Malaysia

I recently spent Christmas and New Years in Malaysia with my wife. We stayed at Penang, Genting, and Kuala Lumpur. I absolutely loved Malaysia, it was beautiful.

So last week out of the blue I got a call from my manager telling me that they might be sending me to Malaysia for 6 weeks to work on a project. Woohoo! It’s not a definate thing yet but more than likely they will send me. I’d be staying in Kuala Lumpur for 6 weeks, with hotel, food, and airfare paid for by my company. If I go, it would most likely be by next week or the week after. The only downside is that I’d have to scratch my plans to go to China with my wife for Chinese New Year.

Can anyone who’s been to Malaysia/Kuala Lumpur suggest some things to do on the weekends and nights while I’m there? My wife might come down to visit for a week or so, but that still leaves 5 weeks of free nights and weekends and I’d like to keep myself busy, instead of just sitting in my hotel room. Any suggestions would be appreciated!

Nightlife: Hard Rock Cafe, Beach Club, Mt. Kiara, Bangsar

Sightseeing: Merdeka Square, KL Tower, Train Station / Administration Bldg., Lake Gardens (Taman Tasik Perdana)

Shopping / Food: KLCC, Bukit Bintang area, Bangsar

Hiking: Tabur Hill

(Half-)Daytrips: FRIM, Batu Caves, Kampung Kuantan (fireflies), Bkt. Tinggi (for a weekend), Melaka (Melacca)

Yup that pretty much covers it.

Kuala Terranganu is quite nice. It’s about a 4-5 hour bus ride up the east coast, which would be easy to do for a weekend - leave after work Fri night, come back Sun night. It’s right in the heart of Islamic Malaysia, very friendly people, a decentish museum and if you can hook up with a driver, there’s some beautiful jungle close by.

Alternatively, if you have a long weekend (or a few days off for other reasons) and you want to relax on a beautiful beach and maybe do some snorkeling or diving, then take a trip to Pulau Tioman or Pulau Redang (Pulau = island).

Great concise coverage! There is a lot to do, but that is a great summary.

Dun forget China Town… I know, why go when coming from Taiwan, but really good for shopping… especially good prices on DVDs, watches, designer purses… etc… :wink:

Central market, government building area for nice walk and pictures on weekend afternoon, catch F1 if in town (dun have schedule), Zouk, park and waterpark (if have kids) behind Petronas Towers, evening dinner at KLCC tower, take in a cheesy dinner with a traditional wedding performance (odd, but interesting)…

Awesome, thanks for all of the suggestions. I wrote them down and I’m going to start looking into them. I really want to check out Batu Caves, Kampung Kuantan (fireflies), and Pulau Tioman or Pulau Redang for some snorkeling. I’m the outdoorman type so I especially want to spend some time away from the big city and out in nature. And it sounds like there’s enough of everything else to keep me busy at night during the week. Thanks!

As the previous posters already suggested, lots to do! I’d suggest doing the east coast of Pennisular Malaysia, Terrengganu, Tioman, Redang and the Highlands - Cameron and the National Park for your outdoorsy itch :slight_smile:.

If company is paying for your hotel in KL, I’d suggest KL Sentral Hilton / Le Meridien, Ritz Carlton, Westin or JW Marriott - these 3 around the Bukit Bintang area :smiley:.

You’re one lucky fellow.

Haha, thanks for the suggestions. I still don’t know for sure that I’m going yet, but I was told there is a 95% chance. Are any of those hotels located near KLCC? I stayed at the Trader’s Hotel last time I was there, which is right across the park from the Twin Towers (what a view). The office I would be working out of is right in that area and most likely I will need to walk to work. I refuse to rent a car because I know I would turn into the wrong lane and cause an accident (they drive on the wrong side of the street!)

The hotels mentioned are located near Bukit Bintang, so not that close to the KLCC. If you want to stay right next to it I suggest the Mandarin Oriental, if your company is willing to pay for that (MYR500 and up).

You should go to Borneo to get a glimpse of the amazing and endandered Orangutan, they have santuaries and rehab facilities as well in this area. This area is a wild life gem.

I’m not sure what the holiday schedule is down there, but if there are any long weekends (I know they do celebrate Chinese New Year) maybe I could make a trip like that. I was looking at pictures of Borneo a few weeks ago, it looked like paradise. My kind of place.

Woohoo…I got the call I was waiting for today. They definately want me to go to Malaysia now (it was up in the air before). I need to make arrangements through my company’s travel agent tomorrow after I find out more. Looks like I’ll be going there next week or early the following week. I’ll take pictures! :slight_smile:

I spent a couple of very nice holidays there but it looks like I won’t be back for the foreseeable future

Atheists in Malaysia should be hunted down, minister says

Good grief. Seems like the trendy new model for government these days: idiocracy. Well, Mike Judge did warn us about this.

I doubt that they would bother tourists with it.

I once had a taxi driver threaten to call the police on my Malaysian girlfriend after he picked me up at the hotel and I was waving goodbye to her.

He asked me if she was Malay, and after I said yes, he was really mad and said he should call the police. He complained all the way to the airport.

Oh sure. But, do I want it hanging over my head on a holiday, even if just hypothetically? More to the point, will I support this country with my tourist dollars?

Well plenty of people go to China for business and holidays, or Russia, or Egypt, or Morocco, or India, or a layover in the UAE. The list goes on. They all have terrible practices in one way of another, like for gay people, for women, for minorities of any sort. If one is to avoid all countries with a shitty government or dumb ideology there really aren’t a lot of options as far as holidays go.

This is true.

Thanks for sharing. People have stories about unpleasant experiences in many countries, and it would be easy to dismiss them, but… some countries seem to come up again and again, out of proportion. It’s a pity, considering the lovely food and so on…