Last Day in Asia

Katie and I spent our last day in Asia baking in the sun by the pool. We had perfect weather, and I was jumping in the pool to cool down every 15-20 minutes. We packed and checked out of our luxury hotel room at 3PM and returned to the pool cafe for lunch. We sat in the cool shade with the breeze for hours and the server initiated an early happy hour. We couldn't refuse those tasty Long Islands. Eventually we headed to the airport and flew through Singapore en route to Melbourne, where we arrived the next morning at 9AM. What a vacation!

With as many flights, transfers, and destinations as we had, something was bound to go wrong, but the amazing thing was that we had the most smooth, seemless, perfect travel (until the very end when Katie's bag was temporarily lost but later found). It was a brilliant idea to have prearranged transfers to and from the airport. We even managed to avoid excess baggage charges despite our shopping success. Given our broad experience of the airlines, I thought I would give you a quick run down of our impressions for all your future travel:
- Air China - flights were far too warm, announcements were often made only in Chinese, and we must have eaten chicken & rice three times in a single flight
- Thai Airways - most uncomfortable airline seats even sitting on a pillow, best dressed flight attendants, and offered meals even on the shortest flights
- Lufthansa - comfortable (new) seats with German announcements
- Malaysia Airlines - colorful seats, not memorable
- Singapore Airlines - our favorite among these airlines with the widest aisles, biggest seats, biggest bathrooms and hot refreshment towels

Happy Birthday to Me!

Jewel North was the staple restaurant of the trip. They had the most amazing beef masala, pudina puretha, masala tea, and banana lasses! We had my birthday brunch with Zia and Munna, then bid them farewell to celebrate the rest of my birthday with just Katie and me.


me and Zia


Katie and Munna, what a couple of characters!


We hit up happy hour at the pool and sucked down pretty cocktails. The Long Island Teas were the best!


Katie had a delicious chocolate mousse birthday cake delivered to the hotel room which had all kinds of edible chocolate decorations. We returned to Bella Italia for pizza and the servers initiated and continued lengthy conversations. They were overly friendly and helpful and the owner and his English brother gave us a ride to George Town in what we later learned was termed an "illegal taxi". Hey, it was a luxury car and cost half the price of the real thing. Not a bad deal.


We returned to Slippery Senoritas but it was dead on a Monday night. Disappointed, we headed down the strip to the Beer Garden at Momo's, where I drank both cocktails we ordered and we called it a night. We took a 'legal' cab back to the hotel but the experience was freakish. We had a sketchy cab driver who drank tabasco sauce and slurred his words with a raspy voice while hacking and singing along to 80's music. Katie, it was very good of you to make the simple trip to join me in Malaysia to celebrate my 30th birthday! You're so reliable.

Slippery Senoritas in George Town

Katie, Munna, me, and Zia lounging with the pool in front of us and the beach behind us - it's a rough life. Katie and I met Munna and Zia in KL and they happened to be headed to to Penang on business so we met up with them again here and they helped me celebrate the lead up to my birthday.


We started the night with a tequila shot and Tiger beer at the bar just down the road from our hotel. There was great music playing and we danced and threw darts. After scarfing down some pizza at Bella Italia, we headed to George Town. It's a half hour drive to begin with but we took a very scenic route with many loops which involved stopping to ask for directions perpetually. They stopped the car at midnight to sing me Happy Birthday in many different languages, and eventually we arrived successfully at Slippery Senoritas, which had been recommended to Katie by her seatmate on the plane and suggested by the guys as well. It was fantastic!! It was a happening spot with a live band and lots of dancing. Dancing Queen definitely made an appearance that night.


Katie told the band it was my birthday and they sang to me and lots of people bought me drinks and told me Happy Birthday all night.


This group of girls was particularly fun to dance with. We finished off the night with Magnum ice creams which we dubbed my ice cream birthday cake. It was an incredibly fun night, suitable for celebration of my 30th birthday.

Lounging in Penang

We started with a breakfast of champions. I have never seen a buffet breakfast as impressive as this one. There were at least six counters of fresh and made-to-order food of every type imaginable including egg white frittatas, indian/malay/thai food, soups, pancakes/waffles, freshly squeezed juice, desserts, etc.


Then we went for a walk around the resort, where we saw a newly married couple dancing on the rocks (in center of photo). The beach was just beyond the pool and grassy knoll. Our room was on the second level with this very view.


Here's a look from the other side of the lagoon pool back towards the hotel.


