My Kuala Lumpur Top Ten

1. Getting lost twice - On our first night in KL, we found ourselves in the middle of Bukit Bintang, less than a kilometer from our hotel. Yes, we had a map, but somehow, we couldn't figure out where we were in the map. Hahaha! Second was getting lost looking for the Sri Maha Mariamman temple along Jalan Tun HS Lee Street after going around Chinatown. We asked street vendors, conductors/drivers but no one could point us the "right" way. Yes, we had a map (we always had a map with us), but but but...

2. Ikea and Ikea's Swedish meatballs/Ikano - One of the most talked about home products retailer is Ikea, founded in Sweden, owned by a Dutch-registered foundation. It was, I guess, one of the highlights of our trip (same as visiting the Ikea store in Singapore). After shopping at Ikea and eating Swedish meatballs (and some dessert), we proceeded to the adjacent Ikano Power Center and The Curve for more shopping.

Kwento: One of the most important task for me while in SIN/MAL was the purchase of a Dave Laptop Table from Ikea for my sister Rose. Rose had already made her research and it turns out, its cheaper to buy the table in Malaysia (RMS 89 or Php1,157) than in Singapore (S$58 or Php1,798). Meanwhile, Hazel made a few phone calls and found out that the table was out of stock in Malaysia. So there was no choice but to buy it in Singapore. When we got to Ikea Singapore, it was also out of stock =( Btw, a reseller in Manila sells it for Php3,000 (on order basis).

3. Petronas Twin Towers - You should never go to Kuala Lumpur without visiting the country's "national landmark and symbol of Malaysia's progress and achievements as an emerging world-class economy." According to travel books and from friends, a limited number of tickets are available daily (just 1,400) so we lined up as early as 8:00am and got tickets for 12:45pm to go up the Skybridge. When we returned for our Skybridge visit, there were no more tickets available. Before going up, a short 3D film was shown as introduction to the Petronas Towers. Beautiful and impressive!!

4. Suria KLCC - While waiting for 12:45pm for our Skybridge visit, we went to Suria KLCC for breakfast (at their food court). I never imagined that there were different ways of serving Nasi Lemak (rice in cream). It can be served with chicken, beef, etc.

5. Aquaria - After breakfast we went to Aquaria, "the only state-of the art 60,000 sq. ft. aquarium, right in the heart of beautiful Kuala Lumpur City." First part of the tour was what they call a touch pool encounter where you get to touch some fish, starfish and a hard shelled fish (can't remember the names). The also have this Amazon river aquarium featuring a 10 foot long gigantic Arapaima. They also have an underwater tunnel where you can have your picture taken with the swimming sharks, sting rays. We also watched feeding of Piranhas! (Btw, a funny thing happened while we were in the Aquaria Souvenir Shop. Becky and I were looking for the toilet and we asked the Aquaria security guard for directions, and he said "diretso tapos kaliwa" but he didn't look Pinoy at all. All we could say was "Salamat." haha.)

5. Crowne Plaza Mutiara -For our stay in KL, we stayed at the Crowne Plaza Mutiara along Jalan Sultan Ismail. I will never forget the see through toilet. Thanks again to Hazel =)

7. Aeroline Malaysia - is one of the bus companies that offer trips between Singapore and Malaysia. We initially booked a trip for CRK-KL-Langkawi-KL-CRK but around January, we decided to go instead to Singapore and forego Langkawi. Becky (or was it Hazel?) checked out Aeroline so we went ahead and booked our trip for KL-SIN-KL. Aeroline's impressive amenities included: washroom, pantry, video entertainment, reclining seats, reading lights and power sockets for gadgets. It's like traveling business class, only we were in a bus. It was so comfy. On our way to SIN, there were only 6 passengers (excluding the driver and crew). Going back to KL, we were only 9 or 10. Trip took 5 hours.

8. Food - Chinese, Malay, Indian, we tried them all. My favorite was the Tofu with minced pork at this Chinese retaurant somewhere in Chinatown. Delicious!

