Selamat Datang ke Malaysia!
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FLASH NEWS: Kuala Lumpur is the Sister City of Chennai!
http://truthdive.com/2010/11/26/chen...ster-city.html
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Selamat Datang ke Malaysia!
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FLASH NEWS: Kuala Lumpur is the Sister City of Chennai!
http://truthdive.com/2010/11/26/chen...ster-city.html
So, you are planning a trip to KL - favorite destination of film directors. :lol:
Pre-visit Requirement:
VISA - Not long ago, there was no visa requirement for travel between India and Malaysia (as commonwealth countries). When Indira Gandhi was assasinated, India imposed visa restrictions on several countries, Malaysia being one of them, and naturally Malaysia reciprocated.
VOA (Visa on Arrival) is no longer issued for Indian cistizens and you need to apply for tourist visa at the nearest Malaysian embassy.
On the airplane, you will be provided a card to fill up stating particulars of visit. Have a pen standby in the plane.
At the airport
Depending on your flight, you will be landing at either:
KLIA - Kuala Lumpur International Airport, or
http://www.klia.com.my/
LCCT - Low Cost Carrier Terminal
http://www.lcct.com.my/
Be ready for a long queue at the Immigration as many people flock to KL on a daily basis.
Upon clearing Immigration, collect your luggage and go through the Customs. If you have nothing todeclare, you can use the green lane.
Note: Trafficking drugs to Malaysia carries a mandatory death sentence.
Before you reach the exits of the airport terminals, there will be taxi counters. Please buy your pre-paid tickets here so that you do not get fleeced later. Payment in cash or card is accepted. The distance to KL city is about 45 kms.
From the taxi counter, you can walk out to the exit and decide on your next course of action. There are plenty of places to eat within both airports.
The taxi stands are just outside the Arrival hall and can be identified by signboards and people in queue. Do not worry - you won't have to wait long, as there will be plenty of taxis.
You give your pre-paid ticket to the person in charge and he will direct you to the next taxi that will be waiting and pass a portion of the ticket to the taxi driver.
Once in the taxi, just inform the driver your exact destination. There will be NO exchange of cash here, even for tolls.
Please note that wearing of seat-belts is compulsory.
Nov - thanks - i didn't know that we can get a pre-paid ticket for cabs. I'll let my friend know as she's planning a trip in February 2011.
Would you know how much it costs compared to the shuttle?
Currency
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The currency is Ringgit (RM) and comes in 1, 5, 10, 50 and 100 denominations. 100 sen make up 1 ringgit.
10 ringgit = US$3.17
10 ringgit = INR145
10 ringgit = S$4.18
How do you call the Ringgit in different languages:
Malay - ringgit and sen
Tamil - velli and kaasu
English - dollars and cents
Thus if you go shopping in Little India and say paththu ringgit, he will know that you are a tourist. :D
It is paththu velli. RM3.20 is moonu velli 20 kaasu or just moonu-iruvadhu.
Similarly in English - three dollars 20 cents or just three-twenty
When buying jasmine strings, its mozham 50 kaasu (col: ambadhu-yiaasu).
OK, besides taxis, there are several other ways to travel, but these would be inconvenient if you are a large group or with many bags.Quote:
Originally Posted by NM
Star shuttle airport coach - line 8 at LCCT and platform 6 at KLIA
RM20 per pax
Express rail link (The KLIA Ekspres is a premium non-stop high-speed train service that connects KLIA and the Kuala Lumpur city center. Cruising at a top speed of 160km/h, the journey takes just 28 minutes, operating at 15-minute intervals.)
This one costs RM35 per person.
The rail link is to KL Sentral and from there you need to connect (easily) to your final destination.
Communications
Language will not be a barrier as most people can speak English.
The national language is Malay and it will impress shopkeepers if you speak to them in that language.
Tamil is the lingua franca of all local Malaysian Indians. Tamils comprise the majority of local Malaysian Indians, and this is reflected in shopping, eating, entertainment, etc. Tamils are fiercely proud of thier language and will tell you that the first 24 hour Tamil radio station was in Malaysia and that the first Tamil TV station to be named in Tamil was also from Malaysia. :P
Besides Malay, English and Tamil, several dialects of Chinese such as Mandarin, Cantonese and Hokkien are spoken. You don't have to speak any of these though. :)
Cell Phones
They are called hand-phones here. You can purchase a sim card easily almost everywhere, but will need to register it with your passport. The starting charges are less than 10 RM.
Reloads (or recharges as its known in India) is also fairly easy and available at all nooks and corners, 7-11s, petrol stations, etc.
