Boat Basin, sometimes called boating basin which is one of the most popular food street in Karachi. Located near Benazir Bhutto Park Clifton, Boat Basin has all kinds of restaurants serving Desi, Fast Food and Chinese Cuisines. Despite the variety of food items available, Boat Basin Karachi is considered absolutely not the place for the families. The reasons are listed below:
Congested Parking
As the food street is located on the service road, you’ll find it mostly blocked by the restaurant owners by placing the seating arrangements for customers and grills for the barbecue. With the remaining space left, parking is really hard to find. So if you are visiting the place, be prepared for such issues.
Seating arrangement and cleaning issues
A part from parking issues, the seating arrangement and cleanliness is also a major issue. You’ll find trash everywhere while dining thrown by customers. Even though most restaurants have family halls, there are relatively smaller in size. As far as the seating arrangement is concerned, you can see the image below to get my point:
Customers Themselves
Customers or I must say, the class of customers that usually visit the place aren’t that much literate and often behave in an awful manner. Unless you aren’t familiar with Pakistani culture and customs, it is a very big mistake to bring your family to dine at this place.
Restaurant owners desperate for customers
With family or not, as soon as you enter their “territory” even though you are just passing by and have no intention to eat at all, waiters from the nearby restaurants will swarm at their prospective customers to make them dine at their restaurant each one appearing more desperate than the other. Their behavior will sure irritate you enough to flee the area swearing never to show yourself in this place again.
Hot and Humid Environment
With most of the restaurants being open air, Karachi usually has a humid climate especially during the months of June, July and August. Moreover, the seating arrangements are quite close to the grills and coal bins where barbecue is prepared adding more heat. So it is highly recommended NOT to visit this place in this months.
*Please note that all images and GIFs are been taken from google.
Are you willing to try something new or different to eat? Are you willing to change your taste? Well, there comes a time when you are trying to eat the same thing over and over again. Even when it is your favorite, you can eat it all the time; every day the same dish will even make your favorite dish taste and even look awful. Whenever this happens, you often want to change your taste and try something different. That’s the theme of this blog i.e. to explore and trying something different whether is it a place or something to eat. Anyway, coming back to our topic, there are some places when I found different than the norms defined.
Solace Istanbul
If you love Turkish food or anything not too spicy and a big fan of barbeque, this place is for you. As the name suggests, it’s a Turkish restaurant. Restaurant began by restaurateur Mehmet Celal Ulutatar, it has been labeled “A treat from Turkey” by Express Tribune, a local newspaper from Pakistan.
Solace Istanbul Counter
I had a chance to eat it food court at Dolmen Mall with family and ordered two platters including Doner Kebab, grilled chicken, bread and rice with two soft drinks. Two platters cost is about Rs. 2400 for four persons. Even the owner of the restaurant was seen at the counter monitoring the staff. As far as the taste is concerned, it wasn’t too spicy retaining the flavors of meat. Overall, the taste was really good, new and something different.
Solace Istanbul BBQ platter
Naan Sahab
Located in Khayaban e Bukhari Commercial (Bara Bukhari) area in Karachi, I had a chance to visit my friend on weekend and he insisted me to visit this place. It’s a small, open air restaurant serving tea, soft drinks, appetizers like fries, onion rings, garlic bread etc. and their specialty; stuffed Naan (A popular oven-baked flatbread found in the Middle Eastern, Central Asian and South Asian cuisines). We looked at the menu and found a variety of stuffed naans and ordered Chicken Chedder Melt Naan and Tex Mex Naan as we agreed to order a spicy one and a mild one. I must say the taste was awesome. It almost felt like as you are eating a stuffed pizza. I would recommend everyone to visit there and try something different to eat. For the menu and other details, please visit their facebook page.
Chaiwala
Chai has become an integral part of our culture over the past few decades introduced by the British. Along with chai, we also require few snacks to be served now a days or else, we feel something is missing. I won’t talk about something missing in this blog but I will talk about something different especially if you want to make your tea time special.
