KL City Attractions - Putrajaya

Putrajaya is the administrative capital of Malaysia. It is located 25 KM from KL city. It is mainly known for its architectural beauty. A lot of government offices and embassies are located in Putrajaya. 

How to Reach
The place can be reached by any of the following:
1 Train: From KL central, catch the KLIA express and get down at Putrajaya/Cyberjaya station. From there you can hire a taxi or take the shuttle bus "Nadi putra" which takes you to different locations.
2. Taxi: Hire a taxi from KL. The taxi can be fixed on hourly basis. Normal taxis usually charge RM 25/hour inclusive of toll. Call taxis usually charge RM 50/Hour.

What to see:
The following places can be visited.

• Prime minister's office
• Putra Mosque
• Prime minster's residence
• Cruise Tasik
• Botanical Garden
• Putrajaya Equestrian 

Pics:

My experience:

Personally I didn't find this place as that much attractive except for the bridges and some buildings. Cruise is just OK only as there is not that much to see. However if you have time and passion to see the places, it can be visited.

Japanese Food - Jagoya KL

Jagoya

Recently I had been to Japanese Restaurant in Star Hills, Bukit Bingtang, Kuala Lumpur The Shopping Mall itself was so attractive. The environment in the shopping mall was soothing and there was little crowd when compared to other shopping malls. A wide variety of Japanese food is served in addition to the Chinese food. The main attraction is the buffet lunch and dinner, where you will die of eating. There are plenty to select for both vegetarian and non vegetarian foodies. The wide variety of sweets/desserts/ice creams/juices will top up. Over all a very nice place to have a buffet lunch/dinner. Look at the following pics to have a feel of it.

 

 

 

Tips for Langkawi Trip

Langkawi is a very beautiful tourist spot in Malaysia and perhaps the most sought after destination by  locals as well as foreign tourists. Trip to Malaysia is incomplete without a visit to Langkawi. At the same time it is important to know certain facts/practical matters to make your Langkawi trip a memorable experience. The below mentioned information can be considered while planning a trip to Langkawi.

Travel Planning:

Plan well in advance (at-least one month ahead) as Langkawi in general is a very crowded place due to its high popularity.

If you do not have any specific requirements, avoid the peak holiday seasons and school vacation times. It may help you in cost saving as there are are differences in the rates (hotel) during the peak, normal and low tourist seasons. 

Plan your places of interest / activity chart so that the you can utilize the time effectively and accommodation can be planned accordingly. 

Mode of Transportation:
Decide your mode of transportation (road, train/air) before you  land in Malaysia. Langkawi is well connected from different parts of Malaysia.

If you are travelling from Kuala Lumpur (capital of Malaysia), by air will be the most convenient mode of travel. There are several low cost air lines such as Air Asia which has several flights (to and fro) to Langkawi from Kuala Lumpur & Penang. You may get the ticket for Just RM 50 also.

Accommodation
Book the accommodation well in advance in place like Pantai Cenang or Pantai Tengah. If you have more interest in shopping, book the hotel at Kuah Town.

Lot of hotels are available on Pantai Cenang. Find out the right one based on your choice to stay near by the beach or any specific location.

Do a search on the net for feedback about the hotel.

Most of the hotels/motels do accept a formal booking over phone or mail, without any advance deposit. However at the time of booking itself make sure that your room is booked and enquire about the advance payment.

Do not book the hotel far away from a common spot, provided you have a own conveyance for local transport. It may cost additional charges for taxi.

Food

Food items of all varieties (western/Malaysian,Chinese, Indian, Thai, Middle east etc.) are available in Langkawi for both vegetarians as well as non vegetarians.

A lot of food stalls/restaurants can be seen in Pantai Cenang. Try to experiment in different outlets so that you can find the best if it is long trip.

Food price in standard restaurants are much higher when compared to the food price in KL or Penang. However the quality, atmosphere and the taste will be good. Food price in normal shops/budget restaurants are very cheap. But the atmosphere may not appease you if you are so particular about it.

I had been to few restaurants and I found the following restaurants good in terms of price, ambiance and taste; 

• Taj Mahal, Pantai Cenang - provides Indian and middle east food. Atmosphere was good, good service, tasty food and reasonable price.

