:00:09. > :00:10.I'm looking for some savings I hear you have a KL Pass?
:00:11. > :00:44.Hello and welcome to The Travel Show, with me,
:00:45. > :00:46.Henry Golding, coming to you this week from Malaysia.
:00:47. > :00:48.To be precise, we are in Kuala Lumpur, and I am
:00:49. > :00:52.here to see how much of the city I can actually see without burning
:00:53. > :01:09.To do that, I will be armed with one of these.
:01:10. > :01:13.It claims to have all sorts of discounts and
:01:14. > :01:15.special promotions, so is it really worth it?
:01:16. > :01:18.And will it help you to make the most out of your trip
:01:19. > :01:23.That is coming up in a moment, but here is what else is coming up
:01:24. > :01:26.We go behind the scenes at one of London's
:01:27. > :01:29.grandest hotels as it celebrates its 150th birthday,
:01:30. > :01:32.And Christa heads to Los Angeles to try her hand, quite
:01:33. > :01:34.literally, at a new underground dance craze.
:01:35. > :01:38.8 million people live here in Malaysia's capital city,
:01:39. > :01:41.Kuala Lumpur, which to the locals is simply called KL.
:01:42. > :01:44.And earlier this year the city was named one of the best
:01:45. > :01:50.value for money places in the world to take a 5-star break.
:01:51. > :01:56.the world without having to blow your budget
:01:57. > :01:59.one that promises for you to see all the sights and save some money
:02:00. > :02:10.It cost me around 37 US dollars, or about ?25, and it promises me
:02:11. > :02:16.some big savings while looking around the city.
:02:17. > :02:21.So I am going to put it to the test and see if it adds up.
:02:22. > :02:23.The KL card works much like a prepaid credit card.
:02:24. > :02:27.You get the choice of a one or 60 card, and that gives
:02:28. > :02:31.you a discounted entry to a number of attractions.
:02:32. > :02:33.The more you use it, the more you save.
:02:34. > :02:35.It also doubles up as a discount card at
:02:36. > :02:44.This is the Coliseum Cafe, built in 1921,
:02:45. > :02:50.pre-World War II, so it has been standing this long.
:02:51. > :02:53.The decor hasn't changed at all, but it is the
:02:54. > :02:55.perfect destination to start off my journey, get some food,
:02:56. > :02:57.some fuel for the afternoon, and taste some of
:02:58. > :03:00.that notoriously delicious Malaysian cuisine.
:03:01. > :03:13.Now the deal here at the Coliseum is that with your KL Pass you get
:03:14. > :03:21.10% off the total amount for your bill,
:03:22. > :03:25.which means there are some savings, but of course this being Malaysia
:03:26. > :03:27.it is rather cheap anyway and affordable, so how much really
:03:28. > :03:45.I will find out after I demolish this.
:03:46. > :03:51.I can see there is a discount coming off of 10%.
:03:52. > :03:55.Which means my bill came up to 19.85 - that's in Ringgit.
:03:56. > :04:07.My total savings is 45 US cents, and 30p in pounds, so that means...
:04:08. > :04:21.My card also offers discount on a workshop to learn the art
:04:22. > :04:32.of batik, a centuries-old tradition here.
:04:33. > :04:35.These city cards are becoming available in more and more
:04:36. > :04:37.places around the world, either to buy online before
:04:38. > :04:47.The cards are often run by tourist boards but it is also worth knowing
:04:48. > :04:49.that some are actually operated by profit driven
:04:50. > :04:58.In Europe last year an estimated 260 million euros was clocked up
:04:59. > :05:01.A trend that looks set only to get bigger elsewhere,
:05:02. > :05:04.with cities like New York, Sydney and Cape Town also
:05:05. > :05:14.For $209, or about ?139, it claims to save you time and money
:05:15. > :05:19.You can also use it for discounts on entry to the Whitney Museum
:05:20. > :05:32.The iVenture card for Sydney costs 175 US dollars,
:05:33. > :05:34.or ?116, and works much like a credit card, which allows
:05:35. > :05:40.you completely cash free entry or access to a number
:05:41. > :05:46.This card offers a three to seven day
:05:47. > :05:48.unlimited access option, which is a bit like
:05:49. > :05:51.Use the card for a hop-on, hop-off bus tour,
:05:52. > :05:56.or visit the Sea Life Sydney Aquarium.