Similar to Naan Sahab mentioned earlier, this place is quite similar except that they server stuffed Parathas instead of stuffed Naans. Along with that, their main theme is Chai and they have a lot variety of Chai available from normal tea with milk to Cadbury chai, Elaichi (Cardamom) Chai, Adrak (Ginger Chai) etc. Along with Chai, they also server Kahwa (Green Tea). I had a chance to try one of their Gourmet Parathas and Ginger Tea and I had quite a good time. You can visit their website http://www.chaiwala.pk/ for details.
Iysh Cleem
If you have a sweet tooth plus you are an ice cream lover, then I guess you have to visit Iysh Cleem. It is an ice cream parlor and by reading it’s name, you can imagine your two year old kid saying “I want some iysh cleem!”
Iysh Cleem 3 step
The unique thing about this place is they have installed a large screen at the counter where you can see the making of the ice cream live.
Iysh Cleem Live
I went there only once with family and tried there Choco nuts, Oreo and Peanut flavor. Choco nuts and Oreo was good but Peanut felt like you get a stash of peanuts in your mouth and you won’t even feel the cream. One more thing, they use Nutella in their chocolate flavors. Well I would rate this for being something different but as I went there only once, I can’t say much about it.
I had a chance to visit Port Grand with family, a carnival themed food street located near Native Jetty Bridge connecting Karachi Port Trust (KPT) to Kemari, a neighborhood located near boat harbor. If you are looking for a place containing both entertainment and food and you are with a family, this place might be good for you. Luckily I had a UBL Bank debit Card with allowed me to get three entries for free; I mean almost fee as they charged a rupee for it so I had to buy only once ticket instead of four for PKR 300 only. We missed the sunset at due to traffic issues in the city but still got the dusky view of the site.
Dusk at Port Grand Karachi
As far as entertainment is concerned, you’ll find 6D cinema showing an animated video just under ten minutes along with motion ride you give you a feel that you are part of the movie. We wanted to enjoy it but on the day we visited, it had a technical problem so we had to skip it. A part from 6D cinema, there are various activity stalls also available like karaoke stall, palmist, street market stalls, magic shows, puppet shows, street musicians, face painting and other activities for children.
Street musicians playing flute and dholak
Food stalls included street food including fries, kabab rolls, gol gappy, chaat and various franchises of restaurants in Pakistan like Mr. Cod, OPTP, Walls ice cream etc. We opted for Afridi Inn restaurant and ordered Koyala Chicken Karhai and Chapli Kababs; a famous dish of KPK Pakistan.
Afridi Inn restaurant balcony
Panorama of Afridi Inn restaurant balcony
We had a great refreshing experience. I must say it is a great place to spend time with family and enjoy as it has everything whether you are a child or an adult.
Last week I randomly asked my colleague where I can find the best Singaporean rice. He immediately told me about this restaurant which he heard about another employee in a separate department which he called Rice Factory because he didn’t remember the name very well. Anyhow, I googled it and found the correct name which was Rice Station as well as the location of the restaurant.
Rice Station Restaurant location map
We reached there in few minutes. As we entered, we found the restaurant small but neat and clean. Staff was well mannered as well and even the theme they chose for their restaurant was quite good.
Rice Station Restaurant from inside
Menu was in the form of a notepad clipped on a clipboard and included sections of Chinese, Curry, Pakistani, Fish and Chello.
Rice Station Restaurant menu
They had focused of a specific cliché of rice dishes only even though they also included an exception for few dishes with which bread can also be ordered with bread. We ordered Singaporean rice because that’s what we wanted to eat. We further decided to order more dishes as the waiter said the items mentioned on the menu are single serving or enough for one person only. So we ordered two more dishes included Tawa fried fish with fries and rice as recommended by the staff and Chello Hara Masala Kebab served with baked vegetables and fries.
Order Served
If we rate our overall experience at the restaurant, I would say it was wonderful. Serving was on time, staff was polite and taste was good as well especially the Tawa fish. However, until and unless you eat a lot, one serving is enough for two persons. I would definitely recommend this restaurant especially when you are a foodie and looking for a change.