You can reload for 10, 20, 30, 50 or 100 RM. There is NO charge for incoming calls or messages.
Also the value of the reload will be the same as you have purchased it for, meaning you will get 10 dollars worth of talktime for 10 dollars reload.
Public phones
Are available but hardly anyone uses them nowadays. You will need coins for these phones.
Wi Fi
Is available free in many public places like shopping complexes, restaurants, etc. People sit in Starbucks for hours to no end just by purchasing a cup of coffee. :D
Valuable informations - Thank you so much NOV brother. :D
Good info. I have been to KL twice and the best thing I like there is the food :slurp: (specially the non-veg items). Apart from my home country it is in KL that I have loved and enjoyed food thoroughly.
Thank you friends. The purpose of this series (more countries to follow from other Hubbers) is to have a permanent record of places to visit with helpful tips tailored to our needs.
Others who have visited these places are also welcome to provide thier feedback as divergent experiences will be useful. :)
FOOD
Vegetarian Food is easily available in most parts of Kuala Lumpur. If you do not mind restaurants that serve both vegetarian and non-vegetarian food, then the choices are really aplenty.
However fast food outlets like KFC, McDonalds, etc DO NOT have specific vegetarian meals, unlike in some western countries.
If you are strictly vegetarian and will not be comfortable in places selling non vegetarian food, you still do not have to go hungry. You have the following places to go:
Saravana Bhavan at Bangsar, Masjid India and Petaling Jaya
Bakthi Woodlands at Leboh Ampang
Lakshmi Vilas at Leboh Ampang
Madras New Woodlands at Bangsar
Gandhi's at Brickfields
Chaat Masala at Brickifields
Annalakshmi in Sri Hartamas
Govindas in Masjid India
Radhe's in Old Klang Road
Sanskrit in Subang Jaya
and many more. Just google. :)
There are many Chinese vegetarian restaurants too, but they serve mock meat, ie food made to look like and prepared like non-vegetarian. If you want to be adventurous, seek out:
Amata Vegetarian Restaurant
Bamboo Vegetarian Court
Cameleon Vegetarian Restoran
De Health Paradise Organic
Fai Cai Xiang Vegetarian Restaurant
Kuan Fatt Vegetarian Restaurant
Mahligai Vegetarian Restaurant
Mamitas Vegetarian Food
Nature's Vegetarian Restaurant
Pinewind Vegetarian Restaurant Sdn Bhd
and more.
If you are not particular, then there are Indian restaurants at every nook and corner of Kuala Lumpur, serving thOsai, idli, poori, parotta, chappathi, vadai, uppumaa, etc for breakfast, and banana leaf lunches and dinners.
Recommended are:
Thalapakkatti Briyani in Sentul
Rajus in Petaling Jaya
Many restaurants in Brickfields (Little India)
Nirvana Maju in Bangsar & Subang Jaya
Devis Corner in Bangsar and Sri Hartamas
Chettinad in Bangsar
and many more :P
Besides the above, there are also upscale restaurants serving Indian food such as The Taj, Bangles, Bombay Palace, Bharaths, Passage Thru India
Visited KL a couple of years back with my parents.
I had a great time, thanks largely to NOV's good guidance and great company. :ty:
Singapore and Malaysia are probably the ideal places to take South Indians to. Particularly, those, who would like to travel abroad but are hesitant to be too experimental about culture, food etc,
Traditional attractions like the KL Tower (which I saw) and Petronas (which I didn't because a cab driver dumped us :hammer:) are lovely. The view of the city from the KL tower is not to be missed.
But do take a tour of the city, the markets, the lovely Merdeka Square with the huge flagpole, the city museum, the river running unobtrusively through the city etc. This way when you are up there you will enjoy the view more.
First time visitors from India would also notice the way the highways and city's (apparently) arterial roads are layer upon layer upon layer. Chennai was going to do something of that sort and got berated by the International Transporation authority and asked to invest more in public transport.
If you are the shopping freak there's a tonne of places. From high end malls, to enormously large discount stores, to street shopping districts. And as I've sounded like a brochure thus far let me complete it by saying - you can get your tired soles massaged back to life with the reflexology massage centers which seem to be everywhere.
For those who are particular about vegetarian food, there are lots of Vegetarian stuff like: Mee Goreng (first time I've ever heard noodles served on banana leaf!), Roti Canai.