:05:57. > :06:00.And in South Africa the Go Cape Town Card costs 29 US
:06:01. > :06:05.dollars, or ?19, and offers discounts to ten attractions,
:06:06. > :06:10.including two ocean aquariums, great white shark diving,
:06:11. > :06:13.But free entry venues can only be visited once.
:06:14. > :06:20.The more you use these cards, the better the value for money.
:06:21. > :06:22.But I would hasten to say that not all cards actually
:06:23. > :06:29.This means then that some cards could
:06:30. > :06:31.appear very expensive, given the fact that you have to add
:06:32. > :06:42.The London card, the one-day card, is ?55.
:06:43. > :06:44.If you want to include public transportation it will cost
:06:45. > :06:59.That is a lot of money for one day's pass.
:07:00. > :07:09.One thing you do get with the pass itself is a little brochure
:07:10. > :07:12.with all the attractions, all of the discounts you can get,
:07:13. > :07:14.the dining experiences, and a lot of suggested
:07:15. > :07:17.itinerary, so it really lets you pack in as much as possible
:07:18. > :07:31.Looking through the brochure, I decided the next
:07:32. > :07:36.attraction to see was the Butterfly Park, and it
:07:37. > :07:41.Have a look at this - a little oasis in the middle
:07:42. > :07:50.This type of pass has its advantages.
:07:51. > :07:53.Here in KL's Butterfly Park it has saved me a few pence,
:07:54. > :07:56.a small saving but they could add up, so a saving
:07:57. > :08:14.All right, this is a perfect end to a very busy day.
:08:15. > :08:20.The butterflies, the batik, of course on and off that bus,
:08:21. > :08:23.but here at Marini's On 57, a flash of the KL Pass,
:08:24. > :08:26.and of course a reservation for dinner
:08:27. > :08:30.will get you a free mocktail, which is the best thing at the end
:08:31. > :08:33.of a very sweaty afternoon in Kuala Lumpur.
:08:34. > :08:37.But what better way to see the sunset than at probably
:08:38. > :08:43.The card has come in handy - the discounts, yes,
:08:44. > :08:47.they are helpful, and if you don't like carrying too much cash or cards
:08:48. > :08:49.around in a strange place, then they're a great idea.
:08:50. > :08:52.But to really get the best value out of these
:08:53. > :08:54.visitor passes, you have to plan your day well,
:08:55. > :08:57.hit the streets early and stay out late.
:08:58. > :09:01.Which is great if you're squeezing all that you can
:09:02. > :09:04.out of destination, but perhaps not so much fun if you to take your time
:09:05. > :09:24.Stay with us you're on The Travel Show, because coming up:
:09:25. > :09:29.Christa gets her gloves on in LA, and get a lesson in self-expression.
:09:30. > :09:36.This is the hardest my brain has ever had to work.
:09:37. > :09:37.The Travel Show, your essential guide
:09:38. > :09:54.Up next, we head to London and one of its
:09:55. > :09:56.grandest hotels as it celebrates its 150th anniversary.
:09:57. > :09:58.To mark the occasion, the Langham has opened
:09:59. > :10:01.what it claims is the most expensive suite in the city.
:10:02. > :10:03.The price to stay here is an eye-watering ?24,000
:10:04. > :10:24.MUSIC: Easy Living by Billie Holiday
:10:25. > :10:26.London's hotels have always attracted high society's
:10:27. > :10:29.best and brightest, and the city's luxury travel market is booming.
:10:30. > :10:32.According to global brand MasterCard, by the end of 2015
:10:33. > :10:34.London will be the most visited city in the world,
:10:35. > :10:44.with luxury travellers spending billions of pounds.
:10:45. > :10:45.But these traditional institutions face
:10:46. > :10:47.competition from a new breed of modern luxury hotel,
:10:48. > :10:50.situated in iconic London locations who say they
:10:51. > :10:52.now cater for the globetrotting super rich elite heading
:10:53. > :11:04.So are the capital's grand hotels at risk of appearing a little...
:11:05. > :11:17.The Langham, London was built in 1865, opened by the Prince of Wales.
:11:18. > :11:20.It is a hotel which is celebrating today its 150th year.
:11:21. > :11:24.The space planning of the hotel is quite unique.
:11:25. > :11:27.We have wonderful wide corridors, where in the old days they used to
:11:28. > :11:30.have two dresses and two ladies go past quite easily.
