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Kuala Lumpur - Cameron Highlands - Melaka - Penang - Ipoh - Langkawi

Recommended Last Updated: 21/11/2007

Things you must do in Kuala Lumpur

 

  1. Go to Merkada Square
  2. Go to the top of the KL Tower and eat in the rotating restaurant [nothing special food wise... but the view...]
  3. Visit the twin towers. Try to get to the KLCC "bridge" - remember to book early and hang around till your appointed time
  4. Visit Menara KL (aka the KL Tower)
  5. Shop around: KLCC/Sungei Wang/Pavilion/Low Yat...
  6. Coffee in the Shangri-La (esp. in the evenings)
  7. Eat at Madam Kwans in KLCC (try to get a veranda seating)
  8. Have Teh Tarik at one of the millions of Mamak stalls
  9. Visit the Acquaria in the KLCC
  10. Visit Petaling Street
  11. See Little India

 

Quick Links
Restaurants
Hotels
Bars

Restaurants

  • Shook!, Feast Floor, Starhill Gallery, 181 Jalan Bukit Bintang. No doubt about it, the very best place to dine in KL. Inch thick menu covering Japanese, Chinese and Italian cuisine. Excellent service, huge wine cellar, great atmosphere  - its got the works. Its not cheap - but its excellent! (February 2007)   #1
  • Madam Kwans, KLCC Suria top floor, Ramlee Mall end; also in Bangsar and Mid Valley MegaMall. This is the best "Malaysian" restaurant I've come across in KL. It covers a range of Malaysian dishes from the Malay, Chinese and Indian sides of this great country. Very highly recommended. (February 2007)   #2
  • d'Tandoor, Ground Floor, Wisma Chinese Chamber, 258 Jalan Ampang, 50450 KL (T: 03-4260 1020; F: 03-4260 2030, e: admin@dtandoor.com). A very tasty northern Indian restaurant with a really good vibe and seating. Pleasantly quiet and not rushed, this is a place to have your meal porperly made rather than rushed. Very recommended. (February 2007)
  • Soul'ed Out, Desa Sri Hartamas KL (T: 03-2300 1955). Wonderful restaurant serving a mix of Malaysian and western dishes. Outdoor and indoor seating available and staff all walking around wearing Crocs, putting on a show, and generally being really great. To put an icing on the cake, its also one of the best chicken satay and butter chicken curry's to be had in KL :-) (February 2007)
  • Rendevous Steak Garden Rstaurant, (Just off Jalan Tun Razak on the Kampung Pandan exit - don't go on the flyover, its just after the turning). Great outdoors restaurant serving decent portions at decent prices. Very good atmosphere with live music and a general garden party feel to it all. (last updated: May 2007)
  • Bangsar Seafood Restaurant, (details to be added). Chinese seafood restaurant with both air-con or outdoor seating in this wonderful area in KL. Usually an old street market that you can browse through to start or end your evening with.  (May 2001)
  • Bharath's, KLCC, Level 4, 50088 Kuala Lumpur (T:+60 3 216 32631/4 F:+60 3 216 32639). If you want spicy Indian food, then you're in the right place. Good service and quality, if a little too hot for me personally. (May 2001)
  • Grappa, Bangsar, Great little Italian restaurant. Recommended. (Nov 2001)
  • Hakka, No 6 Jalan Kia Peng, 50450 Kuala Lumpur. (T: +60 3 2143 1907/8; F:+60 3 2144 3275). Very agreeable Hakka style (obviously) Chinese restaurant. Very traditional fare available with lots of Hakka specialities.
  • Izakaya Ichiban, Lot P-3M Plaza Damas (ground Floor), Hartamas Shopping Centre, 60 Jln Sri Hartamas 1, 50480 KL (T: +60 3 6201 5905). Really good Japanese restaurant in Sri Hartamas. Good sized portions and varied menu. (last updated: Nov 2007)
  • Koryo-Won Korean Restaurant, Feast Floor, Starhill Gallery, 181 Jalan Bukit Bintang. Excellent Korean restaurant with "under table seating" whereby you get the effect of kneeling under the table but in fact you sit down normally on a raised floor. Very highly recommended. (last updated: September 2006)
  • Kin San Kicki Japanese Restaurant, 16 Jalan 27/70A, Desa Sri Hartemas, KL (T: 03 2300 3889). Very good Japanese restaurant with excellent Sushi and Sashimi. Its very busy usually and the tables are packed right up to each other, but the quality of the food is excellent so no complaints here. (last updated: Feb 2007)
  • Luk Yu Tea House, Feast Floor, Starhill Gallery, 181 Jalan Bukit Bintang. Very good Chinese restaurant in this very popular restaurant area. Starhill is very highly recommended for good quality food.(last updated: September 2006)
  • Nada Man, Shangri-La Hotel, 11 Jalan Sultan Ismail, 50250 KL. (T:+60 3 232 2388; F: +60 3 230 1514). Great Japanese Tepanyaki restaurant with tableside cooking. (May 2001)
  • Out of Africa. No. 1 Lorong Sultan, 46200 Petaling Jaya, KL (T: +60 3 795 553432, e: africo@tm.net.my). Excellent place to take teh clan or family. Nice choice of meats cooked well with a good choice of drinks and a relaxed atmosphere. There's a children's play area outside. Family owned by David Solomon and wife. (last updated: Nov 2007)
  • Sure Pizza. Plaza Damas (ground Floor), Hartamas Shopping Centre, 60 Jln Sri Hartamas 1, 50480 KL. Excellent small Italian eatery run by wonderful chef Paulo from Sardinia. Everything is home made and pasta cooked perfectly. Special orders are graciously accommodated and there is plenty of variety for everyone. (last updated: Aug 2007)
  • Victoria station restaurant, 15 Jalan Setiapuspa,Bukit Damansara,50490, Kuala Lumpur (T:+60 3 254 4063). Nice seafood and steak restaurant modelled on an old train station with proper train carriages acting as eating areas. (Nov 2001)

