I've been to Kuala Lumpur so many times that it is hardly my destination of choice for holidays. But if daddy dearest wants to go, I will go along with him.
Instead of flying or driving up to the Malaysian capital like I've been used to, daddy decided to take the coach instead.
We had to be at Concorde Hotel by 7.30am on Sunday for the pick-up. And horrors, our return flight from Siem Reap on Saturday was delayed so it was past midnight when we got home. With only a couple of hours to re-pack our bags, bathe and SLEEP, we had to make great haste.
By the time we were done with unloading our dirty clothes and packing in fresh stuff for the KL trip, it was already 3am. URGH.
And I had to wake up at 6.30am.
Anyway, everything flowed in good time on departure day.
I have not taken a coach before and had only known through advertisements that the new generation of coaches come with large reclining seats and on-board entertainment.
The coach we took with Luxury Tours & Travel came with all that and on-board food service. Heh, interesting.
Luxury Tours & Travel coaches also provide a guide on each trip to ensure that passengers are well taken care of. Our guide was a funny Indian man, Henry, who introduced himself as "your tour guide, F&B manager, steward and driver."
"Yes, one man, four jobs, four pays. I lead an excellent life, " he went on to say.
Later, as he was distributing boxes of nasi lemak, he said, "Now you will have nasi lemak and water. I'll bring out the whisky later."
And as he was done with the distribution, he stood up right, looked at us, clap his hands once and declared, "You may start eating NOW!"
Funny man.
But with the coach travelling at high speed on bumpy Malaysian highways, getting the spoonfuls of nasi lemak into one's mouth is a great challenge. My nasi ended up all over my face and chest instead. At one point, my spoon flew out of my hand when the coach took a violent leap.
Gah.
We arrived at Hotel Istana, KL, five hours later.
Hotel Istana is one of those hotels that probably invested a great deal of money on its facade and lobby facilities but stinged on its basic grade guest rooms.
Daddy upgraded us to a Deluxe room, but I thought its amenities and creature comforts are more of a Superior quality. The carpet was old and the bathroom fixtures, which were predominantly white, were starting to turn yellow. It was so old-fashioned that even the hair-dryer was the wall-mounted type that emitted hot air through a flexi-tube!
Damn, it is hard to please me. I have been so spoilt by my job.
Oh well, at least the guest room was clean and the bed comfy.
Actually, before deciding on Hotel Istana, daddy and I deliberated on Crowne Plaza Kuala Lumpur and Impiana KLCC. I have stayed at Impiana KLCC before on business and it was a nice property, albeit a little small. And Crowne Plaza can be trusted for their quality.
I wasn't quite into Hotel Istana because their promotional photos failed to impress me. If Photoshop cannot enhance the images, what would the real stuff be like?!
But daddy chose Hotel Istana.
Nevermind lah. We spent more time out shopping and dining anyway.
That's the thing about city holidays. It's mostly shopping, eating, drinking (and possibly dancing at some of the hottest clubs).
As Hotel Istana is located in the heart of the shopping belt, it is within walking distance to several malls. We visited as many malls as we could - Mid Valley Mega Mall, Lot 10, Sungei Wang, Suria KLCC and the new Pavilion, of course.
Eventually, daddy still prefer Pavilion and that was where we spent most of our time throughout our three days in KL. Pavilion is like Paragon in Singapore. It carries several major international brands and a selection of local mid- and high-end brands.
I've always known daddy to be a fan of brands, considering how he favoured Ralph Lauren and Ashworth for his golfing wear, Aldo for his shoes, Armani and Oakley for his glasses, etc. But this was the first time I've gone shopping with him.
He and brother Kenny made a beeline for Ralph Lauren and Gant and were happily picking stuff off the shelves. Josh and I just poked around at various items and scrunched up our faces at the price tags.
I love quality clothes, but there was no way I would pay over RM$400 for a Ralph Lauren polo T, even if the embroidered horse logo looks very charming, or over RM$300 for a navy-inspired cotton shorts from Gant.
Because Pavilion featured mostly the indulent brands, I ended up empty-handed while the boys - daddy, Kenny and Joshua - walked away with several purchases. How rare for me not to buy anything!
And because I was the only one without a harvest, daddy kept egging me on to buy something, anything.
When I held an AX Armani Exchange tee against myself, daddy said, "Nice. Buy it."
When I held up a canvas bag at Gant, daddy said, "Most pretty. Buy it."
When I tried on an oversized sunnies at Aldo, daddy said, "Very stylish. Buy it."
When I just only reached out to knee-high boot, daddy said, "Hmm, interesting. Buy it."
URGH.
He was like the shopaholic devil on my shoulder.
Because our hotel is surrounded by most of the malls, we made it a point to travel on foot or by monorail whenever possible. That meant we consulted the map very frequently.
And since daddy spent mostly of his adult life driving and hardly participating in the peak hour mad rush on public transport, I HAD to take photos of him taking the monorail!
At the monorail station, I spotted this mind-boggling sign:
No smoking, pets, littering, chewing gum and eating. But you are welcomed to leap off the platform's edge?
Oh, and what is a trip to KL without taking a touristy photo against the imposing Petronas Twin Towers, eh?
We also managed to catch a good shot of the Twin Towers later in the evening as we tried our very best to walk off a heavy dinner at the famed Restoran Oversea on Jalan Imbi.
Yup. Looks like a character out of Babylon 5.
Apart from Restoran Oversea, we also hit La Bodega at Pavilion on one of the days.
It was daddy's first attempt at Spanish food so I took the lead with the food orders. We lined our stomachs with a variety of tapas and sangrias while our paella (Spanish rice dish) was being prepared.
The best tapas has got to be the lamb chops.
The paella was a little disappointing though. It was too moist. Its saving grace was its generous serving of seafood.
Another day we hit Manhattan Fish market for flaming lobsters.
And on our final night in KL, we went to Parkroyal's Si Chuan Dou Hua for dinner. We loved Si Chuan Dou Hua in Singapore and it is great to know that the hotel chain has an outlet in KL.
I miss Kou Shui Ji and Si Chuan Dou Hua does it best! Kou Shui Ji translates literally to Saliva Chicken, but it is really an appetiser dish of steamed chicken soaked in potent chilli oil.
Although the street hawkers along Jalan Alor came highly recommended by the hotel concierge and tour guide Henry, daddy was turned off by street-side dining and prefered the clean comfort of restaurants.
In the night, we staked out the hotel's lobby lounge for drinks and chatter.
Apart from shopping, eating and drinking, daddy and I also found time to pop by the hotel's spa for a good rub down.
So that was what we did in KL for three days.
OH, and yes, I did managed to sneak in a cigar too!
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