some photos from kuala lumpur - 2015

 

some scenes from kuala lumpur - visit number 4.  these include the view from my hotel window and outside observation deck at the hotel.  also some views from jalan alor - including my favorite stop there, the frog porridge stall.  and no trip to KL would be complete (for at least me) without a stop at "taps" beer bar :D

greetings from kuala lumpur - take four :D

Greetings from Kuala Lumpur!  I arrived here, at my hotel, just before 2 (local time) this afternoon.  When the plane landed at just after 12, I had been on the road for more than 24 hours - since late Friday night, back in New York. Except for the sheer number of hours (flying and waiting to fly), it was all fine.  This is my fourth trip to Kuala Lumpur in the last 5 years.

I had planned on a more productive afternoon, but somehow a short nap turned into 6 hours!  Guess I had some sleep to catch up on - haha!

I post more from KL as the week progresses :D

kuala lumpur outings - 2014

i only managed a couple of nights out on this trip to kuala lumpur - no real sightseeing as in my prior visits here in 2013 and 2011.  but i did manage to get in some single malt scotch tasting at the whiskey bar, craft beers at taps beer bar, and some dining along jalan alor - spicy frog & ginger (not quite frog porridge, but very good) and bbq stingray :D

here are a few photos:

greetings from kuala lumpur - take 3 :D

i arrived in kuala lumpur sunday afternoon - my third time here in the last 4 years.  it's a long trip - 15 hours to hong kong from jfk, then another 4 hours on the 2nd leg on to kuala lumpur.  no matter how many trips i take to southeast asia, the long hours traveling never get easier.  although getting from the airport to my hotel went much smoother this year.  the only twist was the arrival weather - sunny at the airport and 40 minutes later, just outside the city, the skies darkened and it began to pour!

in a break from my normal routine (spending a few hours walking around the city), after i checked in a barely unpacked before i fell asleep and took what amounted to a 5 hour nap!  i needed to catch up on my sleep after being on the road for 24+ hours - and because it was raining outside, sleep was the perfect solution :D

not sure how much "sightseeing" i'll get in this trip - but stay tuned.  looking forward to visiting taps beer bar again, finally getting over to the whiskey bar - and, hopefully, another fantastic dining experience at the frog porridge stall on jalan alor!

sightseeing in kuala lumpur: kings place, national monument & national museum

yesterday class concluded at noon and, after lunch, we took a sightseeing bus tour of kuala lumpur.  the sites we visited were fantastic - but the travel congestion on the roads was another matter.  it took so long to get from attraction to attraction that we ultimately had to cut out merdeka (independence) square!  that was disappointing, but by the time we got back to the hotel I could easily have passed for the perak man on exhibit at the museum :O

frog porridge stall, kuala lumpur

frog, it's what's for dinner!  last night the frog porridge stall was open for business - and I pounced (maybe... hopped) at the chance to try their signature dishes. for some reason the stall was closed on wednesday night when we made the trip down jalan alor in search of it.

in addition to the namesake frog porridge, i also ordered the spicy frog (with various chili's in a brown sauce).  it took about 5-10 minutes for the dishes to be cooked.  we sat at the table directly in front of the stall and took in the bustling jalan alor street scene as we waited - which primarily consisted of dozens of hungry people eying the different stalls in search of dinner ideas.  apparently we - read i (since tom and salil weren't tempted to try the frog dishes) - were the only ones interested in frog!

the bowl of spicy frog arrived first - and it was spicy!  but the frog pieces were tender and tasted great.  i had thought of mixing the brown sauce into to porridge when it arrived, but the dish stood on its own merits.  its principle flavoring was ginger, and its frog was also tender and tasty. i didn't need the brown sauce, or anything else for that matter.  each dish was fantastic!

frog requires a certain leap of faith (couldn't resist the pun), but if you're game - this is the place to try it in kl :D

brussels beer cafe, kuala lumpur

last night salil, tom and i checked out the brussels beer café (hap seng location) - which was just a 5-10 walk from the taps beer bar we the night before.  the selection was just as large as taps, with a decidedly belgian tilt in choices.  not to harp, but the only american beer on the list was budweiser (which i'll point out was 1 more than taps)!

