HappytimeBlog » Kuala Lumpur

Goodbye KL hello 24 hour bus ride back to Bangkok

Aaron Bradford | HappytimeBlog.co.uk — Mon, 25 May 2009 05:18:23 +0000

Oh it’s good to be back in the heat and chaos of Bangkok, it seems like forever since we were last here.

After our super early flight from Bali to Kualar Lumpur we decided to break up our mammoth journey with a day in KL, so we made our way down to Chinatown where the rooms are cheap and the food is good. Knowing we had nothing at all to do in KL meant we could just hang around and watch the world go by and Chinatown is the perfect place to do that. I finally had some roasted duck which I’d had my eye on the whole time we were there last, but for some reason I never got around to it. Hanging there in a little glass box all red and crispy he made my mouth water from 20 yards so we sat down at a table and I got stuck right in!

It felt good to be back in KL with all the hum drum of Chinatown going on around us and it felt even better to be heading north again to Thailand.

After what I can only describe as one of the best roasted ducks I’ve ever had we set off for the bus station in search of tickets.

Puduraya bus station, just outside of Chinatown is an amazing place, it’s always catastrophically busy, rammed with people trying to get places or hurriedly eating at the food market inside and every time we go there we can’t help but love it, it really does feels like proper south-east Asia. After fighting back the touts and checking out our options we settled on a bus early the next morning, VIP of course (it’s an 8 hour journey and we know how Georgie gets…). So with that we wandered off around Chinatown to kill some time and somehow we managed to end up at a really strange shopping mall filled with the weirdest collection of Asian tat probably in the whole world… I’m seriously not joking when I say it was an assault on the senses I honestly wondered if I had been slipped some sort of acid and was having a bad trip, the smell of new plastic was almost gag inducing, Georgie on the other hand was in heaven… The tat, the plastic, the vivid colours it was everything she had ever dreamed of and more in fact she said at one point “Aaron I would live here if I could!”

Puduraya bus station in the morning was even more lively than usual and the VIP bus was every bit as comfy as we could need so we got a bag of snacks and hunkered down in our seats.

Malaysia slowly disappeared past the windows and somewhere about five hours after we left KL we were at Thailand immigration, the signs were once again unreadable without the English characters the other countries used and it felt good to be back in the land of smiles.

A few more hours later we were back in seedy Hat Yai where our bus terminates and we had to make a mad dash to try and get on the last night bus out of there. Luckily there was one bus left for us and after a quick bite we were back aboard a super comfy VIP bus Bangkok bound, unusually we both slept really well and woke up in Bangkok a mere 24 hours after we had left KL… Smelly and to be honest, a little sick of buses we finally found ourselves sucking on a roll up staring down the Khao San Road once again, we couldn’t help feeling a little like we were home from home.

Bangkok, Thailand

Goodbye seedy Hat Yai… Hello again Kuala Lumpur

Aaron Bradford | HappytimeBlog.co.uk — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 06:48:55 +0000

As I’m typing this, we find ourselves yet again on one of those mega awesome VIP buses, Georgie is curled up in a ball looking pretty small against the huge comfy seats next to me. We are back on the road again… This time headed for Bali… Maybe.

We arrived here in Hat Yai three days ago to have a shot at a spot of travel writing for Travelfish.org. Lets just say it didn’t work out, we have spent 3 days running about like blue ass flies, in and out of hotels, up and down in elevators, to bus and train stations and the evenings have been spent scratching our heads trying to write it all up. Hat Yai is sleazy at best and maybe that didn’t help but despite the fact we were actually damn good at it we are off. It soon became apparent that it’s got less to do with writing and more about running all over the place and regurgitating information… If people need that much info laid on a plate for them then they should seriously think about why they left home in the first place!

After 3 long days of it, it was mostly me that decided we were mis-spending our time, although if it had worked out it probably would have been a great way to make money (I have my doubts though) I can’t help feeling that our trip has suffered a bit of a false start.

Hat Yai is Thailand’s southern transport hub 4 hours from the Malaysian border, its great for cheap shopping and cheap women, there are reports of troubles bounding about in books and on websites, we saw none thank god but after dark Hat Yai had a very uneasy feel. Every big hotel had a small team of security guards, as did shops selling anything of value and bars. The main shopping area had an armed army presence at night and the areas surrounding it were full of many western men of a certain age hanging out together in bars called things like “Pink Lady” and “Brown Sugar”.

Mostly at night we were busy writing things up so it wasn’t too bad and despite all what I’ve just mentioned Georgie and I had a good time!

Our first day on the job saw us rent a tuk-tuk and go check 20 hotels out, Georgie surprised the hell out of me by being more focused than ever and having the wicked idea of using a tuk-tuk to eat up all the leg work, she did us proud! In and out of hotels like a rat up a drainpipe.

But we have our own story to write and now we are heading away we both feel we made the right decision, if we have to eat only pineapple for the next 6 months it wont matter because as is always the case we will find the fun when there’s fun to be had!

