Top 10 Instagrammable Spots in Kuala Lumpur

Kuala Lumpur, a city of color and contrast

Kuala Lumpur is a rapidly developing city in South East Asia and is the capital of Malaysia. Malaysia is globally known as a multiracial country and Kuala Lumpur is undeniably a distinctive identity of this colorful country. As you walk pass by the streets of Kuala Lumpur, you will be astonished to see multiple skyscrapers, variety of food stalls stimulating your olfaction, hipster cafes, people and monuments of different races and culture. For your information, Kuala Lumpur was ranked as one of the top 10 most visited cities in the world from years 2016-2018. 

There are numerous places to visit in this city but I would like to pick the top 10 most Insta-worthy spots in my perception.

1. Batu Caves Temple

This is a historical Hindu temple located in Gombak, dedicated to the Lord Murugan. You  can easily take a Grab (Malaysian version of Uber) to this temple which is about 20 minutes drive from KL city or KTM train from KL Sentral to Batu Caves station. This temple is famous for its tallest Murugan statue and the colorfully painted 272 steps up to the limestone cave temple above. Morning photography here is beautiful with devotees making their vows, thousands of pigeons flying above the temple ground and monkeys waiting for you at the colorful stairs. This is a popular temple outside of India known for the famous Hindu festival called Thaipusam.

Video: https://youtu.be/v_GvClK7ACc

2. Petronas Twin Towers (KLCC)

The Kuala Lumpur City Centre or the Petronas Twin Towers officiated in year 1999 is a global identity of Malaysia. This is the world's tallest twin towers and is a MUST to visit when you come to Kuala Lumpur. There are a few places that you can get good shots of this urban beauty but I would suggest these three: KLCC park, The FACE Suites & view from The Skybar of Traders Hotel. It's worthwhile dropping by Suria KLCC mall which has a wide variety of attractions for shopping and cuisines.

3. Thean Hou Temple

This Chinese temple decorated with multiple lanterns is located very near to Kuala Lumpur city and entrance is free of charge. Go early in the morning around 8 a.m. to avoid the crowd and to capture the grandiose architecture representing Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism.  

4. Saloma Link

This is a new pedestrian bridge in Kuala Lumpur connecting the undisturbed Kampong Bharu and KLCC. Kampong Bharu is a traditional Malay village in central Kuala Lumpur that is preserved due to ancestral land factors. It has so many traditional Malay wooden slit houses making it an ideal spot for Instagram with the stunning skyscrapers of Kuala Lumpur as the background to this old residential area. The new iconic Saloma Link looks stunning at night with LED lights reflecting the Malaysian flag.

* please ask permission from the landlord before taking photos at Kampong Bharu.

5. Sultan Abdul Samad Building

One of the oldest architecture of Kuala Lumpur built in 1897 during British colonization. Located strategically at the Merdeka Square, this is a significant landmark in Malaysian history.

6. Federal Territory Mosque

The Federal Territory mosque's architecture is inspired by the famous Blue Mosque in Istanbul. This gorgeous mosque offers free tour for non-Muslims and robes are provided at the tourist counter for the ladies to cover themselves. The best spot to snap pictures is from entrance C as in the picture below on the left.

7. KL Forest Eco Park

Ideal for nature trails and forest canopy walk. You get to feel the tropical beauty in the midst of the bustling Kuala Lumpur city centre. The KL tower is just adjacent to this park.  There is a fee to enter this park. 

8. Kwai Chai Hong

This is the Chinatown of Kuala Lumpur  located at Lorong Panggung, 5 minutes walking distance from Petaling Street. There are numerous wall art representing the Chinese daily living in the older days of Kuala Lumpur.  There are few hipster cafes around here too. Why not have a hearty breakfast here and then proceed with street photography to fill up your Instagram feed.

9. Perdana Botanical Garden

This is a wide botanical garden, the green lung of Kuala Lumpur. Besides appreciating the greenery of this garden, one can relax at the central lake and also at the "Laman Perdana", an activity square covered with a large yellow canopy making this an ideal spot for photos. 

10. Wall art at Bukit Bintang

The back alleys of Jalan Alor is now beautifully painted with murals making the street looking vividly colorful. No harm in taking photos at this 'Instagrammable' spot after a fulfilling shopping experience at Bukit Bintang. 

