#  >  > Travellers Tales in Thailand and Asia >  >  > Malaysia Forum >  >  Xmas holiday with the family

## beerlaodrinker

ive just taken the handbrake and kids on a short vacation to malaysia. havent been there for a few years so got quite a surprise how pricey it has become, 
we flew air asia vientiane to KL then airasia again to Penang ,

arriving xmas eve we headed straight to batu ferringhi for a couple of nights 

 

stayed at the hydro hotel which had a great pool for the kids, the beach was a disapointment though due to the jellyfish problem

 our hotel was on miami beach but ony about 5 minutes away from the night market area and the beers

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## palexxxx

You're always going on holidays.   (couldn't find the smiley for 'jealous')

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## beerlaodrinker

I wasnt really expecting much to be happening on xmas in malaysia and sure enough there wasnt. never mind, i had come straight from work so all i wanted to do for the first couple of nights was eat and drink 
 



the first night we found a little bar called bora bora, right on the beach , horse riding for the wife and buckets full of beer for me 
 



 



22 ringit per beer. Faaark me 

 


just outside the bar you can go para sailing ......fuk that to, i will leave that to mad conts such as dillinger
 



charley boy will be happy to know that no guinness was used for cooking , it all went straight down my gob ( 28 ringit for a guinness) 

 
 
 
 

xmas dinner for her indoors was the seafood platter
 

i went for the prawn curry which was bloody tasty but consisted of 2 prawns and about 6 prawn heads . that pissed me off

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## beerlaodrinker

This is the hydro hotel we stayed at 

 

excellent pool for the kids 
 

and a nice view from the balcony 
 

my internet here in Laos doesnt run at warp speed so i will post up some more when i can get them down loaded to photobucket.

yes.......there will be moobs

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## somtamslap

> yes.......there will be moobs


 Mankini action?

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## beerlaodrinker

Sorry slappers. the wife forgot to pack my mankini

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## nigelandjan

Give her a green from me please BLD.

Thanks for the report mate, , I was thinking of taking a short break there from this building Lark,  but after reading your report and looking at those pics I reckon it will be elsewhere

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## somtamslap

> Sorry slappers. the wife forgot to pack my mankini


 Now where's that new 'ignore thread' option...

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## Dillinger

Wish id have knew you were going, you could have stayed in my condo, it needed a clean too. :Smile:  You should have jumped on the ferry to Langkawi for the pristine water, baby powder sand and the duty free booze. Although Batu Ferringhi does have some great sunsets as youve shown. Im trying to think where that photo with your missus and kid on those boulders was taken... did you go the rasa sayang and have the sunday buffet ?
Its no party island is it Penang ? Thats why i pissed off to Samui :Smile:  it does have some things that Samui doesnt have though, such as shopping malls, sure i could have sorted you a mankini there :Smile: and proper indian and chinese food. For future reference, theres a townhouse shop that sells all the smuggled duty free booze from langkawi, cant think of the road at this time, but its not too far from the fort.
The hard rock hotel not too far from that bora bora is great for the kids, has a bar in the pool too. You can get a boat as well from the national park for 3 hours for 150 ringgit and go fishing off monkey or turtle beach for 3 hours
Theres quite a lot to do on that island really
Looking forward to see what else you did there

Happy new year BLD,

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## Dillinger

As for the paragliding, i do know of one fatality on Penang and some  Indian tourist who was left hanging and screaming from a tree for half an hour. Ive also lay on those sunbeds if you look left from bora bora and the passengers come perilously close to landing on you.

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## beerlaodrinker

ah shit
i didnt know you lived there, thanks for the offer though. i had already made note of your penang thread and turtle beach but sadly was to hungover to do much the next day 

those boulders on the beach were right across from the hydro hotel they had a walkway above the road where you could reach it had a small cafe selling beers for 17 ringit , we did get to to the hard rock but just for a visit

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## Dillinger

Next time you feel like popping over, let me know, if you drink the belgian booze, guiness or cider, youre only havin your pants pulled down and arse spanked the same as they do in Thailand :Smile:

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## November Rain

Nice thread so far, BLD. Mr NR was salivating over your wife's seafood platter (no one is allowed to part quote that sentence to make out he was salivating over anything but food! I know what you lot are like!) Was that big crustacean on the left lobster, huge prawn or langoustine?