Drawback:
The only drawback I found in this restaurant was the odd way of serving. The second time we went there and asked for some plates, what we got was the same tray that can be seen in the picture and we ate in quite hyper hazard way. So I suggest the restaurant should keep this option in mind to provide plates as they do serve bread/roti instead of rice on demand.
After hearing from my colleague Irfan and learning about the road trip I mentioned in my previous blog, I decided to accompany him on the next road trip from Karachi to Hyderabad to have a dinner of Palla fish. The group consisted of both mid-level as well as low level staff. It seemed like placing a Manager and a Janitor together so you can imagine the clash of standards as well as the taste regarding music, habits etc. Anyhow, we all regrouped at the office and from there, we had booked a bus to take us to Hyderabad using the National Highway. We departed minutes after 2 p.m. and reached the highway almost within an hour.
Hyderabad Trip Intro
The time we got on the highway, we were speedy as there was very limited traffic. We even saw the newly built Bahria Town and DHA city on the way.Soon we reached at Nooriabad in the afternoon at 4 p.m. and had tea as well as prayed ASAR.
Stopover at Nooriabad
After the tea break, we left for Hyderabad and reached there by sunset. After prayer at the mosque near the famous Bombay Bakery, we came to the bakery to buy their famous cake. These bakers have opened their bakery at their own residence and have no other branch most probably because they don’t want their recipes to be leaked. Cakes weren’t there and were supposed to be ready after an hour. So we had to wait for an hour even though being the first in line. During out wait, we met another customer in the line who had given the order in advance of cakes. He explained that at least 2 lbs of chocolate and coffee cakes are the specialty of this bakers because these cakes include an extra layer of butter to make it tastier.
Bombay Bakery and the crowd
Anyhow, after nearly an hour wait, we got the cakes and went for Al-Manzar Restaurant at Jamshoro to have the fish dinner. Upon arriving there, we learned that there wasn’t the season for Palla fish. All they had was the fish from cold storage. Instead, they had Rahu fish which was big and fresh. We ordered Barbeque and fried fish which was marinated with batter made of tamarind and spices and was absolutely delicious.
BBQ and Fried Rahu fish
After the dinner, we headed back to Karachi. We had a small stopover for tea on our way back to Karachi and after nearly 3 hours, we finally reached our meetup point in Karachi which was couple of blocks away from home.
Karachi to Hyderabad road trip quick view
The thing I learned in this trip is that there will be situations that you might have to travel with different kinds of people. Likewise I said earlier that I travel with low level staff, they belong to different class, had different set of values and the way they were behaving like ignorant irritated me a lot. I admit I struggled half of the trip with the way they were behaving and in fact became so frustrated that I even tried to throw the cell phone of one of the guys traveling with me out of the window. Anyhow, after a few rough encounters, I finally had in under control and enjoyed the rest of the trip with quite ease.
The title might look different or even confusing. One question that may arise in your mind which will be like…BOTCHED?! WHAT DID GO WRONG? Well of course, it’s was trip which was in fact my foreign trip as well as my first ever trip which I failed to plan well. In fact, my overcautious behaviour led to thoughts like “What if this happened?” “What if that got wrong?” As a result everything got wrong resulting a messed up trip and still I feel the guilt of not planning it well. Think of this post as a mini blog. I won’t explain long but in fact a few things that you SHOULD NOT do while going on such a trip especially when travelling as a couple or else, you will end in disaster. Before I get into the tips, this was the trip that I transformed into my first blog post. Besides sightseeing in the trip, the thing which got messed up were the expenses. Until and unless you are going alone or travelling with the group each handling their own expenses, please DON’T FOLLOW THE EXPENSE PLAN mentioned in the link. While planning such trip, just keep one thing in mind. You are going there to enjoy and you are NOT alone. So before going to the trip, do discuss the trip plan with your respective partner as your financial values may be different from your partner. Remenber! It’s your trip. YOU are going there to enjoy. People will say whatever they want to say and trust me, IT IS NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS! So let them say and enjoy your trip. The last thing what I want to say is no matter how hard you plan, things may go out of plan like delayed flights, issue in hotel booking even if you had made prior bookings, baggage issues etc. These issues will certainly make you anxious and frustrated at times so you must learn to face them together and try comforting the other that things will be ok in the end.
