Once on the ground in Kuala Lumpur, I made my way to the KLIA Ekspres train, which would take me downtown.

After a quick metro ride from KL Sentral, I made it to the Renaissance Kuala Lumpur Hotel.

 

Renaissance Kuala Lumpur Hotel

I arrived in the cathedral-like lobby and deposited my luggage. Then, since I was a Marriott Platinum Elite member, I was escorted to the R Club Lounge upstairs, where I could check in.

Even though I had shortened my stay around 24 hours prior, due to my delayed flight, the hotel was still nice enough to offer me an upgrade from my lowly guest room, which I booked for $81.32 per night with tax (the cheapest room at the hotel), to a Renaissance Suite (the most expensive, besides the presidential suite).

I was issued my keys and made my way over to the dining area of the lounge, where I sampled some of the desserts they had available.

I then made my way down to my room, which was downright impressive!

The room had more space than I ever would have needed and also had both a shower and a soaking tub, not pictured.

The next morning, I made my way back to the lounge for breakfast before exploring the city and checking out the pool.

In addition to the sumptious buffet, they also had made to order eggs and multiple fruit juices available. The lounge was only moderately busy, so I was still able to find a good seat.

Halfway down the building, situated on top of the third floor was the hotel’s massive pool.

In which, they had giant floats that you could lay on.

 

The Petronas Towers

Of course, I had to pay a visit to the Petronas Towers while I was here.

The towers were the tallest buildings in the world from 1998 to 2004, but still remain the 16th tallest in the world at 1483 feet.

Although I highly recommend purchasing an advance ticket online more than 24 hours prior, I was able to walk up to the ticket counter and buy a same day ticket for later in the afternoon.

A few hours after purchasing my ticket, I arrived for my trip up the tower.

The first stop was the skybridge, located on the 41st and 42nd floors and sitting 558 feet off the ground. The bridge isn’t actually rigidly attached to the towers, but is instead allowed to glide in and out of the towers as they sway in the wind. A feature that you can slightly feel as you stand on the gap between the bridge and tower.

Although the observation deck is similar to those found in tall buildings throughout the world, the skybridge is what truly makes the Petronas Towers unique.

Next up was the observation deck located on the 86th floor of tower 2.

The view was fantastic, even with the less than ideal weather, but the really cool part was seeing tower 1 only a few yards away.

 

Exploring the City

I made my way around the city, checking out the various sights.

My favorite though, was the vibrant Central Market.

After picking up a few souvenirs, I ordered a fresh coconut milkshake to cool off.

Which left me no room to try a durian McFlurry at McDonald’s…oh well.

But I will say that the fried chicken they had was amazing.

I have made a point to stop at a McDonald’s in every country I visit and most have proved to have some unique foods for sale that you can’t find anywhere else.

After having dinner back at the hotel’s R Club Lounge, I headed out to check out the nightlife in KL.

One of the first stops was The Whisky Bar, where I sampled a flight of Japanese whiskies.

Finally, around 2 AM, it was time for a late night meal.

The night market was still quite busy, even at this late hour.

I settled on some chicken and baked frog after a recommendation from my friend.

 

In Conclusion

Overall, Kuala Lumpur proved to be far more than I expected.

In all honesty, I had only booked my trip here after looking at a map and picking somewhere near Vietnam which also had award flight availability, but after visiting, I most certainly plan on coming back again for a longer stay.

Next, it was time to head to the airport for my flight to Vietnam.