Singapore & KL tour

On new year's day this year we left on a 5 day/4 night tour of Singapore & KL. We flew from Colombo to Singapore on a red eye flight. We had a great tour guide who picked us from the airport and brought us to our hotel near the Little India area. Very early in the morning we walked around the Mustafa Shopping Center,a 24-hr shopping mall selling a variety of merchandise. We had breakfast at one of the many of roadside cheap eateries with Indian flavored foods. The rest of the day was spent on the famed Orchard Road. The lightening and x-mas decor were amazing at night. This was an ultimate hub for retail with large number designer stores and shopping malls in a densely packed area. even in very crowded areas, the city lived up to it's theme of being "safe, green & clean." We did some shopping followed by a very expensive Chinese meal that included Peking duck prepared at the table side.

Next morning we had a city tour with our tour guide driving us to various points of interests such as the colonial buildings, the new opera houses, Sinagapore Flyer, merlion statues and Buddhist temple.This was a multi cultural city just like Colombo but eons ahead in terms of urban planning.In the evening we headed to Sentosa Island, an island resort with a Universal theme park. We enjoyed the sea lion show and many marine life exhibits at the Underwater World, had a glorious view of the surrounding seaports on the sky tower, did the luge and sky ride and watched the laser show "Songs of the Sea" After a good night's sleep we headed to KL on a 5 hr bus ride next morning.


The ride to KL was very peaceful and we arrived in KL during major rush hour. The crowded streets with trash on the sides were a stark contrast to the orderly streets of Singapore.BB plaza & Sungei Wang located near the Times Square area. The number of shops selling knock off designer items was surprising no matter how much I expected it. The scale of it surpassed every china town I had been to in the US. Our bargaining skills were pretty bad so we didn't end up doing too much shopping.

Next morning we set off to visit Genting Highlands. Along the way, we stopped at a pewter factory and passed by a Hindu temple and saw the largest Vishnu statue I've ever seen. One of the distinct features of Genting was the cable car ride to and from the highlands. The resort was large with an indoor and outdoor theme park, lots of shopping, casinos and hotels. The rides wouldn't be too impressive for anyone experienced with American theme parks but the location gave it a unique flavor. My foot spa treatment with live fish was a memorable experience. In the evening we walked to the Petronas towers which were truly spectacular. Though the towers were closed we had dinner at Suria KLCC, an upscale mall with real designer stores. One of the highlights of this trip was the Nasi Goreng I enjoyed on several occasions. We didn't have much time or the energy to explore the city of KL as much as I would have liked to. We were exhausted and partially ill from all the travelling the past few weeks. But I'm even more resolved to tarvel to this part of the world sooner rather than later.