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## beerlaodrinker

> Next time you feel like popping over, let me know, if you drink the belgian booze, guiness or cider, youre only havin your pants pulled down and arse spanked the same as they do in Thailand


sounds lovely

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## beerlaodrinker

> Was that big crustacean on the left lobster,


 it was pretending to be a lobster. more like a large prawn really.

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## terry57

The prices of drinks are inflated at Batu because its a tourist Ghetto.. Not the best beach at the best of times either.

Go lankawi next time mate, some really nice beaches and the drinks cost piss all because of its Duty free status. 

You'd like it there.   :Smile:

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## beerlaodrinker

been to Langkawi but that was a few years ago, found beer to be expensive everywhere we went, ive probably been spoilt living in Lao where a king brown costs a bit over a dollar, cant go wrong with that eh, Couldnt find that bar you mentioned in KL but took your advice and had a gander at the butu caves just outside of KL after that continued on to genting highlands  get some more pics up tomorrow

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## MissTraveller

The seafood platter looks delicious. Too bad about not being able to swim due to the jellyfish. Hope to visit that are someday. Thanks.  :Smile:

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## beerlaodrinker

Batu ferringhi had a few upmarket restaurants but we were mostly eating from hawker stalls.
Penang is famous for its abundance of steet food stalls both day and night , some swear that the humble streetfood stalls serve even better  quality food than the posh eateries in the hotels . I did get a nasty dose of the shits on one occasion though


this thai place looked alright but i didnt come for the thai food 


Like wise this place looked interesting , but i wasnt up for a steak so early in the holiday

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## beerlaodrinker

Malaysia is so clean and modern i decided me and the boys had better spruce ourselves up a bit 





got a bit of navratna oil rubbed in to my new "Do"


All the rage they tell me

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## beerlaodrinker

Indians are one of the 3 main ethnic groups in malaysia, and you can get an indian experience without having to go to india, shifty fuckers mostly , this bloke at the beach was pretty entertaing for the kids though, had the usual snake in a basket and magic tricks 


he made a few ringgit disapear from my wallet

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## beerlaodrinker

Still at the beach we decided to go check out the hard rock cafe, this would of been a good option to stay in i reckon, plenty of nice pools and a couple of bars

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## beerlaodrinker

On boxing day we moved out of the hydro and went to spend a couple more nights in georgetown, stayed at the sunway hotel there, nice room and a small pool on the roof

part of the charm of georgetown is that it isnt glossy 


The pavements are cracked. the walls uneven and weathered, theres quite a shabby appeal to the whole place , in other parts of asia such street scapes have fallen foul to the bulldozers and been replaced by modern highrise



time to slip in a moob shot


despite the general grunginess of penang there is also quite a bit of glitzy construction going on , alsong the seafront there is a huge mall called gurney plaza and a Times square

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## somtamslap

> time to slip in a moob shot


 and the ever present can of lager.

Henieken?

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## beerlaodrinker

Yes Heineken, not the most amazing beer one has ever imbibed but suffices on a hot day
The strangest thing for me about malaysia is that its a predominately muslim country, It didnt really affect me that much   other than the fact that the breakfast buffet doesnt have bacon , still easy enough to get a bevvy most places, it is however bloody annoying to get woken up most mornings at sparrows fart by the muezzin calling everyone to morning prayer, cant get me head around a religion that makes every fucker get up so early

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## beerlaodrinker

To get around we mostly caught taxis in penang and a couple of times the local bus



what that sign on the taxi door should say is haggling is mandatory, i think we only got 3 taxis out of about 50 who would put the meter on ,

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## beerlaodrinker

PIMP OUT YOUR RICKSHAW



Wandering around georgetown is a treat for the eyes you never know what you are going to find, you may spot a hindu temple complete with colourful dieties next to a falling down structure or a sketchy looking bar adjacent to a former colonial mansion turned 5 star hotel, we hired a couple of rickshaw blokes one night and got them to give us a quick tour .







