial:

First of all, the ride from the airport to downtown KL takes a solid hour, if not longer. I opted for a cab (Uber), although there are public transport options.

When the cab pulled up to the Sheraton, I was greeted by a team of employees – all more than willing to assist with my luggage (I got it covered) and escort me to check-in counter. As an SPG Gold member and SPG Amex holder, I was given a room on a higher floor and access to the Sheraton club (more about the club later).

The room is as the name says: Imperial. The hotel was a bit dated, but it was very nice and felt ‘imperial.’

Activity 2 – Bukit Bintang and Lot 10:

I hopped on the monorail to get from my hotel to Bukit Bintang to have dinner on Jalan Alor (street with many food vendors). The monorail was quick and convenient and used tokens (with some sort of chip in them).

I had heard that under a mall (Lot 10) there are some great food stalls. Apparently, the owner of the mall persuaded the best food stalls in KL to open up a second location in the basement of the mall. I saw a ton of great options and decided that if I had time tomorrow night I would go back.

I did stop at a Japanese Green Tea place. I really enjoyed watching the process that the employee went through to make my tea. The tea itself was pretty good.

Activity 3 – Dinner on Jalon Alor:

This street is crazy – filled with vendors all selling a similar variety of dishes. I recommend walking up and down the block to see everything before deciding.
I settled on a place that had a substantial crowd and good looking food (I peaked at what other people were eating). I ordered Sweet and Sour Fish (Sea Bass). It was delicious!!! I was full, but wanted to keep eating.

Day 4 Part 1 – Goodbye Singapore

tl;dr Gambling and more infinity pool

Activity 1 – Casino:
So, this ended up not be as early of a night as I intended cause I stopped by the casino on my way back. It was in my hotel so I had to check out the casino. Also, I had more Singapore cash left than I would have preferred. I walked through the casino and definitely saw games I did not recognize, but found very few blackjack tables (especially when compared with the total number of tables). This led me to play some craps. I was up, I was down. Ended up being down, not much, but still down.

I did see pai gow though!

Activity 2 – Pool:

Back up to the pool after breakfast for some swimming, gazing, and reading (HP4!). It is so awesome up there. I also hung out in one of the hot tubs that overlooks the gardens.

Activity 3 – AirAsia flight to Kuala Lumpur:

Get this: with AirAsia, you can check in 14 days in advance (I didn’t even buy my ticket 14 days in advance). This unfortunately meant that not only did I have a middle seat, but I was also very far back in the plane. I had to check a bag (due to weight and number of bags restrictions), but the baggage drop at the Singapore AirAsia counter was awesome! Pretty much all automated.

I stopped by an awesome lounge for lunch. It is called Dnata Lounge in Terminal 1. Food was very good and there were many options, the bar was well stocked, and there were many places to sit.

The flight itself was extremely quick, by the time we could use our devices, we had to turn them off.

AirAsia learning points:

Check-in as soon as the window opens
Buy the checked bag option when you purchase the ticket (if you need it). Also, if you have to add on a checked bag, try and do it as far in advance as possible
Have something non-electronic to read/do. As soon as the door closes, you are technically not allowed to use devices until you are up in the air (this may be a regional requirement, but I was not prepared and read the seat back magazine for about 30 minutes)
They sell food on their flights (so bring with you if you want to eat), but be aware that many flights in this region are very short and you will not have time to eat

Day 3 Part 2 additional pictures

Day 3 Part 3 – Pool at Night and Clubs

tl;dr More pics from the pool/roof and a night out
Activity 1 – Pictures:

The pool closes at 11pm so of course I’m going to take more pictures! The pool was actually more crowded at night than during the day.

By the way, the light show from the Marina Bay Sands is much cooler if you are on the marina side of the bay. Images are shown on this side of the fountain making everything a lot more cohesive and cool.

Activity 2 – Attica and Zouk (again):

Checked out Attica night club in Clarke Quay because they were have a dj battle (edm vs hip hop)…sounded amazing. Turns out, the place was small and the music was only Ok.

Decided to call an audible…and ended up back at Zouk. (I sold my drink tickets for equal cash to some guys waiting in line at the bar, thereby I avoided paying a cover).

Tried to make it a relatively early evening so that I could wake up and chill in the infinity pool a bit more.

Day 3 Part 2 – Marina Bay Sands

tl;dr infinity pool infinity pool infinity pool
Activity 1 – Marina Bay Sands:
For those of you that don’t know, the Marina Bay Sands is a hotel/casino/shopping complex and is famous for its infinity pool on the 57th floor. When planning my trip, I knew I had to swim in this pool. The pool is off limits for non-guests (no way to purchase a day pass). I read numerous posts about how to try and sneak into the pool, but security has gotten tighter…they scan a room key upon entry and exit. Ultimately, I decided to pay for a night at this hotel. BEST DECISION!
I check-in early (about noon) and luckily they have a room ready. The room is absurd…(I’ll post a video of it when I figure out how…). I have a garden view room. I tried smooth talking my way into a more expensive city view room for free, but they didn’t have may rooms left and those that they did were not ready yet. The balcony is amazing…two chairs, a lot of space, privacy, and this view:

I get changed and head up to 57 for the infinity pool. This thing is nuts! Coolest pool I have ever been in and will probably ever be in. Immediately, the cost of the room is justified.