• Mumbai Palace, Pantai Cenang - Again  provides Indian and middle east food. Atmosphere was good, good service, tasty food and reasonable price.

I felt that fruits are costly when compared to cities like KL or Penang.

  
Local Transportation:

The best option is to hire a car on daily rental basis for you to drive. Search and negotiate well before deciding on it.

Some of the hotels also do provide this service.

If you are one or two persons, bike or cycle will also do.

Other option is to hire taxi from one point of attraction to the other. Usually it costs a minimum of RM 20- 24. 

Sight seeing:

Plenty of options are available.

If you search through net you may find advertisements that the advance booking price is less and on the spot booking is costly. However it was not true in my experience because of huge number of options available.

Do not book any sight seeing plan with the first agent/person you may contact. Enquire in two to three places and find out the differences in terms of price, number of spots included, duration of the trip, inclusion of lunch/dinner etc.

For boating, basically two options are available (most of the cases) i,e. exclusively for you and the other one for public. If you are not so keen about privacy, the public one is good as it is interesting to mingle with people of different backgrounds.

Do not miss the mangrove tour. It is fantastic.

Duration of stay:

Minimum two days will be required to cover the major spots/activities.  

If you are so much interested in nature, culture and willing to explore the entire island, even one week is not sufficient.

Shopping:

Shopping can be done in Pantai Cenang or in Kuah.

I was told by one of my friends that the items are cheap in Langkawi and I wanted to buy a shoe. When I checked with a local, it was told that Chocolate and Cigarettes  are the only duty free items. Rest all come from KL or Penang and hence price will be same as that of the other area. But I am not sure about duty free status of alcohol.

Shopping in Kuah is comparatively cheap than other places. For chocolates, I found that a shop named Haji Ismail group in Kuah was very good in terms of price and variety.

Do not forget to buy chocolates if you are fond of it.

Safety:

In general, Langkawi is a safe place.

Locals do mix with tourists and are supportive.

However need to take care of your belongings and safety as per the standard practice.

Note:

The information provided above is just for reference, help and guidance of readers, based on my personal experience. Please make sure that you verify the information personally for your satisfaction.

Where to stay in Langkawi?

Usually people visiting Langkawi do have a confusion regarding the location of stay. Here is brief information about the locations.

There are three main locations where usually people stay during their visit to Langkawi.

Kuah:Location near to the boat jetty. The accommodation in this area is comparatively cheap. However this will not be an ideal location for those who love beaches. You need to hire a taxi or need to have your conveyance to reach other location. The taxi may cost minimum 24 RM to any other site. More over this location is very far from the Air port also.

 

Pantai  Cenang:This is the most ideal location for a pleasant stay. A lot of hotels (from budget to splurge) and restaurants are available nearby. It is more or less near to the airport also. It is centrally located to most of the attractions. You may find a wide variety of hotels of your choice which is close to the beach. From the boat jetty (Kuah) it may take RM 20 - 24 to reach this location. From Airport the taxi charge is RM 15-20.

3)     Pantai Tengah:

This place is near to the Pantai Cenang and is said to be a good location. I don't have much idea about this location as I have selected Pantai Cenang and found to be the most comfortable location in terms of accommodation as well as eating.

AB Motel Langkawi

AB motel is budget chalet located in a very strategic location called Pantai Cenang, in Langkawi. 

The motel is located in two portions i.e one near the sea shore and the other one near the road. Both the buildings are facing each other. The charges also vary depending upon the location you select i.e the roadside and the beach side.

There are different types of rooms such as sea view,  beach side, road side etc. and the price ranges from RM 60 to RM 150. Rooms are air conditioned, spacious and comparatively well maintained. For those who are OK with a budget hotel, this one is really nice. Do not expect any kind of luxury at this place. Break fast is not provided. However one restaurant is available in the ground floor.

If you take the beach side portion, you can have the sea view from the room of the motel corridor itself. A lot of entertainments such as paragliding, banana boat etc. is also available in the beach adjacent to the motel. Hotel staff is also good in dealing with customers. If you book a double bed room (RM 120) with double bed it can accommodate 4 people easily.