The long running hongkong bar


nice old jukebox






the blinged up rickshaws of penang are a great way to get around and see a bit while giving the kids a rest from walking 
this is an activity that can be done without the addition of alcohol , however i thought it a damn good idea to pick up a couple of tinnies fron the 7/11

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## beerlaodrinker

If you want to shop with the locals head to the KOMTAR oR PRANGLIN MALL




More of the excellent hawker food


Loads of little curry houses around , as a rule of thumb if you see its packed with locals then chances are the foods good

Love a good curry, me

my new mate the rickshaw bloke , stronger than he looks, 


Hard work pedalling portly farangs about i would imagine. at least he didnt have any hills to contend with

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## beerlaodrinker

While in penang i did more than just drink beer and eat street food  we also went to some very cool places and attractions you may not of come across,
This place is a short ride from georgetown and is called KEK LOK SI TEMPLE
The largest buddhist temple in Malaysia , there are lots of steps and narrow columns to climb 



Kids enjoyed feeding the turtles in the sacred ponds

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## BobR

I was in Malaysia just before Christmas 2 years ago and was really surprised how much Christmas is celebrated in a Muslim Country.  The shopping centers were all playing Christmas music (Christian religious music at that) and there appeared to be a surprising amount of tolerance.

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## Dillinger

great thread BLD, you get a lot done when you travel. 




> there are lots of steps and narrow columns to climb


There's a furnicular train by the side of it  :Smile:

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## beerlaodrinker

i found that quite surprising also. this was in the Klcc mall in kuala lumpur



If these moozies are going to get in on the xmas retail action you would think they could start by putting the price of a beer down

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## beerlaodrinker

> t thread BLD, you get a lot done when you travel. Did you walk up to that temple or take the furnicular ?


 got the taxi to drop us off at the top and walked down , we were of to penang hill to do the Funicular train ride next so wanted to conserve a bit of energy , not getting any younger mate just wiser

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## Dillinger

poor guy looks fukked. are you holding him up there ?  :Smile:

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## beerlaodrinker

THE SCARIEST BEER PROMO GIRLS IVE EVER SEEN



That was the carlsberg girl^



Wouldnt get a job in thailand those 2

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## beerlaodrinker

poor guy looks fukked. are you holding him up there ?  :Smile: 

          BLD is a BENEVOLENT KONT and he was well compensated, Although i reckon he must of been thinking to himself , fuk i should of stayed in school


Anyway
mrs BLD was getting a bit tired of Hawker food and as usual demanded i feed her only the finest seafood



Strangely enough for an island most of the seafood seeemed to be imported

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## beerlaodrinker

Heres a question for TD punters, what the fuk is Canadian geoduck?

It looked like something socal would stick up his BLURTER

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## aging one

Type of clam mate.

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## cdnski12

The geoduck (/ˈɡuːiːdʌk/ "gooey duck"), scientific name Panopea generosa, is a species of very large, edible, saltwater clam in the family Hiatellidae; are from the West Coast of British Columbia. The common name may be derived from a Native American word meaning "dig deep". Most are exported to Asia, especially Japan.

