Street Smart in KL.

Dear Jhansi,

I really wish I were coming with you to Kuala Lumpur, but unfortunately I'm not. I've had the most fun shopping and eating out in KL so I have lots and lots of ideas for you. I hope you like it.

Petronas Towers and KLCC

If you come out of the hotel and turn right, walk up the road for about 10 minutes and on your left is the Petronas Towers. At the base of the towers is the KLCC shopping mall which has everything from upmarket brands to more affordable brands. There’s a food court on the 2nd floor which has a lot of variety.

One of my favorite coffee places, San Francisco coffee is in this mall and I love their Cheesecake. Also, if you walk through the mall you’ll come to the garden area with coffee shops facing the garden and fountain; those are awesome to sit around at and do nothing.

The garden itself is super large so you can walk around, they have a children’s play area in the middle amongst other things, so there’s lots to look at. Walking around, you’ll see the entrance to the actual KLCC (Convention Center), go in and down to the basement and you’ll find the aquarium.

The Petronas Towers lets people up to their cross over bridge (The same one Catherine Zeta Jones ran across in Entrapment) but they give out only a limited number of tickets a day. The bridge is open from 9-5 and they let you up in 15minute slots, but unfortunately the tickets are sold out in about an hour once the counter opens at 8:30am. If you wake up early and are jobless, you can go over pick up tickets for later in the day and then come back and go up. It’s a decent enough view of the city.

If you want a much better view of the city, go to Menara KL which is about a 10-15 minute walk from the hotel. You need to cross over and walk past the monorail station to reach this. It gives you a 360 degree view of the city and you can see all the way out to the hills on a clear day. I think it costs about RM 47 to go to the observation deck.

While walking in that direction, after you cross the street you’ll pass by Hard Rock Café, look down the first left turn and there’s tons of bars… some are nice so if you want to go over one evening it’s not a bad idea.

Pavilion and Bukit Bintang

Pavilion is my favorite shopping mall in KL. Take the monorail from across the hotel (The station is called “Bukit Nanas”) to the “Bukit Bintang” station; its just 2 stops away. The Bukit Bintang street area is filled with smaller shops and restaurants; later in the evening you may see people selling things out on the street. There’s a lot of Middle Eastern type food here that you can try.

If you walk down from the station, you’ll pass a couple of smaller malls (Lot 10, Fahrenheit) but at the end of the street is Pavilion. All the international and local KL brands for clothes, shoes and make up are here. My absolutely favorite place to buy shoes is a store called Vincci; they’re part of a group called Padini which has clothes. If you want to buy dresses or nice tops look for Eclipse, Nichi and Forever 21. I like Face Shop for nail polish. The food court in the basement of Pavilion is not bad at all; I’ve eaten in most of the counters and always been happy.

Another mall which is really really worth it is called Sungei Wang, right opposite the station. Its got tons of small shops so you could spend a whole day there. 

Go to Old Town White Coffee…  you absolutely have to; they have outlets all over but I know there’s one in Pavillian and another in Sungei Wang.

If you walk around a bit, or take the monorail one stop further to “Imbi”, you’ll find Times Square. More shops but just ok I think; if you don’t make it there, its ok.



Central Market and Chinatown

From the hotel, turn left, cross the street and walk down a bit, the Metro Station there is called “Dang Wangi”.  Take the train all the way to “Pasar Seni” and when you get off at the station you’ll see a big blue building which is central market.  It used to be just small stores on the street but its been done up and is a nice clean air-conditioned building, but there’s still all the small shops for everything traditional. 

If you walk past Central Market, you’ll find Petaling Street. This is the actual China town area where you get fake watches and bags and everything thing else branded that’s fake. However, what I really like are the bead chains and bracelets that you find here. 

Bargain lots and everything’s super cheap anyway.

Midvalley and Bangsar

From the “Dang Wangi” station, take the train to “Bangsar”. Midvalley is another mall; the stores are similar to KLCC and Pavillion but the layout is different and its huge so is worth going over. Midvalley has a shuttle bus that runs from the Bangsar station to the mall every 20 mins or so; you can catch it when you come down from the station or you could just take a cab.  


The Gardens is another posher looking mall that you can reach by walking through midvalley.

If you get a chance eat at this restaurant called DELIcious as well as Madam Kwans. Some other places that I really don’t mind eating at are Nando’s and Secret Recipe. Again, all of these are chain type places so you should find them at most malls.

From “Bangsar” station, you could also walk up the road a bit or preferably take a cab and there’s Bangsar village which again has lots of shops and restaurants but not in a mall, its outdoors so a nice change. Also there have a lot of Indian restaurants in this area.

If you really really want south Indian food, you should get off a few stops earlier as “Masjid Jamek” and they have traditional banana leaf meals

KL Sentral

“KL Sentral” is one of the main stations after you leave from “Dang Wangi”. There’s nothing much you can do in this area, but if you need a break from shopping and plan on going to the Deer Park, Butterfly Park or Bird Park, you can come over here and take a cab. I’ve never been but from what I’ve heard the parks are quite a sight as the birds are very rare and you get to go really close to them.

Ikea and the Curve

Personally I love Ikea cause I get lots of ideas for home and doing it up just by walking around Ikea. Since it’s a ways off, I take the train from “Dang Wangi” to the last stop “Kelana Jaya” and the mall has a free shuttle bus that runs at periodic intervals (The website has the updated timings).  If you miss the shuttle, there are plenty of cabs outside the station. Ikea, the IPC mall next to it and the other mall Curve across from it are nice to spend a whole day.

Eat at Bubba Gump if you feel like sea food, if not there’s no limit to the eating options here. There’s also a nice Thai place just in front of the entrance.

And out of KL

You should go to Batu Caves, its caves and bats and lots of steps to reach it. Another close by historic place is Melaka. You can find tons of information about them and getting there from the hotel but these are the two closest places worth seeing.

But if you can't get out of KL and want to feel like you're out of the city, walk across to Bukit Nana's and behind the station is whats called "Forest in the city"; they have nature trails and once inside the park you'll feel like you're actually walking through a rain forest area.

Have fun and take lots of pictures.

Love,
Serina.

P. S. I absolutely love the Renaissance, Kuala Lumpur. The staff are warm and friendly and they truly make you feel at home.