Langkawi - Christmas 2015
It was a short walk to the Oriental Village, a purpose built resort centre, hosting the cable car terminus to allow access to the 705m summit of Gunung Machincang and the 125m skybridge. Queues can be long when buying tickets, so if possible purchase them online beforehand or if time is pressing you can purchase fast track tickets, which do put you to the front of any queues both going up and coming down the mountain. The views at the top are spectacular, and the walk over the skybridge also has to be experienced, with opportunities to be able to look through the glass floor portholes to the rainforest below. Other attractions at Oriental Village include a 6D Cenemotion attraction, a F1 Simulator, several shops and restaurants. If you want to get out and about al little more, its worth hiring a taxi for 4 hours, and tell him where you want to go. We had a very good driver, full of information and took us on a mini island tour. One word of note, the local speed limit is only 60km/h, so it takes a while to get anywhere, not to mention the crowded roads, so we ended up with a five hour trip but worth every penny of the £20 equivalent cost.
Once Christmas Day and boxing day passed, the resort seemed to become quieter, although preparations were being made with the construction of a large marquee on the beach
All too quickly the week was over and we were on our way on the 55 minute flight to Kuala Lumpur. We flew Air Asia into their dedicated terminal at KLIA2, funnily described as the only shopping mall in the world, with an airport attached. The journey into Kuala Lumpur city from the airport is a long one at 65km, and at rush hour seemed to be ever longer, finally after nearly a 90 minute trip we checked into the stunning Majestic Hotel, just over the road from the main Kuala Lumpur railway station. Our room, sorry Wonderful Junior suite was on the 14th floor with a view over the city. We did comment it was almost as large as our Hong Kong apartment, with a dining area, a couple of chez longues and a huge bed. We quickly unpacked and decided as our journey had taken longer than expected to eat in the hotel and explore the following day.
The food was plentiful, good quality and excellent value for money coming in at around £36 including free flow wine or beer.
We had previously travelled to Malaysia in the late 1990's just as the Petronas towers were completed but not yet open, and for reference check out the Sean Connery/Catherine Zeta Jones film, Entrapment.
Much had change in the years since our visit, there is now a rapid transport system, and extensive over road walkways, some are air conditioned, enabling you to navigate safely between places of interest, hotel, shops and restaurants. Though our hotel was situated slightly out of the centre, it was only a 15 minute ride on the monorail, and as we found during our walk back from bringing in the New Year under the Twin Towers, only a 45 minute walk.
Again pre planning would be a must for any visit up the towers, if you are unable to purchase tickets online for your preferred day or time, there are a limited number released on a first come, first served basis. If your intention is to visit the towers this way, be there early, as the office opens at 08:30. we joined the queue around 7:45 and comfortably obtained tickets, but by the time we enjoyed our visit and returned to ground level via the ubiquitous gift shop, all tickets were sold.
The towers open out onto the KLCC mall with 5 levels of shops and restaurants to cater for every need and taste. On our meanderings we also came across a Debenhams, which then seemed to feature prominently every time we went into the city , well it was a shame not to, they did have a Blue Cross Sale on at the time.
Merdeka Square was interesting to walk around on our way to Central Market, which is two floors of handicrafts, tourist shops, and restaurants, Well worth an hour of your time around the city. From which its only a short walk to Chinatown, with its daily market and cheap food stalls and restaurants. we thought we'd try one for dinner one night, see how it compared wit the real thing, and we were impressed, good quality, hot food at a fair price. After navigating through the hawkers selling watches and handbags it was only a short walk back to the hotel on the walkways, where it was good to kick back and relax after a heavy day sightseeing and shopping.
New Years Eve we planned to be out all day, it was our last day of the trip, so we mopped up any shopping that needed doing, and decided to go to the pictures to see the new Star Wars film. The cinema was in Pavilion Mall , a 6 storey mall with its Centre piece being a huge Swarovski Christmas tree. We commented it was great to see locals, tourists of all nations getting into the spirit of the occasion, getting dressed in silly Santa costumes, and watching the children fascinated by all the glitz and costumes and toys. The film finished around 9:45, just enough time to grab a quick bite to eat, and make our way over to the towers . . In Kuala Lumpur thousands gathered in the park around the towers to see a concert and a sound and light show with accompanying fountains. At midnight, there was no forma countdown, the clock just changed to 00:00, and the fireworks started, everyone seemingly to forget to wish each other happy new year. it took us a couple of minutes to realize it was now 2016.
The roads back to the hotel were crammed with cars and pedestrians all seemingly with hooters wish everyone a happy new year, and it wasn't long before the crowds thinned and we had made our way safely back to the hotel.
We really enjoyed our stay at both the beach and the city and feel we found just the right balance for our Christmas break