I spent a ton of time floating by the edge and looking off into the distance. It was awe-inspiring and relaxing at the same time.
Activity 2 – ArtScience Museum

Museum dedicated to the collaboration of art and science (hence the name) and it claims to be the first in the world. It is also part of the Marina Bay Sands. They had 3 exhibits: Human +, the Universe and Art, and Future World. I bought the all access ticket to go to all 3.

A robot that speaks multiple languages and is able to greet people and process and respond to questions.
The museum also posed interesting questions in addition to related art:

And had some cool light displays:

Activity 3 – Gardens by the Bay:

Officially an urban greenway. Very pretty gardens with a few climate controlled structures. The gardens continue the theme of sustainability.

First, I did the flower garden:

Next was the Cloud Forest:

And finally, the OCBC Sky Walk. I didn’t have time to wait in line to head to the sky walk itself, so instead I posted up to watch the light show. The ground around these tree-like structures were absolutely filled with people lying on the ground looking up (me included). The show takes about 15 minutes and is set to music recognizable from Broadway.
I also got to watch the show from my balcony (they do the light show twice an evening).
Some of the photos may not have posted…so I’ll add them in separate post

Day 3 Part 1 – The Morning

tl;dr Traditional Singapore breakfast and learned about the city of Singapore, saw some art and some otters as well – 4 activities
Activity 1 – Kaya Toast (Traditional Singapore Breakfast):

Kaya is a type of coconut based jam and its pretty tasty (as I found out). So, after much time googling where to get the best traditional breakfast, I found Ah Seng (Hai Namm) coffee. Well, I didn’t find it…someone else did and I found their post. This place was really tough to find because its on the second level of a hawker market. After looking for about 20 minutes and having started to look for backup places, I finally found someone to ask. I ordered what’s called a “set.” Basically you get soft boiled eggs, kaya toast, and coffee. Many places have gone above and beyond the basic white bread toast with Kaya by using such things as buns, ciabatta, multigrain, but this place offered french toast. Of course I had to get french toast, plus the chef suggested it.

Sure enough, it was delicious. Shout out to mom for giving me a little pack of tissues for my trip…not all places have napkins and I definitely needed some after this meal.
Activity 2 – Singapore City Gallery:

The Singapore City Gallery is part of Singapore’s Urban Redevelopment Authority (basically city planning). This place was awesome!!!! First off, in the lobby of the building, there were architectural models from students with descriptions. It was interesting to see how many of them were environmentally friendly and focused on re-using existing structures.

For example, there were a few designs for a using oil rigs as prisons (Deep Water Purgatory)

Others, covered innovative living spaces, parks, etc.

After strolling through the ~100 models, I went upstairs to the museum. I am a bit of a nerd when it comes to city planning and architecture – I just find it so incredilby amazing and interesting. A focal point of the museum is sustainability (which follows what I had previously seen at other exhibits). Singapore is unique in that it is a City-State island. The city plan for Singapore is hugely important to the future health of the city. A few highlights:

Singapore created space deep under the surface to store military ammunition. This allowed Singapore to reclaim the land and buffer land to use for non-military purposes. So yes, walking around Singapore, you could be hundreds of feet above missiles and bombs
Singapore has claimed land from the water, but can only do this in select areas moving forward due to the importance of its role in the global shipping industry
Many of the buildings in Singapore have greenery (think trees, grass, bushes, etc.) to help lower the temperature – it gets hot in Singapore
The museum has a model of downtown Singapore that captures minute details of each building

I also read a quote that I think is awesome:

I left the museum and decided to take a picture with the logo of the URA. The person I ask to take it (he was standing there and I didn’t feel like getting my selfie stick out) is actually on his way to the museum. His first question for me (before “where are you from?”) was “Are you a city planner?” Of course I’m not…but just shows you the nerdity (new word?).
Activity 3 – David Hockney Special Exhibit:

David Hockney is a British artist that had a special exhibit at the STPI. My sister has a poster of his art…so I went to the exhibit with the hopes of finding her a souvenir (first stop on my trip and I could check-off a box? Awesome). Turns out there was no real gift shop, but the art was nice.

Activity 4 – Lunch at SPRMRKT

I was in the Robertson’s Quay area and decided to try out a restaurant that seemed to be a new-comer to the scene, but already had a substantial following. SPRMRKT is actually a supermarket that opened up a restaurant. Had smoked salmon avocado salad for an early lunch. On the way back to the hostel, however, I saw otters (6 or 7) swimming in the river. I stood along the bank and watched them for about 5 minutes. During this time I saw them dive into the water and come back with fish in their mouth. Very cool experience…and im sure the other people who stopped walking to watch would agree.

