Kuala Lumpur

With less than 24 hours allocated in our schedule, we had to maximize our stay in Kuala Lumpur, but unfortunately, we arrived from Genting Highlands at around 9 PM. Our original itinerary was:

Day 1 - Batu Caves, Bukit Bintang, Petronas Towers at night
Day 2 - Petronas Towers (Skybridge), Shopping

When we arrived late, we immediately decided to cancel the Skybridge because we still did not have tickets and we had to wake up early to line up for them. We also had to move the Batu Caves trip to the morning.

We checked in at Swiss Garden Hotel. We got a Deluxe Room with breakfast for RM276, thanks to their Early Bird promo. The room was nice, nothing fancy but quite neat. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to take pictures. We wanted to have dinner at Nando's since we heard that this restaurant is a must-try for KL first-timers. The hotel staff said there was one near Puduraya bus terminal, so we walked towards the terminal and immediately found the resto. Sadly, they were about to close at that time, so the staff told us to go to the Bukit Bintang branch. We were very tired and hungry, so we took a cab and asked the driver if he knew Nando's at BB. But before we could turn left at BB coming from Puduraya, we got stuck in traffic, so we got off, paid about RM10 (if I remember correctly) for that short less-than-a-kilometer, traffic jam-packed ride and started to look for Nando's. We weren't able to see it, even the policemen told us conflicting directions, so we had to settle for... KFC. After our quick dinner, we rushed to get to the Petronas towers because the lights were scheduled to be out by 12 midnight. We weren't the only ones trying to catch the towers' lights that night.

The building across the towers

KL Tower as background

When the lights went off, we rode a cab back to the hotel and had a good night sleep. As a result, we woke up late the next day! We had a quick breakfast and asked the hotel staff for directions to Batu Caves. We walked to the Imbi station of the monorail and got off at KL Sentral. The fare was RM3.20 for both of us. From KL Sentral, we rode the KTM Komuter to Batu Caves, which was actually the last stop of that line. This cost us RM4 for both of our tickets.

Inside the Monorail train

Quite noticeable about KTM Komuter is the interval of trains. They were far in between so missing a train can really ruin your schedule, though they weren't really on schedule if the displayed time at the station will be used. It was almost 11AM when we reached Batu Caves, and hotel check-out time was 12PM, so once again, we had to rush. We just took some pictures, bought some souvenirs and weren't able to climb up the stairs.

Considering our experience with the KTM Komuter, we got a cab going back to the hotel. The driver asked for RM40 and since we didn't have much of a choice, we just obliged. Tough luck again, there was traffic jam even at the express way. We asked the driver if he knew any other way, and he asked for an additional RM5, so I agreed as long as we can get to the hotel on time. From that point, he turned to the next right, and I thought we were getting farther from our hotel, but he knew what we was doing, so before 12, we reached the hotel. I told the concierge that we'll just pick up our baggage and he was kind enough to tell us that he had to update our card key. After check out, we deposited our bags at the hotel lobby and walked to BB, still searching for Nando's. Luckily, there were shops along the way, so we got to shop a little, and ate at Nando's located at the Pavilion. My wife ordered a Hot Peri-peri while I got a Lemon & Herb chicken. My chicken had a flag on it that said "Not so brave".

After eating, we still had to rush to the hotel to catch our flight. We asked the hotel to get us a cab to LCCT, and they got us one for RM80. We wanted to enjoy KL as much as possible but we didn't have enough time, so hopefully we can come back there soon.

Here are some links:
Swiss Garden Hotel
Petronas Towers official website
KTM Komuter

Genting Highlands

We arrived at Malaysia's LCCT at around 8:20PM via Air Asia, and the plan was to go directly to Genting Highlands via Skyvan, hoping that we can catch the last normal fare trip at 9:00PM. Unfortunately, we got out of immigration and customs at around 8:50PM and at that point, I knew that we would not be able to catch that last trip. So on our way out of the airport, I saw some taxi ticketing stalls and inquired about the fares. We got a taxi for RM215, just a little over our budget for the Skyvan, which was RM190 for me and my wife. Considering that it would be just the two of us in the taxi and the Skyvan is shared with other travelers, I think it was a good deal. Add the fact that there's also a RM20 surcharge per van for Skyvan trips past 9:00PM and the price looked much better.

First World Hotel, as seen from the outdoor theme park

We arrived at First World Hotel at around 10:40PM, and we immediately went to the information counter for our booking. Originally, we wanted to check in at Theme Park Hotel, but it was fully booked at that time. Anyway, we got a Superior Deluxe room at First World Hotel for RM239 and also reserved 2 All Park 1 day unlimited ride tickets for RM112. After our reservation was confirmed, we were handed the keys to our room - room 19937. Yup, I think every digit here is significant, unlike other hotels' room numbers. Since First World Hotel is the largest hotel in the world - as confirmed by Guinness World Records, I think they really need all those numbers.

We woke up at around 9:00AM the next day, then headed straight to the 8th floor (if I remember correctly) for our complimentary breakfast. There were many choices, and all of them conform to Halal standards. We had a quick breakfast, took some shots of the view outside the restaurant then went straight to the theme park.

There are actually two theme parks, the indoor and the outdoor theme park. Since our tickets covered both, we never had problems moving from one park to another. However, except for the Flying Coaster of the outdoor park, most of the rides were the usual ones, and special attractions were not included in the unlimited ride ticket. We went to see Sky Venture but weren't that interested with skydiving simulation, so we just went to Snow World instead. Unfortunately, we cannot bring our cameras inside.

After lunch, we checked out of the hotel, deposited our bags and spent most of our time in the Ripley's Believe It or Not museum just within the indoor park. Tickets cost RM22 each, but I think the experience was priceless. Every section and item in the museum was interesting.

You should check out these books

The lady on the right will not be there if you'd look from where my wife stood.

That's me getting dizzy. It's like everything moves in this bridge.

After the museum, we took our bags and went to the cable car station to go down to the bus terminus. Cable car tickets cost RM5 each. Unfortunately, we weren't able to catch the bus and had to wait for an hour for the next trip. There were also "taxi drivers" offering their services, and if you'll opt to ride them, I suggest you try your best to haggle. There was another lady who missed the bus, and she asked us if the three of us can share a taxi, and we got one for RM90 going to Kuala Lumpur.

Some links:
Skyvan
Resorts World Genting

1-Day Tour: Mitake Shosenkyo (御嶽昇仙峡), Kawaguchiko Red Leaves Festival (河口湖紅葉祭り)

As much as I want to provide details, I don't have all the information I need regarding this trip to Yamanashi-ken. Since it's a company-sponsored trip, the organizers have already arranged everything - from the transportation, the food, and the itinerary.

We started with a mini-hike from Shozenkyo (昇仙峡) to Houtou Kaikan (ほうとう会館). Supposedly, it's just a 30-40 minute hike, but I think it took us more than an hour. This started our long day.

After the hike, we rode our bus again and went to Hayanagi no Sho Keizan (華やぎの章　慶山) - a hotel in Isawa Onsen (石和温泉郷) - for our lunch buffet. This was originally for 1 hour but because of the earlier delay and slow traffic, it was cut short to 40 minutes.

Next stop was a visit to an old Japanese village.. or not. We were stuck in a traffic jam on our way there and because sunset was also early, we had to skip that part of the trip and went straight to the Kawaguchiko Red Leaves Festival (河口湖紅葉祭り).