Kuala Lumpur – City of Contrasts

At KLIA I was hoping E would not cough too much and we would get into the country; they seemed quite serious about the swine flu in that part of the world (face masks, gloves, temperature checks, filling out affidavits, etc).

We arrived at our hotel exhausted and irritable. E decided to forfeit his nap so we went for a walk along the KL’s famous drag and home to many of Kl's best hotels, restaurants, smart cafes, and shopping malls, Bukit Bintang, "Star Hill."















E passed out in the stroller... of course! Eric and I sought refuge from the heat and humidity at... Outback!

In the late afternoon, we took advantage of the hotel pool and got a bit refreshed, washing off KL’s heat, humidity and smog.







The following day (and the one after that) Eric was teaching his class on “Data Security.” E and I first visited the KLCC (Convention Centre),







and an amazing playground behind it (I have never seen a bigger playground before!).















We then ventured into one of KL’s best shopping malls, Suria KLCC,





and we admired the famous and "not-to-be-missed," standing 452 high Petronas Towers... from the ground. The construction of the tower cost US$2 billion!











After our morning sojourn, we headed back to the hotel to take a well-deserved and desperately needed nap.

The nap was done and over with after two hours and we went out again. This time we went to visit the KL’s Aquarium. I need to admit that the place seemed much more interesting (especially for kids) than Auckland’s Kelly Tarlton’s (save the penguin enclosure of course).









And this is what your husband comes back home with after you had sent him out to capture some food (well, it's this and some amazing Iraninan cusine dish):



The following day, our schedule was as busy. In the morning we took a cab to the Bird Park located in the Lake Gardens. The park bills itself as the world's largest covered bird park.



























Afterwards, we went to the Butterfly Park to enjoy its extensive collection of butterflies.













E enjoyed both parks... so did I actually. The cherry on top were the monkeys hanging out in the parking lot.





After our three-hour nap that day, we headed for yet another mall to visit the Malaysia’s biggest indoor amusement park: The Cosmo’s World. Even though we skipped the roller-coaster, E had lots of fun.











On the third day in KL, Eric accompanied E and me to a few other attractions: Menara KL, Chinatown, Central Market, and national Mosque. We explored the way we like best: on foot and taking our own routes.







Menara KL is communications tower 421 meters tall. Apparently it offers the best lookout in the city. The visibility was not very good the day unfortunately.







We enjoyed a couple other attractions after we left the KL Menara.













After lunch and on the way back to our hotel it rained... well, actually, it was a deluge! We all got completely soaked through. E thought it was hilarious... and so did the people we passed on our way through the hotel.

E decided to skip the nap (never a good thing in his case)...



Thus we had an earlier start on our visit to Chinatown. We managed to not spend any RMs even though the knock-offs were abundant at Jalan Petaling: fake watches, walets, handbags, sunglasses, shoes, pirated DVDs.















The Art Deco Central Market was built in 1920 - originally as the city's wet market. These days, the Market features Malay crafts and souvenirs.





While at the Market, I had a 10-minute session at a Fish Spa. The weirdest sensation! I had to curb my imagination in order to keep my feet in the water.



On our way to the National Mosque, we passed by the old Kuala Lumpur train station. It is one of the city's best known colonial buildings, built in 1911.



We ended our walk that day with a visit to the National Mosque. It was opened in 1965. Unfortunately, as “Non-Muslim tourists,” we were not allowed inside.







E had a meltdown right on the steps to the mosque at the time when a bus of Asian tourists arrived. While we were trying to deal with E, a whole bunch of people closed down on us either looking curiously at us, pointing fingers at us and, of all things, taking pics of E. I was hot, uncomfortable and FURIOUS!



We left KL the following morning flying back to Singapore to catch our ferry to Bintan Island.