Katie swimming in the pool. The pool was incredible with slanted pebble entrances into the water, good for wading or sunbathing from the water. There were pockets of bubbles in two sections of the pool as well.


And there's me in the pool. You can see one of the top rate wicker-woven lounge chairs in this picture. There were pool boys scouring the area to provide prompt towel delivery and towel pillows wherever we chose to sit. They'd come by and quickly 'make up' the chair. There were also foot masseurs offering massages and poolside food and drinks.


And of course hookahs. We saw them all over Asia! We found this scene particularly entertaining. There were lots of Muslims, some of which wore full black cloaks even into the pool.


We also went for a stroll along the beach, just beyond the pool. Here's the view to the west.


And here's the view to the east (with our hotel just to the right of Katie).


That night we ventured out of the hotel for dinner followed by night-swimming and another stroll on the beach.

Shopped Out in KL

Friday morning we checked out of our hotel and crossed the road to Berjaya Time Square, a 65 floor mall with 900 shops and the world's largest indoor amusement park. We reaffirmed we prefer street market bargains to mall sticker shock and camped out in the hotel lobby to wait for our airport transfer. We were told sleeping is not permitted in the lobby. Oops. We took our last flight from KL to Penang, our last stop! Our driver Stewart narrated a tour of Penang as he drove us to our final 5-star resort, The Shangri La Rasa Sayang. We collapsed immediately into bed.

Petronas Towers

We slept in until noon which felt amazing! Then we headed off to Central Market for a taste of Malay culture.


We ate Malay food for lunch and walked around stalls with local crafts and handiwork.


Then we headed to Petaling Street, a good bargain district, but it was relatively dead mid-afternoon with only a few stalls. There were lots of hagglers hoaxing us into their shops. They kept repeating "looking free", as if you're ever charged to browse. We found it rather humorous and polite.


We returned to Petaling St later that evening when it was much more happening. The street was lit up with lanterns with two extra rows of stalls down the middle of the street and a much bigger crowd. Many of the vendors remembered us and must have thought we'd been there all day.


We stopped by the Petronas Twin Towers, a KL landmark. They are each 451 m and 88 stories high with a bridge connecting the two towers on the 41st floor. We tried to go up the tower but there were no tickets remaining when we arrived.


The towers hover above Suria KLCC, a very expensive/designer/upscale shopping mall. We found ourselves bored and actually tried to go to a movie but there was nothing remotely interesting. That's when we caught a "teksi" back to Petaling St.


We had reservations at Top Hat Restaurant at 8:30PM, another Frommers recommendation. We loved their signature Top Hat appetizer and the chocolate desserts were to die for, but we actually found the raved-about Malaysian food to be rather bland and mediocre (not just here, but all over Malaysia). It was good value for money but we'd skip the main course next time.


The restaurant was funky cool with each room painted different colors and a killer view of the Petronas Towers. We found the restaurant to be rather romantic, as with Bed Supperclub. So many romantic experiences were wasted on us as sisters.


This is the view of the towers from the restaurant.


And here's a view of the KL Tower at night.


We dropped off all our purchases at the hotel with adequate admiration and modelling of each purse. We left the hotel at midnight to head to Jalan P. Ramlee, a happening strip of bars located about a 25 minute walk from our hotel. We settled into the Beach Club where it was Ladies Night and immediately hit the dance floor with good music and a good mix of people (lots of Xpats). This bar was voted best bar in Asia.


Here's a shot of the live band with the small framed Thai gay-mannerismed lead singer who was surprisingly good. We shut the place down and moved onto Yahoo for more dancing. We concluded that Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur had the best nightlife in our Asian travels.

Platinum Mall

On our last day in Bangkok, we returned to our two favorite locations, the Gems Gallery and Platinum Mall. We did not make any other purchases at the Gems Gallery but the clasp on my earrings was too tight and leaving an impression on my ear so I figured it best to get it fixed at the source. Then we made one last visit to Platinum Mall so I could buy my must-have yellow purse and we could get one last suki yaki fix.


Another shot of the bargain kiosks in the mall.


Katie was loving the crab suki yaki. I have to say I felt similarly about the fresh corn from the street vendors. Who knew?


Look at this massive food court all with look-alike signs. We headed back to our hotel to ride to the airport in style, once again in a Mercedes! Asia has some very swank airport designs, but there was absolutely nothing around our D2 departure gate, not even a bathroom, though we did once again see the New Zealand couple from our Sala Thai dinner for about the fifth time. We took a Lufthansa flight to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia and were shocked and refreshed to hear German announcements (only slightly more familiar than Thai).


