Kuala Lumpur

We landed at the Low Cost Carrier Terminal in Kuala Lumpur an hour later and had a 20 minute wait for our luggage.  Similar to Langkawi, they had a nice cab system where you go to a desk and prepay for your ticket.  This transfer was about $30 and we had to take a “premium” cab since we had 4 people and luggage.  We had a difficult time figuring out where to get our ride since things were not well marked as this terminal was basically a cargo terminal that is being used for budget airlines until the new one is completed.  We eventually found it and had to walk 5 minutes to the premium cab area.

Some seemingly random guy with no uniform or identification took our slip and told us to get into a car.  It was a bit concerning but everything was legit and the driver was quick and friendly.  It was about an hour into the city (something I did not know when I booked the trip) with no traffic and we safely arrived at the Grand Hyatt.

We were very excited about this hotel because we had used a suite upgrade and had heard the rooms were very nice.  Someone took our bags as we entered the ground floor and were told the Hyatt lobby is on the 38th floor of the building.  We went to the check in desk and a woman took us to our room on the 32nd floor.  It was interesting that the lobby was the highest floor of the hotel. 

The room was simply stunning.  It had the highest ceilings of any hotel room we have ever been in and was absolutely beautifully decorated.  It was around 1,200 square feet with a bedroom and 1.5 baths and a huge living room with a desk area.  The bathroom was enormous with a giant circular tub, a dressing area and great views of the city.  After 5 minutes of being in this room, we wish we would have stayed here for a week.  Everything about it was great and we were already sad to think we would have to leave in less than 48 hours.

Bedroom

Too much vacation

I headed down to the grand club to get a drink and to get the girls some milk.  It had expansive views of the Petronas Towers, and the view was even better at night when they were fully illuminated.  After getting settled back in the room, we headed out on foot to try to find the Suria KLCC mall, located beneath the towers.  We made it there in about 10 minutes and were pleasantly surprised to find a very Western-feeling mall.  I think part of the reason we liked the area so much was that a lot of it felt like the US and I had been away from some of those comforts for quite awhile. 

It felt very crowded for a weeknight but we wandered around seeing what all was there.  We saw an Auntie Anne’s Pretzel shop and in one of the best moments of Joe’s life, they were selling them for under $1 each.  Seriously, major trip highlight for him. I told him to get 2 because the girls love them, but he ate 90% of both of them. Dad of the year! 

Jackpot

We had dinner in the food court, looked around for a little more and then headed back to the hotel to check out the dinner offering in the lounge and to put the girls to bed.

Parents of the year

In another highlight of the trip, Joe surprised me with getting the Bachelor on iTunes (it was Juan-uary after all) so we watched some of that and went to bed. 

We had a leisurely breakfast at the lounge and it was one of the better ones of the trip.  The selection was not nearly as extensive as some of the other places but there were not very many people and had some great things like berries and good eggs.  We then headed out to the Aquarium near the hotel (Aquaria Kuala Lumpur City Center) and had a great time there.  

I read a great blog post about Things To Do With Kids in Kuala Lumpur and it recommended this aquarium.  Right when you enter there was a touch pond where you could pick up different fish and other sea life.  Annie was too squeamish to touch anything but Lizzy was happy to touch starfish, a sea cucumber and other things.  Joe and I had to pick up a few things for Lizzy to touch and I think both of us were very uncomfortable... the things you do for your kids!

One of the best features of the aquarium was its giant underwater tunnel that took you through a tank full of sharks, stingrays, fish and turtles. It was so cool to see the underside of a giant sting ray as it swam right over your head. There was a moving walkway you could ride on and hop off if you wanted to take a closer look at something.  

Touch Pond

Riding through the shark tank!

There were feedings scheduled throughout the day at the various exhibits and we were able to see the otter feeding and a fish feeding, where divers went down into the tank to feed the fish and stingrays. It took us about an hour and a half to get through the entire aquarium and then Annie and I stopped to look at every single stuffed animal in the gift shop on the way out.  I really wanted to get her one, but our playroom is already taken over by every Disney character in plush form. 

Joe and the girls went back to the room for a room service lunch and naps, but I decided to walk around the mall and do some shopping and grab some food for myself.