Day 2 Chinatown and Night Safari

tl;dr explored Chinatown, checked out Sentosa and saw awesome animals at the Night Safari…calmer day – only 6 activities
Activity 1 – Waking Up:

Now normally, I would not consider waking up to be an “activity,” but it was. I went to bed close to 4am thanks to a night out at Zouk and successfully set alarms starting at 8am…Well, this may not come as a surprise to those that know me, but I snoozed. And by snoozed, I mean I woke up from my first alarm and shut off all my back-ups before going back to sleep. All of a sudden its 11am and I missed the Chinatown walking tour at 9:30am. Undeterred, I climb out of bed and take a shower. Walking to Chinatown, I spot this cool building with tons of foliage all over it.

Activity 2 – Chinatown:

First things first, I need food…I pull up trusty google and voila found a great restaurant right on the main Chinatown street. I sit down and order some noodle and fish. Not so good…the noodles tasted like they had been bathed in soy sauce for hours and the fish just wasn’t that tasty.

Next up, the sights.

Sri Marimamm Temple (above)

Buddha Tooth Relic Temple (above)

Activity 3 – Chinatown Heritage Center:

This museum covers what life was like for Chinese immigrants. The museum is situated in a former tailor’s shop and residences line the second floor. It was amazing to see how people lived in early 1900s Singapore: 6x6ft rooms that housed entire families, shared bathrooms and kitchens, and shared rooms between people working opposite shifts allowing for optimal bed usage. The museum has an area devoted to the work and life of this population and how it evolved over the years. Ultimately, it was a really cool museum that taught me a lot (though the audio guide did drag on a bit).

Activity 4 – Sentosa and Fort Siloso:

Sentosa is an island off of the main island of Singapore. It is purely devoted to leisure activities as it has multiple resorts, a universal studios, and numerous other activities (zip line, luge run, 4D adventures, etc.). I took the monorail to get to the island, but there is also a cable car that provides great views. Once on the island you can take a different cable car to get from location to location – I took it to Fort Siloso. One of the stops has a replica Merlion that you can enter (I didn’t).

Fort Siloso is a former British military outpost that was used to protect Singapore from maritime attacks. I was excited to learn about the history of military conflicts in the region and especially WWII, but this fort did not provide much information on these topics. There was a decent amount of information the purpose of the fort and how it functioned, but that wasn’t what I was looking for. I ended up skipping the various trails due to time constraints and losing interest.

Activity 5 – Quick Dinner and Walk Through a Mall:

My major time constraint was the Night Safari, which started at 7:15. Instead of track down some user-reviewed and repudiated restaurant, I settled for simple, good food court food. The mall was just like any other mall in this part of the world.
Activity 6 – Night Safari:

The Night Safari is part of the Singapore Zoo and allows you to see the animals when they are most active…at night. I read a lot of trip advisory reviews to prepare. My recommendations as follows:

Book in advance online through the zoo for the 7:15pm entry
Wear whatever clothing makes you comfortable…you will be doing walking
Try and arrive by 6:45 and do the tram first
Right after the tram, do the show
Walk around afterwards…the path can get confusing as it is dark and you aren’t sure if you are going the right way, but you are…just keep walking
You can try and take pictures, but no flash is allowed – so I have tons of pictures that don’t really show the awesomeness of the night

Now that I covered that, I can move onto WHAT the Night Safari actually is. You sit on a tram for a ~15+minute ride through the zoo pausing at the major animals. I literally saw lions and tigers and bears…oh my. But I also saw rhinos, hippos, elephants, giraffes, hyenas, and other animals (many of the species I was probably seeing for the first time). The tram has a has a recorded speaker that lets you know what you are looking at and some details about each animal. One interesting point, many of the animals roam free and could technically walk over and say hi – of course none of the dangerous animals have this setup, but many do (there are entry and exit gates for the trams). One of the tigers followed our tram from the entrance to the exit staring us down.

After the tram, get in line for the show. My tram ended too late for the 8:30 show (it was filled), so I decided to walk through the various trails (all on pavement). This took me about an hour to complete, so I would recommend budgeting about 1.5 hours. During the walk you can stop at a Lion lookout point. Lions sleep on average 20hrs/day (not bad), but they tend to eat between 8 and 9pm. My tram drove by at 8 and they were far away from the food and I walked by them at 9 and they were relaxing by their food – so I missed them eating. The food is strategically placed by the zoo in an area that is visible to guests. Also, some of the enclosures do overlap with the walking trails, but many are unique. There is a bat house and a flying squirrel enclosure, along with many other cool animals (otters, snakes, etc.). A tiger was leaning on the glass for a while – I tried to get a picture, but the quality was terrible.

The show was fun, definitely more geared towards families, but still cool and worth checking out. I won’t spoil the fun. I ended up leaving sometime after 10 (uber pool), but you can stay there until midnight.

I got back to my hostel after 11pm and picked up a snack before heading off to bed to get some much needed rest.
From now on, I am going to try and break the posts up into a few smaller ones…they take too long to write and are too much for a reader to get through in one sitting 🙂