My impressions of KL: it’s a city of contrasts: glamorous shopping malls (seriously I had never been to any that would be equally splendid in their design, cleanliness and the variety of world’s top brands and designers) right next to obscure, holes-in-the-wall shops and eateries with questionable level of hygiene; amazing skyscrapers and business complexes right next to falling-apart buildings, dirty streets featuring random dumpsters and odours of sewage; seemingly nice people (smiling on the streets, taking pics of strangers’ children and kissing them) and, at the same time, men with little consideration for a mother with a child dragging a stroller up a flight of stairs or trying to get on the elevator or onto a tram;

KL is probably the least disabled-friendly place I have visited in my life. The traffic lights are not for the benefit of pedestrians either. It took us a day to figure out that in order to cross a street one needs to be really good at dodging vehicles (I was thankful for my Polish ways and instincts that kicked in soon enough).

We have obviously not seen all there is to see in KL (not even close!).

On Our Way to Kuala Lumpur

The following morning E seemed fine: a little warmer than usual and sporting remnants of his cough (courtesy of a chest infection from a few weeks earlier). We decided we’d go ahead with our travel plans.

Our itinerary was following:

Auckland to Singapore (10-hour flight for which I had been preparing for a month: I raided a few $2 Dollar stores and stocked up on all sorts of stuff that would keep E busy and us sane); an overnight stay in Singapore; a morning flight to Kuala Lumpur; 4 nights in KL (two of the days Eric was supposed to teach a class while E and I explored the city); a flight back to Singapore; a ferry ride to Bintan Island: CLUB MED, HERE WE COME!; 7 nights at Club Med (with E booked into Petit Club); a ferry ride back to Singapore; 2 nights in Singapore; a 10-hour flight back to Auckland.

Ten hours on a plane for a 2.5 year old is a long, I repeat, a LOOOONG time! I need to admit that we did not go through too much of $2.00 stuff (new Barney and Thomas DVDs were sufficient for most of the flight). E was actually quite good (those who know me, will surely understand that this admission is not a common one coming out of my mouth). However, he did seem to develop a bit of a fever and started complaining about his tummy. 30 minutes before we landed, he threw up. Interestingly enough, after this brief episode, his temperature went back to normal (thankfully since the flight attendants freaked out fearing swine flu and had us take his temperature). And thus we were allowed into the country. E seemed fine again.

We stayed over-night at the airport hotel and actually were glad we were not continuing our journey to Kuala Lumpur until the following morning. E woke up at 3:30am so he and I took off to explore the airport while Eric slept in.









In order to catch our plane, we needed to switch terminals. Once we arrived at our gate, I realized my attire (tank top and shorts) was completely inappropriate. I had read about the Malaysian customs and was certainly ready to respect the culture... once we actually got there! Suffice it to say, I got plenty of looks (disapproving, curious, condescending... all sorts). E was a pill too: crawling under the chairs, invading other people's spaces, screaming at the top of his voice and slapping Eric who tried to curb him. We must have confirmed all preconceptions and stereotypes about Westerners: indecent women, spoilt and unruly kids, and husbands who just did not have it under control!

We managed to survive the flight even though E was much less cooperative than on the long flight the day before (sleep deprivation and not feeling 100% did not help, I assume).

Before Our Trip – Anyone’s Nightmare!

On Friday afternoon I got a call from E’s daycare. I was informed that “E was running a fever (38.4 C), seemed quite miserable, and he was to be picked up immediately.”

I freaked out! No, I F R E A K E D O U T!!!! We were supposed to leave for our amazing trip the following morning and the message from E’s teacher seemed totally surreal! I guess that this was an event that we had been thinking of when we purchased the travel insurance.

I showed up in Toddler Two room only to find E happily playing outside and looking anything but “miserable.” I whisked him out of the daycare and drove like mad to our medical clinic (where we’re frequent patrons anyway). E was checked from head to toes (his temperature within normal range now and clear urine – one would not want to miss anything!) and he was pronounced healthy. I left the clinic NZ$15.00 poorer and feeling relieved if a bit suspicious.

I was told that the following morning I WOULD KNOW whether E was fit to travel. WHAT THE HECK DOES THAT MEAN?! This was the moment the anxiety first took hostage of me... and would not let go until almost a week later...