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Kuala Lumpur – Wrapping up eight months in Asia

Written by James Clark on May 11, 2011 · 9 Comments

After eight months of travel in Asia I find myself back where I started in Kuala Lumpur. What an incredible eight months it has been. Two months in China, a month in India and three months in Thailand, punctuated by many visits to Malaysia, including Borneo for the first time.

KLCC Petronas Towers - KL
[Kuala Lumpur - funny name, cool city.]

There were so many highlights along the way, but I will resist turning this post into a best of (though now would a good excuse to show a picture of a Giant Panda from my visit to Chengdu).

Giant Panda eating bamboo

I kind of had a plan for the eight months, but like all good plans, that went out the window early on. My plan for a year in China was not to be after I couldn’t get a one year tourist visa. From China I was going to spend three months in Borneo. I may end up doing that yet, as this island had me the moment I arrived. In my first week there I had the privilege to attend a local wedding in Sabah, which included getting dressed up in traditional attire. Borneo was that kind of place for me.

[Dusun wedding party - Sabah]

My three months in Borneo was truncated to three weeks as I decided to spend Christmas with people I know in Chiang Mai. That was the biggest surprise of this trip. I didn’t think I would be back in Thailand this time around, but the Travel Gods had other plans. After Christmas I was then lured back by a coffee tour, and the fellowship of working nomads living in Chiang Mai kept me on. Spending some living time in Chiang Mai got me thinking that I could possibly base myself there in the future.

Akha coffee pickers
[With my Chiang Mai coffee dealers from Akha Ama Coffee.]

Now I am back in KL, catching up on some work before going back to Mebourne this week, where I will be returning as a visitor. When I left in September, I left a house I had been living in off and on since 2001. While I have been travelling as a working nomad since 2003, this is the first time I have travelled without a fixed address. With no current abode in Melbourne, this is just a two week visit to see family and friends, and to sort out some business administration.

After Melbourne I will be heading to Hawaii for eight days, which happened to be the first place I went to overseas. From Hawaii I then make my way to Vancouver for the TBEX travel bloggers meetup. I attended TBEX in New York last year and met so many wonderful people that I knew I would have to return. Having the conference in Vancouver was a great selling point as well, a city which I hear nothing but rave reviews for. I will also include Seattle and Portland in this trip. From there, more will be revealed .

So it’s my last week in SE Asia, and I am in KL eating everything I possibly can before I go. I’m going to miss this part of the world.

Tosai Masala - KL
[Tosai Masala and Teh Tarik in KL (H/T to regional food expert Jodi).]

If you are in Melbourne in the next two weeks feel free to contact me.

Categories: Where I'm At - Tags: food, kuala lumpur, malaysia, tbex

Petronas Towers, Kuala Lumpur – Malaysia

Written by James Clark on April 1, 2011 · 4 Comments

The Petronas Towers were the tallest buildings in the world from 1998 to 2004. While they are not the tallest anymore, they still remain as one of my favourite Supertalls. It is possible to go up the towers for free – you just have to get there early in the morning to get a ticket.

Categories: Travel Photos - Tags: buildings, kuala lumpur, malaysia

Chiang Mai – An India visa run, in Thailand.

Written by James Clark on March 9, 2011 · 5 Comments

Greetings from Chiang Mai, Thailand. This was not the greetings I was expecting to do for the rest of the year, but Indian bureaucracy had other ideas.

I went to Penang with the intention of getting a visa for India while I was there. When I applied to the visa centre, the first item on the visa application was pointed out to me:

Visa application of NON-MALAYSIAN foreigner who is not resident of Malaysia is liable to be rejected

I found out foreigners can longer apply for a visa in Malaysia (or Singapore), but you still can (for now) in Thailand.

I left Chiang Mai at the start of February and had mentally signed off from Thailand. I was thinking that it might be some time before I return to this land. Adding in the back tracking factor, I was wondering if I should just ditch the India trip all together?

The desire to visit India again and the fact that there is a consulate in Chiang Mai made my decision a bit easier. havin a bonus few more weeks with my friends in Chiang Mai sealed the deal.

Kuala Lumpur

To get to Chiang Mai meant going south to to KL to get a flight back north. Thanks to good old AirAsia, I’m becoming very familiar with Kuala Lumpur, and it grows on me just a little bit more each time.

When in KL I like to go to the Brickfields area, where you can find a good banana leaf set meal. This area is known as Little India and it has now been renovated with colourful archways, just incase you didn’t know you were in Little india with the blaring Bollywood songs everywhere.

[Little India, Brickfields - Kuala Lumpur]

KL Low Cost Carrier Terminal

As my flight was at 6.55am I opted to spend the night at the airport. I’m not good at getting up at 3.30am to get a flight, and the KL budget terminal is a great place to get some work done. There is a 24 hour food hall and Starbucks, and the Starbucks has free wifi (like most Starbucks in Malaysia). In fact the whole terminal has free wifi, so I spent the night as a work day. I wasn’t the only one with this idea. This is the food court at 2.15am.

[Food court at night]

India Consulate in Chiang Mai

I went straight to the consulate as soon as I arrived in Chiang Mai. If there is going to be another visa debacle I wanted to give myself as many spare days as possible to sort it out. The office is located on Tung Hotel Rd, which is near the train station. The consulate is in an old house and when I went there was no one in the queue. I filled out the application in what looked like the old lounge room, and that was it. Very laid back, just like Chiang Mai. Happy to be back.

Categories: Where I'm At - Tags: airport, chiang mai, india, kuala lumpur, malaysia, penang, thailand, visa

Monorail and KL Tower, Kuala Lumpur – Malaysia

Written by James Clark on October 15, 2010 · Leave a Comment

Monorail and KL Tower, Kuala Lumpur – Malaysia.

