My Trip to Kuala Lumpur

The last week of July 2011 I traveled to Kuala Lumpur (KL). It is about 3 hours to get there by bus. I took the 9:30 a.m. bus on Monday the 25th. The bus trip was ok. This was the first time I had done it by myself and the second time all together. Normally they stop about half way for a bathroom break but this time they didn't stop until we were like 30 minutes away. One thing I noticed this time on the drive was that they use dummies for road construction. Instead of having a flag person they either used a dummy or mannequin like one sees in a department store or but up some bars and dressed those in the uniform. We got to KL about 12:30 but then it took awhile to get into town and unloaded and all that. I decided to take the monorail to Bukit Bintang since I was staying close to there and then walk. It turned out the be a longer walk than I though plus there was lots of road construction. When I was on the monorail they announced the wrong stop and some people got off at the wrong place. Luckily I had the little map above my head so I knew it was the wrong stop. I stayed at the Swiss Garden Hotel on Jalan Pudung. It was very nice. Once I got all checked in I went down to their Green Tea cafe and had a burger. It was delicious and large which was nice. Then I had to travel to the Chinese Visa Application center to drop off my application. Even though I left with I thought plenty of time I barely made it before they closed. I did get my application in before they closed though. I was told I had to return the next morning for an interview. I walked from there to KLCC mall. I did a little shopping but mostly walked around. I had Subway for dinner and it was good after at least 11 months of not being able to have it. I also went and saw the Larry Crowne movie. People are very friendly there. I had very nice taxi drivers there every time.

Cow horn fish

On Tuesday I had a 9a.m. interview for my visa. I got there before they opened and there were just a few people in front of me. We all grabbed seats in the order we showed up in. Then a group came in and they stood in front of the window so that we all had to form a line and I ended up at the back of it by the time that happened. If they had used the numbers like they showed on the board at the front I would have been out of there right away, but no I had to wait forever and it took me no time at all since I had everything in order. After that I walked back to KLCC mall to get a new memory card for my camera because I didn't realize I was out of pictures and left the spare one back in my room. I ate at Chili's while I was there. I had a buffalo wing sandwich with ranch dressing. It was another great meal. I enjoy trying food here but I was very glad to have American food. After that I went to the Aquarium by KLCC and really enjoyed all that I saw. There was, of course, another traffic jam when I left so it took a long time to get back to my room. I had not gotten much sleep the night before so I took a nap and then watched movies on the tv in the room since I don't have a tv where I stay. Then I had a burger in the hotel restaurant the Blue Chip lounge.

This is going through a tunnel.

On Wednesday I got up early. I went to the Butterfly park and took lots of pictures. At first I didn't see any butterflies but as I got farther in I saw all sorts of beautiful butterflies. The plants were very interesting too. When I was in the gift shop at the end this lady asked me where I was from. I think she had a bet with the people I was with if I was German or not. I do have German heritage on one side. After I finished up there I walked to the Hibiscus garden and on to the Orchid garden. I ended up buying another straw hat. I had one back in the town I live in but had thought the sunscreen would be enough. It was very hot and humid and I was sweating plenty so I decided I better by another hat. They had some Hibiscus that was a big as dinner plates.

At Butterfly Park

They had some there were also very small like the size of a pen.

At Bird Park

After that I came out across from the Bird Park, so I walked across and did that. There were lots of birds to see. Some I had never seen before and others I had seen. I had one lady ask me if I knew how to get some place and I said I didn't as it was my first time there. I had another couple ask me to take their picture. I made it about halfway through the park. It was huge and it started pouring rain. I did have a umbrella that I had bought because it was a compact one. I walked up to the Hornbill restaurant and had a late lunch. I had their pasta carbonara, but it was not really like what I have had in the past. It was ok. It was still pouring when I finished so I decided not to try to continue. I got a cab and took it to the National Islamic Art Museum. It was still within walking distance but I didn't want to get soaked. They didn't charge me much. The museum was huge. They had several domes that one could look up into that I picture the inside of Mosque domes might look like. They had models of different very famous mosques. Two did not look like typical Mosques. One was in China and didn't look like a Mosque at all. The other is in Malaysia and also does not look like one but instead a long house. Neither of them had any domes. They had jewelry, documents, different Qurans, fabric, clothing, pottery, etc. It was very huge. It was very fascinating to learn about. I was there for a couple hours but then I started feeling tired and unwell. I had done lots of walking and sweating. It was more the sweating. I do not think I drank enough water. So, I finished the Museum and decided to head back to the motel. It was early evening. I watched a movie and then when down to the Green Tea cafe and had a club sandwich and a piece of fantastic carrot cake. After that I showered and called it a night.

Hibiscus

On Thursday morning I took it easy. I went and got my visa and then walked to KLCC to catch a cab since the one cab I saw said he had a meeting. I went to Berjaya Times Square. I bought a movie ticket to see The Hangover 2. I went to Wendy's and had lunch. I had a cheeseburger and the beef patty was incredibly small. I almost should have gotten another but I didn't. I did have a chocolate frosty which I had been wanting. I went to the Border's express book store and looked at books to waste time since I didn't really want to do any shopping. Then I stopped at one more place. After that I went and watched the movie. I thought it was pretty good even being censored. After that I decided to have Subway again. I really wanted to go to this steakhouse but had no idea where it was or how long it would take to get there in a cab. After I got back I read and went to bed.

One of the domes at the Museum

Friday morning I got up and had a leisure breakfast and got ready to leave. I didn't want to be late and miss the bus so I got there early and then just hung out at the bus station. We waited for someone who got stuck in traffic and finally left without them. It took us a long time to get out of town with the traffic. Once we did that it was pretty smooth. I was feeling glad to go back to a city not as busy. We didn't stop again until we were pretty close to the town I am in to stop for the restroom. It was ok for me but I was kind of hungry and ended up just having chips. When I got back I got a cab right away but traffic was busy in town and it took awhile to get to where I stay. I was glad to be done with being stuck in traffic all the time.