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[livinthailandos]

I plan on holidaying in kuala lumpur for 5 days and am staying in the bukit bintang area, I've already gone ahead and read about traffic conditions, shopping, food, picked out a few sites I'd like to vist, where to stay and some shopping areas, but I'd like to get your opinions, comments, sugguestions about holidaying in kuala lumpur, in regards to

any further ideas on places to eat from local to fine dining and to have local coffee

further attraction ideas ( i'm going to batu caves, petronas towers, royal palace )

traffic conditions - better / same / worse than bangkok

In terms of development is malaysia like singapore or more like thailand, is the taxi meter problem as bad as thailand?

By the way I understand from the airport to the town is 60 km away and the price for premium taxi is 102 myr, is this about right?

I understand for a sim card for internet / phone service for my phone I should buy from Hotlink Broadband?

Anything else in particular I should know about would be great thanks.

Edited January 9, 2013 by Rimmer
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[Upnotover]

I always enjoy my short (work related) trips to KL. It is more Bangkok than Singapore for sure (and that's not a bad thing) but I never had any real issues with taxis, etc. Make sure you go to the KL Tower as well as the Petronas Towers - the view from the KL Tower is much more impressive, you feel you are looking down on the Petronas Towers.

In your area there are a lot of nice places to eat, in particular I like the Changkat area, with many pubs, bars and nice restaurants.

Personally, I'd take the train (KLIA Express) from the airport to the city. Works out cheaper for one thing and I reckon its quicker, plus I like trains more than taxis.

Oh, and don't forget to go to the Beach Club one night.....

[StreetCowboy]

I've found KL to be mid-way between Bangkok and Singapore.

TAXIS

Try to avoid stationary taxis. Moving taxis will put the meter on when they stop for you; those loitering outside hotels, stations etc. will quote a fixed fare which is as close as they can estimate to double the meter fare, plus haggling margin. If you find yourself at the station, then use the taxi counter to get a taxi coupon which will be about 150% of the meter. You'll not haggle any lower than that with the taxis loitering outside. At KL Sentral, it's a long walk till you'll find a moving street taxi.

Food and drink

Brickfields for Indian food - alight at KL Sentral Monorail Station.

The open-air bar next to the Beach Club, and similarly the open air bar next to the Thai Club opposite offer a far more relaxed atmosphere, and cheaper.

Traffic

Stay away from Bukit Bintang until 2017 at the earliest, when you may be able to get a train there. Avoid the peak hours, from about 10 am until 3 am. If you must go to or from Bukit Bintang, use the monorail, but try to avoid using the monorail between about 1730 and 2000 when it's packed.

Places to go

The park at KLCC is really nice. The zoo is better than Bangkok but not as nice as Singapore (see first comment). The Menara KL is much better value than the Petronas Towers, but only really interesting if you know what you are looking at. The bird park is quite nice, and set in a very attractive park area.

There's an excellent discount book shop at Amcorp Mall out in Petaling Jaya.

SC

[Rancid]

On my first trips to Thailand, Philippimes, Homg Kong, Singapore and Indonesia I arrived knowing nothing, that was the adventure and excitment of a new country. Honestly don't mean to offend but if you need all the answers before going somewhere new, exotic and exciting why even bother? Watch the travel show instead, that is nice and safe.

[siam2007]

1)

Bukit Bintang is indeed a very strategic place to stay for a newbie to KL. you will have access to the Monorail station, which means you can avoid the very unpleasant bunch that is the KL-Taxi drivers.

Meter-problems with Taxis in BKK ? I live here 8 years and certainly have 1000+ taxi rides, but except for the Suvarnnabhumi-Cabs and there usually manipulated meters, I had never a problem with Taxis using the Meter in BKK - if they don't switch it on without asking for it, just get off and take the necxt Cab.

But KL INDEED does have a Taxi-Meter problem - much much worse than anything you have ever experienced in BKK.

