Ambot ah! Travel Blog

An awesome thing about major cities in the Philippines is that excellent island getaways are just a short land/sea trip away. It was my last full day in Davao and I just couldn’t pass off the opportunity to visit Samal Island. The Pearl Farm Resort comes to mind with a mention of Samal but I wasn’t in any mood to splurge … so I fired up google maps and scoured for other potential (cheap) places to visit. I eventually saw an interesting islet located south of mainland Samal called “Talikud.” Saw photos of its beautiful white sand beaches and I inevitably got hooked!

Waiting for the “Talikud Island” ferry to depart from Santa Ana Wharf in Davao City.

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The skybridge tour at the Petronas Twin Towers is actually offered for free. The problem was that a limited number of tickets was offered per day. To get these tickets, we’d have to be at the ticket booth really early in the morning. I’ve read that at 8am, the queue really starts to swell up and if we arrive later, there’s a high chance that we’d have to wait in line for hours just to have our 15-minute skybridge tour.

We set our alarm at 5AM. Really really early especially since we returned to the hotel past midnight leaving us barely 5 hours of sleep.

When I woke up, I was shocked to find out that it was already a quarter to 8am. Our attempt to get in line early was an epic fail. Much to our relief, our aunt sent us a message that she was already at the ticket booth waiting in line for us. Yay, we were still on track :) One person can reserve up to 5 tickets for the Petronas Twin Towers Skybridge tour.

Morning view of the Suria Mall and Petronas Twin Towers from across the fountain area

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Seeing the colossal twin spires of the Petronas Towers from afar, it was undeniable that we’ve finally arrived in the city of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

When I had just developed a fascination for modern man-made megastructures, the Petronas Twin Towers held the spot as the tallest building in the world. Getting to see it in person was like a culmination of a childhood desire.

Although I’ve just briefly seen it behind the glass window of the bus and monorail ride, I was already appeased because we were already in KL and I knew it was just a matter of time before I could finally see it up close.

Welcome sight of the Petronas Twin Towers during the bus ride to KL

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It was already a quarter to six in the afternoon. At this time, I’m usually scrambling for a good spot to take sunset photos. In KL (and the rest of West Malaysia and Singapore), however, sunsets happen very late in the day. The sky was still very bright, which afforded us time to travel from Bukit Bintang in Kuala Lumpur city center to the Batu Caves.

The Batu Caves is a limestone hill famous for being home to a Hindu shrine built within its spacious caverns. It’s one of the most popular tourist attractions in Kuala Lumpur. From Agora Hotel in Bukit Bintang, we took the KL monorail to Bukit Nanas Station then changed to the Rapid KL line at Dang Wangi Station and dropped off at the Gombak Rapid KL Station.

Yeah, caves were quite far from the city center. From Gombak Station, Batu Caves was a final 20 minute taxi ride away.

Witnessing the sunset at Batu Caves, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

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After a quick walking tour of Melaka, we continued our journey to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

We waited for bus #17 at the Dutch Square (in front of Tang Beng Swee Clock Tower). The bus route looped between Melaka City Center and Melaka Bus Terminal, . 

Travel Time took around 30 minutes (RM1.50 fare). On our way to Melaka Sentral, the bus passed by a few interesting spots outside the city center such as the Eye on Malaysia Giant Ferris Wheel and Chinese district with narrow streets lined with old shop houses.

Bus #17 stops in front of the Tang Beng Swee Clock Tower and Christ Church in Dutch Square, Melaka

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We arrived in Melaka, Malaysia in the dead of night. It was only around 9 in the evening but the city looked like it had already gone past its bedtime. The shady city blocks drastically turned to a new light come morning.

Visiting Melaka was more of my idea. Given my liking for old cities, it was a place I’d totally prioritize if I were traveling solo.

We only allotted an hour (two hours tops) for an early morning walking tour of Melaka. It was too short, I know, but we wanted to leave early so we could spend as much time as possible in the capital, Kuala Lumpur, for our first time experience in Malaysia.

Early morning at the Melaka River in Melaka, Malaysia

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We were on our way to Malaysia from Singapore. There were three ways to go at it: by plane, train, or bus. After weighing out all the options, we decided to take the bus. It was the cheapest option and afforded us the chance to see a bit of the Malaysian countryside before arriving in Kuala Lumpur.

There were several bus companies offering daily trips for the 4 to 5 hour bus ride from Singapore direct to Kuala Lumpur Malaysia. We discovered we could spend half the bus fare if we crossed over to Johor Bahru, Malaysia first and then catch a local bus from there.

Our new plan got us to consider taking an overnight stopover halfway between Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. Melaka was an easy winner since it’s after all a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Kranji MRT Station at the outskirts of Singapore

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Singapore is a highly cosmopolitan city. I was amazed at the diversity of cultures in its society. I live in an somewhat ethnographically homogeneous place. It was kind of a new experience for me to interact with different races.

For our walking tour of Chinatown, I wanted to see the multi-cultural facets in this old district of Singapore. Chinatown implies a place with strong Chinese influence. Beyond the main streets of Chinatown, we also got to see influences from other cultures.

It was cool to be able to visit a Chinese temple, Hindu temple, Mosque, and a Christian Church all in one day … and within walking distance from each other.

Singapore Central Business District

Walking past the Singapore CBD towards Chinatown

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