Hi travelers!
By reading this thread, you are one step closer to experience Malaysian Hospitality. The year 2020 is Visit Malaysia Year as announced by Malaysian Tourism. Hence, i would like to share a few facts about Malaysia Truly Asia to assist travelers like you in being more prepared to visit our beautiful country.
Visit Malaysia official logo |
1. The Airport
Malaysia has two main international airports, which are KLIA 1 and KLIA 2. Should you fly with our Air Asia, the terminal would be in KLIA 2. For other carriers, you will land at KLIA 1. Both are linked to KLIA Express service. Besides that, we also have a direct flight to Kota Kinabalu, Kuching, Penang and Johor Bharu to their respective international airport. From KLIA you can also fly all over Malaysia as all of our main cities are linked by air transportation.
For this entry, i will only focus on trip to Kuala Lumpur, and it's nearby areas i.e. Selangor and Putrajaya.
From KLIA to Kuala Lumpur City Centre (KLCC), there are few options to commute.
i. KLIA Express
Fastest but not the cheapest. Only 28 minutes to KL Sentral, which is the hub of KL rail transport system. From KL Sentral you can use LRT/MRT/Komuter/Monorail to about all places in KL.
fares for KLIA Express |
ii. Taxi
A coupon system requires you to buy at a dedicated counter. Depending on the area, the fares could be cheaper or expensive than KLIA express. Time-wise also depending on the area and traffic condition. I have personally experienced paying RM 65 for less than 10 KM journey, from KLIA 2 to a nearby budget hotel.
iii. Bus
Also using coupon system. The cheapest option with only RM 10-12/person from KLIA to KL Sentral. Not too slow either because the route from KLIA to KL Sentral is mostly 3 lanes highway.
ix. E-hailing service
In Malaysia, the prominent service is Grab. We have few others but i have never used it. For Grab, currently, the flat rate from KLIA to any place within KL is RM 65. If you travel in a group of 4, indeed this is a cheaper option than KLIA express and you do not have to carry your luggage like if you are using rail transportation.
2. The Hotels
Kuala Lumpur offers a wide range of hotel selections that fit any budget. If you come from a country with higher currency value than our ringgit, this is your time to enjoy luxury hotels at a budget fares. For example, our 6 stars hotel next to the famous PETRONAS Twin Tower is only at RM 800/night, just around USD 200.
Grand Hyatt KL is walking distance to PETRONAS Twin Tower |
Other luxury hotels are also available at lower prices and are also nearly located to Twin Tower.
3. Public Transport
As mentioned above, KL city is conveniently connected with an efficient rail system. You can go almost everywhere. Just buy the tourist pass for cheaper fares. Visit
http://www.klpass.com/
for better info on the pass.
KL also has Free Bus services for inner-city area where you can hop in to visit attraction places like Central Market, Dataran Merdeka, KLCC etc.
The free bus is convenient and clean too |
4. The Food
Malaysia is a paradise of food. Local foods are readily available from the streets to fancy restaurants. You can try Malay, Chinese and Indian food as the basics. We also have a countless variety of foods from all over the world as Malaysia is truly diversified when it comes to food. Our food is halal, mainly for Muslim travelers unless you eat at the Non Halal restaurant.
5. The Language
English is widely spoken. Hence you will not be facing a language barrier in Malaysia. For Mandarin or Cantonese speakers, mo mantai. Our locals Chinese are also everywhere in the city. For Tamil or Urdu speakers, our local Indians are also many. For Malay speakers, you are in the land of Malay people hahaha. On top of this, we Malaysian are prepared with essential Japanese, Korean because of J Pop and K Pop. We are also very friendly (self-proclaim) and eager to assist foreigners in need of help.
I guess that is all for the basics. If i garnered reasonable readers, i might continue with more tips about Malaysia Truly Asia.
Go now and book your trip to Malaysia! See you soon.....