It has only slightly improved in the last 2-3 years, compared to year 200/2001 or so....

The 102 RM for the Taxi from the airport ist for the (red) "Budget" Cab, which in fact is just a regular Cab, but they created that term to sell their overpriced and even-more-rip-off "Premium/Execeutive" Cabs (blue color), which always runs by the Meter, simply because the Meter runs as fast as in New York, London or Frankfurt.

If you are alone and on a budget, better use the convenient Buses that run every ten minutes or so from the LCCT at RM 8/9, or from the main terminal building every 30 minutes at RM 10. They go to KL Sentral usually (with some going to PUDU Bus Terminal and other places like 1Utama), from where you can continue to Bukit Bintang by Monorail - but keep in mind there is (since 4 or 5 years already, but finally some progress visible) a huge construction going on, so you need to walk around 10 minutes to get to the Monorail station at the moment - and the walk is not the most pleasant and KL is HOT AS HELL 365 days a year.

KL-TOWER is good value for money, probably better than TWIN TOWERS, and as far as I remember (I was on KL TOWER 2002 last time) there is not such a strict time limit.

TWIN TOWERS has a limit of 30 minutes (or was that just 15 minutes?) to visit the top floor, but if you don't mind to spend the RM 50, still worth going since they opened the REAL top floor for visitors, not only the bridge between the twin towers half way up (but at least that was free of charge).

Even it nowadays costs 50 RM, demand is strong, so you will need to go to buy your ticket 1-2 days in advance. Same day-tickets are almost never available

PASAR SENI (Art Market) is a bit touristic but still pleasant and worth going, fully airconditioned building, and easy access via PASAR SENI LRT-station. good place to buy some Batik-Shirts on the upper floor, and the food-court is quite okay as well.

As for USB-Modem-Broadband, there are three providers worth considering, I rather use DIGI than Maxis or celcom, but I am not aware of their detailed prepaid-rates at this moment. They all have a 1-day-flatrate to use with your USB-Dongle. Bring an unlocked dongle so you can use it with any provider. If you don't have one, you can still buy one of the phone-providers Dongle's and get it cracked at several cellphone-repair-shops at LOW YAT PLAZA.

Eat NASI LEMAK and ROTI CANAI for breakfast, so you can find out if you like it, and wash it down as suggested with a KOPI (usually very sweet).

BANGSAR has some very nice Pubs/Clubs/Restos, and is not touristic, rather patronized by Expats and locals. Better than the options at Bukit Bintang or around Raja Chulan.KL is quite nice to spend a couople of days and do some decent shopping, as virtually everyone working in the retail business in KL can speak English more or less fluently.

I usually travel to KL 2-.3 times a year for an extended weekend and stay around KL SENTRAL, as all public transport is at your doorstep and no need to haggle with the unpleasant Taxi-Gang (Malay drivers are relatively okay by KL-Standards, Chinese are so-so, and Indians by far the worst and always up for a tourist-ripoff)

Selamat Jalan !

Edited January 10, 2013 by siam2007

[phuketrichard]

was down there for 3 days in Nov an now i know why i 30 years in Asia i had never gone there before an will never go back

Traffic terriable

nothing worth while doing, I am not going to stand in line to buy a ticket to go up the twin towers

Its 100% NOT a walking city ( unlike everywhere else in Asia) distances are to far,

Taxi's refused to run on their meters

Bus's were hard to figure out the routes

People, although not unfriendly they were also not friendly either ( as compared to Thailand cities)

I love Penang in malasyia an KL just is to big and impersonal

Only positve i have to say is you can get good street food but it was not cheap

[StreetCowboy]

Just drove iinto town for a meeting at KL Sentral, arriving 9am. Traffic moving all the way. Last time I went to KLCC same story. Depends very much on where you go. Anyway nice roti canai, kopi c, small bottle water in clean food court Thb34.

