2 days 2 place: Exploring KL and Melaca over the weekend

Backpacking, I used to do it when I was still working in the Philippines. Its my reset button, to loosen up a bit after a hard days work. I just grab my backpack on a weekend and go somewhere out of town with friends, either go to the mountain or beach bumming somewhere in Batangas or Zambales. I do not have a car, in fact I don't need one to do all this. I just need my backpack, some cash and a fully charge phone and that's it. There's a sense of adventure going to places using public transport. Its also an avenue to meet great people along the way. Everybody is doing it.

I was excited when me and my wife decided to do a backpacking trip over the weekend. Our objective is simple, more fun and spend less.

It was a Friday, while still at work, my wife already pre-book everything; bus ticket and hotel accommodation. That's what I like about her, she's so organized, she don't want to get stress in the middle of the fun. Anyways, it was almost 11:15pm when we exited Malaysia immigration and proceed to Larkin terminal as we need to catch our 11:50pm bus schedule. By the way, its much cheaper to book a bus in Johor Bahru going to any destination in Malaysia compare to booking a bus ticket in Singapore.

We boarded the the bus around 2am. Yeah, I know, the bus is late! 2 hours late! My wife started to snore in one of the bench in Larkin bus terminal. But thought they were late, they make up for the lost time. We still manage to arrive at 5am in Kuala Lumpur, I didn't even noticed it, if the bus fly all the way to KL.

Upon reaching Kuala Lumpur TBS Terminal, we have our breakfast in one of the cafeteria at the terminal, while waiting for the KL transit to open at 6am going to our first destination in Batu caves.
 

Batu cave is one of the tourist landmark in KL. Its a place of worship to our Indian and Hindu brothers, located in Gombak, Selangor Malaysia. It is accessible thru KTM Sentul-Klang Line and the name of the nearest station is "Batu Caves". A limestone hill with a series of caves, and the cave entrance is guarded by a giant statue of Lord Murugan, one of the most celebrated Gods of Hinduism. It is also the tallest Murugan statue in the world which stands 140 ft high. You must prepare your self to face an almost 300 steps going up to the cave entrance, and its a bit steep. There were monkeys all around, so make sure that there's no food dangling anywhere within you, otherwise, they will gang up to get it.

There were two temple inside the cave and you'll see a lot of Hindu religious statue inside. A lot of pilgrims, worshipers and tourist alike visit this place. And 3 more temple outside the cave, where you can also see the giant statue of Hanuman, another Hindu God.

 

After Batu cave, we hid back to KL sentral and proceed to our Hotel for check-in, it was already 11am in the morning. We book at Royale Bintang Hotel, 4 star but nice and clean, the carpet is smelly though. It is located at Bukit Bintang, one of the famous night spot in KL. And can be easily accessible via KL monorail system. 

 

A KL tour will not be completed without visiting it famous landmark, the Petronas Tower. Located in Jalan Ampang, Kuala Lumpur, it stand at 1,483 ft and considered to be the tallest building in the world from 1998 - 2004. Its a twin tower where Hollywood actor Tom Cruise actually climb this during the shoot of Mission Impossible 3. Trivia!

We go to Bukit Bintang during the night, its the next street from where we stay. Its also a famous hang out spot in KL, the whole street comes alive at night. If your craving for street foods, this is a place you need to be. Be it seafood, sugarcane juice, coconut juice, coconut ice cream etc. you will find it in Bukit Bintang. Must try: Fried Ice cream, very nice!!!

 

 There were also bands playing and they're mobile, they move from food stall to another food stall Cool right, and they're good! they play chill and reggae music. What a nice gig to end the day

The next morning we had a buffet breakfast at the hotel and then we pack our things for our next destination, Melaka! 

Melaka is another tourist destination in Malaysia, with both historical and cultural significance. There is a heritage site in Melaka which boost the tourist in Johor Bahru. It comprises of ruins, fort, old church and Chinese-Malay village. 

 

After our short but memorable Melaka trip, we rode a bus back to Melaka central, and from there we took another bus bask to Larkin. And from Larkin we go back to Singapore. That concludes our weekend backpacking adventure. 

Tip: When you're in Melaka never missed Famosa Chicken rice.