:11:31. > :11:32.Our Palm Court is the original location for
:11:33. > :11:46.The Langham Hotel has, because of its history,
:11:47. > :11:50.We have four or 5% that come from the Middle East.
:11:51. > :11:58.We have about 10% comes from the far east, including China.
:11:59. > :11:59.A market that is growing substantially.
:12:00. > :12:01.New markets bring different expectations, so these old hotels
:12:02. > :12:11.are under pressure to modernise the services they offer.
:12:12. > :12:13.I think that grand hotels are experiencing something
:12:14. > :12:18.Up until now they have done things their way for decades, right
:12:19. > :12:21.since the beginning, and it has been in a very starchy, formulaic,
:12:22. > :12:30.formal sort of way and people don't really want that any more.
:12:31. > :12:32.They are looking for something much more informal.
:12:33. > :12:39.Is everything well with the customers?
:12:40. > :12:43.What we have learned in the last decade, when you're
:12:44. > :12:45.talking about iconic suites is very often they want more space,
:12:46. > :12:48.so I have just finished working with very great international designers,
:12:49. > :12:51.to give something to London that is extremely functional.
:12:52. > :13:04.To help mark their 150th birthday, in July the Langham opened
:13:05. > :13:12.staying there will set you back ?24,000 - over $36,000 - a night.
:13:13. > :13:20.On its opening it was crowned the most expensive suite in London.
:13:21. > :13:27.The adornment in the drawing room is a tremendous size.
:13:28. > :13:29.I still need some more time to finish with some items...
:13:30. > :13:32.The master bedroom itself has a sitting room area
:13:33. > :13:43.This is my favourite part of the Sterling Suite,
:13:44. > :13:47.and again worth to mention here that we have wallpaper that's handmade.
:13:48. > :13:50.The artwork we put in there is eclectic, with the very best
:13:51. > :13:57.of British art, European art and a touch of Asian aspect as well.
:13:58. > :14:00.Most of the contract is in the suppliers, they were leaving
:14:01. > :14:03.the suite at about six o'clock and actually arrival was at nine
:14:04. > :14:13.I wish that hotels would stop vying with each other in this way.
:14:14. > :14:16.I think it's completely a marketing ploy and I think it is
:14:17. > :14:20.I also think it is rather old-fashioned,
:14:21. > :14:23.because the modern luxury traveller, he may be incredibly wealthy -
:14:24. > :14:30.or she - but they may be dressed in jeans or trainers.
:14:31. > :14:31.Not all the Langham's wealthy guests shares
:14:32. > :14:41.To successfully market a modern luxury hotel,
:14:42. > :14:43.they must attract high-profile celebrities, and a recent appearance
:14:44. > :14:46.by Lady Gaga gave them a golden photo opportunity, one which can be
:14:47. > :15:04.I was setting up the cake and all of a sudden she walked down,
:15:05. > :15:07.from the front of the hotel, very graciously, you know.
:15:08. > :15:11.She came to me, give me a cuddle, a kiss, and she said, thank you.
:15:12. > :15:19.She held my hand. She walked in front of the house and post fuller
:15:20. > :15:25.paparazzi. I felt over the moon. The happiest day of my life and I didn't
:15:26. > :15:31.expect her to do that. I think that grand hotels, especially in London,
:15:32. > :15:34.have to be very careful not to become ridiculously exclusive. It
:15:35. > :15:44.would be a huge shame if grand hotels forgot their core guest. If
:15:45. > :15:48.British, London, grand hotels forgot British people living in the country
:15:49. > :15:52.who want to, to London and have a of old-style glamour, and I think it is
:15:53. > :15:57.very important that they don't lose sight of that. There are clientele
:15:58. > :16:02.around the world who are asking for the very, very best. Their attention
:16:03. > :16:06.to detail on the luxury stage is second to none. They can set the
:16:07. > :16:13.style, the fabric, the durability, the choice of colours. Luxury today
:16:14. > :16:17.is about entertainment. There's been a tremendous change in the last 20
:16:18. > :16:22.years in London and it is not just hotels, but fashion, restaurants,
:16:23. > :16:34.bars. It is a fashion icon of the world.