Not surprisingly, there was a 7-11 adjacent to our hotel. We had to capture this one as its neon sign and curved facade seemed a cut above the rest. We were also delighted to find comfy beds and comforters in our hotel room. The beds in Thailand were all nice but extremely HARD.


This band was playing on a street corner down the road from our hotel. We enjoyed dinner at a Greek/Lebanese restaurant where we watched the chef cook fresh roti and ate yummy chicken off the spit. We stopped by an internet cafe and can you imagine...more shopping!

Gems Gallery

In celebration of my 30th birthday, Katie took me to the Gems Gallery, the world's largest jewelery store in the world, and told me to pick anything I wanted - something I loved and would have forever. The experience began in style as we were picked up from our hotel in a fancy Mercedes with privacy curtains in the rear windows. We were delivered to the upscale lounge of the gallery with complimentary welcome drinks where we were each appointed a staff member to personally assist us as we toured the store and tried on absolutely everything. I draped myself with expensive jewels. There were certain pieces I would not let off my body or out of my sight. I knew these were the pieces I would purchase or be gifted! We bought so much that we scored an unusual meeting with the manager who granted us a 10% discount for our purchases. We drank Thai tea while waiting for our certificates of authenticity and paying. I left with two amazing garnet rings (one from Katie and the other from Mom and Dad) and some yellow sapphire earrings. Katie bought a stunning blue sapphire and diamond ring with a one-of-a-kind twist design. I'm already putting in my request for my something borrowed and something blue for my wedding someday. She also bought a native black star sapphire ring and earrings.


Katie's assistant Vanida.


Tho was my assistant at the Gems Gallery. She was unfailingly patient as I wanted to be certain I'd seen absolutely everything.


The Gems Gallery van transferred us to the Grand Palace. Unfortunately the Wat Phra Kaew (home to the original Emerald Buddha) was already closed due to family visiting. Good thing we saw the replica in Chiang Mai!


The Wat Phra Kaew was hands down the most ornate temple we saw, which is saying a lot, because they are all ornate!


Some interesting door guards...


These reminded me of the flying monkeys in the Wizard of Oz.


This is the Grand Palace. Oooh aaah.


Katie stood between the very serious Thai guards.


Here I am at the feet of the reclining buddha at Wat Po. The scale was monstrous and was quite a bit bigger than the reclining buddha from the first pagoda.


We couldn't even capture the full head of the reclining buddha.


The reclining buddha's feet were inlaid with Mother of Pearl. It should be noted that we spent more time at the Gems Gallery than at both very famous temples combined. We snagged some pineapple from a fruit stand and hailed a cab to the renowned MBK shopping center (Mabboonkrong Center).


Once again, the bargain kiosks were arranged in a mall configuration. Importantly, we completed our non-stop search for souvenir chopsticks at MBK and made it back to the hotel in time for the Gems Gallery to deliver our resized rings to the hotel.


That night we made reservations at Bed Supperclub in Soi 11 near Sukhumvit Rd (as suggested in my reliable Frommer's guide). They were on the money! This place was sensational!


There were long beds stretched along the sides of what seemed like an ultra modern airplane hanger with white leather headboards, white sheets, white pillows, white staircase, white floor, white walkways, white tray tables with candles, and white uniforms. The feather-capped artist painted away at the two giant wood animals which we believe to be an ostrich and an elephant.


I found my favorite cocktail of the night right away (The Catwalk) while Katie sampled a couple rather strong cocktails (Milan Show, Jamaican 10 Speed).


There was a fixed 3-course menu, from which you could select your appetizer, main meal, and dessert. We started with soft shell crab.


I enjoyed a steak and Katie savored the lamb (best ever), and we finished off the meal with a delectible hot brownie with banana ice cream, tres leches mousse, and raspberry sauce. It was an explosion of flavors and temperatures all in one.


While we ate and lounged, costumed staff paraded around in front of the beds. Madame & Monsieur Relax offered massages in bed.


The fairy stopped to grant Katie some good wishes.


This dominatrix seemed to walk right out of the movie Chicago.


After dinner, we walked through the streets of this acclaimed bar district to see what else was happening. We gained free entrance to Q Bar with a couple mining entrepeneurs from South Africa who were staying at the hotel across the road.


Q Bar was pretty dead, so after one cocktail, we headed back to Bed.


Bed Bar was directly across from Bed Supperclub and was completely packed out. Both the bar and the supperclub had slamming DJs. All levels of this club were happening and we could barely even move on the dance floor.