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## beerlaodrinker

i had never heard of them , Thanks

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## beerlaodrinker

After haing a gander at the temple it was of to ride the Funicular train up to penang hill where i was told the view over penang is spectacular

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## beerlaodrinker

Unfortunately for us the day we went it looked like everybody in penang had the same idea, we lined up for an hour to get on the train and they had us packed in like sardines which kind of spoiled the ride up, couldnt see out the window due to a couple of indian blokes with turbans blocking the view


It was chocka in there, lucky nobody let rip with a curry fart




my young bloke enjoying the view


and a dinosaur to scare the little guy




Bit over rated that train really. afterwards we set of to the port area to catch the butterworth ferrry, these things have been in operation for years and are considered a national treasure



For those wanting a bit of luxury




some cruise ships also pull in here






crossing from penang to butterworth is free but costs about 1.20 ringett coming back , we had no interest in butterworth, just thought the kids might enjoy the ferry ride


Before the bridge was built this was the only way to get your car on to penang island

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## Dillinger

The biggest of those 2 cruise ships is the superstar libra that goes to Phuket, i think the smaller one is the casino ship that sets off at 7.30 pm on weekends and comes back the next morning probably a few passengers light :Smile:

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## terry57

Good stuff Mate,

Penangs a great spot to spend a few days, the thing is to actually get around and do stuff innit.

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## danno5

Was there about the same time...(Sunday before Christmas), and the traffic and crowds were a nightmare! Sunday we went from Georgetown to Batu Ferenggi (to have a beer on the beach - we ended up on a side street with a sliver of water view) and it took us 1.5 hours. Went to Penang Hill on Monday, saw the line, and resorted to a few beers in a small shop outside the entrance. Nice place but the traffic and crowds left something to be desired.

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## Dillinger

> Went to Penang Hill on Monday, saw the line, and resorted to a few beers in a small shop outside the entrance


It's only a 5 hour walk up it  :Smile:  
There are 4x4s that will take you up the hill in 20 mins from the botanical gardens side and come and get you. There's not much to do up there really. A cafe, guest house a red english post box, a closed down rope bridge where some chinese guy fell 500 metres to his death which hasnt been reopened, the colonnial houses and the view, which is mostly shit because of the haze. It is 5 degrees cooler up there though

hope you dont mind me piping in there BLD  :Smile:

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## beerlaodrinker

THE MALAYSIAN ARSE BLASTER

What a diabolical fucking thing these turned out to be , you need both hands to operate the thing  1 hand to hold the hose pointed at the blurter the other to turn on the tap , all while on a sqat toilet.

Fuk that to old for squat toilets 

much prefer the thai style with the trigger

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## beerlaodrinker

^ you are 100% correct, wasnt a hell of a lot to do once there. wasnt to hazy the day we went though

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## armstrong

" Funicular " is my new favorite word.  I shall use it often without bothering to google what is funicularing means.

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## beerlaodrinker

im a big fan of all this street food  a good place to head at night in penang was Gurney drive hawker centre, but street food all over penang was just as good




Penang is renowned for it  laksa , and righly so 






careful with the fried oysters though,

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## beerlaodrinker

> " Funicular "


 kinda makes you think of withnalls avatar doesnt it

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## beerlaodrinker

This nasty shitter was actually very splendid compared to some i had to point my arse at





quite a pleasant few days all up in penang, next it was off to KL and genting highlands

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## Dillinger

that toilet is clean, someones scrubbed all the treadmarks off it :Smile:

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## beerlaodrinker

Might be time some of these rickshaw drivers retired i reckon,   This one looked positively fucked . had to stop for a rest. 



inconsiderate barsteward, what if i had of been late for the plane

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## beerlaodrinker

Landing in KL we checked in to the parkroyal hotel which was a stones throw from the tourist area of Bukit bintang . then it was of to see the Batu caves about 13 kms outside of KL 



We took a taxi from the hotel but you can get a train from KL sentral for a few ringgit 




if your coming here on the weekend its probably best to get here early, gets packed with locals and tourists



Dont ask me whats inside those caves , had a bit of gout going on ( self inflicted) there was no way i was climbing 300 stairs to find out. and it was bloody hot

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## danno5

trinket shops inside Batu caves!

Oh, yea, and some religious stuff also, more stairs, lots of bats,......

