Kuala Lumpur

Sunday was my last day in New Zealand after spending a whole year there. I've definitely had a good year and worked in environments I never thought I would and met some great new people along the way, not to mention some of the scenery. I was up bright and early as I couldn't bear not listening to the Saints game, although it was pretty dour to listen to. As my flight wasn't until 7.15pm I had much of the day free in Auckland, so I decided instead of catching the skybus to the airport from the cbd, I would walk to the coast to coast walk to Onehunga and catch the bus from there, an incredibly cheaper option as well. It was a nice walk via Mount Eden and One Tree Hill, finishing at the southern harbour.

After having lunch in Onehunga I caught the bus to the airport, arriving a bit earlier than expected. I thought I would just be able to pass the time on the WiFi although they restrict you to 45 minutes a day which was frustrating. After checking in which took a while because so many people's bags went above the weight limit, I eased through security and into duty free. They boarded the flight early and we left on time, stopping en route to Kuala Lumpur in the Gold Coast which gave me chance to stretch my legs and get WiFi. Ironically the security screening here was more intense than New Zealand, despite simply getting off the plane and getting back on the same one. The flight itself was pretty smooth although they had no in flight entertainment or flight tracker and the meals were pretty stingy, but I at least managed to get a bit of sleep on the way.

We arrived in Kuala Lumpur early, and I obtained a 90 day visa without any problems and walked though security. With the airport a little way out of the city I had work out how to use the public transport, the easiest yet most expensive way is to catch the train. I decided to catch the coach transfer though which was a lot cheaper, although there were 15 different companies and it was difficult making sure I got on the correct one without getting ripped off. I eventually negotiated that and made it into the city, although it was still dark. Being in effectively an equatorial region means it gets 12 hour days 12 hour nights, and it seems that 12 hours of sunlight is from 7.30 to 7.30.

When finally getting to the city I was starving so I headed over to the Chinatown district where I was staying to get something to eat. It was challenging to navigate the roads though as there were roads everywhere and bridges going over bridges and subways everywhere so what I thought were intersections on the map were not. I eventually made it and grabbed some food, as well as some WiFi before checking into my hostel and dumping my stuff off. I knew I had to stay awake all day to avoid getting jet lag with my body clock 5 hours out of sync, so I went for a wander round the city, exploring Chinatown where I was staying as well as some of old colonial buildings and religious areas surrounding it.

I then headed into the city centre towards the KL sky tower and then Petronas Towers where I had lunch. Until 2003 the Petronas Towers was the highest building in the world, but they're still the tallest twin towers. I had lunch here in the shopping centre in which had every Asian cuisine you could think of in its food mall. My highlight though was getting my hands on a packet of percy pigs. From here I went to KLCC park which had a great view of some of the city's skyscrapers, before heading into the Bukit Bintang district which is where the main shopping centres, hotels, and nightlife is. There was however a massive thunderstorm when getting here and it rained massively! The drains didn't seem to be able to cope with the rain and in places brown liquid was gushing out which must of been sewage!

I eventually got back to Chinatown after completing a big loop and went back to the hostel to relax. I was planning to go out for dinner afterwards but I fell asleep early, luckily sleeping right through the night. In the morning I had a pretty relaxing start, the plan being to head out to Batu Caves for the day. Getting there was confusing however as there were engineering works on the and it wasn't very clear this was case. After finding someone who got that message across to me I found the rail replacement bus service, which took me to some other train station where I was able to catch the train to the Batu Caves.

The Batu Caves is a limestone hill housing a series a caves and cave temples and is one of the most popular Hindu shrines outside India. It is dominated by a statue of Murugan, which stands at the entrance to the main temple cave. When arriving I was greeted by lots of monkeys who were stealing everyone's food which was funny! There were several smaller temples before reaching the main cave, which required a steep climb of 272 steps to get into the cave, which was an impressive place to explore. There were several statues and temples inside as well as some massive stalagmites illuminated by holes in the ceiling which let the light through. When getting back down I had lunch inside this cafe to get away from the monkeys who were literally stealing whatever they could get their hands on!

After catching the train and then bus back to the city I went to the shopping mall in KL Sentral station, as there was another massive thunderstorm. When that cleared I explored Little India before heading out into the Botanic Gardens which is always a good place to explore in major cities. After getting back to the hostel I headed out in the evening for dinner, having a look round Central Market and Chinatown which was far more lively at night. I then watched this fountain show by the river, heading down for the international show which played with the star wars theme in the background!

On Wednesday I had another relaxing start to the day, heading out later in the morning to the National Mosque of Malaysia. To get in I had to wear a robe and it was very interesting walking round, as well as getting some great views of the surrounding city. From there I headed to KL Sentral again, where I headed out to Lake Titiwangsa which was a good place to view the city skyline as well as another nice green area to relax. The lake was even so still the skyline was reflecting in the water. Nearby the lake I visited the art gallery which I decided to visit because it had a more interactive approach to many of the pieces so it was more exciting than a normal art gallery.

I then headed back to the Petronas Towers, and then down to Bukit Bintang where I explored some of the shopping malls and had dinner. By the time I had finished it was dark, and it felt slightly like Times Square with all the billboards and street entertainers. I then headed back to the Petronas Towers from here to check out the light show at Lake Symphony which was another pretty fountain show. There was another thunderstorm however so I sheltered in the shopping mall while that passed over, before heading back to Chinatown via Bukit Bintang again which was extremely busy and lively.