Spectrum of the Seas Review: Day 5 – Kuala Lumpur to Singaporefeatured
The sun was peeking out behind our hotel room window when we woke up on our final day in Malaysia, a sign of a good day to come, we hoped!
I was conflicted about the end of our time in Kuala Lumpur. On the one hand, we’d seen so much and absolutely fell in love with the city but on the other, there was still so much left to see. I’d ordinarily say something cheeky like Something to look forward to next time! except Kuala Lumpur is literally on the other side of the world, and the likelihood of us coming back any time in the near future is low just because it takes so long to get there. That said, if there’s a way to come back to KL and especially to stay at the Mandarin Oriental again, I’ll jump at it. The city and this hotel were beyond measure and really made our first visit to Malaysia so very special.
We had breakfast in the club lounge, enjoying one last omelet with a view and pouring over our pictures from the past few days. The Cubs game was starting back at home, so I kept up with a few innings over my morning coffee (but really, it was SO trippy to be following the start of an evening game during breakfast – knowing what the time difference was probably keeping my jetlag from ever getting better).
After breakfast, we hopped in a Grab car, this time heading out to the Brickfields, home to KL’s Little India. A visit to the Brickfields was Stephanie’s choice, except she didn’t really have a destination in mind and it was relatively early in the morning, so there wasn’t much open and there weren’t many people out. The main street was filled with shops and fruit markets, flower stands and cafes, but we only stayed maybe 45 minutes before heading back towards downtown. I’d do it again if we find ourselves back here, but I’d probably do it later in the day when the sun is a little less intense and the streets have a little more bustle.
We had another Grab car pick us up at a nearby apartment building because Grab seemed to be easier to pick up at an actual destination as opposed to a random spot on the street. It was a quick ride back downtown, where we had the car drop us off at the Petronas Towers for one last photo shoot. There were far less people than when we had visited the day before, but it still took a little patience to get a picture without random people (or parts of people!) in them.
There were a bunch of places left on our list – the KL Eco Park, the street food market and a handful of Instagram spots – but we only really had one thing left on our list that we had to do before we left: try durian. So after the Petronas Towers, when we found ourselves back in the Suria KLCC at McDonald’s for a Coke Freeze (for Stephanie) and an iced Milo (for me) to cool off with, we decided to order a Durian McFlurry, too, just to say we tried it. Most authentic? Probably not, but you know, we were going with it.
Durian seems like a polarizing fruit. I think most people hate it. That’s the impression I get. It’s smelly and no one really seems to have a cohesive simile for the taste. I figured that trying it in McFlurry form was a good way to dip our toes into the water. Stephanie did not like it at all. Me? I kind of dug it. It was weird. Like, it’s a little fruity when you first taste it. Then it kind of tastes like rotten garlic, but it finishes really sweet. I didn’t hate it. 3/5, would probably try again.
Before we left the mall, we had to make one last stop – the grocery store. We try to visit a local grocery store everywhere we go to pick up some local candies and snacks to take home. I have this basket I keep on my desk at work that I fill up with all of the fun treats I bring home and sharing them with my work pals is one of my fave things about coming home. Luckily for us, there was a full service grocery store inside Suria KLCC, where they had plenty of samples (including fresh durian, which tasted just about the same as the McFlurry version of Durian) and plenty of goodies for us to take back.
With one last stroll through the mall, we headed back to the hotel to relax a little and have a light lunch in the club lounge. I’ve said it before but it bears repeating – this hotel was spectacular. The rooms and the public spaces were lovely, but the service was above and beyond. Everyone who worked there was so friendly and helpful and really treated us like we were VIP’s.
Lunch at the club lounge was light salads and a build your own sandwich bar, as well as a dessert spread and all kinds of beverages and juices. We had a light snack, figuring we’d probably eat in a lounge at the airport or when we landed in Singapore, and then just strolled around, taking in the views of the city one last time. The lounge was rarely crowded when we visited, but it was especially light on visitors during lunch time, which really highlighted the lounge space. We knew it was expansive but I don’t think we realized how much so, and I don’t think we realized how lovely the space really was until we had it to ourselves.
Before heading back to the room to pack, we took a quick peek down at the pool, a gorgeous infinity pool that overlooked the KLCC Park. We knew the pool was there and we knew it was stunning, but I think we both had a little regret that we didn’t give ourselves a pool day during our short stay.
When we couldn’t avoid it anymore, we packed up. I had signed up for the Fans of MO loyalty club before we made our reservation, which allowed us two perks from an array that ranged from upgrades to free breakfast. I chose a surprise treat (which ended up being the floral bouquet the evening we arrived and a plate of sweets on our second night) and late check out, which gave us until 4:00 PM to check out. Since our flight wasn’t until the evening, the timing worked out perfectly for us. Stephanie had a Grab come and get us and just as we knew it, our time in KL had come to an end.