Well this is all what I wanted to say in this mini blog of mine. I am not an expert traveler but I must share and warn others if I fell in to a pit while walking on the road. Life is a roller coaster ride. It’s out choice whether to scream or enjoy the ride.
Whenever we talk about fast food, the most common franchises that come into our mind are McDonald’s, KFC, Hardees, Burger King, Pizza Hut etc. Obviously, they are popular worldwide and have been operating in Pakistan and especially Karachi for about two decades. Even travelling abroad, they are considered one of the easiest options available. However, in Karachi, food business is one of the most competitive businesses. Over the past few years, some local fast food franchises are setup with good food taste and relatively lower price. So the few which I have tried, I would love to quote them in this blog
OPTP (One Potato Two Potato)
Opened as a fast food outlet famous for their fries, they have expanded their business to one of the best fast food restaurants in Karachi. Still famous for their fries, burgers and fired chicken is also served in their restaurants. I would recommend to try their fried chicken, masala fries and jalapeño beef burger (Double stack also available) which are my favorite on their menu.
Burger Lab
Another out let famous for their burgers and curly fries, they have a unique characteristic of providing a buzzer whenever the customers place their order. The buzzer rings as their order becomes ready to be picked from the counter. However, a part from this, I recommend you to try their Smokey Fusion and Lab’s Original Burgers with curly fries.
Oh My Grill (OMG)
Same a Burger Lab, Oh My Grill known as OMG also offers similar cuisine of fast food. Swiss Mushroom Melt Burger and Classic Burger Single burgers are good choices for a tasty meal there. Furthermore, you have a choice for upgrading your burger to double patty by adding a little amount.
Big Thick BurgerZ (BTB)
Located just a couple of steps from OMG, BTB proves a nice competitor for its rival. The one’s I have tired are Swiss Blue cheese which they claim is their specialty and Little Dangerous containing Brazilian chilies. Just like OMG, you also have a choice of upgrading it to double patty but it also has a choice to upgrade your burger to Big Thick i.e. to upgrade your patty from 100 grams to 175 grams. It is worth a visit for a change of taste.
Broadway Pizza
After having burgers, let us shift to pizzas. Broadway pizzas is one of my favorite fast food chains that offering pizzas, sandwiches and pastas. Offering pizzas in 10, 13 and 20 inches with an awesome taste, I must say you better try them once. Apart from the size of the pizza, they also offer a choice for stuffed or thin crust. I recommend stuffed crust and for the choice of pizza, do go for Wicked Blend.
Pizza Crust
If you are looking for a better pizza with low price, you have the choice called Pizza Crust. The one closed to my home doesn’t have a good dine in service so I opt for either pizza delivery or take away. They also offer pastas and sandwiches. My favorites on the menu are Malai Boti and Mix 2 for Pizza choice and Chicken Lasagna for pastas.
After the “Burge_ effect” earlier, I often order milkshakes from McDonalds with my colleagues to have a sweet treat. This time, I thought to do something different. The co-worker urged me to order the milkshake (He loves it) but I decided to make a change for this time. Instead of ordering the Vanilla Milk Shake as usual, I opted for McDonalds Apple Cinnamon Sundae as a part of my new “Trexploration”. The order took an hour and five minutes to deliver. I handed over the shake and began enjoying the Sundae.
Well, it had much stronger taste of Cinnamon than the apple. The treat was different but Iwas quite delicious. With fluffy, creamy vanilla ice cream with apple cinnamon syrup like coating, I must say it’s a treat must having. People say they enjoy their Sunday to relax. I instead, enjoyed the “Sundae”. I would recommend to have this dessert if you want to have a change. It’s worth having.