Annie woke up first from her nap so Joe took her to the huge playground in the park right next to the hotel.  Unfortunately, they got stuck in a torrential downpour for more than an hour that they waited out under some cover in the playground.  Annie played some games on Joe’s phone, watched some Mickey Mouse episodes, and spent most of the time on Joe’s shoulders because she felt she stayed drier that way.  In hindsight, we made a big mistake by not doing the outdoor activities in the earlier part of the day since Kuala Lumpur had been consistently getting afternoon downpours. 

When Lizzy woke up we walked out to meet Annie and Joe at the playground but it was right at the start of the downpour so we ran into the mall for shelter.  We walked around and I let Lizzy go on some mall "rides" and bought her a pretzel. We ran into Joe and Annie on the way back to the hotel.  We cleaned up the girls and headed up to the lounge for some dinner and drinks and to show the girls the Petronas Towers at night.  The rain finally let up so we headed out to see the fountains and the buildings all lit up, which the girls liked.  Another night, some more bachelor, and time to start gathering things for the flight the next morning.

Think this might be our only family photo from the trip. Thankful that it's such great quality.

The towers really are breathtaking and sparkly at night! 

Love this picture

View of the Grand Hyatt from the fountains

After breakfast in the lounge, we had a bit of time before we had to pack up and get to the airport for our next flight to Krabi, Thailand.  Since our previous day's playground plans were thwarted by mother nature, we took this opportunity to try for the playground again. We got there early so it was completely empty and the girls had a blast swinging and running all over the different structures. It was absolutely massive and very well kept. There was also a track around the park so I went for a quick jog while Joe and the girls played. The park had a giant wading pool area that wasn't open yet, and we were sad we didn't get to take the girls. Will definitely plan on it for next time! 

Am I the only person who wants to yell "EXPECTO PATRONUM!" every time I see the towers?

Playing at the park with the Petronas Towers in the background

Awesome FREE wading pool area for kids

After our visit to the playground it was unfortunately time to leave KL. Since it can be a bit difficult to get a cab to airport from the city without having to do negotiating, and because we were lazy, we arranged the airport transfer through the hotel.  It was much more expensive this way, but made it very easy and could be charged to the room.  We were taken in a very nice 5-Series BMW and made it in well under an hour.

It was very difficult to figure out where to check in since we were again in the makeshift cargo terminal.  I took the girls to McDonalds (fancy!) while Joe checked the bags and got us all checked in. Teamwork.  After finishing lunch, we got in the security line which led to a small gate area with just our flight.  With at least 45 minutes until departure time, a couple came into the end of the line and pushed their way to the front saying that their flight was leaving and they couldn't miss it.  After pushing through, we thought it was hilarious that they had to stand and board 30 minutes later with everyone they had lied to about being late for their flight. 

And now, some more pictures from Kuala Lumpur - wish we could have stayed longer!

View from our room

Little gremlin at breakfast

Joe never waits for me to finish chewing before he takes my picture. Thanks, honey!

Lucky girls right before bedtime

KL traffic at night, yuck!

3 days at The Westin Langkawi

We were all excited to get to Langkawi because we had heard it was beautiful and the girls were looking forward to doing something they would like. These four plane tickets and baggage fees were the most expensive intra-Asia flights and all in were $438.

The flight to Langkawi was uneventful but as was the case with most of our transfers, we managed to pick the worst line for immigration. We were just about the last people through, but at least our luggage was ready to go. We had a bit of confusion about where to find a cab, but eventually found the cab stand.

They have a nice system where you go to the cab stand, tell them where you are going, and there is a fixed price. You pay the people at the counter and they give you a slip you take out to the cab line. The hotel was about 30 minutes away and the cab was only $11. While Joe was getting cash from the ATM and setting up the cab, I got some snacks from a Starbucks in the terminal.

The cab was quick and easy and the drive reminded us a lot of Bali, only a bit nicer. We arrived at the Westin Langkawi at about 2:00pm but our room wasn’t ready yet so they gave us a coupon for 50% off lunch. We went to one of the restaurants and Joe said to order whatever we wanted, probably for the first time since I have known him. He ordered a filet mignon for lunch (possibly the only meal he ordered entirely for himself on the entire trip) that was only $16 after the discount and the cheap Malaysia food prices.

It was a good start to our time at the resort, and the room was ready when we finished.

Where are the pools?

