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| Map of Malaysia |
Most travellers to Malaysia will travel first to the capital city Kuala Lumpur and that is where this site will start the journey, Kuala Lumpur city sites and sights.
How to get here. Travellers can choose to fly from your local city directly to Kuala Lumpur or via Singapore where by flight between Singapore and KL (what Kuala Lumpur is fondly named by locals) is only half an hour away.
The two main airlines in Malaysia are Malaysian Airlines and AirAsia.
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| For travellers preferring full in-flight service |
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| For no-frills budget travellers |
When I travel I like to at least once try to fly the local airlines as from there you can already begin to have a taste of the country. For most Malaysians when they are are overseas for length of time, the first thing when they fly back to Malaysia is to book a seat in Malaysia Airlines so that when they enter the flight, they can immediately savour home as Malaysia Airlines to most countries I know serve the local favourite, Nasi Lemak (roughly translated means oil rice). In AirAsia you can also get this but of course you have to pay extra for food and drinks in this no-frills flight.
Well, here I have already introduced you to the Malasian "icon", Nasi Lemak so I will described it a little bit so that you might at least not be a stranger to trying it when on the plane. If you are in a flight with mainly Malaysians and you are sitting at the back, this dish will normally run out by the time the food tray gets to you. For foreigners you might have to get a little bit used to but for most Malaysians, it is heavenly breakfast food. So here is my introduction of the food. As the name suggest, it is not for the health conscious breakfast traveller.
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| Nasi Lemak served in plane |
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| Nasi Lemak |
Your plane will land in Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA). In KLIA please follow the instruction as the immigration counter is a 2 minute train ride from where you exit from the plane. However, this gives you a chance to do your first shopping for shopperholics. For smokers ( I don't recommend smoking so stop if you can ), duty-free cigarettes are much cheaper here than in the city.
After getting your passport stamped by immigration and collecting your luggage, you can begin your journey to the city. There are three ways you can get to the city; taxi, train or bus. I suggest to either catch the airport-taxi or the high speed train from KLIA to KL Sentral. For taxis, only catch the approved taxi and you can buy their coupon at the airport-taxi counter. Standard airport-taxi will cost you about RM80-90 to the city. Proceed to gate 4 of the airport to catch your taxi. Taxi ride will take about one hour to the city. For train service, use the elevator (lift) down to the lowest floor of KLIA. You can buy a one-way train ticket from the ticket counter for RM35 per person. The train ride will take approximately 25 minutes to KL Sentral. From there you have to alight and catch a taxi ride to your respective hotel or location. If you have tonnes of luggage and travelling in pairs, taxis are a better option. However, the train ride is very comfortable and fast as the train travels at 160km-an-hour.
In the next posts or so, I will show you where you might bunk for the night so to speak. So enjoy your trip here and I will be back soon with my next hotel-to-stay-in-KL posts.
Oh, btw, Malaysia is hot and humid so wear only light clothes but do bring a jacket as the plane and airport can get really cold with air-conditioning.
