Need That Picture of You, It's So Magical

Even though I wrote a whole blog about my methodology, I still find it difficult to describe exactly how I came up with the route for my travels.

If I'm honest, a lot of it came through me looking at a map, and then researching information about the place to see if I wanted to go there. Some places were more logical than others and came into the plan once I started reading information about the country itself. I wanted to attempt to make my route as unique as possible, not just taking in the obvious places, but there are definitely some exceptions on my list.

When I was looking at each different country I had thought about travelling to, there were usually cities which jumped out of the page at me. In Japan for example it was a pretty logical step to spend some time in Tokyo, same for Bangkok in Thailand and this is also true of my latest location which is Kuala Lumpur.

KL is somewhere I have considered coming before on holiday having heard so many wonderful things about it. As the capital of Malaysia it is a very popular destination on this peninsular, and I believe, one of the most visited cities in the world by tourists. There were lots of cities and sights which I have been looking forward to during my journey around Asia and I think that KL is perhaps the first 'must see' destination that I have come across, so I was pretty excited to see if it lived up to the hype this morning as I woke up.

I left my hotel at about 11am and walked towards the Dutch Square for a bit before I eventually found a taxi. It’s really strange that in both Malaysian Borneo and here in the peninsular that the taxis look exactly the same. I guess they’re trying to keep things pretty consistent, and it’s certainly easy to spot a half red-half yellow proton coming down the road when you need to get somewhere quickly.

The driver was chatting to me on the way about my travels and I explained where I was staying in KL. He mentioned that it was quite close to the centre, and I shouldn't have any problems getting from the bus station to my hotel which was good to discover. It took a bit of effort to walk through Melaka Sental to eventually find where you could buy bus tickets, but it was less of a meat market than in JB so I was glad about that. I went up to the first counter I could find and asked if there was a bus going to the Pudu Central (Puduraja) terminal, and the man selling tickets said there was a bus at 12 noon which could take me there. I had a quick glance to the left and to the right, but couldn't see any of the other companies going there so I brought a ticket and went to wait in the right place until the bus arrived.

It was going to be about a two hour journey to get to KL, so not nearly as long as the two previous coach journeys I have had to experience on my travels so far (JB to Melaka and the return trip of Manila to Baguio). The coach was pretty packed, but had a row of double seats next to a row of single seats so I grabbed one to myself, reclined my chair and slept pretty much all of the way.

As mentioned, KL is one of the places I have been looking forward to coming on my trip. I think the place I am most excited for is Tokyo – maybe just the whole country of Japan in general actually. It’s one of those places that I have always heard about has a good ‘atmosphere’ with a good mix of locals and westerners as well as good food, cheap shopping and plenty of sights to see. To me that sounds like a perfect combination of everything I would want.

We started to drive closer to the city and on the horizon I could see the Petronas Twin Towers (KLCC) and also the KL Tower which loomed large amongst the high-rises. I tried to keep an eye out for my hotel along the way as it said that it was 100m away from the Puduraya, but I couldn’t see it. When I eventually got off the bus, I wasn't quite sure where to go so I walked up the stairs and had a think about which direction it might be in. Much to my surprise the hotel as actually at about 2 o'clock to the bus station so I went across the walkway to check in.

Considering I am going to be here in KL for a few nights, I upped the budget on my hotel spend a little bit. I did this whilst staying in the cupboard guesthouse as I’d been through a run of bad ones up to that point. It’s quite amazing to think that since I was in Bali two weeks ago, I don’t feel like I've stayed anywhere that hasn't had some massive issues with either WiFi, cleanliness or quality of room. 

Thankfully the Hotel Transit KL is much different and I was impressed to open the door on a spacious, fabulous looking room which has it’s moments with the Internet connection, but is pretty much everything I would look for. It was certainly nice to have my own individual bathroom again if nothing else.

I was on a bit of a mission today to try and make the most of the cheap electronics prices I’d read about in KL. Most of Asia is cheap in comparison to Europe and North America, but I had read that particularly on things like laptops, camera and other electronic pieces of kit, that this is the place to head to.

Considering I have now been here over a month, it’s no surprise to see I have racked up taking a fair few photos, but at last count I had almost stored up 2500 on my hard drive which, even for me, is fairly impressive. Most beneficial of all of the technology out there to me would be a new camera, which I had been saving up for before I left England, but felt like might be quite a good purchase whilst here.

There is actually a place specifically for buying electronics called the Low Yat Plaza, I eventually navigated my way there through the warm KL air which was already starting to have an impact on me – as was the sunshine which had kindly decided to make an appearance. There were quite a lot of shopping malls in the Bukit Bintang area of KL where I had walked to, but eventually I found the six floors of the Low Yat Plaza and immediately felt right at home:

I told you before that I am a bit of a nerd when it comes to technology so I was definitely in my element here as all around me were different shops and stands selling pretty much every gadget and gizmo a person might need. It reminded me a lot of the electronics district that Kevin, Charlie and myself had visited on several occasions in Korea, although at least this time everything was in one building and you didn’t have to go through tons of different halls trying to find what you needed. I tend to find that in Asia, you need to have an idea of exactly the make and model of the thing you are looking for, before you arrive. That was a slight problem for me in terms of finding a camera as I had written down a few idea of what I was looking for and how much I was looking to spend, but there is simply an overwhelming choice of camera out there that I really needed a bit of advice which was the best one for a beginner, and how different models along the same price range actually differ.

