Malacca Shore Excursion - SuperStar Virgo Cruise

Whilst on board the SuperStar Virgo holiday cruise ship, if you are on the route that stops at Malacca, you can opt for the Malacca shore excursion. However, this is a stop which is not free and easy. You will be required to book your Malacca shore excursion before 2230 hrs the night before. This can be taken as a mini Malacca vacation with a quick overview of the town.

Duration of Malacca shore excursion:- approximately 11 hours
Time to assemble:- 0715 hrs
Price:- SGD75 adult / SGD65 child

Itinerary:-
• St. Paul’s Hill Complex – visit the Independence Memorial, Porta De Santiago and the ruins of St. Paul’s Church

St Paul's Hill

• Bukit Cina – as the name implies, ‘Chinese Hill’ was the official settlement of the entourage that arrived with the Chinese Princess Hang Li Po. She was sent to Malacca by the Ming emperor to marry the Sultan, marking the advent of diplomatic relations between China and Malacca
• Hang Li Po’s Well – built by the followers of Hang Li Po, the well was the only source of water during great droughts. The Dutch enclosed it with stout walls to reserve it for their exclusive use. Today, it enjoys a reputation as a wishing well.

Hang Li Poh well

• Dutch Square – discover the Stadhuys, the Tan Beng Swee Clock Tower, Queen Victoria Fountain and Christ Church

Dutch Square

• Cheng Hoon Teng Temple – one of the oldest Chinese temple in the country, it was built in 1646 with materials shipped from China. Fine workmanship is evident in the ornate decorated mythological figures, carvings, and lacquer work inside the temple
• Jonker Street – authentic artifacts and relic, some dating as far back as 300 years, can be found among a host of interesting collectibles, each with its own history and mystery

Jonker Street

• Baba-Nyonya Heritage Museum – the ancestral home of three generations of a Straits-born Chinese Baba family, the building is now converted into a stunning museum that preserves the unique legacy of the Babas. The Babas combine Chinese and Malay culture, a result of marriages between early Chinese settlers and local Malay women. Over the years, a distinct culture called the Baba Nyonya or Peranakan culture emerged
• Photostop at the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur - one of the world’s tallest buildings

Petronas Twin Towers

• Petaling Street (Chinatown) – this colourful street of shops, restaurants and hawker stalls bustles with vitality. Flanking both sides of this street are shops selling anything from textiles to Chinese herbal medicines.



Bookmark & Share

Malaysia Shopping Trip 6 Mar - 7 Mar 2010

Petronas Twin Towers Malaysia

Taking the weekend off, we decided to make a trip up to Kuala Lumpur for some Malaysia shopping. This was a very last minute decision, as we needed to purchase some items from a pharmacy in Kuala Lumpur urgently. Since we were going to be traveling more than 300 km to Kuala Lumpur it only made sense for us to spend the night there before embarking on our journey back to Singapore. When we were searching online to book our Kuala Lumpur accommodation yesterday, we came across a few Kuala Lumpur hotels that were fully booked. We finally gave our friend Selva, assistant sales manager of Citrus Hotel, a call and asked him to help us book a room. As the Club Room which we stayed in before was fully booked, we managed to get a standard room at RM130 (USD40.50) nett including 2 breakfasts.

Leaving our house just after 0630 hrs in the morning, we hit the petrol station to top up petrol and dropped off some items at Mother’s house before we reached Tuas Checkpoint at 0720 hrs. We cleared both Singapore and Malaysia customs and immigrations at 0730 hrs and were on our way to Kuala Lumpur soon after via the North South Highway.

In between Tuas Checkpoint in Singapore and Sultan Abu Bakar Complex in Malaysia

Halfway through the journey, we made a brief stop at Restoran Jejantas (Overhead Bridge) Ayer Keroh. We took the opportunity to top up our Touch ‘n Go Card, a stored value card which we use at the toll booths and certain car parks in Malaysia.

Some of the toll booths you will pass along the North South Highway

Fork in the road where you decide to either go up north to Malacca and Kuala Lumpur or return south to Johor and Singapore

Distance to Malacca and Kuala Lumpur

Restoran Jejantas Ayer Keroh

The shop where you can top up your Touch n Go card

Or you can also top up your Touch n Go card where you see the Touch n Go sign


With not many vehicles on the North South highway and no slow moving traffic, we reached the Kuala Lumpur Sungei Besi toll at 1040 hrs which was very good timing. With the help of our Garmin global positioning system, we made our way to Sri Petaling area.