Categories: Travel Photos - Tags: kuala lumpur, malaysia, public transport

Room With a View, Kuala Lumpur – Malaysia

Written by James Clark on June 4, 2010 · 5 Comments

When I arrived at my hotel in Kuala Lumpur late at night and it was too cloudy to see out the window. This was the great view I got when I woke up.

Photo Friday

Categories: Travel Photos - Tags: hotel, kuala lumpur, malaysia

Flight Review: Firefly – Singapore to Subang

Written by James Clark on April 24, 2010 · Leave a Comment

Firefly is a regional airline based in Subang, Malaysia. Before coming to Malaysia I had not heard of Firefly, but they are actually owned by Malaysia Airlines, which anyone who has been to an airport has heard of. Firefly operate to destinations in Malaysia, Indonesia (Sumatra), Thailand and Singapore.

Firefly Destinations

I took a flight with Firefly from Singapore to Subang, near Kuala Lumpur.

Firefly operate out of the low cost terminal in Singapore. While the airfares are cheap, they are not considered as a low cost airline. They offer free onboard snacks, assigned seating and 20kg free checked-in baggage allowance. Firefly are a point to point airline, so like a low cost airline there is no connecting flights service.

The Firefly fleet is made up of ATR 72 twin-turboprop aircraft.

Being a regional aircraft and operating out of the smaller budget terminal in Singapore meant that check-in and boarding was very quick. Flying time from Singapore to Subang is about one hour.

Subang was the Kuala Lumpur Airport before the current KUL airport was built. It is now only used by regional airlines. There is no bus service from Subang, but it is close enough to KL to make getting the taxi an economical option. There is a taxi voucher desk at the airport where you prepay your destination.

If you are planning a trip to Southeast Asia, it’s worth having a look at the Firefly destinations for travel inspiration.

Note: This trip was sponsored in part by Firefly.

Related: Firefly offer Holidays To Kuala Lumpur.

Categories: Flight Review - Tags: airlines, firefly, kuala lumpur, malaysia, singapore, subang

AirAsia Has Lured Me Back to Southeast Asia

Written by James Clark on January 18, 2010 · 2 Comments

Once again I have been lured by an AirAsia sale and find myself in Kuala Lumpur. I didn’t intend to book a flight when I checked the AirAsia page, I was just checking if there was anything new on the site. Next thing you know the flashing $149 AUD one way sale banner was hypnotizing me and I had my credit card out ready to go.

Being not too dependent on time my criteria for booking flights is to find the cheapest available. The two cheapest flights I could find were 2 and a half months apart. So for the next 80 days Southeast Asia is my living and working playground.

Categories: Travel Blog - Tags: air asia, airlines, kuala lumpur, malaysia

Airport Guide: Kuala Lumpur Low Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT)

Written by James Clark on September 23, 2009 · Leave a Comment

Kuala Lumpur Low Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) is the budget airline terminal for Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA).

LCCT is on the other side of the runway of KLIA, so you can’t walk between the two terminals. There is a shuttle bus that connects KLIA and LCCT if you intend to transfer to a low cost airline.

[LCCT to KLIA shuttle]

LCCT Airlines
The biggest airline at the LCCT is the AirAsia group, with AirAsia, AirAsia X, Indonesia AirAsia and Thai AirAsia operating flights from here. Cebu Pacific and Tiger Airways also fly here.

[AirAsiaX on display]

Internet
The LCC Terminal has free wifi.

[Free wifi]

Eating
The terminal might be basic but there is plenty of eating options. There are restaurants, cafes and a basic supermarket inside the terminal, and another food court outside the terminal near the bus stop.

[Food Garden food court]

[LCCT Supermarket]

Getting There
The cheapest and easiest way to and from Kuala Lumpur is with the Skybus or Aerobus, which departs from the bus stop outside the terminal.

Categories: Travel Tips - Tags: airport, kuala lumpur, malaysia

Where I Stayed: Tune Hotels – Kuala Lumpur (the low-cost airline of budget hotels)

Written by James Clark on September 17, 2009 · 3 Comments

Tune Hotels.com is a budget hotel chain from Malaysia. This hotel group is connected to AirAsia, so it has a similar pay for what you use pricing system like a low cost airline. It is similar to easyHotel, which is related to easyJet.

[Tune Hotel - Kuala Lumpur]

Just like a low cost airline, the price you pay depends on when you book the room. The earlier you book the cheaper the room will be. There are also the occasional crazy special offers such as rooms for 1 MYR. The best chance to get such a deal is by registering for the email newsletter.

I stayed at the Downtown KL. It’s close to the Tuanku Monorail station, which terminates at KL Sentral LRT station for airport connections.

The rooms are clean and modern, and I was surprised at how much space was in the room. I had imagined it might have been a small box, like some kind of luxury flop house.

The beds are quality as well. The beds are advertised as:

High quality King Coil spring matress beds with pillows, pillowcases, bed sheets and 250-thread count duvets.

After sleeping on some soggy guesthouse matresses I really noticed the difference here.

[Tune Hotel Bed]

When booking your room you can select optional extras such as:

Air Conditioning
Towel Rental + Free Essentials toiletries kit
Wireless Internet Access
Breakfast
Hairdryers

and that old favourite of the low cost airlines: Travel insurance.

Each room has a ceiling fan, which I prefer over air conditioning anyway. I didn’t buy any extras when I booked, but I did end up buying internet credit when I was there.

[Tune Hotel Bathroom]

Categories: Where I Stayed - Tags: accommodation, hotels, kuala lumpur, malaysia

Hubbing out of KL

Written by James Clark on June 16, 2009 · Leave a Comment

I’ve been through KL a few times this year due to AirAsia flying from here to Melbourne. It’s been a handy hub for connecting to destinations around Asia.