The bus we are on is headed back to Kuala Lumpur, we will stay there a night then press on south to Singapore for as short a time as possible then cross by whatever means we can into Indonesia and onto Bali.

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Hopping all over Kuala Lumpur…

Aaron Bradford | HappytimeBlog.co.uk — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 17:49:49 +0000

With a good nights sleep behind us both we woke up to an 8:30 alarm all ready to see the sights of Kuala Lumpur, while enjoying a nice coffee on our lovely roof terrace the day before I had seen a tourist bus stop just outside our guest house called the “hop on, hop off” bus which boasted to circle the city and stop at all the major sights.
We knew it would be a really very touristy day but seeing as we had made plans to leave KL we decided to indulge…

So after a cracking cup of coffee off our Chinese friend we hopped on the hop on bus. Its a glass roofed bus with headphones in the backs of all the seats piping out facts in all languages about the things you pass. We were in for a penny, in for a pound and embraced the whole thing like a true tourist getting off at the first stop for “photo op’s” at the Grand Palace no less… Not that we saw much except for hundreds of Police or Polis as they are called here, lining the roads as blacked out Merc’s and limo’s sped through the gates to the sound of a quite poorly played trumpet, it was all very exciting and after a quick roll up we were back on the hop.

Stop number two was at a park which was just like an area of unspoilt rainforest, everywhere in KL has hints of rainforest around, but this was thick and lush. We got off the bus because we saw a sign for a giant walk through bird aviary but that turned out to be a bit pricey for our new penny pinching ways so we opted instead for the free orchid garden until the next bus came along. All orchided out we went back to the bus stop and in moments were back aboard our new friend the hop. Stop number three was Medaka square, a large open recreation area framed with imposing middle eastern looking buildings, which is apparently where Malaysia gained it’s independence years ago. Also there was St Mary’s Church a small white church that would look at home in any English town, but we were there for one thing only, little India was just around the corner and we had a hankering for a curry… We let our noses lead us the right way and soon enough found ourselves down a street with shops blaring out Indian pop music and restaurants offering the woners of curry. We opted for a small place halfway down, there were no other tourists only locals and even though it was a little daunting at first we were quickly made at home by the man of the house, what followed was by far the finest selection of curries I have ever had, it was truly awesome.
Because the curry was so amazingly tasty we scoffed the lot, we had to…

Back out side, gut busted but happy we headed back to the bus stop only to notice one just pulling up, what followed was a death defying sprint across a busy road carrying far too much curry in our bellies. Turns out the bus had in fact just left and it would be another half hour before the next one.
After little India and all its delights we opted to stay on the air conned hopper until the mighty communications tower, to give ourselves a chance to slob out with our belts undone…

The lift that whisks you to the top of the tower takes 50 seconds and then the doors open out to one hell of a view, it wasn’t the clearest of days but we could still see half way to Thailand. Initially Georgie was a little worried about the whole affair, she thought it might topple over or something but as usual after a few moments she was bouncing off the walls with excitement. We stayed for a while peering through the telescopes into peoples windows and even saw a brass band practising their marches, then back into the speedy lift to the bottom where our tickets grant us access to the bizarre winter world… A strange winter wonderland of snow men and polar bears made from what looks like polystyrene, I’m sure it’s a novelty for people who live in tropical places but if ever the phrase ” fish out of water” applied, it was there!

After all that excitement and curry we hopped on the hop again and headed back to China town for some more sweet sweet coffee and a shower. From the rooftop terrace, everyday we have peered over the side down onto the street and seen a street stall always rammed with people and an almost robotic chef managing 20 odd clay pots at the same time, So that’s where we headed for or last meal in KL and what a meal it was… By the time that had gone down we were both just about fit to drag ourselves to our room and collapse.

KL has been such a joy to just be in, to get around is so simple and hassle free and to just sit somewhere and enjoy amazing food and watch the world go by is when it seems to come alive. We already feel at home there and can’t wait until we go back in December if not before.
This morning we woke at 8am to pack our bags and catch our 9am bus to the Cameroon highlands, we were greeted with sheets of rain on the tin roofs next door and a greay start but it’s brightened up now and Georgie is in her element, last night when we bought the tickets I persuaded her to go for the more luxurious bus and when we got on it earlier it turned out to be like a bus full of reclining armchairs… She is currently fast asleep next to me as we head off to a town named Tanah Rata in the Cameroon highlands…

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Jet lag, China town and Kuala Lumpur

Aaron Bradford | HappytimeBlog.co.uk — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 04:20:21 +0000

Well the thought that I had jet lag beat was short lived! I only managed an hour and a half of kip before I was wide awake so I spent our second day in K.L sitting out on the roof terrace at 3am while Georgie did what she does best… Sleep!