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Hotels

  • Marriott Hotel, 183 Jalan Bukit Bintang, 55100 Kuala Lumpur (T:+60 3 925 9000; F: +60 3 925 7000). Excellent hotel with ethernet connection in the room at a very reasonable rates. It is also smack bang in the middle of the most happening area with all the new malls and restaurants around. Well recommended.  (May 2001)
  • Hotel Nikko, 165 Jalan Ampang, 50450 Kuala Lumpur (T:+60 3 2161 1111; F:+60 3 2161 1122). Good hotel with Internet connections recently added to make the stay that much easier on the bus. traveller. Good location for KLCC and TSYS Card Tech's offices in KL. The Chinese restaurant inside is also very good and especially recommended in the Peking Duck in that they make it the old Chinese way where only the skin is served in the pancake roll and they take the duck back to good it with something else (normally rice).(last updated: September 2006)
  • Shangri-La Hotel, 11 Jalan Sultan Ismail, 50250 KL. (T:+60 3 232 2388; F: +60 3 230 1514). This is by far the very best hotel to stay in Malaysia. The coffee lounge is also beautiful and well worth visiting even if you are not staying in the hotel. (May 2001)

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 Bars

  • Qba, Westin Hotel, 199, Jalan Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur 55100 (T: +60 (3) 2731 8333). This is probably the liveliest bar in KL and a very popular hangout for expats and locals alike. Latino influenced with Cuban drinks and Satay on offer! Very very highly recommended.  (last updated: February 2007)
  • Luna Bar, Pacific Regency Hotel Appartments, Menara Pan Global, Jalan Punchak (T: +60 3 2332 7777, F: +60 3 2031 2492 , E: info@pacific-regency.com). Another excellent bar in KL with the most excellent views over the city. It is on the roof top of a hotel apartments building where you also have the swimming pool and you can sit on the sides practically overlooking the edge of the hotel. The views are wonderful and the drinks are very good. (last updated: September 2006)

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Cameron Highlands

The highlands was one of our first excursions within Malaysia outside of KL. It is up in the mountains north of the East Island and represents a 4-5hr drive north of KL depending on routing. I should point out that the two mountain roads leading up there are both tummy-turners. We took the long way round via Simpang Pulai which was a little less twisty and more up to date road. Our friends took the Tapah exit route which was very twisty and single lane a lot of the way, but shaves 1hr off the total journey time.

The main benefits of the highlands is the fresh cool air (compared to a very polluted, humid KL). Having said that, the fact that the air was that fresh was lost on me as there was so much traffic going up there that we hardly had a break in the roads where we could enjoy clean air.

We stayed at the Cameron Highlands resort, which was very nice and offered a sort of renovated old-school experience with all the frills and trappings of colonial Malaysia. All in all, a very nice place though a little pricey and lack of room service really sucked. We loved the common areas though and it was lovely to sit by a real roaring fireplace again (as the evenings do get a wee bit nippy).

The most fun and adventure we did was the visits to the main Malaysian tea farms, the BOH plantation being the most famous and Bharat being the other one. In both cases, we only managed to walk through the fields rather than see any of the tea packing or factories as they were closed on the two days we set out to see them. :-(

We did the usual touristy bits and bobs:

  1. Tea Plantation visits (we saw two plantations, 'Boh' and the 'Bharat' plantations)
  2. Orang Asli Village (this was a disaster... there was hardly anyone there)
  3. Bee Farm
  4. Strawberry picking
  5. Butterfly park
  6. Drive around the mountain
  7. No chance to test out the Golf Course :-(

 

We mostly ate at the hotel but aside from quick snacks, we also tried:

  • The Smokehouse Hotel & Restaurant, Cameron Highlands, By the Golf Course, PO Box 77, Tanah Rata, 39000, Cameron Highlands, (T: +60 (5) 4911215; F: +60 (5) 4911214). This place looked the business and seemed to be a wonderful old school restaurant. Unfortunately, it tasted like tinned food and sloppy preparation. I would love to recommend it based on how it looks, but the quality let it down too badly. (last updated: April 2007)

 

Melaka

Melaka is a famous port city and has a rich a textured culture. Driving around, you will see many European facades (mainly Portuguese & Dutch) interspersed with the mix of Malaysia Chinese/Indian/Malay architecture. Its a real 'melting pot' city with a lovely easy going atmosphere.

We went so that we could try out some of its famous Chicken Rice Balls in Jonkers Street. Well, we found them and .... well, lets just say its nothing to get too excited about. The walk down Jonkers was very interesting, it was a bustly and lively with antique and brick-a-brack shops and stalls (and, suprisingly, a lot of chinese funeral supplies). Melaka Photos here.

One thing just on the entrance to the city that the we all enjoyed was the visit to Mini Malaysia. This has representations of the old style village housing from all the Malaysian states in one park. Photo's of our visit are here.

Penang

coming soon

Ipoh

coming soon

Langkawi

coming soon