Getting into Kuala Lumpur Malaysia

When we arrived at our destination, we parked at the roadside where you are required to pay via a parking meter. However when we tried using the parking meter, we were stumped and did not know how to cancel the wrong data that was input. LOL… We finally drove to Sri Petaling Hotel less than 100 m away and parked in the hotel car park. Parking charges start from RM2 (USD0.60) for the first hour and RM1 (USD0.30) every subsequent hour.

We headed for AA Pharmacy in Sri Petaling to get our specially ordered items. At the same time, we were browsing through the shelves and were pleasantly surprised by the knowledge of the staff. We finally ended up buying some other supplements as well.

AA Pharmacy in Sri Petaling

As we explored the Sri Petaling area of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, we could get a very strong and fragrant smell of bak kut teh (pork ribs soup) coming from one of the shops. However they only start operations from 1700 hrs. Instead, the lady who entertained us invited us to try her dim sum food (small portions of a variety of fried and steamed dishes) next door.

We decided to take her advice and give it a try. We found the dim sum food to be quite tasty. In addition, we managed to try a few varieties of dim sum such as lotus paste bao (bun), chicken feet (yes, we actually love this dish), chee cheong fun (rice noodle roll) and century egg porridge amongst others. It was a pleasant and tasty lunch. The total cost for the dim sum meal was RM25.60 (USD8.00). Here are some pictures of the various dim sum food that we ordered for lunch.

Century egg porridge

Lotus paste bao

Other varieties of dim sum, with the chicken feet at top left

Chee cheong fun

The many varieties of dim sum food that you can choose from

The place where we had our dim sum lunch

Hotel Citrus, Kuala Lumpur

Next we went back to Sri Petaling Hotel’s car park, retrieved the car and made our way to our Kuala Lumpur accommodation for the night, Citrus Hotel. This time we did not lose our way, as we knew exactly where the hotel was with the assistance of our Garmin global positioning system plus the fact that this was our second time staying in this hotel. By the time we arrived at the hotel and checked in, it was already after 1400 hrs, the official check-in time.

Clean, bright and simple bedroom

View of the pool from our room

The room from another angle

After leaving our luggage in the room and freshening up, we walked to the Chow Kit area across the road. This is the wholesale area and you can find lots of wholesalers in the area. We spent our afternoon shopping in this area. Whilst making our way across the road to the wholesale area, we could see the majestic architectural splendour, the Petronas twin towers.

Petronas twin towers

You can find a variety of items at wholesale prices including fashion accessories, timepieces, clothing, bags, haberdashery, etc…

Here you can find lots of candies, snacks and drinks

Some of the wholesalers in the area



We had a fun time at the Suanson as well as Bake with Yen shops where we found lots of items that the avid baker would go ‘gaga’ over. If you are like me who can spend hours in such shops, I recommend that you go early as most of the shops in this area close at 1700 hrs.

Bake with Yen

Suanson

Lovely boxes

And more baking supplies

As we left the area, we could see the stall holders for the Chow Kit night market starting to set up shop.

Stall holders setting up shop for the night market

After we finished shopping, we walked back to our accommodation and left our shopping goodies in the room. We took a short ten minutes rest before going out for dinner. To our surprise, the roads were wet. It must have been a passing shower that we had narrowly missed.

We walked around the corner and came across Restoran Ong Lai. This establishment operates from 1730 hrs – 0130 hrs. For dinner, we ordered sambal kangkung, sweet and sour pork, fried hokkien mee as well as fried glass noodle. We couldn’t wait to try the Malaysian food. In addition, we ordered two glasses of lime juice as well as a glass of coca-cola. Total bill after including RM1 (USD0.30) for 2 wet towels came up to RM42.60 (USD13.30).

Restoran Ong Lai

Thirst quenching lime juice

Quite a good crowd at an early hour

Fried hokkien mee

Fried glass noodle

Sweet and sour pork

Sambal kang kung

We have to admit that the food here was of restaurant standard. You will enjoy the tasty and delicious food. At the same time, the pricing is of restaurant standard as well! This place seems to be quite popular as there were quite a number of people dining here as well. You can get some great tasting Malaysian food here.

Chefs at work along the roadside

After dinner, we walked around the area for a short while before making our way back to our Kuala Lumpur accommodation for the night. As we were tired from all the Malaysia shopping as well as being totally satisfied with the wonderfully simple, yet delicious, Malaysian and dim sum food that we had tasted, we decided to call it an early night.