Teh-tahrik is the popular version of tea in Malaysia. More dilute and sweeter. Unlike SIndian thimblefulls it is served in mugs! Yours truly had about 4-5 straight till groucho tapped me on the shoulder and said: you do realize, this is not beer, right? :lol2:
Went to a pub (Asoka, was it NOV?) where they disapprove of eardrums. The music was 80-90s TFM ! (which is at best played as occasional thukkada pieces at home). They had live performers lip-synching to the songs imitating actors. It was a curious mix of college show type performers in a disc!
The star attraction though is the murugan temple in Batu caves. Must say the huge statue - impressive as it is - has kind of stolen the thunder from the real beauty, which is the cave itself.
You walk up the stairway to heaven, and after greviously injuring your lung and making those fake fitness regieme promises you enter the caves. Quite well preserved, for the amount of people who throng there, its pleasant chill, the moistness in the air, the dripping stalactites (or is it stalagmites, I will never get this right) are a lovely treat.
Putra Jeya - a planned city which was built as the admin HQ for the government is an hour away from KL. The scale and finish of the buildings are attractive. Particularly the Putra mosque (apparently modeled after the main mosque in Baghdad, which is apparently one of the largest in the world).
We went on a boat ride across the river there. There are about half a dozen bridges. Each one styled after a famous bridge in the world. So it is like jampacking a whirlwind world tour in 30 mins !
Malaysia is lot more pocket friendly than Singapore. You can rent a cab for a day to go around, eat and pretty good places and shop and generally have fun and you will not be drilling a hole in your pocket.
Have fun :thumsup:
Excellent PR :thumbsup:
The view from the visitor is defintely an eye-opener as compared with one who is living there. :D
Food (cont'd)
While in Malaysia, do try some local food, as Malaysia is known to be a food paradise with Indian, Chinese, Malay & Western food easily available. There are others too like Thai, Vietnamese, Indonesian, French, German, Mexican, Italian, etc.
Roti Canai
The king of all food in Malaysia is the Roti Canai, aka as Parotta in India, and Pratta in Singapore.
It is available and eaten for breakfast, lunch, tea, dinner, supper and any time in between.
Unlike in India, Roti Canai is served with Dhall/Sambar/Fish curry/Sambal and not salna. No one here knows what salna is :lol2:
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There are several kinds of rotis available
Plain roti
Roti telur - egg roti
Roti bawang - onion roti
Roti pisang - banana roti
Roti tissue - crispy roti (with a dash of condensed milk)
Roti sardine - roti filled with sardine, onions and egg
Murtabak - roti filled with meat/chicken, egg, onion & masala
& many more! :D
Mee Goreng
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This is a yellow noodle dish made Indian style. (BTW, you get fresh noodles here unlike Maggi dried noodles). This is a strange contation of Indian, Chinese and Western - with chilly and tomato sauce.
You can also ask for a vegetarian version.
Nasi Lemak
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This is the national dish of Malaysia - rice cooked in coconut milk and served with sambal, anchovies, egg and peanuts.
One of the favourites for breakfast, you can get a vegetarian version is some Indian restaurants.
Chicken Rice
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A lunch rime favourite, this dish consists of rice cooked in chicken soup and served with chicken slices and chicken soup.
Satay
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Skewers of meat roasted over charcoal fire and served with delicious peanut sauce.
There are many more dishes that you should enjoy, but bear in mind that the Chinese food you get here is the real thing and not the Indianised version of India. (Anything cooked with aji no moto and pepper is considered chinese there - my eyeballs almost popped out when I saw chinese fried rice made with basmati, in India!)
Excellent info, Nov bro.. :D
Ippo Murtabakukku naan adimai.. :-)
P_R
asaiya thundreenga...poganum poladhan irukku :D
:D Wow, the food looks tempting even to a local like me :lol:
Additional info on Satay- for the best Satay, Kajang is the place to go! I've tried eating satay in a number of places in KL and Penang, but nothing comes close to the ones in Kajang :slurp:
omg nov ngov....fancy food items for lunch & breakfast....roti canai kooda....i see saambar...what are the rest of the two in that plate nga? i like that long list of the roti available with also...bananaa.....condensed milk...(i have had that one before)
very interesting information....i read & made some mental notes too :mrgreen:
what is that murbaktantan something :mrgreen:
Thanks Ajay
suvai,
Roti Canai is served with Dhall/Sambar/Fish curry/Sambal
Murtabak - roti filled with meat/chicken, egg, onion & masala
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thank u nga nov....for the visual effects :mrgreen:
it sure is tempting....;-)
places of interest.....that one can visit pathiyum podungalen plz ;-)..