Our driver to the airport was a lovely woman who just so proud to be from Kuala Lumpur. She was super chatty and we loved learning about her life in Malaysia. We had plenty of time for it, too, because fun fact – it’s a long drive to the airport (which is about an hour outside of city center), even without traffic. The roads were beautiful, covered in palm trees, but it was a long drive.
Our flight was taking off from terminal 1 at KLIA and Stephanie and I wasted no time in getting ourselves checked in and set up so we could explore. Even though KLIA wasn’t a huge airport, it was big enough to get me and Stephanie lost looking for a lounge. There was this rainforest experience in the middle, but two floors of drinks, food and attractions that were enough to cause some confusion.
My Priority Pass membership gave me access to the Plaza Premium Lounge (not to be confused with the Plaza Premium First Lounge, which is how we got lost!), which offered a quiet spot to do some work, grab some food (dim sum, a snack bar and a pancake station!) and get ready for our flight.
We only stayed for a little bit – long enough for a plate of dim sum – before hopping over to the Burger King for some (more) iced Milo, some cheeseburgers and some mozzarella sticks (which REALLY hit the spot) before leaving to go find our gate. I honestly don’t eat much fast food much at home (excluding Taco Bell, which is my total guilty pleasure), but something about being far away from home makes me appreciate things like the fact that no matter where in the world I am, a burger from Burger King tastes exactly the same in Malaysia as it does at home. When I’m home, I’m constantly aching to be as far away as I can get, but when I get far away? I find a lot of comfort in things that remind me of home. It’s weird, I know.
At KLIA, instead of going through security immediately after check in, you actually don’t go through security until your gate opens – each gate has its own security check point. It seems inefficient, but it works for them.
I didn’t expect our flight to be anywhere near full, but it certainly got close, and we were riding on one of the big ones again for the 45-minute jaunt south. Like, it takes me longer to drive to work in traffic than it does to fly from KL to Singapore…and I live less than a mile from work! And on a flight that short, we were flying on a full on jumbo jet! We flew on Singapore Airlines and the service was top notch for such a quick flight and the seats were functional and comfortable.
Singapore welcomed us with a skyline full of lights. We quickly made our way off the plane and through immigration at Changi. I’ve heard so many things about the Changi airport and everyone I know who has been and every review I’ve read – people are OBSESSED with it. My favorite travel vloggers on YouTube? They booked a three-day stopover in Singapore and didn’t leave the airport. On purpose! They spent three days in the airport on purpose and if that isn’t the highest endorsement for it, I don’t know what is. And when we first got into the airport, I could see why. Much like Hong Kong, it was filled with fresh plants and greenery, with a ton of windows that I’m sure provide some great ambient light during the daytime hours.
And then there’s the Jewel, the reason we put off heading to the hotel when we had our luggage. The Jewel is a new area of Changi that opened last year. It offers sweeping panoramic views of a 130-foot tall waterfall, the largest indoor waterfall in the world. There are things like living art exhibits and food halls complementing the movie theaters and butterfly gardens that initially made Changi famous. The food hall, in particular, was so interesting to me. It was like a really nice food court at a really nice shopping mall and there were SO many options beyond the usual airport fare. We’d later come to realize that Singapore does many things well, and food courts are very much one of them. But more on that later.
The Jewel was spectacularly beautiful, but also spectacularly crowded. Like, it’s Black Friday at the Mall of America types of crowds. It was insane. Also insane? The level of difficulty in getting a Grab in the very busy airport. I told Stephanie to get us a four-seater. Instead, believing we had a ton of luggage, she booked us a Grab XL, which ended up being a Mercedes van that would seat 8. It was way too big for us and we looked entirely foolish, but we were super comfortable in our Mercedes digs.
As we got closer to the hotel and entered the Marina area, and got our first glimpse of the Marina Bay Sands, I just got so excited. We’d been waiting on visiting Singapore for so long and now we were here in this beautiful sparking city!
Our hotel in Singapore, the Conrad Centennial, was much closer thank the airport to the hotel in KL, maybe 15 minutes from the airport. Check in was quick and efficient because I had checked in through the app, and, bonus, my Hilton status had gotten me us upgrade to the next level room up, which ended up being a Marina view room on the 23rd floor. AND though my Gold status would get us free breakfast, the venue was closed for renovations, which meant they upgraded us to the Diamond breakfast in the main restaurant. We were jazzed. And while the Conrad was not quite as luxe as the Mandarin Oriental we had just left, the hotel room was super nice, with marble floors, floor to ceiling windows and a gorgeous sunken tub complete with rubber ducky! There was a plate of fresh fruit and a box of truffles for us on the desk and a cute little Conrad teddy bear on my pillow. Hotels like this are the reason why I love staying in hotels!
((Also I don’t know why my pics were coming out yellow but my Fujifilm was not cooperating here!))
We tried to plan out our next day, but we kept getting mesmerized by the view out of the window. We could see the Merlion statue and the Marina Bay Sands and so many city lights. I’d try to do something and I’d just get lost in the view outside the window – I couldn’t believe we were finally in Singapore, and I just couldn’t wait to get out and explore it!