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## beerlaodrinker

Arriving in Kl you quickly realise you are in one of the most cosmipolitan cities in asia and with more bars than mosques you wouldnt believe you werein a muslim country. however once you pick up the bar menu you quickly realsie that the fun tax is well and truly applied, we managed to dodge the mosques and found a few dive bars to drink at 

parkroyal turned out to be an excellent location for us as i wanted to buy some new shirts  :Smile: 




across the street was the sungai wang plaza, berjaya times square where you can experience an air conditioned theme park for adults and children called galaxy station and fantasy garden, sorry, the fantasy garden is the part for kids and bintang plaza, and a short stroll away was the monorail, to easy really



And another place called pavillion wasnt far either


Damn shame that asians discriminate against fat conts' after all that poncing about in malls looking for clothes i managed to find only one store selling clothes that actually fit me

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## beerlaodrinker

Heres a bank security guard doing what bank security guards do best

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## beerlaodrinker

Thought we might have a look at the petronas twin towers and get some pics up there but there was a big line for that so just had a wander around the  suria mall instead. 



later on that night we went to the Grand Hyatt where you can get a 360 view of KL and a good view of the twin towers


next it was of to jalan petaling in china town for a look at the night market


not much of interest really, just the usual chinese crap 



Some new shoes for the kids





Bong anyone?

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## beerlaodrinker

i had my fill of hawker food by now so we headed over to changkt bukit bintang to look for a steak



Plenty of bars on this little strip to



Mission accomplished

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## beerlaodrinker

Next day we took a taxi to genting highlands to ride the skyway

Genting skyway is the worlds fastest mono cable car system, making genting highlands more inteesting. After "take off " lush greenery, cool highland mist and the audio guide make the ride strangely serene

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## terry57

> I was in Malaysia just before Christmas 2 years ago.
> 
> There appeared to be a surprising amount of tolerance.



I have been traveling through Malaysia for many years and the only part you will notice the strong Muslim presence is up on the Thai border opposite to where all the fighting is going on.  

As far as the rest of the country goes they just cruise along. As a Tourist one wont notice any religious problems. The farang that live there more than likely have a different story.  

I do like Malaysia quite a bit.

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## beerlaodrinker

Genting calls itself the "City of Entertainment," serving as Malaysia's answer to Las Vegas, complete with bright lights (which can be seen from Kuala Lumpur) and gambling. And although most people come here for the casino, there's a wide range of other activities, although most of them seem to serve the purpose of entertaining the kids while you bet their college funds at the roulette wheel. While it lacks the sophistication of other casino destinations, it is very popular with local punters and families seeking a one-stop destination in the cooler mountain air.

it was packed the day we went, come early  



i think we paid about 20 ringgit each and the youngest was free 
it really does get quite misty up there






Kids loved it
Back in the taxi and back to KL,  trip over

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## terry57

> Nice place but the traffic and crowds left something to be desired.


The thing is Danno, if you go traveling in peak period especially over Xmas you will encounter the mad crowds anywhere.

Better to stop home and go once all the Muppets have gone back to work.

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## beerlaodrinker

^ agreed, we arrived xmas eve and that airasia terminal was chaos with all the students flying about, a good thing with airasia though is the ability to print out your boarding pass online and if your not carrying much luggage  your laughing , no need to line up to check in, Brilliant that

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## danno5

Yea, Terry....had a couple of visitors over the weenend before Christmas who didnt want to hang out in Ipoh where I live...the only reason why I went there that particular weekend. Didnt realize it was school holiday still.

Where in BB did you get that steak, BeerLaoDrinker....it looks great! Always looking for a reliable place to get a good cut of beef...

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## beerlaodrinker

it was an awesome steak, malaysian foods great but im a fat kunt and need a steak every now and then , cant recall the name of the place but it was about the first or second restaurant (wasnt a pub) on that little strip of bars along changkat bukit bintang, i think it was across the street from reggae bar, wasnt cheap  but damn it was good

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## aging one

Did your kids see the amusement park up there at Genting? Mine were so into it we ended up staying another night. Malaysia has it right 55 and you are a senior citizen, free admission to the park, and 1/2 price on all the casino buffets.