SC

Edited January 11, 2013 by StreetCowboy

[siam2007]

KL is definitely MORE a walking City than BKK.

plus it is very very green all over..... plenty of well-maintained parks, green spaces.

easy to walk within the CBD as it is rather small (compared to cities such as BKK, Jakarta, Manila.....)

agree 100% with the unpleasant CAB-drivers, but you can avoid a lot of the hassle if you choose a accom with a strategic location (near KL Sentral for example), where all means of public transport are at your doorstep.

the shopping is convenient. plenty of huge Malls at Bukit Bintang area within a radius of 10 Minutes walk each.

no rip-off-fees like in Thailand (150 THB), Vietnam or the Philippines (200 PHP) for ATM-withdrawals from foreign credit and debit-cards.

the food is NOT expensive if you avoid places that are 100% touristic (just slightly above Thailand prices).

people speak English.

If you don't understand the Bus-system, google for it: RapidKL

certainly easier to manage than the BKK Buses

both places, BKK and KL are pleasant if you come without prejudice and if you are not narrowmindend ;-)

[StreetCowboy]

I don't agree with the unpleasant cab drivers. If you stick to the rule of avoiding the villains loitering outside hotels, night clubs and stations, and either wait for a moving taxi, or pay the surcharge for a counter ticket, you'll be unlikely to have trouble. The same guidance also applies in Singapore and Bangkok.

Last time I recall coming out of a night club, I set out across the road; the chap at the head of the queue of villains said "Where to?" "Meter?" "OK - " and off we went on the meter.

As others have mentioned, the blue luxury cabs have a meter that runs 150% or 200% of the normal charge. The normal charge is a little bit higher than Bangkok, but most of the taxis have rear seat belts.

SC

[maturebrit]

lots of good points and pretty accurate advice here... One thing I found tho.... from Bukit Bintang to KLCC will..... subject to traffic conds.. cost about 6 RM tops.... Try to stay with Chinese taxi drivers as they will go with a meter.... the Indian drivers will try to rip you off first chance they get....one I had outside the Radius Int Hotel wanted 20 RM for a 5 RM ride

Sent from my GT-N7000 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[David006]

Lots of good stuff to see and do..recommend you get the city tourist map at tourist centre near arrivals at LCCT.

Train is the cheapest option from LCCT airport to downtown. Never had a problem with taxis but now use rail everyplace quick and cheap as chips....bit hard for me to negotiate sometimes..easy to get on the wrong frickin train !

China town area is a real interesting area.... market, museums , etc...across the river is the park and flower gardens...all nice and all on foot.

I stay at the Mountbatten boutique type hotel near China town...next to monorail think it is about 1200bt /night.

[StreetCowboy]

Lots of good stuff to see and do..recommend you get the city tourist map at tourist centre near arrivals at LCCT.

Train is the cheapest option from LCCT airport to downtown. ....

As far as I know...

Train does not yet go to LCCT. You can get a bus to the last commuter station on the Airport Rail Link, and then train from there (integrated ticket and feeder bus service, so not as troublesome as it sounds) but cheaper and slightly less hassle to use the direct bus - several companies operate from adjacent bus stations, running frequently to KL Sentral (same as the train) and limited service to other destinations.

The Airport Rail Link currently only serves the KLIA main terminal, though it is planned to be extended to LCCT. Doubt many people would use it, though, as if they were willing to pay RM35 to get to the airport, they'd not be flying Air Asia. I'm told the ARL is looking a bit tired, and has deteriorated from Outstanding! to Excellent, but still very reliable and relaxing.

Bukit Bintang - KLCC is a good walk, but the high kerbs will keep you fit. You could stop off at the Thai Club or Rum Jungle for a little light refreshment on the way,..

[David006]

Lots of good stuff to see and do..recommend you get the city tourist map at tourist centre near arrivals at LCCT.

Train is the cheapest option from LCCT airport to downtown. ....

As far as I know...