Well, according to an urban dictionary, the word “Burge” refers to spilling booze and it’s after effects. However, I live totally on Halal diet and the word Burge_ in the title came from truncating the letter R from Burger. Now by connecting dots, the title refers to the McDonald’s newly introduced Mutton Burger in Pakistan which I happened to try last week. First of all this is what the Ad said about McDonald’s burger.
(Let’s celebrate! Here comes the cool mutton)
I ordered its Double Patty Mutton Burger with Tandoori sauce. To be honest, I thought it to be something different and somehow, unique. So far, I have only seen two kinds of options in burgers and sandwiches i.e. Beef or Chicken and tried McDonalds fish burger as well. However, this was the first time I saw a fast food restaurant offering a mutton burger. I ordered and tried the burger for dinner. Unfortunately, it wasn’t that extraordinary than I expected and as seen in the picture above. I mean it didn’t tasted bad or that bad after all but paying PKR 605 for something ordinary seemed like an experiment backfired. It almost tasted like Koftay; a traditional desi dish of meatballs in gravy.
Coincidently, which is funny, I had the same dish for dinner that night but I preferred the Burge_ over it. I would say, Big Mac is an ideal choice and a full meal without any risks of having a bad meal whenever we get a chance to eat at McDonalds. After all, it’s a one of the largest food franchises and just because of a single experiment which backfired, I don’t think we should consider it a bad place to eat.
My first international holiday included sightseeing in Kuala Lumpur or KL and Langkawi, Malaysia was quite a learning experience. Located in Southeast Asia, Malaysia is a country comprising of two territories separated by South China Sea, tropical climate and comprising of multi ethnic religious groups. From white sandy beaches to lush green landscapes of Langkawi to concrete urban jungle of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia is considered to be one of the most popular tourist destinations. Sightseeing in Kuala Lumpur including PETRONAS Towers KL, KL Aquaria, KL Bird Park, Central Market KL are good options. In Langkawi, water sports activities like jet skiing, Parasailing and island hopping are great activities. Don’t forget to visit Sky Bridge with Gondola (Cable Car) ride. In short, Malaysia can be thought of as a blend of Indian and Chinese ethnicity
Day 1: Arriving at Kuala Lumpur
Well, as our flight got delayed for three hours at Karachi airport and we missed the connecting flight in Bangkok so the Day 1 was quite restricted to duty free shops at the airport. We reached Malaysia at KL airport at about 8 p.m. local time and the immigration and Baggage claim took about an hour and a half. We had already booked the tickets of KLIA (Kuala Lumpur International Airport) Ekspres train; a rapid train service that runs from the airport to KL Sentral, the area where our hotel was located nearby. Normally, the airport is about at least 45 minutes to an hour drive from the city but the rapid train takes only 30 minutes to reach the KL Sentral. By the time we reached the airport, we were extremely exhausted and it was nearly 10 p.m. So we had to rest after such a stressful journey.
View from Hotel in KL
Day 2: Visiting KL Tower
After booking our airline ticket to Langkawi for the next day, our first spot for sightseeing in Malaysia to see was the KL tower. Originally built for communication purposes as it has an antenna more than a thousand feet high and said to be 7th tallest free standing tower, it is a really good place for tourists to see as a panoramic view of the city can be seen from the building. It also serves as an observatory for moon sighting for the beginning of RAMADHAN; the fasting month observed by the Muslims, Eid-ul-Fitr and Eid-ul-Adha.
Even though the staff there will help you, make sure what levels are included when you buy your tickets. There is a ticket for the Observation Deck which allows you only to visit the Observation Deck which is of course a little cheaper. Until and unless you are afraid of heights, you can buy the Sky Deck ticket which includes both the Sky Deck and the Observation Deck.
Sky Deck is the top most level of KL tower including the Sky box made up of transparent class. Once can view the complete view of the city from the top. Sky Deck also includes an area known as Sky Box, an area made up of transparent glass mainly used for photography. There is a photographer there who will take your snaps which you may collect on your way out but they’ll charge for it.
