Friday November 12th
We left Australia very reluctantly today, having had an amazing time, but we’ll back for sure. Having said that, Melbourne airport leaves a lot to be desired. We thought there would be loads of shops and places to eat once through passport control. Not so. Fine if you want booze – in fact you could get nicely sozzled with all the freebies on offer!
As for Malaysia Airlines – less said the better. Everyone has sung their praises, but we’ve found the food exactly the same rubbish as any other airline – if not worse. We were given rolls – actually they were more or less thrown at us – but when asked what was in it, the stewardess couldn’t tell us.
Actually, the aircrew were probably the worst we’ve encountered. One in particular marched through the plane, barking orders at passengers – “Sit up! Fasten belts!” It would have been almost funny, but an Indian family with young children (who happened to board the plane a little late) were treated appallingly throughout the flight, to the extent that they ignored the little boy who was fast asleep and didn’t check his seatbelt was fastened for landing. No-one smiled at any passenger the whole 8 hours!
So endeth the rant!
Our driver in Kuala Lumpur to the hotel was the exact opposite. He laughed and giggled for the 1 hour journey and was full of helpful information. So we reached the Marriott in a much better mood – until we discovered that the room hadn’t been booked! This had been the responsibility of the special needs member of the party!
Not to worry – it all got sorted and it’s a great room. So at the Australian equivalent of 3 a.m. we finally got some sleep.
Saturday November 13th
Great breakfast, incredible dining area (you can’t call it a room - photos later on). Marg had read about a craft complex near here and we thought we could see it from our window so we set off walking. Kuala Lumpur at the moment is a bit of a building site so at times we walked on the road or stepped over piles of sand and cement, but we found it.
Dodging children on their school trips, we enjoyed looking at the crafts inside and watching the craftsmen and women working outside in small units. Unfortunately you aren’t allowed to take photos of them, so this is the best we could do. We would have liked to buy loads of things from here but our cases were on the limit before we even got to Australia!
After the craft complex we headed for the Petronas Towers area. We were too late to get tickets for the Sky Bridge but we’d half expected this as you have to queue fairly early to get one of the limited tickets. Still, the buildings themselves are so impressive, we didn’t mind.
The lower floors are a giant shopping complex – very expensive! Passing quickly through we came to an area of park which is lovely. This is officially the city centre and we spent a while here enjoying the shade. Apparently the temperature wasn’t that high, but with 80% humidity, it felt it!
We braved the traffic and building works again to walk back to the hotel. Definitely beer o’clock!
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