Day 5 : Kuala Lumpur to George Town , Wednesday 12th June 2024
Hazy/fine, 31°
NZ$1 = MYR3 ( Malaysia Ringgit )
MYR1=NZ$0.33
Up at 7am, downstairs for breakfast at 7:30am, then back to the room. We grabbed stuff for our morning and started to pack our bags to checkout later in the day. Headed out at 8am, walked to Masjid Jamek station and caught train to KLCC, then walked to Petronas Towers through the KLCC Park. We were ½ hour early for check in for our tour of the towers so we walked around the lake in the park and took some photos. The park was quite quiet at this time of the morning with a few joggers / walkers around.
We went back to check in at 9am for the tour, then into the lift at 9:15am. First we headed up to the sky bridge between the buildings on the 41st floor for 10 minutes then up to the 86th floor for 15 minutes, then to the 83rd floor café/gift shop then down at 10am, through another gift shop. The view from the sky bridge was impressive and gave a good idea of the way the buildings were building and the shear size of them. The upper floors ( as we have found with other tall buildings in Asia ) were less impressive with hazy views, and at that height it almost feels too removed from the ground level around it.
We walked back out into the mall then headed up to the food court for a drink.
We walked around the shops some more then down to the KLCC station and back to Masjid Jamek station, walked to Merdeka Square for a look at the old Colonial Heart of KL at 11:45am, then back around to the hotel.
Just as an aside; you know you are in a Chinese speaking region of the world when you start to see signs of Tetraphobia. None of the buildings have 4th floors and the number 4 isn’t used unless necessary ( our hotel has a Floor 3a and 5 ). The Chinese word for 4 sounds similar to the word for death; so 4 doesn’t get used.
We finished packing our bags and left at 12:30pm, walked to Pesar Seni station and then MRT to KL Sentral. Went up to the waiting area for the ETS, grabbed some snacks for lunch from the 7Eleven, then through the gate at 1:10pm, and onto the train at 1:40pm ( the train was running a bit late; supposed to leave at 1:37pm ). We found our coach and seats ( 2 seats, both facing backwards facing, both on the aisle ). Left and headed north west. Quite hazy most of the way, through more palm plantations to Ipoh then through 2 tunnels ( the 1st train tunnels we have seen in Malaysia ) and out across plains of rice fields. As we didn’t have windows and were facing backwards it was quite a different experience on the train.
We were heading to George Town, which is the main town on the island of Penang. To get to the island there are 2 road bridges, but the traditional way is by ferry. So the train terminates at Butterworth on the mainland directly opposite George Town and the ferry terminal is attached to the train station.
We pulled into Butterworth at 5:55pm, and walked through station and along the ( many ) walkways to the ferry terminal. We just missed a ferry at 6pm so had to wait the 1/2 hour for the next one. Bought 2 tickets for the ferry ( MYR2/$0.60 each ) and waited in the waiting area for the 6:30 ferry.
Jumped on board at 6:25pm ( after the motorbikes had got on ) then off at 6:30pm for the 15 minute crossing of the Penang Strait. Docked and walked out to the road, booked a Grab to get to the hotel.
This was our first use of Grab ( which is similar to Uber ) which is widespread through Asia. Like Uber it uses an app and everything is automated; no money changes hands no directions need to be given to the driver. We used Grab a lot through the rest of the trip.
Our Grab to get to the hotel was booked for MYR9/$3 for 1.8km, and he arrived at 6:45pm and drove to the Citadines Connect, arriving at 7:05pm. Checked in , got our room ( Room 171, in a separate building from the main part of the hotel, just along the street, MYR950/$317 for 3 nights, including breakfast ).
The hotel is in the Old Town area, but just south of the main Old Town area. It is fairly new but built in the old traditional style of George Town.
Found our room; a small room with a large bed. This room was typical of hotel rooms we found on this trip ( and on previous trips to SE Asia ), and without trying to sound negative about the rooms, they could generally be summed up with the phrase: looks amazing but doesn’t really work that well. In this room the shower door didn’t open more than 1/2 a metre as it scraped on the floor tiles, there were no hooks / shelves in the bathroom, and the room was too small for the bed so you couldn’t get past the end of the bed without rubbing against the wall.
We dropped our bags, up to look at the pool on the roof of our building then out for tea. Found a Japanese restaurant nearby ( Kirin Sushi ) for tea at 7:30pm ( MYR81/$25, for a main dish, a side dish and 2 beers ). We walked to the 1st Avenue Mall across the road for a look around, then back to the hotel at 8:45pm, to do some washing and relax.
Liking the feeling of George Town so far. Lots of old colonial buildings and modern high rises, and relaxed feel.