10 seconds of calm

50% off tastes good

As we mentioned before, we were focusing our stays primarily with Starwood and Hyatt on this trip, so we ended up picking the Westin over the Andaman, both Starwood properties. This was a fairly expensive redemption at 16,000 points per night, for a total of 48,000 for the 3 night stay, but it was supposed to be nice and we felt there would be a good chance at an upgrade. We applied three of our Suite Night Awards to this stay and they cleared five days before check-in and booked us into the One Bedroom Suite. It has a separate living and sleeping area, big patio overlooking the Andaman Sea and nice bathroom. It was on the first floor and very close to the pools.

Welcome amenity.  They traded out the wine for 2 cans of Diet Coke!

The resort had four pools and a beach area. It was not a great beach but to our surprise, the girls LOVED being at the beach. Despite some initial fear of the waves, both wanted to be at the beach as much as possible. They loved looking for shells, playing in the sand and wading in the water. This was a complete change from their previous beach experiences which they did not like at all.

We spent most of the afternoon at the pools and beach and then came back to the room for dinner. Room service at most of the places was quite affordable (compared to US room service prices) and the kids’ meals here were especially great. For about $4 the girls could get a great meal and big glass of milk. The adult meals were also quite good and reasonably priced, so we did room for all of our non-breakfast meals.

Main pool.  Our room was to the left of the picutre

Kids pool.  Played lots of "Randall" here

The Andaman Sea was very pretty

The best part of a suite with separate living and sleeping areas is being able to put the girls down and still be able to do things without the fear of waking them up. We got a crib for Lizzy and made the couch into a bed for Annie, which she loved. We stayed in our room, ordered dinner and started watching the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. We quickly noted that Lizzy does many things that remind us of Gollum.

Gollum

The girls slept great throughout the entire trip. While Annie woke up a couple of nights, Lizzy slept straight through every single night. 

Getting too big for hotel cribs!

The next morning, as we did every morning of the trip, we went to the complimentary breakfast. The Asian breakfast buffets are known to be very extensive, but we found ourselves not loving them. Joe hates buffets of all types, and with the girls, it is a bit of a chore to find something they will eat, get them going, and then go back to find something for us. It’s not that they are bad, but it would have been nice to just order the one or two things we wanted and not have to go to the buffet and fight the crowds.

We spent the morning at the pools, had lunch in the room, and then napped with the girls. After lunch we went and found the kids club and playground. Our girls were too young to be left, but we were allowed to use the facilities, which they loved. The kids club was indoors near the fitness center and had coloring, cars and bikes, balls, bubbles and lots of other toys. It was great and a nice way to keep them happy and give them a break from the sun.

My coverup looks super weird and unflattering

Ball pit at the kids club

We headed to the beach on the way back to the room and let them play there for about an hour right around sunset as they filled up buckets of water and poured it on the sand for most of the time. It was a really gorgeous setting and a very different view from the beach than we had ever experienced. The multiple islands shortly across the way made for some very beautiful scenery. We swam a bit in the pools to get the sand off us and then went back to the room for dinner, some Little Mermaid, baths and bedtime. Perhaps the best part of the trip was that each night, they were so tired from the day of activities that they were oftentimes asleep within a minute of being in bed. Lizzy even fell asleep sitting at the table one night. We continued watching Lord of the Rings and called it a night pretty early.



The third day was similar and the highlight was seeing a monkey walking around near the playground area.

The next morning it was already time to start packing up and getting ready for the flight to Kuala Lumpur. It was at this point that we realized we had planned in too many changes of location and were spending too much time packing, taking airport transfers, waiting in the airport, flying, and getting through customs. We looked at trying to remove one of the upcoming legs, but since we were trying to do this trip pretty cheaply, it was going to cost too much to make the changes. We decided to leave it as is, learn from our mistakes and make our plans less ambitious in the future.

We played at the pool for a few hours before heading back to the room and getting things ready for the next adventure.

Nerd alert

Sisters

Best friends

The cab was cheap and quick to the airport and we got there with plenty of time to spare. They had a local fast food chicken restaurant in the terminal, which somehow was completely out of chicken. We got the girls some curly fries, a giant Hersey’s Symphony Bar with Toffee and went through security. In the gate area, the Westin had a lounge for guests of the hotel. This was the first time I had seen a hotel have an airport lounge anywhere but the Maldives. We checked in there and found out that because we are Platinum with Starwood, all food and drinks were complimentary, which was nice because we had not really had lunch. We had some sandwiches and drinks, grabbed some waters and boarded the cheapest flight we have ever taken.

Bye bye Langkawi.  Hope to see you again soon!