SUVARNABHUMI AIRPORT, BANGKOK, THAILAND - I will be embarking on a BIG adventure!  My partner and I thought that it would be difficult to go on a trip this year because of the global financial crisis.  It did not help that there have been cases of pandemics and other viruses that seem to be circulating the globe.  But if traveling is really your passion then I guess nothing can stop you from seeing the world.

So for this year, my partner and I decided to book a trip that will take us to three different countries in one week.  Thanks to budget airlines and not so expensive hotels, we felt that we can fit everything in what little budget that we have set for the trip.  About three months ago, we came across airline ticket promotions from one local airline in the Philippines.  We got excited as we were able to book a trip from Manila (Philippines) to Bangkok (Thailand) for only about US$ 100.  After booking our tickets, we figured that if we have ten days to spare on this trip then we might as well cross over to other countries and start ticking off items in our bucket list.

Knowing that there are quite a number of airlines that will allow us to “fly the low cost skies”, we started booking our flights online – a total of three countries in ten days!

Who would have thought that everything will fall into place according to our plans?  We left Manila at around 11:00pm and have arrived in Bangkok just about two hours ago.   After collecting our bags from the luggage carousel, we were directed to the second floor where we can find a number of restaurants that are open for twenty four hours.  These restaurants serve a number of cuisines including Thai, Japanese, Italian, etc.  I found a Starbucks outlet as well and bought myself a Thailand Travel Mug for my growing travel mug collection.

Since we still need to wait for our connecting flight to Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), thus, it felt like a good idea to have a shot of caffeine in our systems.  The flight to Kuala Lumpur is in six hours anyway.  After having our fill of White Chocolate Cake and Americano coffee from Café Nerro, we proceeded to the check in counters that are located at the fourth floor.  Check-in counters were still closed so we did what we have not done before – we slept at the airport.  That was not comfortable at all.  We were not alone, though, as a lot of foreigners were lying on the cold floor to sleep as well.  Honestly, it might not be a good idea to do the same.  You can always leave the airport and spend the night in any of the wonderful hotels in Bangkok then do a city tour before heading to your next destination.   One hotel is the Adelphi Grande Hotel Bangkok.

KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA – Finally, we reached our first destination.  My partner and I were both very excited to visit Kuala Lumpur and see the Petronas Towers together.

We flew via Air Asia from Bangkok and the tickets were really affordable.  We also purchased tickets via Sky Bus which would take us from the Air Asia terminal up to Kuala Lumpur Central.  When we reached Kuala Lumpur Central, we bought taxi coupons to our hotel.

After checking in the hotel in Kuala Lumpur, we simply deposited our bags and left for the Kuala Lumpur City Center to see the Petronas Towers.  It was a great thing that our hotel was just located near the LRT station.  After a five minute walk towards the Masjid Jamek station, we bought tickets for our KLCC stop. No need to worry here as all the LRT staff were very helpful to tourists and would gladly assist anyone in purchasing tickets. The LRT as a mode of transportation was very convenient for us because the stop was right at the foot of KLCC.  It is easy to get to Suria KLCC, which is located at the crossroads of Jalan Ampang and Jalan P. Ramlee.

At this point, we still have not seen the majestic twin towers.  Our growling stomachs won us over so we proceeded to the food area.  Our eyes almost popped out of their sockets when we saw the numerous restaurants and cuisines that we can choose from.  The food area even had a stall dedicated for desserts.  Yummy!  My partner decided to have some spicy grilled chicken while I decided to get myself a serving of the local dish – Char Kway Teow.  This delightful dish is simply fried flat noodles that are mixed with vegetables and pieces of meat.

Then we headed crossed the long pathway to make a quick visit to KLCC Aquaria – the indoor aquarium.  Unfortunately, we missed the Piranha Feeding Session.  Still, we had fun looking at the different displays, information boards, the aquarium tunnel, and many others.  Kids there were wide-eyed looking at the Tarantula Spiders, Stingrays, Sharks, Iguanas, Turtles, etc.

From here, we asked the Information Desk as to where was the best place to shoot the Petronas Towers.  We were directed to the fountain area that was located right outside the second floor entrance of KLCC.  True enough, the view was fantastic.  There were already a lot of tourists and locals seated near the fountain area to wait for night time to view the Petronas Towers all lighted up.  We went to the bridge way and proceeded with our photo session.  After we were satisfied with our shots, we transferred near the fountain for a different angle.  We were done at around 9:00pm.

Since it was already dinner time, we hailed a cab for a ride to the famous street food area – Jalan Alor.  Food here is cheap and the selection … endless.  We decided to have some Butter Prawns, Beef Satay, Fried Rice and Roti.  The store owner happily provided me with condensed milk as dip for my Roti instead of the usual Curry and Fish Sauce.  We can  hardly get up from our chairs after that very filling meal.

We went back to our hotel satisfied with our meal and with our wonderful day spent in vibrant Kuala Lumpur.  We packed our stuff and asked the hotel for an early wake-up call at 3:00 am to make it in time for our 7:00 am flight to Siem Reap.  But then that is another story altogether

Posted in Malaysia, Thailand, Things to do

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 30th, 2009 at 3:00 pm and is filed under Malaysia, Thailand, Things to do. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.