I decided to at least try to get my head down just before the sun came up, so at around 5am I sloped back down to bed and eventually fell asleep… Around midday Georgie woke up from her mammoth nap and feeling a little worse for wear we dragged ourselves up and went in search of coffee. We found a lovely little street stall selling thick, strong, sweet coffee just around the corner and even got chatting to a crazy lady while we woke ourselves up!

Seeing as its all very easy to get around in K.L we went for a ride on the monorail, heading towards the mighty communications tower. Why is it the every city in the world has some sort of London tube equivalent but its always cleaner, cheaper and easier!? Anyway we started to get a bit peckish and just below we spotted a Hard Rock cafe as we scooted along so we hopped off , also we wanted to pop in a grab a badge for Georgie’s papa.

By the time we were out of the Hard Rock it looked like the Mother of all storms was about to roll in so we literally took a rain check on the communication tower and instead opted for some shopping mall fun at Times Square… Not that we really wanted anything and Georgie has turned over a new leaf by watching what she spends, she really really wanted to ride the worlds longest indoor roller coaster which we found inside Times Square but I was having none of it and she didn’t fancy it much by herself… We settled instead for a Dr Fish foot massage performed no less by a tank full of very capable little fish!

Initially it is most ticklish thing I’ve ever done but after a while the little blighters calmed down and it became quite relaxing having hundreds of tiny pairs of lips sucking all the dead skin off our feet!.. I recommend it!

We are trying to save money where we can and for all its good points there isn’t a great deal to do in K.L, its a great place to chill out and take in the sights and smells, and amazing food is everywhere, so with that we popped into a China town side street and had us a slap up Chinese at a street stall. Then we retreated up to the roof terrace to chill out and iron out the idea of Georgie’s La La Land video diary ( we are lugging this Mac about so we decided to use it proper ).

And that’s how we saw our day out, by the time dinner went down we were both pooped so in the interest of getting ourselves adjusted properly to Malaysia time we headed off to bed…

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Back on the road again… Kuala Lumpur bound.

Aaron Bradford | HappytimeBlog.co.uk — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 06:24:54 +0000

After a quite relaxed morning of packing and saying our last (only a little teary) goodbyes to family, Jo and Mandy whisked us off to the airport, naturally via a pub, for some gut busting proper English food first of course.That was really lovely, quite full and sleepy we all fell back into the car for the last few miles to Stansted. We checked in no probs and although we thought we would have more time to say our goodbyes to Jo and Mandy, it all went pretty smoothy. Of course it was tears all the way through the gate but I don’t think it will ever be an easy thing saying bye to Jo and Mandy for 9 months at a time… Thanks a million for all you’ve done for us over the past few months! We really couldn’t do it without your love and support.

WE LOVE YOU SO MUCH…

Once the tears were dry and we had had our fill of duty free we strolled off to board our 13 hour flight. As we sat on the floor waiting to board we both felt quite sad to be leaving everyone behind, this time there was no real sense of excitement about the great unknown, in quite a sombre mood we found our seats and settled down into our home for the next 13 hours and quickly realised there were no TV’s on board… This didn’t help the mood at all.

Once we had taken off and Georgie had a nap, emotions calmed and things started to fall into place again… Although there was still the matter of the mammoth flight! Both of us managed to get some decent sleep and the flight actually passed by in no time, a bit bumpy but for the money we paid you can’t complain! By the time we were on the ground I was ready to smoke one of my own fingers, but we breezed trough immigration and baggage and were soon enough back in the tropical heat sitting on the floor, sucking on a roll up like we never left.

The shuttle bus into the city was also absolutely painless and once there we found our way down to China town to search out some cheap diggs. China town seems to have a little of the Khao san road about it and that made us feel instantly at home, we found a small but clean and well equipped little room at really nice guesthouse (The Grocers Inn) just off the main road with a fridge of cold beers and a rooftop garden… As we all know, beers + rooftop garden = RELAX… And thats exactly what we did while a storm passed over. With all the emotions and the traveling… And beer, we started to feel the lag, so we had ourselves a shower to freshen up then headed out to explore the local area. The part of China town bares a lot of similarities to Bangkok’s Khao san road but there is more room, more airflow here which suited us pair of weary bums to the ground. We strolled through markets and food stalls just getting ourselves re-aquatinted to the assault on the senses that this part of the world is… It felt pretty good!

We stopped just next door to our guest house for some superb kirb side grub and watched it all pass by before hatching a plan to sus out the trains and go see the Petronas towers by night… This turned out to be a top plan because by night the two towers are awesome!! They are so tall its hard to look up them without falling over backwards and they glow a perfect almost ghostly white, they really are pretty buildings! After all that looking up the day started to catch up with us and the beers suddenly didn’t seem like a good idea so off we trotted back to our “cosy” room, but we managed to keep going until about 11pm so we should have the jet lag whipped… Fingers crossed!
Thanks again Jo and Mandy! We miss you all already but you two especially!
Love right at you all the way from K.L. xxxxxxxxx

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