Anyway, my flight from Tokyo was super pleasant and I actually got a few hours sleep -- and then I had another 4 hour layover in the beautiful Singapore Changi airport. Because I had visited Singapore on my October 2015 trip, I had arranged to just transit here and caught a $29USD, hour long flight on Air Asia to KL. Upon arrival in KL, I navigated my way to the "KLIA Ekspres" non-stop rail service to downtown ("KL Sentral") for RM49.50 (Malaysian Ringgit), which is the equivalent of about $13 USD. Then for another RM2.50 (64 cents USD) I caught the monorail to a stop near my accommodations. I truly love traveling by public transportation -- and not just because it is usually the cheapest option, but also because it gives me exposure to the people/culture - both travelers and locals. KL Sentral was buzzing with people/activity and I had a moment of feeling like I was Indiana Jones -- on a mission to get to my accommodations through the throngs of people amongst strange smells and language all around.
Accommodations, with advice/assistance from a friend, are super nice at Invito Hotel Suites - a completely equipped condo for the equivalent of about $42USD a night.
Here's my room and my view:
As you may imagine, I was exhausted from my long journey -- but the excitement of being here and the desire to get on local time encouraged me to head out to walk around the area -- and enjoy some Chinese food and a beer, and watch the evening light show in the pond in front of the well-known Petronas Towers:
And I couldn't resist getting a photo of this display along one of the walk-ways. The wall contained photos of all the instrument groups -- but I only wanted a photo of the Tuba -- and got the entire brass section:
