A Cheapie goes to Malaysia: Tips on how to travel & live cheaply in KL

(February 17 - 21, 2007)





Thank God for the Internet! I must have logged a thousand hours researching in the Internet all the cheap ways of going to KL. This was supposed to be my first stop in my longed-for Southeast Asian odyssey (did not materialize as i have to cut it short for family reasons) so I was really into penny-pinching at first.

Here are some tips on how to live and go around KL with just a few Ringgits....

From KLIA to KL City

Tip: Take the Aero train and go down 1 level to the Immigrations counter, after checking in, you can collect your bags and proceed to the elevator bank. For the bus station, you go to level 1 and proceed to the ticketing counter (fare is RM10). Upon arriving at KL Sentral, you can either go to the taxi booth (Bukit Bintang is RM10) or wait for a taxi and negotiate (fare can go down to RM4-5).If you are a bit apprehensive about the mode of transportation, you can take a taxi but make sure to bargain with the driver for RM70-100 before taking a hop, although KL drivers are very honest (though no one beats Thai drivers for honesty!)

Food & Accommodation

As usual, my plebeian taste buds will always zoom in to the nearest KFC outlet in the area (I think I can now rate the taste of Hot & Crispy Chicken in at least 5 countries in Asia!). The afternoon of my arrival in KL, I was already ensconced in a KFC branch in Bukit Bintang area, eating fried chicken with no rice! Can you imagine the torment my stomach was in? Rice..please...

Chinese & Malay dishes
For great Chinese dishes, Jalan ALor Street is the most colorful place to go. I plunked my very thin butt in one of the food stalls lining the whole "food alley" and met up with one of my housemates, Chien (a Taiwanese guy who is travelling around Asia to research material for the travel website that he will be opening in Taiwan -- he lives in guesthouses, 2-star to 5-star hotels, takes tuktuk, buses, taxis.. get my drift? -- we met when he was researching 'how to be cheap'). My dinner was of 'turo-turo' variety, fish balls and satay, and amidst a very noisy and lively crowd.


The following day, it was a feast of the dimsums! I tried all the dimsum offered (meron pang "toppings unlimited"). God, it was heavenly! Nakita nyo naman ang mukha ko dito, naging siopao na!

On my last night, my hosts (from Anjung guesthouse) treated me and Mamiko (a Theater Arts grad from London on her way back to Tokyo)to an authentic Malay cuisine at a popular hang-out. The food was fantastic! Although the local delicacy "otao-otao" is not to my taste, para akong nakakain ng isang kilong sili.... but Mamiko was wolfing it down her throat.... she even took a picture of the mound of wrappers on her plate!


"Am i really this cheap?" As in, I lived in a dormitory / guesthouse with sharing bathrooms...but the nice thing about it is that you get to interact with other people around you...share stories, meron dun yung parang spaced out guy na kagagaling lang ng Cambodia (mukhang hardcore backpacker talaga, complete with the corn-row hair!)

And another plus, since im going to Batu Caves tomorrow I can easily drag someone with me... let's see who I can convince to come with me at the breakfast table tomorrow...

Getting Around

Huhuhuhu... there were only 3 of us at the table at breakfast and the other guy plans on going to Genting so it was only Mamiko who told me she's joining.

Tip: To go to Batu Caves (without going through the usual 'touristy' travel agent-arranged trips), go to the Central Market, from the bus stop (you will know it coz there is a queue in front) wait for bus 11D as it will stop directly near the gates to Batu Caves. Going back, you just wait for the same bus from a bus stop on the right side of the gate (fare is RM2/one way).

Some shots around the city........



























Shopping

Sungei Wang Plaza and BB Plaza are so depressing for a bargain hunter like me.... really! Nothing much is there to get excited over...or maybe coz its Chinese New Year and most of the shops are closed...

I went looking for Chinatown but all I saw were hawkers selling generic cheap t-shirts, imitation bags & shoes... another Divisoria transplanted in Kuala Lumpur... no character at all... the condescension is from the fact that I went there with all these images of a bustling Chinese market and got instead... a bazaar full of fake goods!!


Enough of the cheapies, we are going for serious shopping...ay sorry, 'window shopping' lang pala di ma-afford!! It rained so I went inside Berjaya Times Square, a huge shopping complex (and bought a pair of sunglasses! Bakeet??)
To revive my tired body (especially my feet!), i went for a massage... pero in keeping with my cheapie trip.. it was shiatsu/reflexology with foot massage for only RM60 in a small corner at BTS... pero nakakaloka ang aking Chinese masseuse, ang galing niya! I was literally shouting from the pain he was putting me in! I am not a total skinflint.... i gave him a RM10 tip... (almost 200 pesos na rin yun...hehehe)


Time to go back home..... to my dearly deloved Surigao del Sur....I am off to the LCCT (low cost carrier terminal) to catch my flight to Manila - Butuan City.... I have already encashed my Malaysian Airlines and swapped it for Cebu Pacific Air (ay ayoko manlait.... i love my own! hehehe) and pocketed at least U$200..... right timing, Mango and Esprit has a SALE sign outside their shops....I'll have better use of that pocket money..