Bookmark & Share

Malaysia Vacation – One Week In Kuala Lumpur Day 2

21 Nov – Day 2

Suria KLCC

Today, we look forward to doing some Malaysia shopping on this week long Malaysia vacation. We also intend to visit some of the Malaysia attractions such as KLCC and Petronas Twin Towers which we have not done so yet on any of our previous travel to Malaysia. At the same time, we shall be providing some tips for travel if you intend to travel to Malaysia.

As we wanted to do quite a bit of shopping today, we booked the 1030 hrs complimentary shuttle from our resort, Palace of the Golden Horses, to KLCC. Without any traffic at that time of the morning and being a Saturday, it took us just twenty minutes to reach KLCC. The shuttle dropped us off at Suria KLCC Shopping Centre off Jalan Ampang.

Beware of taxi touts!

Suria KLCC Shopping Centre

The premier shopping destination in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Suria KLCC Shopping Centre is one of the premier shopping destinations in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and is within walking distance of another striking landmark attraction, the Petronas Twin Towers, renowned for its unique and unmistakable skyline of the city of Kuala Lumpur. Petronas Twin Towers is one of the biggest attractions of Malaysia and is also one of the tallest buildings in the world.

Petronas Twin Towers, a Malaysia icon

Entrance of the national pride of Malaysia, the Petronas Twin Towers



Soaring 452 metres into the sky

Stunning night view of the Twin Towers

With a tagline saying ‘Always Something New’, you can always expect great, unique experiences at the Suria KLCC. Some of the hot picks here include local and international designer items, a must for those who want to get the latest fashion or gadgets in the market.

With over 300 international and local fashion stores spread across 6 levels, Suria KLCC comprises Ampang Mall, Ramlee Mall, Park Mall and Centre Court and you will be spoiled for choice. To enrich your experience, Suria KLCC was offering tourists with the Tourist Privilege Card to enjoy amazing discounts and incentives at participating outlets.

Specialty shops

We managed to do some shopping in Suria KLCC Malaysia before having lunch in Signatures, a food court on Level 2. With a variety of local food adding to the varied cuisines, we decided on Nasi Kandar campur Ayam (Rice with Chicken Curry) and the BBQ Chicken Wanton (dumpling) noodles.

Food abounds...

Wantan noodle shop

BBQ Chicken with Wanton noodles

Nasi Kandar Ayam

More specialty shops

Antiques

Interactive petroleum science discovery centre

The RM6.50 (USD1.90) BBQ chicken was fragrant and tasty with smooth noodles. The nasi Kandar Ayam came with a tender chicken thigh and was served with Indian curry which was nice and spicy.

As we had forgotten to take more cash which we had left in the hotel room, we made arrangements to have the shuttle pick us up back to The Palace of the Golden Horses at 1330 hrs. This time with a little more traffic, the journey took us thirty minutes.

Back at our resort, The Palace of the Golden Horses, we toured the swimming pool area. There were two small water slides as well for some water fun.

The swimming pool

The greenery

View of the Palace of the Golden Horses from the lake

Close up

Spot the catfish

Gardens of the Palace of the Golden Horses

Waterfall

Next we visited the jetty by the lake where you could hop onto the water taxis. Known as Venice of the east, you could go cruising within the city. There are a few ways to go cruising.

Water taxi on the lake

Cruising within the City Adult Child
Amazing Cruise RM33 (USD9.75) RM24 (USD7.10)
Discovery Cruise RM27 (USD7.95) RM20 (USD5.90)
Greenery Cruise RM22 (USD6.50) RM17 (USD5.00)
Triangle service RM 9 (USD2.65) RM 9 (USD2.65)
Hotel Transfer RM17 (USD5.00) RM12 (USD3.55)
Ride n’ Shop RM 3 (USD0.88) RM 2 (USD0.60)

Ride n’ Dine
With set lunch RM30 (USD8.85) RM20 (USD5.90)
Steamboat dinner RM 45 (USD13.30) RM35 (USD10.35)

Splash & Dine
With set lunch RM55 (USD16.20) RM45 (USD13.30)
Steamboat dinner RM65 (USD19.15) RM55 (USD16.20)

Sunset Dining Cruise from RM199 (USD59.65) per pax (group of 7 – 10 pax)
Massage Cruise from RM199 (USD58.65) per pax
VIP Charter from RM400 (USD117.95) per boat

When we returned to our room, we were surprised to find that it had not been serviced yet even though we had left the “Service Room” sign on for the past four hours. However upon calling the attendant, he immediately came to service the room.

