27th May- 1st June 2017

The flight with Air Asia was okay. We didn't have TVs or anything again so nothing to watch and a pretty budget standard plane. It wasn't the best of flights and a little uncomfortable.
KL airport was so so big, we got in just after 5am and got a taxi to the city which was about 45min. The currency here is MYR (Malaysian Ringgit). The exchange is around $1 to 3.5 myr of £1=5 myr. It was already 27 degrees when we got into the airport. A very humid place. It was still dark when we arrived but started to lighten up on our way in to the city. The sunrise rises around 7am and sets around 7pm at this time of year. It seemed like a big place, very green but with lots of high rise apartment buildings in all the suburbs as well as houses that looked pretty similar to villas, there were also some houses that looked similar to home.
It was scary how many apartment buildings there were in this one city. Maybe this was an inclination as to how populated it would be- fitting as many people as possible into one space. There was so so much construction going on. Not just putting up one high rise building, but 2,3,4,5 in a row all going up at the same time. I have never actually seen this many apartment buildings in one place and this much construction. It's going to be a crazy hectic city! It has the only tropical rainforest in the world that still exists in the middle of a city. The hotel was lovely, Parkroyal Serviced Suites Kuala Lumpur, a 5 star apartment/hotel in the city. We got there way before check in but they had a room where we could relax, watch tv and drink coffee while the room was been prepared. It had concierges on the door waiting to take your bags for you. There was a rooftop pool on floor 31 which was an infinity pool, there was 2 jacuzzis and an amazing view of the city. There were brilliant views of KL tower and you could see the tops of Petrona Towers and views of the surrounding mountains. There was a big gym and another pool on floor 1 with saunas and steam room. Our room was on floor 22 of 30 so couldn't complain with that! We could see the top of petrona towers from the bedroom window and has amazing views of the city and could just see KL tower. Amazing! It blew me away every time. I just love cities and big buildings! Especially when they are all lit up. We had a 1 bed apartment, all open plan with half walls separating the bedroom and then a walk in wadrobe. It was a very big apartment again. Probably the nicest place we have stayed yet. It was all very modern and fancy and very professional attentive staff, bringing your bags to your room for you. We had breakfast buffet included too, which was great. We didn't want to leave already and we had only just arrived! It was around 33 degrees the whole time we were there with lows of 25. The weather forecast was just overcast, with some thunderstorms and it was very humid- around 80%. There was a storm around 4 or 5pm everyday and it bounced it down and the thunder was so loud and the lightning lit up the sky. It lasted an hour or two and then cleared up. We, along with most other people hid in one of the many malls! It was clear and sunny for periods of the day which was lovely, usually in the morning. The humidity was a killer though. It was just so sticky and sweaty all the time, sometimes unbearable! We did love KL though. It was a very hustle bussle business city and then a street over would be the slums. Two completely different worlds colliding and living side by side. There was some serious wealth and serious poverty. Crazy place! But amazing. It was good to be able to escape from both and feel like you were going to a different place. You forgot where you were sometimes. The people were very friendly, it was a very multi-cultural business city and they were used to people from all walks of life.

Day 1- we explored the city after checking in and got our bearings. We were in a prefect location and close to everything. We walked and saw KL tower, petrona towers, all the shopping centres, which there were a lot of! We just did general sight seeing and a lot of walking around the city. For the night we headed to Jalan Alor, a street lined with restaurants cooking on the street and hawker stalls. We had such a feast and it only cost us 40MyR. We didn't have a clue what it was that we ate, some rice and noodle dishes, but it was lovely! God I've missed street food!! It was very busy around the stalls, it's wasn't as touristy as Thailand but still quite a few tourists around. It just seemed like more tourists from Asian countries, rather than western.

