Kuala Lumpur (Day 2)

We are trying something new today.  We usually miss our 6-month dental check-up and cleaning because we are traveling.  Our last cleaning was tough because we hadn't had one for one year, so i decided to make a dental appointment in Malaysia.  

I made an appointment at a dentist office that caters towards expats and was a bit more expensive.  Our appointment was at 9:30 AM, so we left the apartment around 8:45 AM for the 20 minute walk to the office.

The interesting thing was that the dentist was the one that actually cleaned our teeth, not a dental hygienist.  it wasn't the best cleaning we have ever had, but it was some scraping and ultrasound scaling or something.  It cost $171 USD for the 2 of us...not far off from the cost in the United States.  I will try to get reimbursed from our insurance company, but i'm not holding my breath.

After the appointment we walked around the area.  This area (Bukit Bintang) is known as the shopping district and we will soon see why.  There is definitely some nice looking, newer all buildings in the area.

I saw something on Google Maps called Bukit Bintang Walkway and thought we should check it out.  We went up an escalator and headed into an air conditioned walkway above the street.  I have no idea what the C in KLCW stands for...Kuala Lumpur C=something Walkway...but we stopped to take the obligatory photo.

After about a 10 minute walk, that long skywalk led to a huge shopping mall.  I am in search of a Japan Travel Guide, so we headed to a bookstore.

On the way up an escalator we noticed a door that went out the back of the mall.  Out the door was this park with a fountain in the middle.  There is actually a water fountain with synchronized music show at night here everyday.  We probably aren't going to make it back for that, but it looks pretty nice during the daytime.

Back into the mall, I found the bookstore, but not the book...oh well.  Since we are in a mall, we may as well check out the foodcourt.  Tim found his typical chicken and rice.  I wondered around and found this amazing vegetarian southern India stall and ordered this plate of lots of stuff called Saravana Special Meal...oh...by the way, there is a bowl of rice under the bread.

It was delicious and spicy and a lot of food.

After lunch I looked out Google Maps to see where the Petronas Twin Towers are.  They are the image of Malaysia and we wanted to see them.  Hum...it looks like we are right under them...what?!?  We went back out to that park with the fountain and walked to the fountain, turned around, and looked up...there they are!

The Petronas Twin Towers are 88 stories high and were the tallest structures in the world from 1998 to 2003 until the completion of Taipei 101 in Taiwan.  The Petronas Twin Towers are now the 21st tallest buildings in the world, but are considered the tallest twin structures in the world.  

Back into the mall (and air conditioning) and we saw a gourmet-looking grocery store.  Another thing I have been looking for is bottle of Tuak, or palm wine.  I headed to the back of the store where the alcohol (and pork) is sold.  Can you believe that there was a beer tasting going on?  Of course we tasted.

Good beer, but they did not have tuak.  The worker told me that they only drink it in bars, that you can't buy it in stores....got it.

We decided to head back towards our rental apartment.  We found the skybridge that we arrived in and after 10 minutes we passed where we entered it and it kept going.  It actually led to another huge mall that connected to another mall across the street from that.  This truly is a shoppers mecca and you can stay inside air conditioned walkways for at least 1 mile while walking between them.

I wanted to find a Digital store to ask them some questions about the SIM card I have, so we left the air conditioning and walked across the street.  Check out all these new buildings, and malls, and digital displays.

We then headed home, past the dichotomy of the fancy shopping mall...a tenant apartment building with laundry hanging out.

We were back at the apartment around 2:30 PM and relaxed in the air conditioning while watching some YouTube and applying for an e-Visa for Indonesia (Bali).

A few hours later we ventured out to find a beer bar that is in our neighborhood and find a bit to eat.  We found the beer bar (School of Animals).  They have a wall of craft beer with the price listed above them (see photo).  We picked out our beer and enjoyed.  Unfortunately they didn't have food, but they did have chips, so we each got a bag of chips, finished the first beer, ordered a second beer, and enjoyed.  

We got back to the apartment around 9 PM.  Watched TV, blogged, and then went to sleep.  Tomorrow we explore another part of Kuala Lumpur (Little India).  Until then...