Day 8: Kuala Lumpur to Penang (George Town)

-Had breakfast at the hotel before a 9am bus to Penang. It didn't end up leaving until 9:40am since they wanted to fill every seat. The journey took about 4.5 hours. We spent most of the time sleeping and reading.

-Arrived in Penang and took a cab to our hostel, the Red Court Inn. We could already tell Penang wasn't going to be one of our favourite spots. The whole town is a little dirty and we did the whole temple tour in Melaka and KL. Instead we decided to head to the Cameron Highlands. We have to back track 3-4 hours but feel like we might enjoy it more. We're only there for one night so still have plenty of time to explore Penang.

-We spent most of our time figuring out our plans for the rest of our time in Malaysia, bur did venture out to Little India for some mediocre lunch. There was a bit of miscommunication with reception. We thought they recommended to visit the Kek Lok Si Temple at 6pm to watch the sunset, but it turns out the temple closed at 6. Oh well. Instead we went over to Penang Hill where we took a tram to the top. We watched the sunset, grabbed a drink, and chatted with an Australian. There wasn't that much to do.

The closed Kek Lok Si Temple:

Sunset from Penang Hill:

The temple on top of the hill:

The tram tracks on the hill (you don't really get the sense of how steep they are in this pic):

-We took the bus back to the hostel which turned out to be quite the adventure as we had no idea where we were going. Somehow we managed to end up back in old George Town. We grabbed dinner at some of the food stalls on the road. There were lots of foreigners there and the food was cheap and quick.

Marco at the market:

Dishwashing in the market:

-We spent the rest of the night relaxing and watching How I Met Your Mother. We have to be ready to go at 7am tomorrow!

Day 7: Kuala Lumpur

-Woke up late and missed our free breakfast, went to Burger King instead (we needed some Western food).

-Walked over to the Islamic Art Museum. Walked past KL Station and the KTMB headquarters. Had a look at the National Mosque, but it wasn't viewing hours for non-Muslims so we didn't go in. Interestingly the Islamic Art Museum had a whole exhibit on Ann Dunham, Barack Obama's mum. It was all about the Indonesian Batik's she collected when they lived there.

The old train station:

The mosque:

Model of Mecca in the Islamic Art Museum:

 A qur'an:

-Then walked up to grab a snack and drink at the Hornbill Restaurant which is just inside the Bird Park. It's sneaky because you get a glimpse of the bird park but don't have to pay the entrance fee. This annoying ugly bird kept coming up to us for food and was not scared at all! Eventually the staff just left us with a spray bottle of water so we could spray the bird. That got rid of him for about 2 minutes and then he would fly back. Marco and I also discovered cool photo settings on our cameras so we ended up taking tons of pictures.

One of the male hornbills in the park:

Marco at the restaurant. Turns out my camera has a fisheye setting:

-We then took went and took a look at the Orchid and Hibiscus Garden. Turns out the hibiscus is Malaysia's national flower. The orchids were beautiful and there were so many different colours. We did see one of those huge gross lizards again.

Marco in the garden:

Some of the beautiful orchids:

-Took a cab back to the hostel and relaxed some. Spent some time updating the blog.

-Walked into Chinatown to take a look at Petaling Street. It's full of market stalls and people hollering at you to buy things. It was quite overwhelming actually. We were going to get dinner there but it really was just shops. We ended up going to a little cafe in the Central Market. I had the weirdest chicken cordon bleu. There was no cheese! Isn't that the whole point?

-We went back to the hostel and played cards on the rooftop bar. It actually has a gorgeous view of the KL Tower and Petronas Towers. We were going to head up to the Petronas Towers and walk across the walkway but it's a little cloudy here so there wasn't much point.

Our Itinerary

View Full Size Travel Map at Travellerspoint

Day 7: Melaka to Kuala Lumpur

-Woke up early and had a very chatty taxi driver on the way to the bus station. He was pretty funny, saying he also lived in the states, Melaka state.

-We took a 2 hour bus ride up to Kuala Lumpur. Spent most of the time sleeping. The bus was freezing and kept playing weird music.

-Took the train to the hostel- Reggae Mansion- which is located in Chinatown... again. Nothing wrong with that, just seems to keep happening.

-We checked in and relaxed before heading out for some lunch. The hostel is nice, our room is freezing though and we don't have any windows. Could be worse!

-We went to the Central Market for lunch. It has a bunch of little stalls selling stuff and has a food court on the second floor. After eating we walked over to Merdeka Square, where Malaysia's independence was declared in 1957. However, we first stopped in the very boring Kuala Lumpur City Gallery. They were playing the Euro Cup on a huge screen on the square but only a couple of people were there watching it.

Central Market:

Merdeka Square flagpole:

-We then walked on over to Masjid Jamek, a mosque by the river. I had to get all dressed up for it. It was cool to see but not very big.

Marco being culturally sensitive and pretending to be a wizard (Expecto petronas! like the towers- Marco's joke:

Me in my new robes:

- We went back to the hostel fast and then took a train to the central city to meet up with David (our German friend from Melaka). He was staying at the Impiana, right by the Petronas Towers so we went swimming in the pool there.

At the pool with the Petronas Towers in the background:

- After swimming we went over to the ridiculous mall in the Petronas Towers to grab some dinner. I had some naan and Indian food. After eating we walked around the KLCC Park which was beautiful. There was another light/fountain show, this time to Titanic. The towers definitely look cooler at night.

The light/fountain show:

The towers at night:

-We then walked to the Rum Jungle, a bar close by, to get some drinks for Marco's birthday. There was a shark aquarium above the physical bar which was really cool. Marco took this ridiculous flaming shot.

