to KL and back

Just came back from Kl with Agnes yesterday. I got to drive which is half the fun(almost). We stayed from the 27th til the 30th.
For the first 2 nights we stayed at the Crown Princess KL and on the 3rd night we put up at the Hotel Equatorial. Both claim to be 5 star hotels, but the Equatorial was obviously more classy and the staff were more service oriented. The downside of the Equatorial though was the exhorbitant amount they charged for internet access and that hotel guest HAVE TO PAY FOR PARKING! Almost unheard of at all the hotels I been to before.
On the first day I picked Agnes up from near her house and we headed up to the Tuas Checkpoint,erstwhile known at the Second Link or Link Kedua. Traffic was smooth throughout. we stopped by for a loo break and lunch at a couple of them R&R stops. We reached Kl round about 2pm. It was not until about 4 that we finally booked into our hotel. Drving around Kl is a bitch. their signages are bad. and often time you can find yourself driving around for nearly 1/2 an hr to get to a place merely a few blocks away from your hotel.

1st Day
After checking into our hotel, we went to the nearby KLCC for some shopping and our dinner. There we explored many of the shops. Agnes did quite a bit of shopping and picked up some souvenirs. Did I mention we took the LRT? Our hotel is not far from the Ampang Park LRT station which made it rather convenient to use rather than drive around the maze that is KL city.

Day 2
After breakfast we took the LRT to Dang Wangi. we wanted to go to the KL Tower or Menara KL. Since we did not drive, it was a long trek up from the LRT to the peak of the hill. Worse it was a rather warm morning. By the time we got there we were both sweaty and panting. We rewarded ourselves with a cool drink at exhorbitant prices at the cafe at KL Tower. After that we proceeded up for the obligatory tour of the tower. As usual it afforded us a good view of the city. One day I have to go there at night. KL Tower is the one place I would recommend to anyone going to KL. It has the best view in the city, even better than that of the Petronas Towers!
After that we took the monorail from Bukit Nanas to Bukit Bintang. Bukit Bintang is like the Orchard Road of KL. We spent most of the afternoon at Sungei Wang Plaza. Agnes bought more stuff here. We did not really venture much to the other shopping centres in the vicinity.
After that we headed to the Central Market/ Chinatown area. There we got to peruse the culture and atmosphere of the real Kl for the first time. Petaling Street was packed and quite an experience in itself. Agnes even tried her hand at bargaining which did not go too well.
Then we headed back to the hotel.

Day 3
We had our breakfast and then packed up all our stuff.Made preparations to check out. We made an early check out by about 11 am. We then all got into Sunny and headed to KLCC to go to the Aquaria KLCC.Aquaria KLCC turned out to be not haldf bad. My only grouse was the different admission fees we had to pay. It seems that locals and foreigners have to pay a different amount. I am not sure how the system works actually, as the caucasian couple ahaead of us paid the normal 'malaysian' rate whereas we had to pay about RM 10 more for not being local.After that we headed to the Hotel Equatorial. We ended up having to wait nearly an hour as our non-smoking room was not ready. All this after they had specifically asked us to be on time and to come at 2. So we had to spend another hour walking around and lounging at the lobby, when we could have been doing something more productive. Thankfully the room was ready and lived up to Agnes's expectations. Agnes was rather underwhelmed by the Crown Princess, so I was happy that our hotel and room this time was good enough. Nothing but the best for my baby! Too bad we only had one night at Hotel Equatorial. Nevermind, there is always next time.
We headed to Berjaya Times Square after that for even more shopping. Now this is the mother of all shopping centres as far as I am concerned. It is so big that it even has its own indoor amusement park, and about 3 whole upper floors are unoccupied due to its scale. Did more window shopping than actual buying here. We then headed to Bukit Bintang in search of food. Ate at the same chinese restaurant, Esquire, as the previous day.
Then it was back to our hotel.

Day 4
Had a rather late breakfast and then headed back to our room. Did all the washing up and packing up. Then we checked out. Turned out we had to pay RM 8 parking fee despite being hotel guest. RM 8 is not alot of money, but in almost every other hotel guest get complimentary parking, but not at the Hotel Equatorial KL.
After much driving around in circles, we finally found ourselves back on the KLIA-Seremban Highway and homebound!
We reached Singapore round about 5 pm. Surprisingly the Woodlands Checkpoint was rather empty and traffic was smooth. So we got back to bedok South in short time. In fact we could have made it even earlier if I had not detoured through Johore Bahru in search of 'lunch'. In the end we had our grub at one the the chinese food stalls near Agnes's home. Then we headed back to Agnes's place for a bit before going to the clinic, as Agnes has been feverish and coughing up phelgm during our stay in KL.