Kuala Lumpur

Not a bad flight from Sydney, but KL is nearly an hour from the airport. By the time we checked in and got sorted it was nearly 11pm (plus 3 hours time difference, so body time was 2am.)

The 'cafe' in the hotel was still open so we decided to have a quick snack as the last meal on the plane had been a roll and coffee around 7.30pm. Anne's tuna melt turned out to be the haute cuisine version - three pieces of thick toast with thinly sliced fresh tuna and a dribble of cheese. Les had linguini with a skewer of chargrilled prawns.

The hotel seems to be all that the brochure said - allegedly the best in KL. Certainly lots of facilities - the room has a bewildering array of lights including a bedside light, an overhead reading light and a night light on either side of the bed.

Wednesday morning we footled around for a while getting ourselves sorted and then, after the buffet breakfast met a local rep from Travelbag who talked us through various things about KL without trying to sell us anything at all. Very helpful. We decided to walk to the telecom tower. Quite tiring even though it's close to the hotel as it's 30C+ and almost 100% humidity. Fortunately there was a shuttle bus from the gates at the bottom of the hill up to the tower. Excellent views over KL and surrounds. Came down and walked back past hotel to the monorail and went two stops to Bukit Bintang. Huge conglomeration of shopping malls - weren't quite sure if we kept going round the same area!! Anne bought a pair of 'Crocs' quite cheap. When we asked if there was anywhere we could get a sandwich they suggested Delifrance. Actually we had Caesar salads. More shopping after lunch. We discovered later that we'd turned the wrong way, and missed the really posh shops!

Quite tired out by all the walking so we went back to the monorail station and came back to hotel. This was a good decision as we sat and watched the torrential rain sweep across the city. It was so hard that even the closest buildings virtually disappeared from view. It eased off, but set raining steadily for quite a long time, so we ate in the hotel again. What a find - they do a fantastic buffet with a whole range of different cuisines - Chinese, Indian, European etc etc, and desserts to die for - Anne tried to photograph some, but it's difficult without making a nuisance of yourself by using the flash.

Next day we decided to go to the National Mosque for starters. We walked to the metro station. A terrific system, efficient and very smart. Unfortunately when we got off it turned out to be a long hot and difficult walk to the mosque. Anne had to cover up with a scarf and cloak, and found it hot, even though the building itself was pleasantly cool.

After the mosque we walked to the Bird Gardens. A mistake, although we did see wild monkeys on the way. Much further than we thought, stifling hot, and we had to go via the Hibiscus and Orchid Gardens. Also hardly any signs. Bird gardens were disappointing, although lunch in the restaurant was good as well as cheap. After lunch we were at the farthest point from the exit when the afternoon rain began. Just made it out in time, and got a cab back through the downpour and attendant traffic jams. Walked out in the evening to try a fish restaurant we'd seen, but didn't fancy it, so ate in again.

Next day was our last, but we had the room until 8pm, so there was no pressure. We walked to Petronas Towers. Fantastic shopping Centre at the base, on about five floors. We looked round for a while, then went out to the gardens to take pictures of the Towers. Saw some filming going on. Back for more browsing, then a terrific late lunch in The Manhattan Fish Market.

We decided to get on the new Hop-on bus for a leisurely tour in the afternoon. Big mistake. They said it would take 2 1/2 hours. At 5.45 we were stuck in traffic that hadn't moved for 15 minutes. We jumped off and got the monorail back. We just had time to shower, pack and have a light meal before our limo arrived for the airport. Curses - the Towers looked fantastic in the dark, but we couldn't get a picture.