Sky box at sky deck
On the observation deck, there are several souvenir shops as well as an installed binocular for the city view.
Observatory Deck
A part from that, the KL tower included other attractions nearby as well such as a revolving restaurant, mini zoo, F1 simulator, KL-forest Park and many more. For further information, please visit https://www.menarakl.com.my/index.php.
Day 3: Flying to Langkawi
We had our flight to Langkawi in the afternoon. Unfortunately due to the Chinese new year, airfare were higher and most of the airlines as well as the hotels near the beach were full. There are options available for cheap airlines among which Air Asia, a Malaysian based carrier is the most popular in Malaysia and its neighboring countries. The flight took slightly above an hour to reach Langkawi. Langkawi is an archipelago of several islands. As compared to the busy urban city of Kuala Lumpur, Langkawi is a quiet place famous mainly for its beaches and landscapes. Please not that Langkawi has taxis as the only means of public transport with fixed fares. Other option is to rent a motor bike/scooter or car which can be more expensive if the stay is longer.
View of Langkawi from the airplane
We had a stay at its capital town Kuah and fortunately had a shopping mall and food court with reasonable prices nearby. We reached to our hotel an hour before sunset and had a plan to visit Eagle Square that evening. The cheapest option is also available to rent a bicycle but it also is the most tiring as places to see like Sky Bridge and Pantai Chenang beach are located 30 to 40 minutes away from Kuah town.
Sunset view at Kuah town
Day 4: Visiting Sky Bridge
We had a plan to visit Sky Bridge which was located about 40 minute drive from our hotel. It’s a large 125 meters long bridge suspended 660 meters above sea level reached via cable car known as “Gondola”. We had to wait for about more than an hour because the cable cars weren’t operational due to strong winds.
Queue for cable car entrance
We wondered because we were on the ground and it was quite a hot day. As we had already purchased our tickets online so we went to the cable car a bit quicker than others. The longer lanes can be avoided by purchasing the tickets for Express lane. Plus various Gondola options are also available like Private Gondola, VIP Gondola, and Bottom Glass Gondola etc. Other attractions a part from SkyBridge like SkyDome, 3D Art, 6D Cinemotion, Time travel etc. which can be found in the following link along with ticket info: http://www.panoramalangkawi.com/. There are three stations from getting to the SkyBridge. Base Station is the first from where you’ll actually get on to the cable car, Middle Station which is a stop between SkyBridge and Base Station for a panoramic view of the landscape and finally the Top Station which is the main entrance towards the SkyBridge.
Cable car departure from Base station
Inside the Gondola Sky Bridge
We got on to the station and as the cable car(s) went operational and we got on to it, we surely realized what the officials meant because the winds were literally shaking our Gondola J On our way towards the SkyBridge we had a glimpse of waterfalls known as “seven wells” based on a legend and a fact that these waterfalls fall in to seven ponds.
View of Seven Wells from Gondola
We had a short stopover at the middle station to have a view of landscape.
View of SkyBridge from Middle Station
From middle station, the cable car towards the Top Station will take hardly three to five minutes. On reaching the Top Station, a separate ticket is to be purchased. It depends upon the choice whether you take “Sky Glide”, a slow sliding cable car that will take you to the SkyBridge which has slightly a higher ticket or you may walk taking steps towards the SkyBridge. We took the steps to have more of a close-to-nature experience J; but remember there are signs saying “Don’t feed or tease the monkeys” if encountered any as they may become hostile.
Steps towards the skybridge
Walking the SkyBridge is one of the wonderful experiences you may have. Standing several feet high above the ground, experiencing gusts of wonderful breeze and surrounded by beautiful lush green landscapes of both mountains and sea.