9. Shopping - It was a great shopping experience in KL. We enjoyed shopping for souvenirs, magnets, keychains and other stuff of interest at Little India, Jalan Petaling (Chinatown), Central Market, Plaza Low Yat (4 floors of electronic gadgets), Berjaya Times Square (said to be the biggest mall in Malaysia), Daiso (all items at RM5 or Php65) at Suria KLCC and Cold Storage (actually, there was more excitement at the sight of Cold Storage compared to anywhere else).

10. Air Asia - Thanks to Air Asia, we were able to avail of their Zero Fare (in May 2008). Catch: Upon touchdown in KL, we had to walk from the plane to the immigration area which was a good 5+ minute walk. Good thing it wasn't raining, but it was HOT!

I enjoyed my first quarter vacation. Hopefully, there'll be more this year!

More pics here.

Singapore Top Ten

1. Singapore's Transport System - MRT, Bus and Taxi System - impressive, efficient, clean!! You have to experience it to know what I mean.

2. Shopping for souvenirs in Chinatown (3 for S$10 store), Du Yi Bookshop, Night Safari, etc.

3. Mustafa Center, Little India - Open 24 hours a day, is a one stop shop for anything you need. It is so big that we almost got lost inside (blame it on the floor plan of the store hehe). Don't bother depositing your stuff at the counter outside, they'll just seal it for you (and you'll need a pair of scissors to open it).

4. FOOD!!!!! - I think we were able to try every kind of food Singapore had to offer, from Yin Yang Chicken (Hainanese Chicken), Chilli Crab, Satay, Tom Yung Soup, Roti Prata and even had Nasi Lemak for breakfast. It was primarily a food trip -- shopping and visiting the sites were just coincidental.

5. Singapore Visitors Centre on Orchard Road and Singapore Tourist Pass - It's highly recommended that tourists pass by the Visitors Centre. Staff are very helpful (except for 1 - hmphhh) and they'll readily assist in any way. And all kinds of maps and info brochures are available. While there, we bought 2-day passes to go around the sights and shopping areas in Singapore (for S$16) (does not include fare to the Night Safari), which we used for the trains, buses and get this, you get back your S$10 as refund. That's Becky and Hazel on the foreground entering the Visitors Centre.

6. Night Safari - We traveled all the way to Singapore's famous Night Safari (probably an hour away from our hotel). Despite the large crowd that Thursday evening, we were able to get good front row seats to watch the "Creatures of the Night Show." After the show, we went on the Tram Ride to see the other "creatures of the night." It was actually pleasant to meet some fellow Pinoys working at the Night Safari. They even showed us where the best seats are for the Tram Ride (third car, front row). Before I forget, check out their toilets while you're there (with matching waterfall sounds and a lot of growling).

7. Holiday Inn Atrium - For our 3 nights 2 days stay in Singapore, we were billeted at the beautiful Holiday Inn Atrium. Thanks, Hazel. Tip: Avail of the free Riverside Hotels' shuttle service.

That's me and Hazel looking at some maps -- finalizing our itinerary for the next 2 days.

8. Esplanade - Theatres by The Bay - The structure, its dome are actually upturned Durians, is most beautiful at night. When we first came to Esplanade (earlier in the day), we were somehow pulled to The Cookie Museum which sells, you guessed it, cookies. But not just plain cookies but delicious tasting cookies (you can actually sample some of them) but sadly, were quite expensive. So, we just had a snack of chocolate dipped strawberries and bananas (with nuts) at Chocz while listening to a group practicing their pieces for a concert (which was a welcome treat to our very tired feet). We came back that night and had dinner at the nearby Makasuntra Gluttons Bay-Singapore's best streetfood, where we had dinner of Satay and Roti with Cheese -- which Hazel found weird.

9. The Famous Merlion - Just across Esplande is Merlion Park. Need I say more?







(My note: Hazel was too shy to pose for pictures)

10. Litter-free streets of Singapore - This is another reason to be impressed about Singapore. Friends told me that this small island state is soooo clean, I didn't realize that it was true until I saw it for myself. How I wish it would be the same in Manila *sigh* I wonder where they put all their trash? hmmm...

There are actually other sights or things that I've not included (our trip to Ikea or the other malls we went to) but actually, all I wanted to say is that --- Thank you, Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, without you, there'd be no Singapore.


More Singapore pics here.