After 2 days of hot and humid exploration we have jumped straight in to all KL has to offer - the best in food, wildlife, and shopping...what more can a person ask
for! We have learned that the Malaysian population is made up of 60% Malay, 25% Chinese, 10% Indian, and 5% mixed including Aboriginal peoples - so what that means is that there is awesome food here! So far *almost* everything we have eaten has been great, and an adventure for our taste buds!We arrived in KL at 6am Saturday morning and had a bit of a rough start after the short night on the plane. We caught a taxi to our hotel and only after entering a dodgey looking hotel on a back street did we learn that there are two Hotel Imperials in KL city, only one of which is up to Starwood Property standards! Fortunately we easily caught a second taxi and were on our way to luxury. After that luck was on our side - we were able to check into our hotel room at 7am to enjoy a hot shower and breakfast. The breakfast included with our room was like nothing we had ever experienced before with six gourmet food stations to choose from. For the European travelers they provided muslei, dried fruit and nuts, yogurt, and cheeses. For the American travelers they provided eggs, potatoes, bacon, and sausage. For the Asian travelers they had a range of dumplings and a station for making noodle soups with meats and vegetables. The provided Malaysian breakfast including nasi lamak fixings, rice, curries, roti bread, and samosas. You had a fresh juice bar full of fruits and vegetables to pick from. And last but not least you had breads, pasteries, pancakes, and waffles - complete with all the toppings including 4 kinds of ice cream, syrup, jams, honeys and fresh honeycomb, and chocolate. It was an adventure just to eat breakfast!
We spent Saturday morning shopping and wandering through some of the local shopping centers. There was so much going on with so many people around that it was a bit overwhelming, but we still managed to find a few things to purchase. Apparently people flock to the shopping centers on weekends to take advantage of the air conditioning - and you can't blame them! Then Saturday afternoon/evening we booked a tour to go and see fireflies. We
heard about a rural area where you take a boat on the river and see thousands of fireflies light up the night sky. We decided to go for it even though the weather looked like it could change to rain, and it didn't disappoint - it was majestic to watch the fireflies twinkle in the trees! As a bonus side trip we also got to feed silverleaf monkeys which was such a treat and a highlight of the weekend!Even though it was late at night getting back into the city, our tour guide wanted to be sure we got the dinner that was included in our tour package so he took us to a local establishment he reserved for 'special tourists'. The area was hopping with locals and we were obviously the odd couple. We had a very authentic meal - sometimes not really even knowing what we were eating - but it all turned out ok and we were glad when it was time to head back to the hotel and sleep.
For day two we decided we were going to plan a tour to the Elephant Conservation Centre which is in a rural area north of the city. It was an all day event and we were lucky enough to get the same crazy tour guide for the second day in a row. The tour also included visiting leather, batik, and cacao shops as well as a place called Deerland where there were all sorts of animals to feed and pet.
But the highlight of the day by far was the elephants - we got to pet them, feed them, and ride them. We could have bathed with them in the river, but we opted out on that one! They are such enormous and beautiful creatures - we had such a lovely time (even though it was so hot and humid we were drenched for the majority of the day!) More authentic food was served for lunch (it was soooo good - Mee Goreng and Kesui) and the tour guide bought all sorts of goodies for us to try 'real' Malaysian food. Fortunately we haven't got sick yet - fingers crossed that our digestive systems will keep up the good work! It was a spectacular (and tiring) day :)Now we are at the Marriott resort about 30 minutes outside of the city for Josh's training during the week. Kristi hopes to not only catch up on blogs and photos but also do a bit more exploration and shopping and maybe even take advantage of the hotel spa during the week while Josh works - it's a rough life, I know! Before leaving we also hope to go up the famous Twin Towers, haggle in China Town, and explore the gardens and parks within the city - we'll let you know how we go!
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