Train does not yet go to LCCT. You can get a bus to the last commuter station on the Airport Rail Link, and then train from there (integrated ticket and feeder bus service, so not as troublesome as it sounds) but cheaper and slightly less hassle to use the direct bus - several companies operate from adjacent bus stations, running frequently to KL Sentral (same as the train) and limited service to other destinations.

The Airport Rail Link currently only serves the KLIA main terminal, though it is planned to be extended to LCCT. Doubt many people would use it, though, as if they were willing to pay RM35 to get to the airport, they'd not be flying Air Asia. I'm told the ARL is looking a bit tired, and has deteriorated from Outstanding! to Excellent, but still very reliable and relaxing.

Bukit Bintang - KLCC is a good walk, but the high kerbs will keep you fit. You could stop off at the Thai Club or Rum Jungle for a little light refreshment on the way,..

yup thinking about that also...cannot remember how I got to the rail..maybe by bus? Anyways think I maybe took bus last time....

[JeffreyMcCollum]

Just back from a Honeymoon (and Visa run) in KL

1 person from the airport to Central KL area starts at 50 RM (500 Baht) Price depends on Number of people and bags and where your going, as well as cab choice.

Money exchange sucks at the airport. The rate is about 10-1 Airport gave 8-1 In town I could find 9.8-1 at Western union, twin towers mall lowest floor. Even the exchange at the Thai airport is better. Change a little and do more there

ATM's are not everywhere like Thailand you have to look

Not sure of all areas, but in central area Taxi's were easy to find and only a few annoying No meter ones. The blue ones were always the cleanest and best.

Hardly any traffic

We stayed in the Tower area and very friendly to walk around. The Towers, and Park are both must see.

We did go to china town and TIme Square also for shopping, TIme Square being the lowest cost

Had a good time and will be back again

[Archie Pelago]

What is Chinatown like in terms of a place to stay? Is it easy to get around to other parts of the city from there?

I have 5 days there next week - including a couple of trips to the Thai Embassy - any advise about inexpensive accommodation would be appreciated (USD$25-30 per night, would rather spend more on going out than the room)

[StreetCowboy]

What is Chinatown like in terms of a place to stay? Is it easy to get around to other parts of the city from there?

I have 5 days there next week - including a couple of trips to the Thai Embassy - any advise about inexpensive accommodation would be appreciated (USD$25-30 per night, would rather spend more on going out than the room)

The Tune Hotels are pretty square, I think.

You're pretty much into backpacker territory with that kind of budget, though. Some of the hotels around Jalan Tun Sambathan near the terminus of the Monorail might be close to budget, though. I can recommend the Hotel Sentral, right next to the monorail, but it's probably double your budget or more.

There might be cheap accomodation in Ampang, which would be handy for the embassy.

SC

[jonnyscot]

I stayed at the Swiss inn in Chinatown on my visa renewal trip last year, it was reasonably priced and ok, booked via Agoda, only a 5+ minute walk from the pasar seni station (I think that was the name), the year before stayed on jalan ampang beside the Thai embassy, but a bit more pricy I found

[FDog]

I live in KL.

If landing in LCCT get a RM9 bus to KL Sentral then walk out onto the road and hail a moving RED and WHITE taxi.

Or

Get a bus from LCCT to KLIA for RM2.50 then get the Xpress train for RM35 to KL Sentrel then taxi.

Or

Just get a Red and White taxi from either airport, should could around the RM70 but depends on traffic which can be bad.

You are staying in a good area for eating and drinking. Beware, prices for alcohol increase after 9pm. But in places like Beach Club you can buy 6 bottles just before the cut off time and they will give you a bucket of ice for them.

Changkat Bukit Bintang is a happening place, many bars and people watching is good.

Don't use any taxi offered by touts, during the day you should be able to get a metred taxi no problem. It's usually at night around tourist areas you have the rip offs. If out at night just hail a cab and insist on metre.

Food is cheap, booze is expensive.

Have fun.