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## terry57

Owe, did not know that. Thanks for the heads up.   :Smile:

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## reddog

if you have the time and want to beat the line up for the petronas twin towers
buy a ticket the day before and you are reserved a place, also you get 
a seniors discount if you are over 55.

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## danno5

thanks, I'll have to search it out! I usually end up at Hard Rock….a decent steak, not great but always consistent….

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## beerlaodrinker

AO we didnt even know they had a theme park until after we left,The kids would of loved that for sure. i had better not tell them daddy fucked up. they will be howling,
ive got a few more years to go before that senior citizen discount kicks in, Does it apply for cheaper beer as well?

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## aging one

> Does it apply for cheaper beer as well?


I wish mate, beer is really overpriced there, but at least there is a decent selection of dark beer as well.

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## beerlaodrinker

i tried one called panther or something like that 14% bloody hell

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## bankao dreamer

cant get me head around a religion that makes every fucker get up so early 


Thats just explained it all male chickens are bloody muslims.

Lovely photos I like your travel threads mate.

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## panama hat

> Dont ask me whats inside those caves


Once you arrive at the 'top' you walk past some trinket shops (Hindu trinkets) an then on to a larger area which has a temple where people get their forehead rubbed for a few quid - not tourist-oriented but anyone can go and have it done. 
Further on there are more steps up and loads of monkeys and not much else aside from an 'open top' which shines on the lush vegetation quite nicely

It's definitely worth it . . .




> Genting skyway is the worlds fastest mono cable car system, making genting highlands more inteesting.


It's cool, isn't it!  We try t get up to Genting or Cameron Highlands once a month to savour the cool air . . . KL can get quite HOT




> As far as the rest of the country goes they just cruise along. As a Tourist one wont notice any religious problems. The farang that live there more than likely have a different story.


Nope, never been hassled and have never heard of individuals getting hassled. 

Currently there is a bit of brouhaha because the Selangor state religious authority raided the Christian printing offices and confiscated Malay language bibles that contain the word 'Allah' for 'God'.  
It's quite a long story why they exist and why they are allowed in Borneo but not on the peninsula . . . long story short the government went to town on JAIS (the Islamic Council) and the bibles were returned and the radical fruits got a black eye.

When Malaysia advertises itself as the moderate Islamic country it really is the case.




> at least there is a decent selection of dark beer as well.


Ah, Guinness be brewed here matey   :Smile: 

I do quite a bit of consultancy work for Tourism Malaysia and the Malaysian Tourist Board and it's quite astounding how different the tourists are that arrive here as opposed to Thailand . . . and Malaysia ranks 8th in the world in tourist entries.  

Still there's lots to do to ramp up the infrastructure to cope with the ever-increasing numbers. 

Love the place

Malaysia Boleh!

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## beerlaodrinker

It does have a lot going for it i reckon, varied and tasty food, plenty of things for the kids to do,  quite modern and clean, all of those things were my reason for going to malaysia this time,and the cheap ticket from vientiane to KL with airasia  clinched the deal

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## panama hat

> It does have a lot going for it i reckon, varied and tasty food, plenty of things for the kids to do, quite modern and clean


Definitely several of the advantages this place has over its neighbours, especially Thailand, where we couldn't wait to get out of once we found out what living there is really like

Another advantage is that you can actually be a working expat here, not just a tefler or teacher, though there are many openings for qualified English teachers at the many international schools.

Ah - fairly well everyone speaks English from so-so to very, very well

When next you plan to spend some time here let me know and I'll recommend some places for you to see . . . perhaps Borneo (Sabah and Sarawak next?)

Hmm, maybe I'll set up a Malaysia picture thread.

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