Lounging Through A Layover in Kuala Lumpur

Starbucks is my friend — at least in Kuala Lumpur! I haven’t really paid much attention to this particular chain of coffeehouses since I moved away from Washington State over a decade and a half ago. But here I am, paying two visits in one day because they have free wifi and we are spending almost a full day in layover mode. We leave for Amsterdam in several hours and I’m trying to catch up on some work without paying $7.50 an hour at our hotel. Those are NOT budget friendly ‘extras’ when you are trying to travel in a frugal manner — and those extras add up.

Starbucks Kuala Lumpur International Airport

I have a perfectly serviceable area to use as an office on the road in our hotel room, but I was astonished at how fast I burned through that one hour purchase. So back I trekked to Starbucks. And we are sitting here sipping tea in the lounge behind the facade that you can see in this shot above and both of us are happily working online.

Office On The Road

Big blue plane outside the hotel window in Kuala Lumpur

We took a nap this afternoon and when I opened the curtains afterward, the first words out of my mouth were, “Whoa! Big blue plane!” And that’s exactly what was right beneath my window. Our hotel is actually inside the terminal and we never had to exit through customs or passport control, so we are right next to all of the airline traffic outside. Interestingly, we can’t hear any of that though and the windows are at least double-glazed, possibly triple-glazed. It is completely silent inside while you eat or shop or, most importantly, sleep.

Luxury shopping in KL International Airport

There is a full sized mall area inside the Kuala Lumpur International Airport — but trust me, this isn’t budget shopping! This is definitely aimed at the upmarket traveller with lots of disposable dollars, euros, pounds, or whatever other currency. And interestingly, the shops and restaurants allow you to make your purchases in whatever foreign currency you have with you. But you do need to be aware that the change you receive back will be in Malaysian currency. We learned that lesson at breakfast and have made sure to use a credit card or debit card for everything ever since.

Need to go repack my carry-on bag. My next post will be from Amsterdam!