Day 2- the breakfast had lots of different foods, Malaysia and international. We had chicken rendang, Nasi lemak, Samosas, Egg station, Eng breakfast food, Fruits, Pastries. It was lovely, but changed everyday. We had a morning up at the rooftop pool as the weather was lovely and clear and very warm! It was amazing swimming in the infinity pool looking out over the city. In the afternoon we headed to KL tower to go to the observation deck. We had some food at a Malaysian cafe first near the tower and again we had no clue what it was, some chicken and rice dishes, help yourself and cost 14myr for both of us! It was lovely flavoursome food! Nath got something spicy and nearly had a cry! He kept saying how he couldn't feel his mouth haha!

We didn't manage to go up the tower as the open area observation deck was closed at the storm had come in. We had to wait at the tower for a while before leaving because of the rain and the lightning. The lightning was so close, it hit and broke a tree near us and it was such loud crackling noises, it was scary!
Once the rain cleared we went to petrona towers and around the mall at the bottom of the towers, which was humongous. After the sun had set the city lit up and the towers too. They were so bright and amazing. The fountain outside the towers lit up different colours and danced to different music. It was brilliant. There were loads of people there watching! KL was such a colourful lit up city, I could have stared at it all night! The KL tower lights up on a night too and changes to different music too. It really is a dazzling place!

Day 3- we got a ticket for the hop on hop off bus. There were stops at different part of the city, all which would have pretty far to walk and see everything in one day. One of the stops was Little India (looked exactly as its named). We had some sweet baji and very hot samosas. There was Bollywood music playing out of shops and it was very colourful. It was weird to come out the city centre and then to this part of town where there were only Indian people. It was like going to a completely different place. It was such a big mix of people in one city. There was then China Town, which was pretty self explanatory. This was one of the main places to grab a bargain and do some haggling for fake gear but we didn't really want anything and couldn't cope with the people sticking things in your face anymore! We have had enough of that for a lifetime! We visited the Palace and I got a photo with one of the guards, he just stood there not moving, no facial expression, while people took stupid photos next to him. We visited sri mahamariamman temple which dated back to the 19th century and was related with the most influential and richest Indian family in KL. Central market was nice, built in 1888. We went to the botanical gardens but ended up getting lost and very agitated in the heat. The humidity was just next level, especially today. It was so sticky. We have never been anywhere where it has been that bad. eans aren't always the best option but maybe better than shorts as my legs would just stick together. I did find it hard to fight to get my jeans back on after going toilet though!
One of my favourite places was Merdeka Square, which means independence. It signifies the independence from the British rule. It used to be a place where British people hung out and they build a cricket pitch there in the middle of the square. It was very picturesque, with old buildings that were a mix of British and Malaysian. There was the sultan abdul samad building, which was build to be the British government offices in 1897. It was a very pretty building with a mix of influences, making it look quite unique. It was the biggest building in Malaysia at the time it was built. That was the last stop we did on the bus that day and it took us like 2 hours to get back to the city. It wasn't that far but the traffic was just crazy! There didn't seem to many rules either and cars and bikes were trying to manoeuvre around one another over intersections. There was also a big thunderstorm too and the rain was so heavy!
We weaved our way through town, ducking under shelters to hide from the rain. We went to an underground food court for dinner and had a lovely meal-
Penang duck egg fried kuey teow. Something we have never had before!

Day 4- for the morning we went on the hop on hop off again just for a full ride around and to take it in more and hear all the information. It took over 2 hours and we still didn't make the full loop. We went for lunch in a food court in the shopping centre in KL towers. It is literally crazy how many malls there are and how many food courts in the malls. I've never seen anything like it in my life. You couldn't even get around every mall if you tried. We did some shopping for a new silver pandora bracelet, and I thought I'd got right size but when went for a coffee and tried it on again it seemed a little too big. We tried to exchange it but they said you couldn't exchange on spot and it had to to sent it off and took 30 days, which was no good for us! Nath was annoyed and wanted me to get the one I wanted but I didn't know what to do as nothing could be done but Nath wanted a solution and wouldn't give up. I started crying because Nath was upset I didn't have the right one I wanted so he went to try again and they eventually swapped it. You know how the story goes- I get emotional and overreact, Nath sorts it out! We went to Dome cafe and had been to Starbucks while we have been here. We didn't think they would have ones like that, we thought we would be missing our coffee. We have been loving it. We hid in different malls for the storm and then once it had cleared we went to the street markets and bought so much food. We brought it back to the hotel and sat up at the rooftop pool overlooking the city and watched the sun go down and the city light up. The food was great. We nasi lemak and then loads of nibbles. It was all very hot! Nasi lemak is the local dish and was lovely- rice and spicy chicken.