:16:35. > :16:41.And the end of this week we're heading to Los Angeles. Over recent
:16:42. > :16:48.years it has been the birthplace of several different dance graces, from
:16:49. > :16:51.joking to cramping. -- crazes. Now a different type, performance art, is
:16:52. > :17:06.sweeping the West Coast. We went to check it out. This film contains
:17:07. > :17:09.flashing images. This hypnotic type of dance first
:17:10. > :17:16.became popular in Adelaide, on the West Coast of the USA, it is now on
:17:17. > :17:22.the way to spreading further afield. -- in LA. On the year the best of
:17:23. > :17:33.them converge here, just south of LA, for the international
:17:34. > :17:36.championships. Glovers perform what are called light shows, kneeling in
:17:37. > :17:41.front of one person to take up their entire field of vision. It has
:17:42. > :17:45.transformed from novelty proper to a form of dance, performance art or
:17:46. > :17:53.even a sport, with its own terminology and scoring system. It's
:17:54. > :17:56.a very strange thing, all of this. You can see how much training has
:17:57. > :18:05.gone into these performances. Kind of amazing. Five years ago, Brian
:18:06. > :18:12.created what is now one of the leading company -- companies that
:18:13. > :18:15.makes these clubs. This made a huge community of glovers and host the
:18:16. > :18:22.championships each year. My girlfriend actually got me into
:18:23. > :18:27.gloving. She put gloves on me in a club in LA and I just fell in love.
:18:28. > :18:32.We created an event called Friday Night Lights. The first that it was
:18:33. > :18:38.20, they're dirty, then 50, then 100, then it was just like, get the
:18:39. > :18:41.hell out of here! How do they work? It is quite simple. These are the
:18:42. > :18:47.microlights that go inside the fingertips of the gloves and they
:18:48. > :18:57.know when to change the colours, when you move. Blitson is one of the
:18:58. > :19:01.top female glovers on the scene. She makes videos of herself doing it
:19:02. > :19:05.around her home town of Adelaide. Backstage, I catch up with her while
:19:06. > :19:09.she is getting ready for her light show. It started as expression and
:19:10. > :19:13.now I do it because I really enjoy the excitement that I see from my
:19:14. > :19:19.fans watching my light shows. Is it a growing movement? Something that
:19:20. > :19:22.is taking off? Most definitely. I can guarantee that you will start to
:19:23. > :19:32.see it in things, like music videos, more in the news. The last video I
:19:33. > :19:39.was in went viral. In two days it had 2.5 million views. But it hasn't
:19:40. > :19:45.always been an easy ride for glovers. Some bases have banned
:19:46. > :19:48.them, considered it may have unwanted associations with drug
:19:49. > :19:52.culture and that people watching light shows could cause a fire
:19:53. > :19:58.hazard. That's why we created the hashtag loving is not a crime. They
:19:59. > :20:01.are not criminals. Today you see these glovers here, they are
:20:02. > :20:07.harmless kids, just trying to practice their art form. These
:20:08. > :20:10.competitions, where you have over 50 judges, you have a scorecard where
:20:11. > :20:16.you are ranked on what makes a great light show. It really legitimises
:20:17. > :20:37.the artform itself. Back inside, the competition is hotting up.
:20:38. > :20:47.So, time to give it a go myself. He was a runner-up in the context. It
:20:48. > :20:54.comes from one single move, which is the single role. That is what
:20:55. > :20:59.everyone says. This is the hardest my brain has ever had to work! This
:21:00. > :21:10.could lead into going here, going here, going here, here, here, here,
:21:11. > :21:19.here, here. A little bit quicker. One, two, three, four, five. Boom!
:21:20. > :21:20.Boom! And I couldn't let him go before he gave me my very own light
:21:21. > :21:47.show. Oh my God. Well, that is tougher
:21:48. > :21:51.than it looks, but really good fun. Who knows? I might make a glover
:21:52. > :22:02.yet. Well, that's it for this week. They
:22:03. > :22:10.give very much for joining us on our travels. Catch us next week when...
:22:11. > :22:14.I will be looking back at 2015 here on The Travel Show. Over the past
:22:15. > :22:18.year we've travelled the globe to bring you stories from the -- from
:22:19. > :22:25.all over the world. Join us as we revisit some of our favourites. From
:22:26. > :22:52.me and the rest of The Travel Show team here in Malaysia, it's goodbye.
:22:53. > :22:57.What does the weather have planned for us this weekend?
:22:58. > :23:01.The plans will vary quite a lot depending on where you are
:23:02. > :23:06.There will be rain at times and also some snow in places.