Kuala Lumpur on a Shoestring!

Our trip to Kuala Lumpur was an unexpected and unwanted expense. However, as always, we are thrilled to be able to travel and see new places; so we wanted to make the most of it. We’d do Kuala Lumper on a shoestring!

How to do KL on a shoestring?

Firstly, I got on the net and found cheap flights to KL and booked a hotel online that was close to public transport. The flights cost AUD 100.00 for each return. These were the most affordable flights out of, and back into, Bali that we could find, hence going to KL. Then, I googled what to do in KL and found some inexpensive and free places to visit.

Not off to a good start

We had to leave Bali because our visas were about to run out, and our visa extensions were rejected. We began the long day of travel with a dinghy ride to shore, a scooter ride into Kuta and then a taxi to the airport. Once at the airport, we were fined IDR 600000 for overstaying our visa by one day, and then we nearly missed our plane (sorry to the other passengers who had to wait for us). Not a good start!

We had an uneventful flight, which gave us time to relax before we arrived in KL, grabbed our luggage, bought a SIM card for our phone and caught a train to KL Sentral. Once at KL Sentral, we had a short walk before catching another train to Pasar Seni. From there, we walked to Chinatown and eventually found our hotel. It was now about 5 pm, and what happened next really rubbed me the wrong way!

I had booked and paid for a room online at Wotif, so you can imagine my surprise when the man at the reception desk expected payment in cash. To cut a long story short, he was saying he doesn’t deal with Wotif and, at the same time, showed me the paperwork from Wotif that clearly says I have paid for it. He kept asking me to cancel the booking and pay cash to him – not going to happen. We phoned Wotif, and it was finally sorted out, and we were allowed in our room. I’m glad I had only paid for two nights because the place had very few of the promised facilities. We did have an air-con, which was set to ‘freezing’ and could not be changed, so I had to sleep in PJs. I haven’t had to do that in a while!

Petaling Street

The only benefit of City Hotel Chinatown is its position. It is on Petaling Street in Chinatown, very close to the Petaling Markets. The markets are loud and crowded, which is all part of the colourful, vibrant experience. All the usual things were for sale – t-shirts, shoes, wallets and squawking toy chickens. The place was alive with street stalls selling all types of fantastic street food, including frogs on skewers, chestnuts roasting in coffee beans, splayed ducks and crispy innards porridge.

We had a fabulous time eating all this excellent food! Great soups, dim sum, chicken feet, laksa and Indian curries. For more about where and what we ate (including the price), have a look at Kuala Lumpur Eats & Drinks.

The food, culture and heritage of KL reflect the many varied people who have settled in Malaysia. The ethnic groups that represent the majority of the Malaysian people are Malay, Chinese and Indian, and this is experienced in the quality of Chinese food, Indian curries and delicious Malaysian delicacies. Many diverse ethnicities have shaped and influenced not only the gastronomical heritage but also the architecture and history of Kuala Lumpur.

KL Architecture

In the 150 years since Kuala Lumpur became a tin mining town, Malaysia has been under Portuguese, Dutch and English rule, all of which is evident in Kuala Lumpur’s architectural history. In Kuala Lumpur, which literally means ‘muddy estuary’, we wandered amongst skyscrapers, historical temples and mosques, colonial buildings, substantial fancy shopping malls and little alley trading stalls. The architecture, bright neon signs, bustling people and the aroma of food make the convoluting streets of this heterogeneous city colourful, noisy and delightful.

The National Masque

We visited the National Mosque. This monumental building was built in 1965 and has a capacity for up to 15000 people. Non-Muslims are welcome outside of prayer times, and you must remove your shoes and be appropriately dressed. As Dwayne and I were not appropriately dressed, we had to wear a robe. Yay!… I think we look rather cute in purple.

The ladies assisting the visitors were friendly and helpful and answered our questions, of which we had many. For example, about 88% of the Indonesian population is Islam, and as we sail through Indonesia, we were often anchored off a village and woken by the ‘call to prayer’. Our questions included why the call of prayer was at 3 or 4am?

Sri Mahamariamman Temple

After visiting the Mosque, I wanted to see the Sri Mahamariamman Temple. I was pushing my luck if I thought I could also drag Dwayne to the Hindu Temple; I had only managed to get him to the Mosque with promises of the yummy chicken treats they sell on the street nearby. Anyway, he walked with me to the temple and then proceeded to find a bar nearby to wait for me.

The Sri Mahamariamman Temple is the oldest Hindu temple in KL. It was founded in 1873, but this temple was built in 1968. This large elaborate temple is a kaleidoscope of colour! Even before I walked into the temple, I was enchanted by the ornate, colourful ‘Raja Gopuram’ tower. This five-tiered threshold “between the material and spiritual world’ is made up of 228 Hindu idols depicting scenes from the Ramayana. Inside the temple are shrines, intricate carvings, hand-painted motifs and of course the main prayer hall. The place is alive with the smell of incense and bright colours. Some might call it gaudy, but I loved it.

Sprinkled throughout the ornate buildings, the temples and the mosques, are many colonial buildings which still stand in prominent places. These include the Royal Selangor Club, which was established as a social and cricket club in 1884 for the then, still growing, expatriate community.

KL City Gallery

We started exploring Kuala Lumpur’s history with a visit to KL City Gallery. This gallery tells the history of KL and has a massive model of the city. We also jumped on the KL Tram (a hop on hop off) for a small fee of MYR 2.00 each, during which time the bus driver pointed out many of the prominent buildings, and we visited such places as the hibiscus garden and the KL orchid garden.

National Textile Museum

I enjoyed the National Textile Museum. We started our exploration of Malaysia’s textile history with a video outlining the different types of textiles and their development. The museum houses a colourful display of fabrics, accessories and costumes, as well as the tools, materials and techniques in which they have been and/or are still made. Whether it is Batik, Songket or Pua Kumbu, Malaysian textiles’ unique style of design is synonymous with intricacy and beauty.

The Royal Malaysia Police Museum

I couldn’t expect to drag Dwayne to a textile museum for a couple of hours without some sulking, and when he eventually threw himself on the floor and refused to move another step, I needed a new game plan. I took him to the Royal Malaysia Police Museum. What does any boy like more than guns and swords? The history of police evolution in Malaysia is fascinating. Again, we began our time at the museum with a short video depicting and explaining the evolution chronologically.

Dwayne spent hours looking at the vehicles and weapons used by the police and the fascinating and grizzly display of weapons confiscated during the “Malayan emergency”. Malayan Emergency was the colonial government’s name for the conflict (Malayan Guerrilla War) between the commonwealth and the Malayan Nation Liberation Army (the military for the Malay Communist Party).

There is still a heap of cheap and/or free things to do in Kuala Lumpur… for more check out More of Kuala Lumpur on a Shoestring!  and 17 Free Things to do in Kuala Lumpur!