Kuala Lumpur Day 1: Fare + Accomodation + City Tour

When Paolo and I were about to celebrate our third year anniversary, going out of the country was not part of the plan. However, two weeks before our big day, I felt the need of doing something nice to my husband -- something I usually do cause it is also his birthday. So, I tried searching for affordable flights online and mind-planned a quick yet affordable adventure with my husband. Luckily, I stumbled upon Air Asia's promo fares. In a heartbeat, I was able to book a couple of roundtrip tickets to Kuala Lumpur for only Php 10,160. (Insert happy dance emoji here)

Two weeks ago with no sleep, Paolo and I headed to NAIA Terminal 3 at 1:30 in the morning to catch our 6:30 AM flight to KL. We both came from work that day and decided to just spend the rest of the evening (or start of the morning) in the airport and wait for our boarding. Before heading to the airport, Paolo and I brought Leon to my mom's house in Navotas, as they gladly offered to look after him while we were gone. Though we wanted to bring him along with us, Paolo insisted that we spend some alone time together -- something that we don't usually do nowadays, especially now with Leon.

We arrived in Kuala Lumpur 9:30 in the morning, Thursday, November 16. We were very impressed with the size and the facilities of the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) hence the walkalator photos (hehe). I'm glad that Paolo is very street smart that he was able to locate the Aerobus counter that enabled us to go to KL Central (Kuala Lumpur's Central Terminal) from the airport for only RM 12 (Php 130) / head.

Upon arrival at the KL Central, we found our way to Nu Central, the connecting mall on the station to book ourselves an Uber ride. We were very surprised to find out that Uber charges are WAAY lower in KL than in Manila! Fares ranges from RM 5 - 10 (Php 55 - 110) to get you around the city! (What a good steal). We rode an Uber from Nu Central to our hotel, Bagasta Guesthouse which was located at the downtown area of the city center,

The consideration we made when we booked this hotel room, or shall I say guesthouse was price and proximity to the Petronas tower. I remember using the keyword hotels near Petronas in Agoda.com and this came on the list. Aside from its affordability, Paolo and I chose this because of the beautiful skyline view on the rooftop. We thought, at a low price, we can have a beautiful view of the city, have breakfast on the rooftop. But there's a catch.

Bagasta Guesthouse claims to offer a modern kampung (Malay house) experience. It was indeed, a house converted into a hotel and is located in a very conserative Malay community. Imagine being immersed in Malay culture. However, to our disappointment, we felt that we are downgraded to a small room (where we initially booked a superior room) -- probably because we use our Agoda points. To make things worse, the drainage in the bathroom was broken that when you flush the toilet while the faucet is running, the drain will overflow. (as in kadiri, yung laman ng toilet, lalabas doon sa drain tas magbabaha). Then, the rooftop, the beautiful view we thought we'll have while having breakfast was a joke. We thought it was a restaurant where we could drink coffee but no - it was just an empty rooftop with a single chair and table. At least we had our photo taken. And the view is nice. And the price was cheap. Oh well, they say you always get what you pay for.

 Despite all our efforts to stay up and have the energy to start our tour, Paolo and I were just so tired and exhausted from our flight so we ended up resting before touring around the city. At around 3PM, we decided to grab our super late lunch at the KLCC Area, where the iconic Petronas Tower is located. We also bought our adaptors in the mall (guys, the universal adapter would be of good help talaga especially when you travel!!) to have our gadgets charged. Of course, being tourists, we immediately took our photos in front of the tower and even bought fisheye lens from a Filipino seller!!

After buying all our essentials and having our late lunch in Madam Kwan's, Paolo and I ubered ourselves to Menara KL Tower (Probably costed us around RM 5 / Php 55) from KLCC. We had a glimpse of the tower and decided not to push with the walking tour of the tower (Paolo had different plans, I shall reveal it later!)

Then it was time for Paolo's anniversary surprise. Instead of us walking around the tower eye in Menara, Paolo brought me to the Fuego, at Troika Sky Dining a restaurant with a lovely, lovely view of the city. Since I know that Paolo will bring me somewhere nice for dinner, I purposedly wore this dress shirt so I could instantly change my look. Glad I did dress well because the place was just so perfect and romantic.

Fuego is one of the three restaurants in Troika Sky Dining and it offers South American dishes. It was a unique dining experience cause it was my first time to try a mojito with chili, and super delicious smoked quail. It also gives a beautiful view of the Kuala Lumpur  Skyline that made our night super romantic. It was Paolo's anniversary treat and I could not imagine any other way to make it better. It was all that I wanted -- good food, adorable company and of course, perfect view.

All in all, our first day in KL was an exhausting yet exciting experience. There are still so much to share on our trip and I hope I could find time to write more. Anyways, I hope you guys like this post. It's already 2 in the morning as I type so I think I should end my post here without doing a proper conclusion on my write up.

Til my next post!

xx,

Rovie Dear

photos are taken by me and Paolo Peralta