Marco and his shot:

-We continued our night out in Bukit Bintang, an area that seemed frequented by expats. We stopped by a couple of bars there and made some friends before heading back to the hostel.

Us and our new random friends (David is the one in the blue shirt on the right):

Day 6: Melaka

-Today we woke up after basically no sleep. We spent most of the morning searching for a breakfast place. Most of the restaurants are closed on Tuesdays in Melaka but we finally found one.

-We walked along Jonkers Street to buy some postcards and look around a little more. We then went back to the hotel to rest a little. Walking around in the heat is pretty exhausting.

- We headed back out and walked along the river before heading to the Porta De Santiago (A'Famosa Fort). It was just a few ruins with only the gatehouse remaining. It was built by the Portuguese in 1511. We then walked on to the replica of Melaka Sultanate Palace. It is a replica of Sultan Mansur Shah's palace who ruled Melaka from 1456 to 1477.

Porta De Santiago:

Sultanate Palace Replica:

Some fake people in the palace:

-After exploring we went to have some lunch and drinks. Then went to rest (we saw almost everything already). We played spit, I skyped with the family, then we went to dinner. We found this cheap little place by the water the day before where you can get a meal for $1USD. 


Marco at lunch:

Marco at the river cafe:

The river (our hostel was up on the left):

-After eating we walked to St. Paul's Church to watch the sunset. It was built in 1521 and has had affiliations with Dutch Reform, Catholicism, and Christianity.

Marco at the church:

Sunset on the church (it was too cloudy to see the sun):

Day 5: Singapore to Melaka

-We woke up at 7:15am to catch the MRT to Lavender. There we had to ask around to eventually find the "Golden" bus company. The ride was about 3.5 hours (not the suggested 4 to 5). We stopped at both the Singapore and Malaysian immigration points. Changing buses in Malaysia to head to Melaka. At the Singapore immigration point Marco and me were pulled aside along with the one other white guy on our bus for a 'random' passport check. 

- We spent the bus ride sleeping and reading. Once we arrived we tried to take a bus into town, which turned out to be total chaos. We switched buses twice and everyone just jammed in. Eventually we took a taxi with the other white guy, who turned out to be a German named David.

-We checked in to the Oriental Riverside Hostel (again in Chinatown). The owner was super nice and spent 20 minutes talking to us about what we should do while in Melaka. We settled into our room overlooking the river and then set off.

The Oriental Riverside Hostel on the right:

-We ate lunch at a local haunt named Chop Hung Wah, which is known for their chicken rice balls. Apparently they prepare all the food in the morning and close once it's all finished, which is usually around 2 or 3pm. It was pretty yummy. We then walked around a bit, stopping to look at the Dutch Square and an old Dutch fort.

Bikes used to bring tourists around. They're all covered in bright flowers:

Dutch Square:

Marco at the old Dutch fort:

-The river cruise is one of the big attractions here so we went to do that. It was really nice to see the city/town by water. We saw this huge lizard swimming in the river, which I did not like.

Lizard swimming:

Marco on the cruise, with angry man in background:

The river:

-We eventually ran into David again at a little cafe where we were having a drink. He joined us and we ended up spending the rest of the day together.

-Together we went to look at the temples including Cheng Hoon Teng Temple and Guanyin Temple. We didn't head into the Muslim mosques because it was prayer time. We then walked down Jonker Street, or Jalan Hang Jebat. It's the big street in old Melaka with lots of little stores and restaurants. We went to the Geographer's Cafe, which is pretty big among tourists and backpackers alike.

St. Xavier Francis' Church:

The Mosque:

A statue on the Jonker Walk:

One of the Buddhist temples:

-For dinner we went to Malaysia 13 State Coffee's. The boys had a spicy chicken thing and I had sesame chicken. It was super yummy.

-We made plans to meet up with David in Kuala Lumpur and then went back to the hostel to sleep!

Day 4: Singapore

-Woke up in a pitch black room (no windows) and had some breakfast at the hostel. It consisted of jam on toast and coffee. 


- Walked along Orchard Street checking out all the stores. It is very necessary to have five different malls with all the same stores right next to each other in Singapore. Some malls even required two different stores of the same high-end designer. I just checked and there are 18 Armani stores in Singapore.

The ION Mall (complete with interactive touch screen directories):

-For lunch we went up to Newton Circle. It's more known for late-night munchies than lunch but the food was still good! I stuck with noodles and meatballs. Marco ventured to eat gong gong (basically snails) and a rice dish.

Marco and his gong gong:

Another juice venture of Marco's:

- We then took the MRT to the Harbor Front stop across from Sentosa island. We ended up not heading to the island since it was full of tourist attractions like Universal Studios.

-We went back to the hotel to take a much needed break from the heat. Skyped with Mum.

-Following my Faj's recommendation we went to the Raffles Hotel to have a Singapore Sling in the Long Bar. The drink was invented in the bar. It was delicious (and very pricey). The hotel was gorgeous. Full of vegetation and old, dark wood. Apparently the last tiger of Singapore was shot in the courtyard of the hotel.

Marco in front of the hotel:

Marco and I with our Singapore Slings:

- We were in the mood for something a little more Western after all of our food adventures, well Marco's. We headed to Boat Quay and ate at Dallas, the name basically explains the food. We shared some fajitas.

Marco watching the Ireland-New Zealand rugby match at Dallas:

-After dinner we headed up to the stop near the night safari but Marco fell asleep on the ride and I was close to. We still had to take a bus up to the zoo so decided to skip it and leave that for the future. We headed back to the hostel and fell right to sleep.