For today, I signed up for a Batu Caves and Genting day trip. With pick-up at about 9am, we first headed to Batu Caves, a limestone hill with a few caves and Hindu temples, dedicated to Lord Murugan. It is where Malaysia’s Thaipusam is held. It took its name after Sungai Batu, a stone river that flows through the hill. The limestone forming the cave is said to have existed 400 million years ago. Before the temple was formed, Chinese settlers came here to excavate guano (faeces of seabirds and bats) to fertilise their farm. The temple was founded in 1890 by an Indian trader, K. Thamboosamy Pillai. With the 272 steps that leads up to the cave colourfully painted in 2018, it now attracts even more visitors! Besides being a popular spot for its uniqueness of having a temple set in a cave, it has now also become a popular photo taking spot! Personally, I find it really fascinating as this is my first time seeing something like this! Upon arrival, you will be greeted with a huge gold statue of Lord Murugan, standing at 140ft, making it the world’s largest statue of Murugan. Other than the amazing limestone caves, the Hindu temples, the colourful steps, the endless number of worshippers and visitors, you will also be greeted with a huge number of mischievous cute little monkeys! They may be cute, but they sure are fast and aggressive! You are advised to not have food and anything that resembles food with you, especially when you are very near them, to prevent them from attacking you. Indian ladies love placing fresh flowers on their long black plaited hair, and the monkeys attack them too! Do monkeys eat flowers too? They move around so quick and quietly that I got scare by them so many times when I was busy taking photos!
Batu Caves
Gombak, 68100 Batu Caves, Selangor, Malaysia
0700-1900hrs (daily)
4 Caves: Temple Cave, Dark Cave (closed), Cave Villa, Ramayana Cave
FREE Admission
#1: Batu Caves Entrance.
#2: Batu Caves.
#3: The wild monkeys around the cave.
#4: Inside the cave.
Next, we head towards Genting, it’s about an hour’s drive from Batu Caves. I’m really excited about Genting as I have only been there once when I was 11, and since then, Genting has undergone a major renovation! We alighted at the bus terminal, where Genting Highlands Premium Outlets and the cable car to Genting, Awana Skyway, are located. The cable car ride is already included in the booking, which costs RM7 for a 2-way ride. From the cable car, you can catch a bird’s eye view of the yet-to-be-completed outdoor theme park by 20th Century Fox. Though it’s just half completed, but it already looks so exciting! Upon arrival at Genting, I first had lunch at Din Tai Fung. Malaysia’s Din Tai Fung has this amazing Fried Shimeiji Mushroom coated with salted egg sauce! I also love their version of spicy dumplings (红油抄手), that sauce is amazing! And yes, Singapore Din Tai Fung’s spicy dumplings actually taste very different to the Malaysia’s version. There are actually tons of food options available at Genting, but just couldn’t resist of not having this salted egg shimeiji mushroom when I see Din Tai Fung in Malaysia! Walked around the mall and the indoor theme park, Skytropolis, which is currently only partially opened. I felt many of the rides are more catered to kids, but there are also some exciting ones. Payment goes by per ride, instead of an admission fee. It cost RM11 per ride, or you can pay RM64 for unlimited rides. Honestly, there isn’t much going on at Genting for now. We were given about 3.5hrs free time over here, and I was initially quite worried that I wouldn’t have enough time to explore around, but actually it was more than enough. If you love branded goods shopping, be sure to pop by the premium outlets as well for items offered at a lower rate, which are usually off-season items or goods with slight defects.
#5: Ready to ride the cable car up to Genting!
#6: Cable car ride.
#7: Passing by Chin Swee Caves Temple, which you can alight the cable car to go to the temple.
#8: Outdoor theme park still under construction.
#9: Indoor theme park is ready.
#10: Salted Egg Shimeiji Mushroom.
#11: Pork and Shrimp Wontons in Chilli Oil and Vinegar (红油抄手).
Reached back in KL at about 5:30pm, and it started to rain again, so I decided to head back to my hotel to take a rest first, and to freshen up. Lastly, went over to Jalan Alor for dinner, where you can find rows of night market food stalls, as well as tze char stalls. All the tze char stalls actually offer about the same food, and they are quite pushy. Eventually, I chose to dine at one that is the least pushy. Ordered some satay, barbecued chicken wings, claypot pork ribs soup, foo rong omelette and stir-fried clams called ‘la la’. It is a lot of food, and of course I didn’t managed to finish them, but everything was so good and affordable! I love the wings and the clams most! The wings were glazed with a sticky sauce, and has a nice Chinese wine taste to it, tasted so different from Singapore’s version of barbecued wings! The clams were stir-fried with sambal, green chilli, garlic and basil leaves, so good and not too spicy!
Jalan Alor Food Street
38 Jalan Alor, Bukit Bintang, 50200 KL, Malaysia
24hrs (daily)
#12: Jalan Alor Food Street.
#13: Colourful dim sum, they all taste kind of the same though.
#14: Claypot Bak Kut Teh, the soup was awesome!
#15: Chicken Satay, not very nice.
#16: Barbecue Wings, this was so damn good! There's a Chinese wine taste!
#17: Stir-fry Clams, really good too! Cooked with garlic, basil, green chilli and sambal. Right amount of spiciness, not too spicy!
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Exchange Rate at S$1 = RM3.04
Expenses for Day 7
Din Tai Fung:
- Salted Egg Shimeiji Mushroom RM33
- Spicy Shrimp and Pork Dumplings RM25.70 (8pcs)
- White Rice RM2.80
Gong Cha:
- Peach Green Tea (large) RM11
- Add on Aiyu jelly RM1.50
Mochi: RM9.90 (11pcs)
Jalan Alor:
- Dim Sum RM10 (8pcs)
- Chicken Satay RM2 x5
- Barbecue Chicken Wing RM3 x2
- Foo Rong Omelette RM20
- Spicy Fried Lala RM25
- Claypot Bak Kut Teh RM18
- Iced Longan RM5
Total Expenses for Day 7: RM177.90 = S$58.52
Previous Spending: S$883.59
Total: S$942.11