Day 5- the last day! :( it all goes too quick! I think the spicy food got us last night, we both had a bit of a dodgy belly in the morning but we were okay after. We spent the morning at the pool, it was overcast but still very hot and lovely to lay out and enjoy the views over the city. We will never get over the amazing views from the hotel roof, it was just brilliant! We couldn't have asked for a better hotel for location, price and views and we were within walking difference of everything.

It's annoying that you get ready from the comfort of your own room with air con and then you step outside and boom! You hit the humidity wall and it feels like a hairdryer blowing in your face! You start dripping in sweat and you realise how pointless it was to bother getting ready!
I managed to get abused by a local this morning. This strange woman first followed Nath around the shop and then stood behind me saying 'this one', pointing at me and then ranting abuse in a different language to the guy behind the counter. I had no idea what she was on about but the guy behind the counter thought it was funny. She really didn't seem happy with me for some reason!

We spent the afternoon/evening at KL tower, eventually getting the right weather for it! KL tower is the 7th tallest observation tower in world and stands at 421m. We paid to go to the open air observation deck (sky deck) and the normal observation deck which was lower down. The observation deck was 276m and the Skydeck was 421m. On the open air deck there was a transparent glass box that hangs out over the side of the building at 300m high. It was glass on all 3 sides and the floor and it was crazy! You could only go in two at a time and then a photographer. The photographer was very pushy! We were both panicking trying to go slow getting in and he kept trying to rush us, telling us to sit down and do all these different poses. I ended up telling him no that we didn't want anymore photos as I felt like I was having a panic attack. We both were very nervous and sweaty! It was so scary! It didn't help that the box moved slightly! Probably the scariest thing I've done, though I did enjoy the thrill and it was worth it! I kept trying to overcome my fear and getting back in, and I did get much better with it! We had perfect weather for the tower, no storm and it was a nice day! We stayed until sunset and then watched the petrona towers and the rest of the city light up. It was an amazing last night, we loved it! It was a hazy city, with lots of smog but the views were still amazing!

Kuala Lumpur was a very international city, and we both felt very safe and not out of place. Everyone had very good English too. It gave a good taste of Asia but a different international side to it too. Apart from looking like a tourist, people wouldn't know if you lived there or not. It is the biggest city we have been to with biggest buildings. It had massive advertisements everywhere and big screens with adverts on, like what you see in bustling cities on films! We both loved that in some parts on the city you felt like you were in the heart of Asia, all the street venders and local people, and then the next street over would be the business and shopping district, with expensive buildings and shops. It felt like two completely different places in one and it was really lovely to escape from both when you needed something different.

We checked out in the morning and went to the airport that was about 45min away. Our flight was at 1:20pm with Thai airways. KL airport was that big that we had to go through check in and immigration and then get on a train to our gate. Such a huge airport! Every gate (A,B,C etc)- it went at least up to H- you had to get transport there and they all had their own shopping centres, with at least 4 different sections in it. There was an outside rainforest walk with waterfalls too. Just crazy for an airport! We have never seen anything like it (until we get to Dubai more than likely!!) Its only one week until we land in London now. It's all starting to feel a bit real and scary! I can't believe it is that time already and we are going to be heading home soon! The last few years have flew by, it doesn't feel like we haven't been home in all that time, but it's so daunting because it doesn't really feel like home anymore. I still get the feeling that I'm going back home to Perth, back to our apartment, see the girls, back to our normal life, then it hits me! It's going to be a big change for us, but we are used to change now!!