Family city-hopping to Kuala Lumpur for sightseeing, sampling local delicacies and – you guessed it – supporting the retail industry.
Day one : flight on time, smooth aiport transfer from KLIA2 to downtown and a clean, comfortable room in a nice, conveniently located hotel.
Not quite like that: something wrong with the plane, 90 minutes delay, immigration super smooth, the taxi driver confuses his Proton Wira with a Formula 1 car and dashes over the often poorly lit roads at lightening speed, then the climax in the Novotel: first room has two single beds only – how are three paying guests supposed to sleep in two single beds? Receptionista offers a king bed plus roll-in extra, good move, but then the room: The windows cannot be closed properly, curtains fall down, stained pillow covers. Management has mercy on us: we get upgraded to the executive floor. The room is clean, slightly bigger, but upon closer inspection not really up to any decent standard either. Pictures taken in the bathroom:
This place invites to rant about it.. We would like to drink a glas of red wine in the Lobby bar, the waiter offers some very warm red wine from Argentina. We ask whether the wine is avaialable slightly colder than @ 28 degrees, he replies that red wine needs to be enjoyed warm.
And the icing on the cake: the room is decidedly non-vegetarian: lots of ants fight with us over space. Anyway, after all we will spend just a few hours sleeping in that room each night, no need to get carried away. But a neat review on Tripadvisor will follow.
Day 2, Friday 21.05.2016: multi-culti confusion (Confucian?) breakfast up to the time limit, at 10:20 we are reminded that the buffet will close in 10 minutes.
Sightseeing on the hoponhopoff bus, during which Laetitia spends a comfortable hour napping on my numbing arm – that’s one way of exploring a new place.
Saturday: We visit the Batu caves, apparently one of the holiest places for Hindus outside of the Indian subcontinent. A short dip into a colourful world and a rich experience for all senses, well worth the 25 minutes train ride from downtown KL…return train ticket was MYR13.50 for 3 persons (surprised & impressed). 
An in-depth encounter with the local retail scene in Jalan Petaling is followed by a decent Italian dinner.
Keen to experience the diversity of Malaysia ? Spend a few hours in a place like Berjaya Times Square on a Sunday. Harajuku Hello Kitty meets the most trendy Hijabs and Nasi Lemak can be rounded off by Hong Kong style egglets.
the journey back home is safe and smooth 🙂
May 2016