Places to Visit: KLCC / Petronas Twin Towers
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What would be Kuala Lumpur visit be without a tour of Petronas Twin Towers, formerly the tallest building in the world from 1998 to 2004. (But the towers are still the tallest twin towers in the world)
Many Tamil films have these towers as the background, as is found in many other movies too, including the Sean Connery hollywood movie, Entrapment.
OK, what is there to see? Actually there is plenty. The Towers are just one portion of a huge project called KLCC or Kuala Lumpur City Centre.
1. You can go up to the skybridge on the 41st floor and get a commanding view of KL.
GO EARLY: Here is how the system works: Tickets to the skybrige are given FREE between 8.00 am and 12.00pm. You have to queue to get the tickets. Your ticket will tell you what time your tour will be. After getting the ticket, do your tour of the rest of KLCC and come back to the Towers at the appointed time. You and your group will be shown a short film on the history behind the towers and then will be taken up the skybrige via super-sonic lifts. Note that this is an accompanied, limited-time tour. You are allowed to take photos/video throughout the tour.
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You can also take photos/videos at the base, but be warned, you will either be microscopically tiny or won't be able to capture the entire towers.
2. Shopping at Suria KLCC
Shop like you are in the UK with many floors of specialty stores, open air cafes, food courts, and restaurants. And while waiting, you can catch a Tamil film at the cineplex here (Tamil films play at the best cinemas in Malaysia.)
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While you are at the shopping complex, do not forget to check out the huge bookstore, Kinokuniya!
3. KLCC Park
The park is located directly below the PETRONAS Twin Towers, creating an awesome contrast of steel and greenery. The park features various amnities such as a two-acre children's playground, symphony fountain, wading pool, jogging track, shelters and benches, patterned foot-paths and sculptures.
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4. Acquaria
Aquaria KLCC features thousands of freshwater and marine species from all across globe. Facinating facts on the spieces are presented on screens along the Discovery Zones.
Cost is about RM45 for foreigners
5. Petrosains
Located on level 4 of Suria KLCC, this modern contemporary science centre allows visitors to touch, feel and interact with displays and exhibits aimed at stimulating interest in science and technology, particularly in petroleum science.
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6. Dewan Filharmonik PETRONAS
Located between the two towers at the podium level is a world-class concert hall with 865 seating capacity.
So, you can spend at least a minimum of half day at this site.
Places to Visit: Batu Caves
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Yet another must-see in Kuala Lumpur, Batu Caves is on the outskirts of KL.
Many Tamil films have been shot here, right from Varuvaan Vadivelan days to Billa and Kannamoochi Yenadaa recently.
Batu Caves, a 400 million year-old limestone hill with beautiful stalactites and stalagmites, is nature's wonder. The temple was built about 120 years ago by Indian immigrants, and is often refered to as "Ezhaam Padai" of Lord Murugan.
The temple grounds adjoining the massif sprawl over an area of 16 acres of flat land. A Tamil School run by the Sri Maha Mariamman Temple Devasthanam is built on the grounds.
As you enter you are greeted by the tallest Murugan structure in the world. Yes, you read that right!
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As you enter the gates, you forget the moment and think that you are still in Tamilnadu. :D
A huge Vel welcomes you and as you walk through, you sight a Vinayagar temple. Just to the left are smaller temples featuring Murugan from Thiruparamkundram, Thiruchendur, Pazhani, Swamimalai, Thiruthani and Pazhamudhircholai.
On the right is Suriyan temple, together with the navakragams. You can also see several restaurants selling a delicious variety of vegetarian Southern Indian Food.
You enter the Vinayagar temple, and then turn left and see Meenakshi Amman in all Her splendour. Next to it is a short flight of steps and you are led to Kailaasam!
Having finished all that, you step out of Vinaayagar temple and turn to your right. As you walk up you are greeted by golden domes, with Venketesaran and his consort welcoming you.
After your prayers there, you walk up and are greeted by a cage full of monkeys. Unsurprisingly, there is a Hanuman temple there, with a huge statue of Anjaneyar tearing open his body to reveal Raman and Seetha in his heart!
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Finishing all prayers at Ground level, you now go back to the adivaaram and start walking up the 272 steps to pay obeiyance to Batu Malai Murugan!
The climb is steep and you run out of breath soon. But paradise awaits you on top.
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The floor is cool, the atmosphere hill-like. Unrealisingly you feel trance-like, the weariness of cllimbing forgotten.
You worship Murugan and then sit down on the floor to take in the senses pervading you.
You understand now why milliuns of devotees gather here every Thaipusam, making it the biggest congregration of Hindus in the world!
