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Brandon O'Brien

Travel and Adventure Journal

I wanted a place to journal all my travels and adventures around the world. I always enjoy going back and reflecting on my past travels and getting to relive them through my words and photos.

You're reading posts I wrote on December 4 throughout the years. Return home.
Malaysia - Day 8 - Thean Hou Temple, Batu Caves and Petronas Towers

Malaysia - Day 8 - Thean Hou Temple, Batu Caves and Petronas Towers

Thursday, December 4, 2014 @ 8:24 PM in 2014 Asia

Since we didn't really do much yesterday we had to fit quite a bit in to today. Yesterday we made reservations to go up the Petronas Towers at 6pm tonight so that was our one major deadline. After waking up we went out to a street food market and got some food then walked over to visit the Thean Hou temple that was pretty close to our hotel. Unfortunately it had started to rain a little bit while we were walking over but it wasn't coming down hard enough to soak us.

The temple was pretty cool but the one by the Big Buddah on Lantau Island in Hong Kong was a lot bigger. We took some photos and checked out the gift shop then headed back into town to catch the train up to Batu Caves. Batu Caves is at the end of one of the rail lines so it's very easy to get to.

Once we stepped off the train we were thrown into a mix of hawkers, beggars and trash. The signage was nonexistent to the caves and we almost got sucked into some fake caves that a guy was trying to sell entry to. The whole area was filled with angry monkeys who would attack people for food or drinks and the actual entrance to the cave was up a huge flight of stairs filled with said monkeys.

The caves were a pretty big letdown. The sheer amount of trash and monkeys around was too much. The "caves" were also filled with a bunch of rundown shrines and people trying to sell mini hindu god figurines. They were more along the lines of some large open caverns than actual caves. We didn't spend much time there and got back on the train to make our way to Petronas Towers.

There wasn't really a good way to get over there so we had to take the train about half way and then walk for a while to catch the monorail line for a few stops to get closer to the towers. We checked in and got in line to go up the towers.

The tour was about an hour long and took us up to the skybridge on the 40-something'th floor and then up to the 89th floor for the top level observation deck. Unfortunately Kuala Lumpur doesn't have a super spectacular skyline but it was still cool to see the city from so far up. The elevator runs inside the building so they put some flatscreen monitors on the walls and had a video running that imitates seeing the outside. Unfortunately the screens were old and the video wasn't very good so it almost caused some motion sickness since it was so choppy.

When we got out it was the perfect time to see the towers from below. They had just lit up the towers so we hung out there for a while taking pictures before heading over to the Jalan Alor food street for our last Malaysian food experience.

I got a bunch of skewers of meat and Mike got several plus a giant prawn. People watching while drinking some beers and eating good street food was a really good way to end our last night in Kuala Lumpur. Once we were done we hopped back on the monorail and came back to the hotel to get ready for heading to Singapore in the morning.

Teaser photos:

Thean Hou Temple, Kuala Lumpur
Thean Hou Temple, Kuala Lumpur
Batu Caves entrance in Kuala Lumpur
Batu Caves entrance in Kuala Lumpur
Outside the Petronas Towers
Outside the Petronas Towers
Grilled prawn and tiger beer on Jalan Alor food street
Grilled prawn and tiger beer on Jalan Alor food street

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Tags: malaysia, street meat, caves, travels2014, kuala lumpur

Posted from: Malaysia

Malaysia - Day 7 - Street food

Malaysia - Day 7 - Street food

Thursday, December 4, 2014 @ 7:58 AM in 2014 Asia

I'm a little behind in writing these posts so some of the specifics might be a little lost. Today was pretty much a lazy / do nothing day. We went out for lunch at one of the local street markets down the street. For starters we had some fried bananas which were really good. In the market we got some pork and chicken buns, some chicken and rice as well as some stir fried noodles. When we were leaving mike got a milk coffee and they served it in a takeaway bag which was pretty funny.

We took the rest of the afternoon easy lounging by the pool and getting a little work done. We researched some areas to visit at night where we could get some more local food and one that kept popping up was Chow Kit. It's the Muslim area but was supposed to have really good street food.

Since there wasn't really a good way to get there via public transport we just hopped in a coffee and got straight there. The guy dropped us off on a street that he said was full food. It was a little late so everything seemed pretty dead. We found one market that was pretty full and got in line. It was a buffet where you get everything you want and then sit down and eat with your hands. The rice base they used was some kind of traditional blue rice that they coat with fried and crushed anchovies.

The meal was pretty sketchy. It wasn't bad but it wasn't really good either plus the hygiene factor was pretty bad and we referred to it as the food safety danger zone. After eating we walked around a little more and went back to the Bukit Butang area where there was more normal street food. Mike got a couple meat skewers and we had a beer before heading back to the hotel.

Teaser photos:

Banana fryer
Banana fryer
Mike with a bag of coffee
Mike with a bag of coffee
Street meat
Street meat
Dinner to eat with your hands
Dinner to eat with your hands

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Tags: travels2014, malaysia, kuala lumpur

Posted from: Malaysia

Running out of things to do in Seville

Wednesday, December 4, 2013 @ 6:51 PM in 2013 Europe

Day 161

I was planning on sleeping in a bit this morning but one of the guys in the room was an extremely loud snorer so I ended up getting up around 8 and starting my day. After a couple cups of coffee I mostly hung around the hostel talking with other travelers.

I've walked through most of the city and seen all the sights I wanted to see so I didn't really feel the need to go out and wander around today. Tomorrow, for my last full day in Seville I'm going to check out a big open air flea market that's supposed to be really neat. I'll probably walk around some of the Jewish quarter in the daylight as well and take some pics.

I'm looking forward to going to Cordoba on Friday. It'll be nice to be in a new city with more sights to see. I'll also take a day trip to Granada when I'm there. Granada is home to the Alhambra which is an old mosque turned into a church. The architecture is supposed to be amazing and something that everyone I've run into says I can't miss.

Less than 2 weeks until I head back to the States! It's going to be quite the adjustment going from upper 70's here in southern Spain to most likely freezing temps in Indiana.

Tags: daily journal, spain, seville

Posted from: Spain