Standing on SkyBridge
Tourists walking on the SkyBridge
View from SkyBridge
Glass spot SkyBridge
Day 5: Fun at Pantai Cenang beach
We planned to visit the famous Pantai Cenang beach of Langkawi to enjoy the Jet Ski ride with parasailing and swimming. It took us about twenty five to thirty minutes to reach the beach. The day was quite hot with low tides to it was somehow, a really good condition to enjoy our day at the beach. Even though there are several tour operators available at the beach, I suggest you do your homework early. Most famous operators for watersports are Mega, Naam, Toro and Seeman watersports. They offer both Jet Ski and boat island tours which include swimming, snorkeling and banana boat ride. We chose Jet Ski ride and Parasailing for the day. The prices of Jet Ski ride vary by the type of Jet Ski you choose.
About To Para-sail
Parasailing Takeoff
Parasailing view
Apart from the picture above, it is a unique feeling. It will give you goose bumps initially especially when you get pulled and then lift off the ground into the air but then it’s a really exciting feeling like conquering the fear especially when you are afraid of heights and even if not, it will surely scare you a bit.
Parasailing Landing
Day 6 and 7: Visiting KL Bird Park and Central Market KL
We had our flight back to KL after spending three days in Langkawi. We reached our hotel in KL after departing from Langkawi at 10 a.m. As the Chinese New Year had begun, we took some rest in the afternoon and then went for some shopping at the nearby mall as various outlets were offering discounts on Chinese New Year. The next day, we planned to visit Central Market KL which the oldest market in Malaysia since 1888 and KL bird park, once of the largest bird sanctuaries in Asia. After spending some time at the market, we went for KL Bird Park which is situated nearby. Spread over 20 acres and divided into several zones, one can walk through and view various species of birds ranging from ostriches and ducks to flamingos, owls, peacocks and hornbills.
Birds at KL Bird Park
After the tour, we had our lunch at Hornbill Restaurant in the park. Though expensive, it was worth a place for dining out. We had decided to visit KL Petronas Towers later evening but it started to rain. So we had to postpone it for the next day.
Day 8: KLCC PArk, Petronas and KL Aquaria
The day before leaving back home, we decided to visit KL Petronas and the KL Aquaria. We left after breakfast but it began to rain. So we got into the KLCC shopping mall and wandered a bit there. As soon as the rain stopped, we went to the KL City Central Park also known as KLCC Park.
Petronas Towers KL
In front of Petronas Towers Malaysia
We later had a lunch at the shopping mall. After the lunch, we went downstairs for visiting the KL Auqaria. As the name suggests, it is a place containing large sent of marine animals ranging from sea turtles to different kind of fishes like sharks, alligator fishes.
KLCC Aquaria
Expenses
I suggest cheap holiday options it may get hectic. Although couch surfing is quite common, it can be unsafe. What we did was to keep a balance between cost saving and luxury and opted for three and four start hotels instead which cost us about 35 USD per night. For details regarding booking, please refer to www.booking.com.
Due to Chinese New Year in Malaysia, most of the hotels were completely booked so we had limited options available. Street food is quite cheap which costs about 10 to 30 MYR (3 to 7 USD) per meal. Taxis are not usually metered so you’ll have to pre bargain or use options like Uber. So, most tourists usually opt for public transport options like buses and local rail systems. You’ll find the details of routs online or even leaflets available in hotels. For domestic flights within Malaysia, cheap flight options are also available among which Air Asia is the most popular. For sightseeing, in case you have “MyKad”, you’ll find cheaper tickets at most sights at a low price. Otherwise, sightseeing will be relatively expensive.
Safety
Malaysia is a safe country with an extremely low crime rate. However, you’ll find notices while landing at Malaysian airport that beware you from illegal taxis and encouraging you not to use them. Even petty crimes are common but violent crimes are low.
View from Hotel in KL
Sky box at sky deck
Observatory Deck
View of Langkawi from the airplane
Sunset view at Kuah town
Queue for cable car entrance
Cable car departure from Base station
View of Seven Wells from Gondola
View of SkyBridge from Middle Station
Steps towards the skybridge
Tourists walking on the SkyBridge
View from SkyBridge
Seek & Eat 