Priceless!

Finally, I have fulfilled my promise.


With some help from my siblings, I was finally able to take my parents and nephew to our first out-of-the-country family trip, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia!

It was her first plane ride and she was savoring every minute!

I know Kuala Lumpur is not first in mind when you think about a family vacation.  Hong Kong because of Disney and Singapore because of Universal Studios, are the staples.




Although I've been to KL during the Asian trip with ETS, we were not really able see much because of time constraint.  So, I was also as excited as Tatay, Nanay and Popo to explore the city!

Hello there beautiful, nice to see you again!

And I was pleasantly surprised that KL shot a few notches up in my list of favorite places.  

Here's why:


THE BASIC INFRASTRUCTURE:

Clockwise: Train Station to Batu Caves; KL Sentral; Highway to the airport; Highway to Putrajaya.

Kuala Lumpur has an integrated transportation system of trains, buses and cabs that converge in the KL Sentral Station.  Its airports are connected to the KL Sentral via KLIA Transit which makes it very convenient for tourists.  It has great roads which, unfortunately, is rare where I came from.  See how well lit it is at night?  And do I need to mention that drivers are very disciplined?

THE ATTRACTIONS:

GENTING HIGHLANDS

I so love the way to the Genting Highlands!  This shot was not even 10-minutes away from the city center but look at the greens everywhere.

This was everyone's favorite part of the trip.  The view was amazing and relaxing...

... the only one hyper was Nanay, clowning around the cable car. 

Our destination way up there, the cluster of hotels and casinos, including the Resorts World Genting.

A bit disappointed though.  I was expecting something grander because of the dramatic climb via the cable car.  The buildings looked dated.  Our Resorts World Manila is more current and happening!

Before finally leaving, we saw this food store.  And Nanay really had to taste test everything so we ended up not having to buy anything! LOL!

BATU CAVES

Waiting for our train to the Batu Caves.  Fare is cheap @ RM1.00, RM2.00 for return.  Unless you are physically disabled, I would definitely suggest taking the train than charter a cab or joining a group tour which are going to cost you a hundred folds.

Teenagers all over again!

The weather was getting brutal...

which made the 100-meter climb even harder.  But Tatay was there to see Nanay through...

probably taking a cue from this hairy duo.

PUTRAJAYA

We took the train to the seat of government, the Putrajaya, the same train that connects the city center to the airport.  The train was practically empty and is the fastest way to our destination.

At the station is a counter where you charter a cab for RM30 per hour to go around the Putrajaya, we hired ours for two.

The PICC (Putrajaya International Convention Center), also known as the Cowboy Hat.  We were able to look around inside but there was an event that limited our access to some parts.  So I asked our trusty cab driver to take us somewhere I can take a full picture of the immense structure.

At the boat quay under the unforgiving Sun!

The massive Palace of Justice!

Putrajaya is squeaky clean, organized and well-thought off.

The Putra Mosque.  It is much larger than it seems in the picture.

The grand entrance to the Putra Mosque!

KUALA LUMPUR TOWER

One of the tallest communication towers in the world.

The view from the observation deck.  We chose the KL Tower over Petronas Towers for the bird's eye view of the city because aside from the fact that you can just walk in and buy tickets as opposed to waking early in the morning to get very limited tickets to go to the skybridge of the twin towers, it has a 360-degree view of the city versus just the front and back view you get from Petronas.  KL Tower actually appears taller because it sits on top of a hill.

We hardly felt the elevator moving.

SULTAN ABDUL SAMAD BUILDING

Right behind our hotel was this beautiful structure.  But it's just it, nothing else to see but the grand facade.

MAGNIFICENT PETRONAS TOWERS

By day...

and night!  Need I say more?

Weather was uncooperative so we just walked around the Suria KLCC, one of the most luxurious malls in KL.  Although I would have to say that it would fail in comparison with our Greenbelt 5.

At the KLCC Park.  I'm not sure though if you can get this near in the morning because when we came back, it was steel-fenced so people had to make do taking pictures outside the perimeter!

A bit surprised that the place in a predominantly Islamic country screamed Christmas!

THE FOOD(?)

Well, this one I need to explain very carefully.

Ahm, maybe not.  I'll just say in our four days there, this was the only meal that made me very happy!

Our best meal @ Chicken Rice Shop - KL Sentral.

What really made me happy?  My family's excited faces the entire time, and that's the best thing about this trip.

Priceless!