My First Long Stay Overseas Trip in KL in 2017

A couple of weeks ago, my friend and I had made plans to go KL from the 20th to 22nd of May. It wasn't something that we planned a long time ago. Rather, we did have it in  mind though to travel overseas though we never actually thought it would happen. It was exciting and nerve wrecking at the same time. The last trip we had was 5 years ago. Why I was nervous was due to the long bus trip. Also the money issues but I was determined that if I want to make bigger overseas plan the next time, I shouldn't be so hard up over this KL trip. Of course I have to do some mental calculations as to how much I would be left after paying for the lodging, transport and shopping but it seems to still be a comfortable figure to last until the next payday at least.

Also, I was nervous because..ok, I have this health problem with my bladder, where I can't hold pee very long. The long bus journey made me even more nervous but I just have to ensure I have very little liquid, which may or may not help. Also, I also have to be mentally prepared.

So the day came and already my friend was furious because the shop wasn't opened yet and we needed to collect the bus tickets. We did have the proof of purchase buying over the internet but we wanted the physical tickets as well. She was even more furious when the shop opened and then was told the bus would be half an hour late.

It was quite a journey just going across the causeway. The traffic jam took us 45 minutes and then just as we though okay, now it would be smooth sailing, it turned out to be otherwise. There were delays when we had to wait for another bus to board but then eventually just changed the bus driver. And then it stopped again coz someone called and my friend said she saw someone carried the tyre. 

But the BIGGEST delay was because there was a stopover at Seremban. We weren't told about this. Apparently a group of them from behind, coz we sat in front, this was their destination. A few of us were furious because this would mean another 1.5 hours of delay. We were supposed to reach KL by 3pm max but eventually reached our hotel close to 5pm, also because of a jam we encountered at KL. 

We were so tired over the 9 hours journey and we didn't have a proper meal, just bread bought from the convenient stop and waffles. 

But despite our tiredness, we were actually hungry too and bread wasn't enough. We dropped our things in the hotel, asked the counter how to go to KLCC via their trains and then luckily the LRT was just outside the hotel itself. We had to ask the counter how to go there and when reaching the destination, we didn't know how to get to the other line which would take us to the KLCC MRT. 

The staff wasn't so helpful and we had to ask a second time and eventually used our own intuition to find our way there. Luckily there were sign boards leading us to the underground MRT line. We were actually at the same excited boarding the trains. My friend couldn't help but point out how their advertisements were dated back in 2016. 

Though the lines were not interlinked like in Singapore, we managed to reach from Bukit Nenas to KLCC. When we reached KLCC station, we were not greeted with THE KLCC but another mall. So we were feeling lost again. But not for long as we stepped out of the mall, lo and behold it was in the opposite road.

Finally, our dinner beckons!

Thankfully, there was only a small crowd outside Chili's and since there were only two of us, they let us get in first and sit at the bar while waiting for the table. I tell ya their service was impeccable. The staff was attentive despite the restaurant being in full house. I don't have much to say about their retail staff, but this I was impressed.

The food was quite okay, wasn't what we expected, but we were hungry so we gobbled down anyway especially after such an adventure earlier on. After that we walked around and there were a lot of high end brands but we managed to buy body shop product and my friend bought a MAC lipstick which after conversion, was cheaper than Singapore.

After that, we decided to explore the mall we saw earlier on. We chanced upon this restaurant called Boat Noodle which was recommended by my colleague. It tasted authentic but at the same time, the quantity wasn't much. I doubt anybody else would buy one bowl each except us, haha, but we weren't so hungry actually. However, we still liked it.

Then after we had to make our way back to the hotel as it was getting late already. We weren't going to take a cab but the trains so we had to be quick as it was closing to 10pm. So we were tired already on the 1st day but we still survived. 







On the second day, we obviously had more time because no need to battle with long bus journeys, lol. But we kept sleeping in that eventually we only managed to wake up around 10.30am grudgingly. We decided to hit the gym for about an hour, go back to change, have lunch at a nearby mall beside our hotel and going to Sungei Wang followed by Pavilion. No trains this time as we decided to walk because we were actually in quite a good centralised area to walk around.

After a round of successful shopping, we managed to get what we wanted and chill for a bit at a nearby cafe before starting with our round 2 shopping. This time it was quite a walk and there were also many shopping centres around too like Orchard Road but we wouldn't have time to explore every thing there. There were many Middle Easterners and we were thinking how they had to rebuild their lives here in a foreign country because back home, it was ravaged with war. 

We went to Pavilion because I wanted to go to a  particular department store. I got a skirt and a long sleeves top. At this point, I needed to conserve my money to buy food for home on day 3. So I was really tight on budget but my friend was willing to lend me some money and I transferred to her later in Sing dollars.






At the end of this, we were hungry and were asking several retail staff as well as the counter service where is the nearest Subway. Well, they didn't seem to know but we finally got one answer and time was running late like around 9.30pm and we were afraid the shop would close soon. Actually we got out of Pavilion and walked to some other malls and then found out there was at Pavilion itself, lol.

Honestly my feet were so tired already and my walking pace had slowed down significantly compared to my friend who was still so agile. So we had to walk back to Pavilion again and then it didn't take us too long to find the Subway and we were like the last two customers. Thankfully, we got our cravings fixed. So it was time to head home. The journey would be far if we were to walk back so we took the train from Bukit Bintang which was just one station away from Imbi where our hotel was.

We thought we had to wait twenty minutes (!) for the next train but it was a glitch and the train arrived 5 minutes earlier. What we noticed was that here, the people coming in would rush in and at the same time, the people would also rush out. So unlike Singapore where we had to let the people inside go out first. Of course though, there would be those who would still rush in but at least not the whole crowd, haha. So we had to follow suit as well or we would end up getting stuck.

So the second day came to a close again. 

The third day was more chillax. My friend managed to get the breakfast buffet at the hotel counter itself because she forgot to request for it when booking the hotel. For a special price of 40 ringgit, it was quite a spread. From Western breakfast to Asian breakfast, you can have your fill from point A to point B although the stomach would say otherwise. 

Then we wanted to make use of the hotel facilities. The day before we tried the gym so we today we tried the swimming pool. My friend was complaining how it was freezing cold. It was alright to me except that I was scared of the first pool we went it as it was quite deep. Oh and I almost slipped coz I didn't have my specs and didn't see the steps. So clumsy, haha.

The second pool was not as deep and there were jet streams of water. We actually sat where the jet streams were so we were bubbling underneath us, haha. Then my friend did this game of recapping what was the best and worst moment for each day. We unanimously think the bus ride was the worst.

Then it was time to check out of the hotel to head home. Before that I went to buy Krispy Kreme doughnuts. It used to be in a bigger cafe setting and now it is just a small stall. There was no red velvet though, sadly. We also bought cheese tarts and she bought a whole box of 6. I tried it at home later and it was so yummy!! They have it in Singapore too but it's not halal.

Okay! No pictures for 3rd day, at least I didn't take but my friend did.

Honestly, it was such a nice friendship overseas trip. I don't think I will be back for awhile because I want to think further, possibly Australia. Wowza. Overall we strengthen our friendship ties though honestly it didn't really need anymore strengthening. But you know, it's always nice to have some fun chillax time with your friends, local or overseas.

I hope you had a good read over this long blog post! :)


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