Day 1

What an amazing few days we have had! After our flight being delayed by an hour or so we arrived in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia at around 5.30pm (8.30pm EST) on Tuesday Jan 11. We quickly jumped on a bus which took us through the palm-tree lined outskirts of town, past a mixture of modern buildings and shanty towns. After getting horribly lost looking for our hotel (Mark was quite tired after carrying both of our suitcases!) we jumped in a taxi (teksi!). We were confused by the laughter of the cab drivers, until we realised that the hotel was approximately 30 seconds from where we caught the cab!

After a quick freshen up we were keen to explore the nearby streets and find some food. At first we walked around in a bit of a daze, totally overwhelmed by the sights, sounds and smells of Little India's Brickfields, the neighborhood we are staying in. We were clearly the only 'westerners' in this part of town, and couldn't help feeling like we stood out like a sore thumb! Eventually we were coaxed into a restaurant where we managed to get across that we were hungry, thirsty and happy to order whatever they recommended! Our meals quickly arrived, along with a handful of cutlery that was obviously brought out especially for us and not used too often! We were served naan bread, rice, Indian soup, papadams, daal and a mixtures of curries along with Kingfisher beers. After eating our bodyweight in Indian cuisine we nervously asked for bill, having no idea how much our meals would cost. To our surprise, all of this came to RM 31, or $10 AU!!

Day 2

Day 2 began with our complimentary breakfast in the hotel restaurant. Our first ever Asian-style breakfast included rice and noodle dishes, dumplings, vegetables, fruit and some token chicken nuggets in the shape of stars!

With full stomachs we headed out into the streets of KL and jumped on a train taking us to KL City Centre. After being in very traditional parts of town so far, this was our first experience of modern Malaysia. Conveniently for Jess, we realised the train station was directly linked to a huge shopping mall, Suria KL. We spent the morning exploring a range of designer stores including Harrods, Chanel, Cartier, Gucci & Louis Vuitton.

Ready for some fresh air, we headed off to Chinatown. Here we found the Petaling Markets, a crazy, noisy market place with people trying to sell you things left, right and centre! (It's amazing how cheaply you can get a genuine rolex over here! ;-)

After escaping the heat and humidity for a few hours in the afternoon we headed back out to Chinatown later than evening. We started at Central Markets, where we were lucky enough to experience a Fish Spa. This involves putting your feet into a tank full of hungry fish which nibble away at your dead skin!

On our way back to the Petaling Market we came across the Reggae Bar. This was a very cool little bar/backpackers where all the staff wore tye dyed rainbow shirts and the walls were covered in effigies to Bob Marley, along with thousands of notes and signatures from previous visitors. After sharing some refreshments with a friendly local we continued on our way to the markets.

If we thought these markets were a sensory overload during the day then the nighttime was overwhelming, exhausting and completely amazing.

After a lot of bartering and bargain hunting, we headed home and fell asleep as soon as our heads hit the pillow.

Day 3

Day 3 began with another tasty breakfast at the hotel (Jess is starting to get past her weetbix cravings and enjoy these unusual breakfasts!). This morning our mission was to find the KL Bird Park that we had heard so much about. Full of confidence in our newfound knowledge of the KL transport system we hopped on a train and headed to Pasar Seni station. We began what should be a short walk to the Bird Park, and realised after an hour that we were maybe a bit lost. However we did get to see the National Museum and Planetarium on our travels! We jumped in another cab which again took us around the corner.

It was definitely worth the effort to get to the park. We got to see so many different birds up close, and Mark even fed and posed with several. We bought a painting that was painted onto a straw scroll with our names on it, and had a yummy lunch. On the way out we were lucky enough to see a big family of maccaques (we think!) including a mum with a little baby!

Once again the late afternoon humidity made us retreat to our hotel, stopping at 7Eleven on the way for a few beers at $1.50 each! We are now looking out our hotel window from the 14th floor, watching a huge tropical storm, and we are looking forward to exploring more of KL tonight.

Selemat Malam!

Mark & Jess