The interesting thing is that the hotel is almost full every time, especially on weekends and public holidays. I had to book one month in advance to get a room. Then also i didn't get any rooms in the ground floor.

Another feature is that there is a travel house (named as Your Travel house) just in-front of the motel (can be seen in Pic 2). This is a good travel place to book various sight seeing programs. The price and duration of the activity is reasonable. 

Pic 1: Pantai Cenang road view

 

  

Pic 2: AB Motel signboard  

Pic 3: AB Motel outer view  

Pic 4: AB Motel - Double bed room

Pic 5: AB Motel - Sea view room

Pic 6 : AB Motel - Open place

Note:

The information provided about the location and AB motel is just for reference and guidance of readers, based on my personal experience. Please make sure that you verify the information personally for your satisfaction.

A lot of hotels/motels are available in the Pantai Cenang area for you to select. Based on your budget and comfort requirement the selection can be made

Please contact me at simplelifensimpleinfo@gmail.com for additional information required, if any.

KL City attractions - Batu Caves

Batu caves is a beautiful pilgrim as well as tourist spot.It is easily accessible from any part of the city. 

How to reach:

From Kuala Lumpur, one can reach Batu Caves, either by Car/Taxi or by the commuter train. Depending on the location of the KL city from where you hire the taxi, it may take 20-30 RM as fare. However the most convenient and the cheapest way to reach is by taking the commuter train from KL Sentral station. it may cost 2-4 RM/ person for to and fro journey. In addition to that the train will drop you very close to the temple may be 100 meters. Train frequency is approximately once in 30-40 minutes. The train can be boarded from Plat form No.3. The duration of the journey will be approximately 20-30 minutes. From KL Sentral, Batu Cave is the 8th station and is the last stop.

What to see:

Lord Muruga Statue:

The main entrance has a very tall statue (140 ft) of Lord Muruga. This is said to be the tallest statue of Lord Muruga.

Lord Shiva Temple:

This temple is located at the main entrance itself and is before climbing the steps. This temple do have the deity of Lord Shiva. Lot of Paintings and statues can be seen at this place.

Lord Muruga Temple:

This is the main temple located at the top. There are approximately 272 steep steps to climb to reach this temple. The main deity is lord Muruga.

Sri Hanuman Temple:

This temple is located outside of the main temple complex and is near to the exit of the KTM commuter station. The main deity is Sri Hanuman.

Ramayana Caves:

Ramayana Cave is located adjacent to the Hanuman Temple. This cave has the paintings and statues depicting the scenes of the Hindu Epic Ramayana. it is a very beautiful thing to watch. There is entry fee of RM 1 or 2 .

Reptile Park:

One reptile park is also seen adjacent to the main entrance. The entry ticket is RM 5 or 10. Since i was not interested to see it, i didn't visit this place.

Other view:
Below are some of the pics from the top as well as the surrounding areas of Batu Caves .

What to do:

Temple visit:

You can visit various temples and caves as mentioned above.

Head Shave (Mundan):

Hindu devotees do perform mundan or head shave. This activity is carried out in any of the hair cutting saloons on the base area of the temple. After the shaving, sandal paste is applied on the head to get a cooling effect.

Shopping:

You can do shopping at the shops available at the base area. There different varies of Indian items/Hindu religious items available as well as the Indian sweets.

Where to eat:

You can food both Indian as well as the local food at various shops available at the base camp. The price is comparatively very cheap. Vegetarian food is available in almost all shops. Tender coconuts are also available.

How much time is required:

If you are just interested in seeing and passing off, half day will be fine. If you are much interested to know the art and culture part, one full day will be required. 

Precautions/Tips:

1. The steps are very steep in nature and hence consider your health before climbing.
2. Be careful while climbing the steps as the steps are very narrow, steep and usually very crowded.
3. It will be better to climb in the morning itself to avoid the sun.
4. While climbing, beware of the monkeys in your surroundings.
5. Be very careful while climbing with the kids
6. Being a worship place, follow the customs as suggested by the authorities.
7. Take care of your belongings.