17 October 2011

Budget Tour to Kuala Lumpur Part 2

It was day 2 of our KL trip but we still woke up late. Just like old times. Our itinerary pointed to Genting Highlands but as luck would have it, all Go Genting package trips were sold out. It's best you buy tickets at least a day before to ensure your trip. Now we were stuck in KL Sentral and nowhere to go. There are a lot of other places to see in Malaysia but my girlfriend really expected some Theme Park atmosphere and experience the thrill of the rides. Then I remembered a saw an advertisement of Sunway Lagoon on the train while we were on our way to Batu Caves the previous day.

After a few consultations from the info desk at KL Sentral, we were off to Sunway Lagoon. We rode the train (Php24) all the way to the suburbs not really knowing where we are going . It was a great experience, me being a train fanatic. We really weren't sure of our stop but we just followed some other foreigners in the train and then we suddenly heard a guy shouting "Sunway!" Good move. He pointed us to a shabby non-airconditioned bus sitting under the sun. Fare to Sunway Lagoon was 1RM or roughly Php15. We got off at a huge pyramid and a giant lion, landmarks of the Sunway Pyramid shopping complex.


We were starving by that time and headed to the foodcourt inside the mall. We had a hard time choosing what to have for lunch since everything looks and smells delicious. While walking back and forth we also got a glimpse of Sunway Lagoon and it was awesome. Our lunch (Php150) was rather quick as we hurried down to the park entrance. The entrance fee was at Php1,332 per adult for a ride-all-you-can pass. As we got in, it started to rain. We were a bit disappointed at first but then we realized that Sunway Lagoon is both a dry and wet park. That explains why almost everyone coming in had backpacks. Almost everyone had bathing suits while we only had our clothes on. But the rain pushed us to enjoy the rides wet or dry. Starting with the Niagara Falls Flume Ride (similar to Jungle Log Jam), we got wet almost completely. That gave us more reason to just get wet all the way so we headed to the Grand Canyon Rapid Falls (similar to Rio Grande Rapids). After getting completely wet, we toured the entire complex in awe of every attraction. A long walk and a few rides more on the dry park was just enough to dry ourselves and call it a day.

As we headed back to our hotel, we were scratching our heads figuring out what bus to ride on. The shabby type bus we rode earlier was nowhere in sight. Good thing I'm familiar with the Singapore bus system that I figured the Malaysian bus system would be just like it. And it was. We took the bus to Kelana Jaya LRT (Php45) and then rode the train (Php37.50) to Pasar Seni LRT Station for dinner (Php250) at Petaling Street. Food was great at Kim Lian Kee, one of Chinatown's most popular eateries.

Total for Day 2: Php1,876 including train ride back to hotel (Php22.50) 

The next morning we went straight to the Lake Gardens for some last minute snapshots of Kuala Lumpur. We took a taxi to Lake Gardens which is around Php150-200 depending on your haggling skills. KL Taxi drivers are known to overcharge tourists. KL Sentral is not that far away from Lake Gardens as we found out by just walking around not knowing we were walking directly towards KL Sentral. After checking-out from our hotel, we had a quick lunch (Php200) at Old Town (a must try) and then took the KLIA Express to LCCT which costs around Php187.50.

Total for Day 3: Php437.50 assuming Php50 as contribution to taxi ride.

For my 3 days stay at Kuala Lumpur, I only spent Php10,924.83! And it could probably have been less if we were a group of four or stayed at a hostel instead of a hotel. Nevertheless, it was a great experience and a great triumph on the challenge of keeping things light on the pocket.

Previous: Budget Tour to Kuala Lumpur Part 1

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***exchange rate assumption: 1 RM = 15 PHP

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