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If you are doubtful, try typing Thaipusam in google and see where it takes you. :D
Very Tempting.. :slurp:
The world's best economical airlines with the tagline "Now everyone can fly."Quote:
Originally Posted by Dinesh84
http://www.airasia.com/my/en/home.html
Thamizhvaanan @ Emu @ Benny Lava was here a few weeks ago; awaiting his experiences....
P_R, (or anybody who has gotten a Msia/Spore tourist visa from India) - How long does it take for one to get both the visas (from the Chennai consulate)? What's the procedure? I guess one can simply send their passport and documents and they ll stamp the visa and send it back? From what I saw in the internet it takes 2 working days each for Singapore/Malaysia. Is that right? Is there a way to expedite it?
Googleaandavar aint helping :-(
It took me 4-5 days for Sing and Malaysia together - travel agent did it, so don't know the time splits. Both counsels are in Chennai. I don't think it can expedited more. Sing IIRC requires you to copies of tickets booked -in and out - and a credit card (for expenses).
Sing: My second daughter had to come here on a tourist visa and we then applied for her dependent visa. So, we had to expedite the process. IIRC, it was done in 2 days. Conduct Magellan Travels, Chetpet - 28363747/28363617
Yes, we send the passport, tickets and they send it back with the visa
" Conduct Magmellan travels":rotfl: - ingE kooda word distortionA? Adhu magmellanA mcmillanA? edhai distort pannuvingannu edhai mAttingannu sollave mudiyaradhillai
நன்றி P_R/Bala. Will contact immediat. Ingana irukkura consulate-aiyum visaarikkanum. I may not have 4-5 days during my India trip next month to wait on it.. Anyway lets see how it goes..
Thank you a_e. I guess they have stopped issuing visa on arrival for Indian nationals. And we plan on going from India and coming back to India.
I actually got the Singapore visa. This piece of info may be useful to future travelers - Singapore visa process is extremely easy. They issue e-visas. This was the first time I heard of such a term. All you need to know is some PR/citizen from Singapore who can apply for you using his/her SingPass. Applied online, (you just need to upload a picture, give some basic details on that form) at around 6 a.m. Singapore time and I got the e-visa issued at around 4 p.m. the same day. Excellent process :clap: :thumbsup:
But Malaysia aint e-visa I guess.. As far as I have seen Malaysia's govt. websites are very shoddy. They have a consulate in the USA and when I asked about visa requirements, they simply hung up on me.
vetkka paduren vEdhanai padurEn.... :cry:
pls see whether this is of any help...
http://www.kln.gov.my/web/guest/requ...-for-foreigner
BTW, should we prepare for a KL Hubbers Meet? :D
Certainly useful NOV. Anyway I am going to contact a travel agency in Chennai to get the Msian visa. They said the turnaround time is 2 days.
As for the hubbers meet, I may not have the time. Too many things to do in KL/Penang/Genting and too little time (3 days). And we are a big group too (Father, Mother, Bro, Sis-in-law, nephew, niece + us). So don't know if I can steal some time. Will let you know if I can..
I found the other posts in this thread very helpful. Thanks to you and P_R. :ty:
1 question - The train website (sing-Msia) does not work or I don't know how to query it.. (http://www.ktmb.com.my) I chose singapore and KL sentral it does not show any trains.
Why do you want to take the train, esp since you are rushing for time. Flight from Singapore to KL is only 30 mins, while it will take abt 6 hours by train.
For train route, go here: http://ktmintercity.com.my/default.asp?id=25&mnu=2
Choose North & South line
I think there are only two trains - one early in the morning and one late at night.
Thank you NOVji. Flights are expensive unless you take an early morning or late night. Those are fine too but Fri late night and Sat early morning are not cheap and thats when we want to go :oops: Anyway I guess even trains aint that cheap. Still exploring the options..
Try Air Asia http://www.airasia.com/my/en/home.html
Cheap no-frills flight
Just tried for Jan 10th midday - the cost pp is just 36 Sing dollars or 27USD!
Yes I did try Airasia/Tiger/Jetstar. Dec 22nd eve-night or 23rd early morning is expensive. Btw we booked the return (to India) through airasia, got the promo fair. 8 tickets for around 47K INR. This is including seat selections, 4 pieces of check-in baggage.
Sounds good. Include the meal too.
btw, make sure you check in online, otherwise you will have to pay for it at the airport.
for your sing-KL journey, suggest you take a bus.
4 hours ride only
This is one of the better ones: https://www.aeroline.com.sg/sin_kul.html