  

I hope the information provided above has opened your eyes to make a visit to Kuala Lumpur soon. For more pictures and details of the places mentioned above or other must-see spots in Kuala Lumpur, do visit my Instagram. 

I would also like to thank my two dear friends, Satesh and Chrisstal who have helped me with the locations hunting and phone photography around Kuala Lumpur.

"BEFORE YOU RUN OUT OF TIME" 

Powell Roy Louis @ theroytravels
Instagram: instagram.com/theroytravels/
Email: powellroylouis@gmail.com

Making Maldives Possible

Maldives is a must visit country for every avid traveler as it is known for its pristine islands, turquoise-colored clear waters & beautiful resorts and water villas. Trust me, it feels surreal once you step on to the beautiful country and the experience was rejuvenating.

However many drop the idea of going to Maldives due to financial constraints, people assume that you need a big budget to go there as travel pages often display exorbitant resorts in Maldives. I am going to write up on how to make a trip to Maldives possible with a limited budget. This article is based on my individual 5 days 4 nights experience from Malaysia.

1. Booking a flight.

Look for Air Asia flights from Kuala Lumpur to Male (Velana International Airport) during promo period. I booked for 450 MYR to & fro around July for travelling in September. Weather is generally stable in Maldives throughout the year.

* MYR = Malaysian Ringgit

2. Accommodation.

If you are on a budget trip, avoid booking expensive resorts or unless you are on a honeymoon. Upon arrival we took the night ferry from Male airport to Maafushi Island. There are almost 1200 islands in Maldives and some of them are private islands. Maafushi is a big island with a population of 2000 over people, proper accommodations, and many travel services to other nearby islands. Most importantly, night is reasonably active, unlike many other islands. I didn't like the idea of staying in an isolated place with no night life. I prefer to walk around the island and spend the night with my friends. So, if you are on the same boat as me, then Maafushi is an ideal choice. We stayed in Kaani Grand Sea View for 4 nights, roughly costing about 380 MYR per night for a Deluxe room. We had a great sea view with lots of activities to do on the island itself. It was so convenient to top up vitamin sea on a regular basis as there is Bikini Beach opposite the hotel. The hotel staffs are warm and will assist you with transportation and tour bookings.

View from Kaani Seaview Resort

3. Activities to do.

i. Private island excursion

This is like a must-to-do as the private islands are very pretty and at least you get to visit on day tour (if not staying). If you wish to stay, one can consider Sheraton Maldives as the rooms are still affordable. We chose full day private island excursion to Adaaran Prestige Vadoo for about RM400 per day per person. Private island tour rates depend on the island you are booking the tour from. I had to negotiate for this one as I saw amazing pictures from Adaaran Prestigoo on Instagram and initially the tour was fully booked for my intended day to visit. So, always do your homework before a trip. This tour includes free and easy around the island, lunch buffet, alcohol, swimming pool. Once we were at the resort, we were over excited with the water villas and decided to book a day visit. We negotiated with the front desk staff to speak to the manager and we were offered a full day use of the water villa for MYR 1600, pretty expensive nah but it was all so worth it. The room was extremely cozy with a huge king sized bed, Marshall speaker, complimentary snacks, huge Jacuzzi, small infinity pool and the best part of all is the ocean view. Skip this additional booking if you are not willing to spend more.

Adaaran Prestige Vadoo

ii. Island hopping.

You will have a few options to select from. Just do island hopping on another day based on individual preferences and budget. Mostly will cost around 300 MYR per pax. We did island hopping for 2 consecutive days. It was tiring but we didn't want to waste a single bit of our time we had in this beautiful country. 

Things you can visit or do via island hopping: snorkeling, ship wreck visit, dolphin watching (we were gifted to watch so many dolphins in the evening), kayaking, sandbank visit (please do this, I was lucky to shoot a quick video with the sea birds) and sea turtle watching . Diving will be definitely amazing here, but unfortunately i don't dive.

