New beginings.....Koh Phangan

So we left Bangkok on the night train to Surathani and took the boat to Koh Phagnan.

The purpose of us going is that I am going to be spending a month training to become a yoga teacher at a lovely place called Samma Karuna.
This is very exciting and means we will be in one place for at least a month! There is then a possibility that we may stay a little longer in order for me to get some practice teaching (presuming I pass!).
So it'll be wierd getting a routine and being settled in one place!

Gary is planning to do some volunteer work....

So there wont be regular posts while we're here as things will be quite samey from day to day, but we'll keep putting pics on our instagram and will add interesting bits to the blog as and when!
Watch this space...

A city break to Kuala Lumpur

Purpose of our trip:

Having a multiple entry visa it was essential for us to leave Thailand in order to activate our second entry and the next 60 days. So we decided that a city break to Kuala Lumpur could be just what we needed!! We were really lucky and found a great hotel and flight package with Air Asia that meant that for £120 we got a hotel centrally located in China Town and our return flights! Surprisingly by booking the 2 together we paid less than just the flights alone!

Once in KL we took the 'KILA ekspres' which takes you straight into the 'Sentral Station' and only cost us 100 Ringit return for us both (valid for one month).

This nicely leads onto something that was really great in Kuala Lumpur...The Transport.

While in KL we also used the LRT and Monorail which enabled us to very easily and cheaply explore the city! There really is no need for taxi's here.

So we stayed at Hotel Seven Night Inn. It was very basic- mostly clean but included breakfast and was a perfect location.

Day 1

We arrived at around 3pm and so decided to spend time meandering around China town. There are lots of stereotypical market stalls along with lots of Chinese eateries.

We bought a few small souveniers (magnets) as well as some local snacks. We then had to doll ourselves up for our dinner at Atmosphere 360 which is a revolving restaurant in the KL tower, with great panoramic views of the city. There was a posh buffet here with an excellent food selection costing RM207.90 including hot drinks and water. It was a lovely place with live music and a great atmosphere and we were able to get

great photos!

Day 2

In the morning we headed to the Rama & Batu caves. It was an interesting place but was unfortunately it was a bit of a building site with them renovating in the lead up to the Hindu Thaipusam festival (A colourful annual festival in which many display their devotion by peircing their bodies with hooks and skewers). So unfortunately we weren't able to appreciate it fully.

Later we headed to the Petronas towers to take a look at them more closely....They are sooooo big! We tried to get some photos but it was extremely hot and there was no shade anywhere so we didnt hang around for long. We had decided not to go inside after having seen them from the KL tower and because it was just so expensive to go in..on top of having to wait in a super long queue.

So instead we wandered around some the shopping malls and got ourselves a nice coffee.

That night we were lucky enough to be able to meet with a friend of a friend that lives in KL. They were such a lovely couple and were able to take us to local restaurants on the outskirts of the city where we could try some proper Malaysian foods. On our way back into town after dinner we stopped in the THIRTY8 bar in the Hyatt, which is definitely a hidden Gem! We got a pretty unspoilt view of the Petronas tower, the service was fab and the drinks tasty...

Day 3

We found a walking tour on our map which included all of the sites of interest in the old town. There were some pretty buildings but the history here is fairly limited!

Following our walk we went to Bukit Bintang and went to Lot10 Shopping food centre. It had a strange selection of shops but actually we were there to visit the food court on the basement level.

This 'gourmet heritage village' is recommended by The New York Times and Time Out KL as THE place to dine in Kuala Lumpur. The 33 eateries have survived through several generations (as previous street vendors) and have been consequently hand-picked to serve in Lot10; each restaurant is distinguishable by their all-time favourite signature dishes. It was a great place to go to get a feel for Malaysian food although we're not actually sure how authentic they are anymore. 

While in KL we sampled lots of yummy foods, it seems that eating is quite literally a past time here -we learnt the true meaning of having a supper (even after a full dinner!). They have such a mixture of influences from all over Asia making the food an eclectic mix of different cuisines!
Some of our favourites were:

Nasi lemak in Banana leaf - A rice dish with a spicy sauce, peanuts, small fried anchovies and a boiled egg- Larger varieties are also served with fried chicken or a meat curry.

Nyonya kuih -Glutinous rice sweets

Penang rojak - fruits and cucumber salad in a sweet sauce covered in peanuts

Laksa -curry noodle soup

Roti Canai - Indian flatbread
Satay - Meat on Sticks
Claypot Chicken & rice
Kopi - A strong coffee mixed with a little condensed milk (tasted a bit like a Mocha!)

So after scoffing our faces at Lot10 we headed back to the hotel and got ourselves ready for a night at the theatre! We went to see MUD a 1 hour musical explaining the history of Kuala Lumpur. It was extremely cheesy but a fun night all the same! We then found ourselves having a few cheeky drinks in China town to finish off our little trip. The next day we managed an early lunch before heading to the airport to head back to Thailand!

The Petronas Towers from the KL tower at night

Inside the Batu Caves

Cheeky Monkey Stealing our water

The Petronas towers were Magnificent

The KL gallery was one of the sights on the walking tour we found.