Next we caught the 1600 hrs shuttle back to KLCC. Once again, we ended up at KLCC. However, this time, we did a walking tour and headed for Bukit Bintang (Star Hill) area instead.

On our walking tour

Wedding cars

Hard Rock Cafe

Malaysia Tourism Centre

KL Tower 421m high telecommunications and broadcasting tower

Bukit Bintang is a popular shopping and entertainment district in the heart of Kuala Lumpur and is home to many landmark shopping centres, cafés, clubs, shops, malls and specialty shops.

Bintang Walk was closed as they had a mass sing along session called Sing Along, 1Malaysia. It was an euphoric atmosphere there as thousands of youths participated in the session, enjoying themselves while singing to their favourite tunes.

We did some shopping in Sungei Wang Plaza and bought some items from Giant hypermarket and Parkson department store. Sungei Wang Plaza is the most popular city shopping which houses retail outlets offering great bargains. You can find local fashion apparel and accessories as well as IT and mobile phone gadgets here.

After shopping in Malaysia’s shopping district, we walked to Federal Hotel where we had made reservations for the Seafood cum Barbeque Buffet dinner at 1830 hrs at The Verandah.

The Verandah in Federal Hotel

Buffet counter

Seafood

Duck rice

Barbequed just for you

Some of the cooked food

Japanese food made upon order

Some nonya cakes for dessert

Bubur cha cha dessert - a popular Nyonya dessert of sweet potato, yam, tapioca jelly and sago pearls in thick coconut milk.

Ice kachang dessert - a dessert made of ice shavings topped with colourful sweeteners and condensed milk. At the bottom of the ice should sit some red beans, corn and some attap chee (seed of the attap or nipah palm)

TIPS FOR TRAVEL:-
If you like staying in the heart of the shopping district and enjoy some great travel deals, you can sign up for the FHI Privilege Club. For RM448 (USD132), the valued member can look forward to complimentary dining in any of the FHI Hotels which include Federal Hotel and Capitol Hotel when accompanied by at least one guest.

Other bonuses include:-
• 2x Complimentary Night Stay
• 5x Complimentary Room Upgrade
• 10x Complimentary Visits at The Federal KL’s Swimming Pool
• 2x Complimentary Welcome Drinks (alcoholic or non-alcoholic)
• 1x 50% Discount for Special Occasion
• 1x Complimentary Bottle of House Wine / Appetizer / Dessert
• 1x Complimentary One-kilogram Cake for Member’s Birthday
• 1x Complimentary Set Lunch or 1 hi tea for 2 persons
• 1x RM20 (USD5.90) Cash Voucher
• 1x RM30 (USD8.85) Cash Voucher
• 1x Birthday/Anniversary Benefit of 1 Complimentary Bottle of House Wine or 2 dessert

We had the seafood and barbeque buffet dinner for RM40++ (USD11.80) in The Verandah, Federal Hotel, and used our certificates for the Birthday cake and Birthday wine.

Free bottle of wine

And the 1kg cake

At the same time, we had the complimentary welcome drink and also used the RM30 (USD8.85) Cash Voucher bringing our dinner bill for 2 persons to RM22 (USD6.50).

Our complimentary drink You can choose either alcoholic or non-alcoholic drink

There was quite a great choice of food variety including Japanese and local flavours. Again, this was value for money.

After dinner, we walked back to KLCC to wait for the complimentary shuttle back to our hotel at 2045 hrs. It was a slow thirty minute walk to burn off the calories.

Suria KLCC premier restroom

Chrismas decorations in Suria KLCC



TIPS FOR TRAVEL:-
If you know the direction to walk from KLCC to Bukit Bintang shopping area or vice versa, it can be quite a nice slow walk and you get to see more of Malaysia.

That ended the second day of our Malaysia vacation. We managed to get some Malaysia shopping done at Suria KLCC and at the same time indulged in some great food of Malaysia. The Malaysia attractions were also impressive especially the towering Petronas Twin Towers. As we travel to Malaysia quite frequently, we are also able to share some tips for travel as well as make use of one of the travel deals that we have which was the FHI privilege card. It was good to get back to our resort, Palace of the Golden Horses, at the end of the door and be greeted with a green environment.


Palace of the Golden Horses Mini Lounge



Bookmark & Share