Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (Revisited) – Jan & Feb 2018
After spending all of 2017 “on the go” traveling to new destinations throughout SouthEast Asia, we decided to start 2018 with a return visit to Malaysia and an extended stay in Kuala Lumpur.
As we did not have our 2018 destinations officially planned, we opted for a place to hang out and get our plans in order. We chose a 33rd floor one bedroom apartment in the Bukit Bintang area located in the financial district of downtown Kuala Lumpur. Coming to KL was a no brainer as you can easily get a flight pretty much anywhere from Kuala Lumpur. Plus, after having several short stays in KL last year, we’ve come to really enjoy this area. We figured our high rise apartment would be a perfect place to rejuvenate and get ready for what 2018 has in-store for us.
See our post below highlighting our time revisiting Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Our 33rd floor apartment was located in the North Tower (middle building) of the Swiss Garden Residences.
Nice gym facilities (on the right) which we took advantage of during our stay. You can see it has wall to ceiling windows overlooking the pool.
The nice infinity pool at the apartment… there were usually too many people at the pool for our liking, but it was still a nice bonus at the apartment.
Video – Highlighting our return visit and extended stay in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Our Visit to Batu Caves
Getting there…
Most times getting to Batu Caves should be relatively straight forward and easy. It usually only requires hopping on a local train for a few stops before connecting to another train which actually stops right at the entrance to caves. How hard could it be…
Shouldn’t be difficult at all, except when there is a large section of the train line out of service due to construction and no one around knows anything about it. Luckily, we have become accustomed to asking here in Malaysia when there is no clear signage or direction. The first employee we asked had no idea what we were talking about and tried to point us back to the section of the train (near his station) that was closed. Fortunately, we saw a very small sign which indicated a free transfer bus from where we were stuck to the closest in service train station with transportation to the caves. Despite a little frustration, some additional travel time and backtracking, and an extra bus ride thrown in, we eventually made it to Batu Caves.
Rick sitting on the 6:15 am LRT train (before we discovered the “out of service” section of the train line and added detour). Note: it’s still dark outside.
It took some asking around before we found the “free” bus transfer. The bus took us from the LRT train station around the closed and “out of service” section of the KTM line over to the next “in service” KTM train station heading to Batu Caves.
The KTM train coming into the Batu Caves station.
Rick and Alisa arriving at Batu Caves. Fortunately, the unexpected detour along the way didn’t hinder our early arrival by too much.
Batu Caves
Batu Caves is considered one of the most important hindu shrines outside of India (dedicated to Lord Murugan). The statue of Lord Murugan outside the temple is the tallest statue of Lord Murugan in the world at 140 ft. high. Batu Caves consists of three main caves – the biggest is referred to as the Cathedral Cave which has a very high ceiling and features ornate Hindu shrines. To reach it, visitors must climb a steep flight of 272 steps. Batu Caves is a popular tourist spot and can be extremely busy during peak times and weekends. We lucked out with very few other people during our early morning visit.
The entrance to Batu Caves with the 140 ft high statue of Lord Murugan right outside the temple.
Lord Murugan statue.
272 steep stairs leading up to the caves.
Rick on his way up the steep steps to the caves.
Inside the caves.
View of the Cathedral Cave, the largest of the three Batu Caves.
Another view of the Cathedral Cave, the largest of the three Batu Caves.
The exit of the caves (also how you enter the caves).
View from the top of the 272 steps of the Lord Murugan Statue and Kuala Lumpur in the distance.
On our way down from the caves, many resident Macaque monkeys are seen running around. Several groups of monkeys reside here and interact with all the people.
Resident monkey climbing one of the fences following his buddies.
Resident monkeys waiting for a snack. The monkeys are not always this polite. They know people bring food in bags and have become so accustomed to it… We saw several steal bags and fruit right out of people hands as they were walking. They’ve also been known to take backpacks or anything else they think looks like food. We talked with the man seen here who visits the temple everyday. He buys fruit to feed the monkeys every morning – They know him and expect their daily treats.
One of the many locals we saw feeding the pigeons. This lady had seed in her palms and would let the pigeons land on her and eat right from her hands. Like the monkeys, the pigeons have become extremely accustomed to be being fed by visitors.
Close-up of pigeons eating right from this locals hands.
This young girl and her father were feeding the pigeons. The cute little girl was getting quite a kick out of the whole thing, but she was still a little unsure as she wouldn’t let go of her dad’s leg.
A Few of Our Favorite Places to Eat in KL
Rick sitting at TG’s, one of our favorite places to eat in KL. The food is fantastic with the added bonus of very reasonable prices. Note: the typical asian cat photo bomb on the right.
One of our breakfasts at TG’s. Starting left, Bungkus (omelette), Roti with banana & honey, and Roti with Telur (egg) and Cheese. These 3 delicious dishes along with 2 black coffees cost roughly $5 US.
Sesame naan bread with curry and mint sauce at TG’s.
Kadai Chicken and Butter Chicken at TG’s…two of our favorites! These 2 chicken dishes, rice, sesame naan bread, and a large bottled water cost roughly $8 US.
Al Wira Curry House, another one of our favorite places to eat. Our typical dinner cost roughly $8 US for two Tandoori Chicken Sets (2 pieces chicken with 2 cheese naans).
Our Tandoori Chicken order getting ready for the tandoor oven at Al Wira Curry House.
One of our delicious Tandoori Chicken orders hot from Al Wira’s tandoor oven and ready to eat.
