Day 1 of the blog! First steps are to rewind a few months and start at the very beginning of our adventure! Dale and I have now been in Perth for 3 months. Living in an apartment in West Perth, we are a 10 minute walk from beautiful Kings Park. I decided to create a blog to record all of the special moments that life brings us. Life is an adventure and our philosophy is to be grateful for each and every day, and treasure every single second. This blog will cover new and old destinations, great walks, amazing sights, and reveal a snapshot of a moment in time.
Cottesloe Sculpture By The Sea
Recently we headed down to Cottesloe beach to check out the final day of the Sculpture by the Sea exhibition. It was brilliant, so many different types of artwork and all with their own special story – highly recommend visiting next year! Here’s a selection of our favourites:
Malaysia, Truly Asia Part 3 – Langkawi
So off it was to the wedding location, Langkawi! A quick 1 hour flight on Air Asia from Kuala Lumpur and arriving in Langkawi was like stepping into a tropical paradise. Soft palm trees blowing in the breeze, intense sunshine and a wonderfully relaxing vibe. The first stop was our accommodation for the first 2 nights which was the Sunset Beach Resort in Pantai Cenang. We stayed in the lovely little room, which was located in a beautiful tropical garden. Clean, simple and blissful! So central to the heart of Pantai Cenang, which was full of great restaurants, little bars and gift shops.
We spent one day exploring the island on scooters, amazing fun and such a great way to see Langkawi. We had to stop every so often to check out the monkeys on the side of the road – too cute!
The wedding was held at The Andaman Resort in Danai Bay, you could not have picked a more romantic to spot to get married; it was incredible and the perfect end to our Malaysian holiday.
Malaysia, Truly Asia Part 2 – Eat, Pray, Love
You realise the power TripAdvisor has when you find yourself walking down the deserted back streets of old KL early on a Sunday morning in search of your tour guide – only to find a hidden away little office and a full tour party where everyone else also has discovered that tour in the very same way! Eat, Pray, Love is one of the many tours led by Be.Tourist – and yes it’s number 1 on TripAdvisor for tour activities with multiple 5 star reviews and for very good reason. The tour is based around food – and sooo much of it (hence the EAT in the tour name). The PRAY bit comes from visiting various temples reflecting the diverse cultures in Kuala Lumpur in particular Malay, Indian and Chinese. And LOVE is how we felt about going on such a great tour!
The first pit stop was breakfast, where we were introduced to Roti Chenai – an Indian influenced flat bread, traditionally served with dahl (a lentil curry) or alternatively another type of curry (we had dahl and chicken curry with ours). Next our wonderful guide, Max brought out what we thought was just milky tea or coffee. One sip and we knew it was a little different and sweeter than the norm, but quite delicious. A traditional Malay drink called Teh Terik, which was made up of black tea and condensed milk – I did say it was sweet! Roti tisu (roti tissue) is divine and a very cool idea for an after dinner dessert treat. It’s a really thinly rolled roti, which is super crispy and then is drizzled with condensed milk.
We were taken down a strange little alley way, the kind of place you wouldn’t tend to look twice at if you hadn’t been on tour with a local. It’s smelt a little odd, and as we were waiting for our meals – men in towels with toothbrushes in hand kept walking past us heading to the bathroom which must have been at the opposite end of the restaurant; I felt a million miles away from NZ. The banana leaves were bought out, then a mound of rice placed on each one. Then, one by one interesting and sometimes unidentifiable foods were scooped out onto the leaf for us to sample. Travelling is about trying new things right?!
I would highly recommend doing this tour if you have time in Kuala Lumpur. It’s a great off-the-beaten-track tour, which is fun but also gives you a real insight in the diverse cultures in Malaysia and how those cultures fit together in what is a thriving cosmopolitan city of both old and new. I felt I got to see a little slice of the real Malaysia and it’s people.
Malaysia, Truly Asia Part 1 – Kuala Lumpur
We were lucky enough to have the chance to head to Malaysia in February as a good friend of ours was getting married in Langkawi. Our first stop was Kuala Lumpur, where we spent three days exploring this fascinating city. We stayed in a great hotel called the Royale Chulan Kuala Lumpur, impeccable service, lovely rooms and the perfect location to base ourselves.
The first stop on our adventure was the Kenko Fish Spa, located in the Pavilion Mall (just a short 5 minute walk from the hotel). We had heard about fish spas through friends who had visited Malaysia in the past but nothing could have prepared us for the most surreal sensation of having little fish nibble on your feet and legs – it took me at least 5 minutes to pluck up the courage to pop my feet in the water! But it was totally worth it, so many laughs and boy did our feet feel AMAZING after. The little fish are known as Doctor Fish or Garra Rufa Fish and are known for their healing benefits. They are native to the hot springs of the Kengal Valley, Turkey.
A must do for anyone planning on visiting Kuala Lumpur is to head up to the Sky Bar (on the 33rd floor of the Traders Hotel). We reserved a window seat a few days earlier (just email the bar and they’ll reserve you a great space!) and the views were absolutely stunning. Travel tip: Every day between 11am and 9pm they have great happy hour specials on cocktails and beer.
I love monkeys. One of the things I was looking forward to seeing in Malaysia the most, was a monkey in the wild and Batu Caves did not disappoint! A short and direct train ride from KL Sentral to Batu Caves cost only RM2 each way (or approx AU 65 cents) and is a great day trip from Kuala Lumpur. Once you arrive at the train station ‘Batu Caves’ you only need to walk another 5 minutes and you will come face-to-face with the worlds tallest statue of Murugan, a Hindu deity. Once you hit the 272 stairs, it’s monkey time! I have to admit I was a little concerned when I first started walking up – where were all the monkeys?! But then as we neared the top, we could see the trees start to come alive with movement, then the first one strolled along the entrance way to the caves. It was truly awesome.
The Garden, Leederville
The Garden in Leederville wins our vote for the coolest bar in Perth. With it’s relaxed garden setting, great tunes and friendly staff, its the perfect place for a lazy Sunday afternoon drink in the sun.
These may actually be the best fries in the world. Super crispy with the perfect amount of sea salt and they arrive in the cutest colander!