3D3N Kuala Lumpur Family Getaway

BACKGROUND

Haven’t been to Malaysia for many years, so we did an impromptu weekend getaway to KL in early August at my friend Chris’ invitation. Highlights include:

PREPARATION, FLIGHTS & INTERNET

Our AirAsia airfare is around S$120 per pax (US$93). Highly recommended to book earlier and during off peak periods for cheaper prices, as ticket prices can go up to double that for last minute or peak bookings.

We booked Pullman, a 5-Star Hotel in the heart of the city center (KLCC), for S$150 per night (US$116). It’s also next to the famed Pavilion Mall and its location is fantastic.

You can buy a Shopee eSIM for a few dollars to use in Malaysia.

Total eSIM Roaming Cost: S$3 (US$2) per pax for 3 days

FLYING OFF & DAY 1:

We flew over and took a Grab carto check into our hotel. Everything went without a hitch.

After settling into our hotel, we headed down to Pavilion Mall a short 5 min walk away and met up with Chris and his family at Arthur Storehouse for dinner. This place is an Irish pub famous for Guinness-inspired dishes (but also has child friendly dishes). We had the beef wellington and Guinness-infused hokkien mee, which were both delicious.

Dinner: RM 200 (S$65 / US$50) for our family of 3 including drinks and baby Jake’s dinner

DAY 2:

Next day, we had the hotel’s complimentary breakfast, fairly average but good enough.

Then we took a Grab car to Monkey Canopy Resorts (MCR), a new “theme park” about an hour’s drive away from KL. (RM 32 / S$10 / US$7.50 per ride one way).

Most of its attractions and activity areas in Monkey Canopy are indoor, except its Go-Kart and some Dinosaur attraction. We brought baby jake to the Safari Escape Playground which he loved (felt like Blippi there).

Meanwhile, Chris and I tried the eSports Virtual (EVA) — VR Gaming (RM 100 / S$30 / US$24 per pax for 40 minutes).

There are two main modes, Zombie Coop (everyone fights zombies across 4 levels including some zombie bosses) and PvP (player vs player mode like deathmatch, capture the flag). This is an up and coming esports with even competitions being held at the venue.

There is also a giant indoor adult obstacle course, similar to Singapore SAFRA obstacle courses. Plus a giant indoor water park, suitable for all ages. Even has pickleball and random games/events like wushu tournaments. All in all Monkey Canopy has a whole bunch of activities but is not a typical theme park like Six Flags — There are no rides, rollercoasters, or exciting water slides.

Do beware it might be hard or pricey to book a Grab car back to KL from Monkey Canopy. There are hotel resorts within the park but are not cheap. Food options are also really limited, although more restaurants and eateries should be sprouting up within there.

Chris gave us a lift back to KL in his rented car, and we ended that night with a great buffet dinner at our hotel — There was fresh oysters and scallops, french onion soup, whole fish done your way, beef wellington, and much more.

Dinner: RM 130 per adult (S$41 / US$32) while children dine for free.

DAY 3:

We headed to TRX Residences where Chris has a couple of apartments. TRX is an up and coming district in north KLCC, seemingly popular with mainland Chinese. The central KLCC area where we are staying is popular with Indians and Middle Easterners.

The apartment we went has a great view of the Merdeka 118, the second tallest building in the world. If you’re curious, a 1-bedder apartment costs RM 1.2 million, while a 2-bedder is RM 2.2 million.

After that, we parted ways with Chris and browsed the nearby TRX Mall, a large and fairly standard upscale mall.

At Exchange 106, another adjacent shopping mall, we had a light lunch at Bangus Kaw Kaw— Their famous Nasi Lemak was really good, with two sauces to choose from, and affordable at RM 15 per pax (S$5 / US$3.50).

Jess then went to the hotel salon for a haircut. Then we did a massage at our hotel’s Vibe Spa, expensive at RM 150 per pax per hour. There are definitely cheaper options further away but we wanted convenience as we had a baby and were short of time.

Evening came and we had a walk around the hotel and surroundings. KLCC Park is a 15 minute away and has stunning views of Petronas Towers, best seen at night when the towers are lit up.

Finally, a Japanese buffet dinner at Rocku in Pavilion Mall, with free flow of Angus Beef for RM 80 per pax (S$27). Pretty great deal!

FLYING OFF:

Next morning, we woke early and booked a Grab car to the airport to fly off. It was stressful as the KLIA is quite hectic and inefficient, where we wasted a lot of time getting our baby son’s ticket, queuing for customs check and immigration, and reached the boarding gate AFTER our flight departure time, but thankfully, the flight was also delayed by half an hour. 

COST BREAKDOWN

Flight: S$180 (US$140) per adult (splitting our S$120 child ticket cost between us)

Hotel: S$225 (US$175) per pax for 3 Nights (including intercontinental breakfast)

Monkey Canopy Day Trip: S$70 (US$50) per adult (includes transport, food, and children attractions)

Food & Transport & Misc. Expenses: S$350 (US$280) per adult

TOTAL: S$800 (US$600) per pax (for 2 adults, with 1 child in tow)

SUMMARY

Malaysia (e.g. KL) can be a cheap and fun getaway for those in Singapore and nearby. IMO, it has its pros and cons compared to say, a place like China (e.g. Beijing or Shanghai):

All photos are personally taken and unaltered, unless otherwise stated.

Other photos have attributions (if any) listed on their respective page photoviewers.

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