i had one of my favorites (albeit) german beers, an erdinger wiessbier dunkel.  tom went the belgian route with a leffe brune on tap. salil opted for a virgin mojito.  the wait staff was knowledgeable and the beer was served in the appropriate glassware.  tom and i also split a franzikaner hefe-weissbier. the only negative was the shortage of some selections - a couple of our original choices were out of stock (grimbergen albree and pauwel kwak).

overall, a great place - and shouldn't be passed up if you're nearby. :D

taps beer bar, kuala lumpur

last night i had a chance to try a couple of beers at the taps beer bar.  tom and salil joined me after class and we walked over there together - with a side trip to the frog porridge stall (which, unfortunately, was closed).  tom and i both started off with "indian saison" from nogne o, an austrialian brewery.  salil opted for iced teas.

i followed up the saison with a "schiehallion" from harviestoun (scotland) and tom went with a "nipponia" from hitachino nest (japan).  the bar was relatively empty given that it was an early wednesday night.  taps had a large, if somewhat pricey, selection of world beer - including a dozen choices on tap.  given the typical high cost of beer in kuala lumpur (a large bottle of tiger can easily fetch $16 rm!), the premium for craft beer wasn't bad.

it's definitely worth checking out if you're looking for craft beer in kl!

a little sightseeing... petronas twin towers, kuala lumpur

i finally had a chance to get a little sightseeing tonight - a group walk to the PETRONAS twin towers. tom graciously volunteered to lead the group, which included salil, a number of our students, and me.  we left the hotel just after 6, and the walk along the crowded streets took us approximately 30 minutes. hopefully, there'll be time to take in a few more sights this week :D

greetings from kuala lumpur - redux :D

greeting from kuala lumpur - once again!  it's been almost 2 years to the day since i arrived for my first trip to kaula lumpur back in 2011 (18 sept).  if i hadn't had to cancel the trip last year because of the lightning strike... this would my third time in kuala lumpur for the budget, finance & management course.  be that as it may, the trip to southeast asia never gets old!

its a long haul - i logged 19 hours on the two flights to get here - but well worth it.  i checked into my hotel earlier this afternoon and spent a few hours walking around the city to deal with of a couple of chores... primarily convert cash into local dollars and grab a few groceries (in context, a 1.5 liter bottle of evian and 660 ml bottle of tiger :D).  walking through a warren o crowded streets reminded so much of neighboring bangkok!

last time here we took a group tour to the batu caves - but i never found the time to check out the view from the petronas twin towers - a view of which from my hotel window above.  this time around i'd like to get in that bird's eye view of the city - or, in the alternative, the views from kl's space needle!

stay tuned :D

batu caves, kuala lumpur

i only managed a half day of sight-seeing in kuala lumpur - and the highlight was the 272 step climb up to the batu caves (and an additional 80 steps to the upper cave).  this stair climb was shared with monkeys.  seriously, it was an interesting experience to be accompanied by small gray monkeys as if they were ordinary tourists out for a stroll.  equally interesting were the handful of exercisers (i won't describe them as runners, despite the running apparel, because - they walked the stairs).  back down at street level, i rehydrated with a distinctly local treat :D

greetings from kuala lumpur :D

greetings from kuala lumpur, malaysia! i was on airplanes for a long time - 15 hours from jfk to hong kong, then another 3+ hours from hong kong to kuala lumpur. add in the non-flight time at the airports and the 45 minute cab ride to my hotel, it really does seem like i've travelled to the other side of the world! i've done long haul trips like this one in the past (bangkok, singapore, indonesia) - but it never gets easier.

despite the travel fatigue, i still enjoy these road trips - they never get old! this trip is all business, but i'd like to get over the the petronas twin towers. what i'd really love to do is run up the stairs to the top of one - but i'll settle for an elevator ride to the visitors' bridge :D

stay tuned...

here are some sightseeing photos of the batu caves.