My dad had been insisting on taking a family holiday since the beginning of the year and while I had pretty easy-going schedule the entire year I didn’t bother to pay attention to his idea of this ‘family holiday’.
Until… He proposed to take a vacation in the very amazing, Malaysia. The nonchalant girl had instantly turned into an excited little monkey. Since I had an aunt living in Kuala Lumpur, the hotel expenses were automatically eliminated. Which obviously meant an increased budget for shopping *cue the song – Girls just wanna have fun*.
And then, a day before New Year’s Eve we flew from New Delhi to our destination Kuala Lumpur where our incredible holiday finally kicked off!
Day 1: By 5 A.M. (Malaysian Time), my flight had landed in KL. We took a cab to the city and reached my aunt’s place within an hour. Smooth traffic, clean roads, fresh air, KL won my heart instantly.
Fun fact: There was no sunrise in the city until 7 A.M. Can you believe it?!
After getting freshened up and catching a quick nap, we were all set to traverse the city. So we got out and got into one of the GoKL buses.
Another fun fact: These buses run free-of-charge for everybody and even give you free Wi-Fi. Now that was unbelievable!
And then we reached the mall called the Suria KLCC. Fabulous mall, great stuff and had delish Malay food.
Wrapping it up, we came back home and took a chai-break, because why-the-hell-not?
Post a little chit-chat about how amazing the city is, it was time to reach the Kuala Lumpur City Centre (KLCC) where the entire city had collected to bid farewell to 2016. So, we got there too.
It’s almost inexplicable how engrossing the environment was there at that point of time. The cheers, the happiness, the excitement and the love, it was too good to be true. And then, the clock struck 00:00 and the fireworks started and we welcomed the New Year with sheer ‘ullas’!
Day 2: The itinerary for New Year’s Day was picked by my cousin who suggested that we should drop by Zoo Negara, the national zoo of Malaysia. So we went there. Loved it!
Beautiful place and the best part was hands down, seeing the Pandas! Ughhh those grizzly, cute bears!
Next on our list was riding a roller coaster. So we headed to the Berjaya Times Square. BTS is home to Asia’s second-largest indoor theme park. So we took a ride there and I still cannot believe how I was able to do that not just once but twice!!
Day 3: This one was my favourite. Traversing the city on the KL Hop-On-Hop-Off bus. Oh, what an experience! From the National Museum to the China Town (Petaling Street), it was magnificent to ride the HoHo bus in KL.
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The whole day was all about this fun touristy thing.
Day 4: While the first leg of the tour was in Kuala Lumpur, next was in another state called Langkawi. Langkawi is famous for its beaches which have white sand and bundles of adventure activities. So we boarded our flight from KL airport and landed on the island of Langkawi within 2 hours.
The itinerary for Day 4 included checking into our Air B’n’B space, visiting the Lake of Pregnant Maiden, Pulau Beras Besah island, and Pekan Kuah. There we met a Pakistani restaurant owner with whom my dad ended up becoming best friends with.
Day 5: The fifth day included visiting the Underwater World and the Chenang beach.
What I can remember of visiting that aquaria were penguins and 3,000 types of other water animals.
The time at the beach was the most memorable one. The sun was hot but the shiny white sand and transparent colour of the water quickly lifted my mood. We ended up having the best time there and also befriended our guide because he understood Hindi very well. LOL.
Day 6: We came back to Kuala Lumpur and spent the entire day travelling. We visited the Batu Caves, Genting Strawberry Leisure Farms, and Genting Highlands. Another memorable experience under our belts.
Day 7: After our fulfilling shopping experience at KL, we boarded our flight to Delhi in the evening and were home by midnight.
The experience of visiting Malaysia was truly a memorable one. I wouldn’t change a thing. I’m sorry if this makes you feel like taking a trip right now, but I’m not sorry. Because you absolutely should!
Viva La Vida!
Image Credits: Cherryy Chauhan