Sanbank in Maldives

4. Things to bring:

• Swimming attire & shoes, suitable beach themed clothes if you are an Instagrammer.
• Sunblock- invest in a good sunscreen with SPF 50++, medicines like Paracetamol and anti-emetics as you might get motion sickness with the constant traveling by boats.
• Water proof cameras- a good mobile phone would do. You don't need to edit your Maldive photos much as everything is beautiful there.
• Carry drinking water everywhere you go, keep yourself hydrated as the weather can be quite hot on a mid-day.
• Cash in US Dollars. They prefer to use US dollars for transactions with tourists. Not many places have credit card services except hotels. You can use their local currency, Madivian Rufiyaa as well.

5. Transportation.

Speed boats are the main mode of transportation. From Male Airport to other islands, you may charter a private boat or take the general ferry which is much cheaper, only about (3 USD per person) but check the timings as it only runs in the evening and on certain nights only. We took the speed boat as we arrived late night and the cost was 20 USD per pax. Definitely a faster journey. If you are doing Male city tour then you might need to consider bus. We skipped Male city itself as we wanted to see the islands and spend more time by the beach. Some private islands may need you to take the sea-plane, it will surely cost more but I guess that would be a fun ride as you will be able to watch the blue waters and hundreds of islands on the way (will consider in my future visits).

Based on my short trip, Maldivian people are humble and polite. I have to thank the hotel staffs for their hospitality. They transported our bags both to and from the jetty-hotel, without any request and for free of charge.

I guess the information provided above is enough for you to draft out a trip to Maldives soon. You don't need to read on detailed itineraries because all you need to do is some homework so that you will be able to do a customized trip and personally you will know what to expect from your holiday. Like in college, we do the theory first, then followed by practical.  Some prefer to do a free and easy or impromptu trip and don't really prefer pre-planned itineraries. So, take this as a guide only.

Do drop your comments or questions here or via Instagram and I will keep in touch with you. Adios.

"BEFORE YOU RUN OUT OF TIME"

Powell Roy Louis @ theroytravels🌏

Instagram: www.instagram.com/theroytravels
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMZ5tPd0tM_4Ukwz7EBPMCQ

Introduction

Hi all, my name is Powell Roy Louis, also known as 'theroytravels'. I am a medical doctor from Malaysia. I love travelling and I am new to the blogging world. My passion is to travel because I am a person who loves to explore different parts of the world and to meet people of various cultural backgrounds. To be frank, I only started to travel more since my late 20s because of time constraints, budget and commitments to work and education. But in 2016, I promised to myself to indulge in traveling regularly despite the busy working schedule and to prioritize my annual leaves more on my travels as I anticipated the fulfilling experience. As you travel avidly, you will realize how much our amazing planet has to offer and this becomes evident only if you choose to come out of your comfort zone. I share a lot of my travel journeys on Instagram: 'theroytravels'. 

I am not a person who is well versed in writing blogs initially because of the hustle to pen down everything that is on my mind and the lack of confidence in my writing skills. But after getting to know many other travel influencers like Nomadic Matt on social media, I started to realize how much I have missed on sharing my travel experiences in depth to others and all I need to do is to start writing instead of procrastinating.  Instagram is one great way to share and inspire people, but it is very precise and therefore I decided to finally open a travel blog to share my travel stories, insights of the places that I have visited and how to travel with a limited budget or in the most practical manner. 

Many of us are committed to our routine work or career that means so much to us and being a family medicine doctor, I am here to share on how to travel constantly throughout the year while working. I am not here to ask you to quit your dream jobs to become a full time traveler, as some of you have a family to feed and a job that you worked hard for all through your life. So, this page isn't created for monetary purposes but for the sole reason of SHARING. Almost all my travel pictures are taken using mobile phones only and hence I will share on how to take nice pictures by only using your hand phones and some basic editing skills. In other words, I am just trying to make my travel feed a practical inspiration to others. 

You can also follow my Instagram account where I actively post my travel stories, photos, local guides, quiz and other inspiring travel pages as well. Do read my upcoming blog posts and please feedback to me or share the link if you'd liked them. I am open to constructive comments on how to improve my blogging skills. 

Thank you all. 

"BEFORE YOU RUN OUT OF TIME"

Powell Roy Louis @ theroytravels🌏
Instagram: theroytravels
instagram.com/theroytravels
e-mail: powellroylouis@gmail.com
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMZ5tPd0tM_4Ukwz7EBPMCQ