Selamat Malaysia!

We headed for Batu Caves early to avoid the tourist crowd and the heat of the 10 AM sun. We walked towards the Kuala Lumpur KMUTER station and grabbed food from a food stall on Central Market to eat along the way. The train stops exactly on Batu Caves. We were happy that save for two other ladies, we got the whole place to ourselves. We wore sarongs and climbed up the steps to see what's inside the cave. There were free roaming monkeys everywhere but they didn't bother us. We headed back down as the first wave of tourists started arriving.

    

For lunch, we headed to Limapulo: Baba Can Cook for some Nyonya Laksa. We arrived too early as the place was still closed but we got to chit chat with Uncle John. He was very friendly. He asked us how we heard of his place as it's not everyday that he gets to see Filipino tourists dropping by for some laksa. We also talked about traveling around Asia and exchanged travel tips. He also introduced us to Maria, one of his waitstaff, who was from the Philippines. We talked about her life working outside the country and about what's going on in the Philippines (Elections!). When the bowl of laksa was served, it smelled heavenly. When we tasted it, we literally had a foodgasm! We finished the entire bowl in  just a few minutes. People have formed a line waiting to be seated so we said our thank you's to Uncle John and Maria and went off.

We walked around Berjaya Times Square while looking for the mall's indoor roller coaster. We found it and Kaye tried to convince me to ride it but I'm too full I might vomit with all the movement. We went back to the hotel to freshen up and rest.

Our next stop was Merdeka Square but since we passed by Central Market, we stopped for awhile at Central Market to shop for souvenirs (fridge magnets and postcards). We had popiah and iced coffee before wandering off to Merdeka Square.

On our way to Merdeka Square, I secretly hoped that the place won't be crowded. Luckily, we arrived just in time for the last tour bus to leave. We sat on the grassy field and watched kids playing with their parents/nannies. We fast-walked back to our hotel when it started to drizzle.

Sultan Abdul Samad Building

Street's empty so we got to experiment with some pano tricks

Read about our first day in Malaysia here.

Touchdown, Malaysia!

Our adventure in Kuala Lumpur began with a visit to the Church of The Holy Rosary. Despite its population generally practicing Islam, Malaysia is home to other religions too, as evidenced by the presence of places of worship of other religions. After saying our prayers, we walked to Restoran Yarl to have lunch.

Restoran Yarl is a self-service restaurant run by Sri Lankan Tamils. Food is served in pots and trays on the side, and you take a dish and fill it up. The owners of the restaurant are friendly. Despite the language barrier, they tried to talk to us and answered our questions about the food and a bit of what brought them to Malaysia. Kaye and I shared a plate and this is what we had:

Forgive me for not taking note of their names but this is what we had

We ate with our hands and after getting our stomachs filled, we headed towards Citin Seacare Pudu to freshen up and catch some much needed sleep.

Petronas in the afternoon!

After a very relaxing sleep, we woke up at 5:00 PM and headed for the Petronas Towers. We strolled around KLCC park, took photos and watched people passing by. We also looked around Suria KLCC and had dinner at the food court. We had Nasi Goreng and Roti (No photos 'cause we were so hungry!). We got curious as to why there was a long line for Old Town Coffee so we also had some iced coffee and finally understood why there was a long line. The coffee was so good and having it iced in the middle of summer was so refreshing and energizing. There was also a fifteen-minute lights and water show on Symphony Lake just outside Suria KLCC. The water and lights "dancing" to the music was mesmerizing. We stayed there for two full cycles of the water show before heading off to Heli Lounge bar for drinks and good music.

Heli Lounge bar is located on the 34th floor of the Menara KH building. It took us a good 30-minute walk from Suria KLCC to Menara KH. When we got to Menara KH, the place looked closed for the day ( We arrived at 9:00 PM). There weren't any signs that say that Heli Lounge bar was still open and knowing it's Sunday, we thought that the bar was also closed. Luckily, there was a security guard and he directed us to the elevator and up we went to the 34th floor.

Cheers to day 1 of our first international trip to
 a country both of us has never been to :D

I am not sure if there was a dress code but everyone else was fancily dressed (we were in shorts, Sanuks and tees). We weren't asked to leave too so I guess we are dressed appropriately. We were received in an indoor lounge were they took our orders. We requested to be seated on the rooftop (the helipad) and luckily, there was a vacant table for us. True enough, the 360' view of Kuala Lumpur from the rooftop was breathtaking. You can see the Petronas Towers as well as the Menara KL tower. I can only imagine the views had we visited during sunset. We stayed there for about two hours and talked about how life has been on each other's side of the world. We walked to the hotel and prepared for day two of our adventure in Malaysia.

Mud Pies in a Tree House

It was one of those days when my friends and I just wanted to hang out, talk, drink coffee and eat dessert. Unfortunately, it was one of those days too that we don't have cash so Starbucks and all those fancy dessert places were not an option. We decided to go to the Treehouse behind STC to have some coffee at Cofifi (Heeey...that rhymed!) but the place was packed with students. Good thing there was a new dessert shop just beside Cofifi - Llew's Mud pies. Curious what mud pies taste like, we decided to stay there. However, when we got in, they were already cleaning up and were about to close and they won't serve mud pies anymore. T_T So, we took what was available - blueberry cheesecake and square pao. 

There was nothing special with the blueberry cheesecake, it tasted too sweet for me and not worth the price (45 php per cup). We got cheesy chicken square pao and although Karen didn't like it, I did. Still, I don't think it's worth the price since it's so tiny (it costs 35 php a piece and its dimensions are around 3" x 3"). >.< Oh, well. The next time we go back there(IF we go back there), we'll be early and I'll try the mud pie.

Llew's Mud Pies
Treehouse
Aboitiz St. Cebu City
Telephone no: (032) 511-1516 

Tablea Chocolate Cafe

While waiting for Karen at JY Square, I stumbled upon this quaint chocolate cafe called "Tablea." I guess it just opened, since I haven't seen this before. Remembering how my grandmother used to make hot chocolate out of tablea and how good it tasted with puto, I decided to wait for Karen there. I ordered a caramel latte and a mallow cluster. It wasn't really that good, I guess it had too much water and the sweetness wasn't really "caramel-y". The mallow cluster though was good. It wasn't too sweet, it tasted just right and there was a generous helping of walnuts and cacao nibs. Aside from coffee, they also serve chocolate drinks, shakes, sandwiches, crepes and some pastries. They also have the Tablea Sampler Box, which contains a piece or two of Tablea's products. I wanted to buy one so I can taste all of their products but since I was running low on cash, I just bought a Mallow Cluster Bar for my sister. ^__^

I plan to try the Chocolate-covered Cacao Beans on my next visit. According to the menu, these are whole roasted cacao beans double dipped in dark chocolate. I love dark chocolate and I love the cacao nibs in my mallow cluster. I'm also curious as to how bitter this would be, since as I remember, tablea is quite bitter in its pure form. :)

Tablea Chocolate Cafe
Branches:
Robinson's Cybergate Mall Don Gil Garcia Street,Cebu City 
SM Cebu Northwing Behind Watsons
JY Square Lahug, Cebu City
Telephone No: (032) 343 6669
Website: tablea.com.ph