I started at the bottom and began working my way up the floors. I knew I was looking for either a Nikon or a Canon camera as my research had drawn out that those were the two best types to look for. I stopped at a couple of stalls to enquire about the prices of the ones I had written down, and it seemed like there was at least a 25% discount on the prices you see on Amazon which is very good. As I worked my way to different stalls, I was being offered cheaper and cheaper prices. I chatted to one guy who offered me the type of camera I had been looking at for 30% off the UK price and that included a memory card, a bag and a tripod so I was very intrigued by this.

Having made my decision eventually as the price didn’t decrease any further from the person I’d just spent the most time talking to, I went to the ATM to withdraw some cash (busiest point of the mall was actually the cash point as people furiously withdrew their money) and then headed back up to try and find the stall I’d decided to buy from. Just before I got there I stopped off at another smaller shop, just out of interest to enquire, and was offered a price 100 RM than I had been offered, so I decided to go back over and try to strike a deal explaining that they had offered me a cheaper price and would he be willing to help me out.
This sparked a conversation about cameras themselves as he could see that my interest in them was a little more than fleeting. The Nikon 3200 I had been looking at was a relatively decent camera, but when I explained that I used it quite a lot, he gave me some advice that a Canon camera would probably be better for my needs. They are a little more expensive, but provide higher quality images, and he demonstrated this by taking pictures on a couple of different camera and showing them to me. Even though it was a little more money, I feel like I have no issues in recouping the value of the camera through use, and eventually decided to settle on a Canon EOS 600 which is priced at around £500 in England. I managed to get it for roughly half the value of that, with an upgraded lens, a bag and a decent tripod so I was thoroughly happy with my purchase. The guy I brought it from, set it all up for me and I was on my way out feeling a very satisfied customer:

The first photo taken with my camera; I was completely not ready and impressed I had my eyes open

My second task of the day was to go and make the most of my new purchase so I trooped back to my hotel and set about finding the KLCC Towers so that I could take some photographs of them in the dark. I’m hoping that visiting the towers themselves and walking across the platform will come later in the trip, but for now I was happy to go and take some pictures. As usual, being the brave pedestrian that I am, I basically started walking towards where I could see the towers in the distance, with no idea whether this was the right way to walk or not. I had seen a sign for them when I was at the Low Yat Plaza, but that seemed to be a bit of a round-about way so I ploughed on.

First of all I came to the KL Tower which is an impressive communications Tower here that has been somewhat overshadowed by the Twin Towers. I didn’t really have time to photograph it on my way as night was starting to fall, but again, I am probably going to make an effort to return that at one point some day on my stay here:

I was now starting to see signs for the towers, and was heading towards what is known as the KLCC - Kuala Lumpur City Centre. Bars, restaurants, clubs and recognisable head office buildings were starting to pop up all over the place as I could see one tower but not the other. I was sure if it was hiding behind the other one, or behind another building, but when I eventually arrived in front of the towers, I discovered that it was because of the angle and perspective I was coming from that I’d only been able to see one.

The KLCC Towers were just as impressive in person as you might have seen on television or the Internet:

Underneath them is a big shopping mall which props them up and seems to make them rise endlessly into the night sky. There was a little area nearby where people were taking photos so I joined them, and then spent about twenty minutes trying to get my camera to work in order to take some impressive photos.

Walking around the towers I kept feeling it necessary to snap away, almost as if I couldn’t believe what I was seeing and eventually I got around to the far side which was set out on a little lake, and gave me a better view of the whole thing:

In this area, there were lots of people sitting and watching a musical fountain display which kept stopped and starting sporadically, and then there were those that were just contented to bask in the shadow of the towers themselves – perhaps Malaysia’s most famous landmark:

I stayed for a while snapping pictures from all angles before deciding to make my way back to the hotel and grab some dinner along the way. I was extremely hungry having not eaten anything but a packet of crisps since breakfast and being in the sun all day I also think I had developed a headache. The food helped as I came back to my lovely, comfortable room (haven’t said that for a while) and enjoyed looking back through the pictures that I had taken during the day.

Just generally today I feel a little more contented than I have done previously. I think it’s the impact of having a productive day and also enjoying my surroundings a little bit more. Although I often like the quiet, peacefulness of a small town, I certainly am equally at home in the hustle and bustle of the big city. I feel like KL has some elements of Seoul in it, which is perhaps why I feel so comfortable. KL doesn’t have the cleanliness of Singapore or even Melaka, but it does have an interesting blend of international and local ‘flavour’. I've seen more ‘foreigners’ here than I have in any other city and it seems like this is going to be a popular stop in my memories when I'm looking back and thinking about my travels.

Paparazzi

Lady Gaga (2008)