Ask Away: Killing time in Kuala Lumpur

The Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur. Photo / Getty Images

Eli Orzessek finds the answers to your travel questions.

I'm heading to Borneo and have an afternoon in Kuala Lumpur on the way back, staying near the airport. What's the best way to make the most of a short stay there?
Ngaire

It really depends on how much time you have, but KL is a pretty great place for a stopover. The city is about an hour's drive from the airport, or a 30-minute train ride on the KLIA Ekspres. Obviously you'll want to get back with two hours to spare before your flight, so this is probably only an option if you have around six hours to burn.

To save time, you could always haggle with a taxi driver to take you around the city, or jump on the KL Hop On Hop Off bus, which costs 55RM ($19) for an adult. It makes 23 stops around the city and I used this to get around on a brief visit there. I'd recommend checking out the famous Petronas Towers — getting on the Sky Bridge might be difficult, as tickets are allocated on a first come, first served basis from 8.30am — but the towers are still worth seeing.

I really enjoyed the KL Bird Park and Petaling Street Markets in Chinatown — you'll find some great food there. The bus tour also stops at some historic mosques, temples and the National Palace.

If you decide that time is too tight to venture into town, you could always indulge in a spot of shopping close to the airport; Kuala Lumpur does malls really well. KLIA2 has its own mall, the Gateway Mall, with more than 220 retail stores to explore. Or if you're keen to nab a bargain, the Mitsui Outlet Park is only 6km from the airport and it also has a good food court.

I struggle to sleep on planes and on a long haul there is only so long I can enjoy reading and watching movies. Do you have any other great suggestions to pass the time without going insane?
Gemma

I get a bit bored with reading and movies too. I try to have a few games on my phone that I can play without data — my favourites are Four Pics, One Word and the Japanese cat-collecting game Neko Atsume — it's quite relaxing to check in on the kitties over a long flight.

Otherwise, puzzle books are great — I like Sudoku or crosswords — it's really a challenge when you can't go online and cheat as well!

You could also bring a notebook and make up some stories about your fellow passengers, depending on how creative you're feeling. Or take a tip from Kim Kardashian and shoot a series of bathroom selfies. She says you'll find great lighting in there and I can attest to that. Just make sure you know your angles.

One thing I would not recommend is doing yoga in the aisles.
That never goes down well.

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Eli cannot answer all questions and can't correspond with readers.

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