Kuala Lumpur The Travel Show

I'm looking for some savings I hear you have a KL Pass?

Hello and welcome to The Travel Show, with me,

Henry Golding, coming to you this week from Malaysia.

To be precise, we are in Kuala Lumpur, and I am

here to see how much of the city I can actually see without burning

To do that, I will be armed with one of these.

It claims to have all sorts of discounts and

special promotions, so is it really worth it?

And will it help you to make the most out of your trip

That is coming up in a moment, but here is what else is coming up

We go behind the scenes at one of London's

grandest hotels as it celebrates its 150th birthday,

And Christa heads to Los Angeles to try her hand, quite

literally, at a new underground dance craze.

8 million people live here in Malaysia's capital city,

Kuala Lumpur, which to the locals is simply called KL.

And earlier this year the city was named one of the best

value for money places in the world to take a 5-star break.

the world without having to blow your budget

one that promises for you to see all the sights and save some money

It cost me around 37 US dollars, or about ?25, and it promises me

some big savings while looking around the city.

So I am going to put it to the test and see if it adds up.

The KL card works much like a prepaid credit card.

You get the choice of a one or 60 card, and that gives

you a discounted entry to a number of attractions.

The more you use it, the more you save.

It also doubles up as a discount card at

This is the Coliseum Cafe, built in 1921,

pre-World War II, so it has been standing this long.

The decor hasn't changed at all, but it is the

perfect destination to start off my journey, get some food,

some fuel for the afternoon, and taste some of

that notoriously delicious Malaysian cuisine.

Now the deal here at the Coliseum is that with your KL Pass you get

10% off the total amount for your bill,

which means there are some savings, but of course this being Malaysia

it is rather cheap anyway and affordable, so how much really

I will find out after I demolish this.

I can see there is a discount coming off of 10%.

Which means my bill came up to 19.85 - that's in Ringgit.

My total savings is 45 US cents, and 30p in pounds, so that means...

My card also offers discount on a workshop to learn the art

of batik, a centuries-old tradition here.

These city cards are becoming available in more and more

places around the world, either to buy online before

The cards are often run by tourist boards but it is also worth knowing

that some are actually operated by profit driven

In Europe last year an estimated 260 million euros was clocked up

A trend that looks set only to get bigger elsewhere,

with cities like New York, Sydney and Cape Town also

For $209, or about ?139, it claims to save you time and money

You can also use it for discounts on entry to the Whitney Museum

The iVenture card for Sydney costs 175 US dollars,

or ?116, and works much like a credit card, which allows

you completely cash free entry or access to a number

This card offers a three to seven day

unlimited access option, which is a bit like

Use the card for a hop-on, hop-off bus tour,

or visit the Sea Life Sydney Aquarium.

And in South Africa the Go Cape Town Card costs 29 US

dollars, or ?19, and offers discounts to ten attractions,

including two ocean aquariums, great white shark diving,

But free entry venues can only be visited once.

The more you use these cards, the better the value for money.

But I would hasten to say that not all cards actually

This means then that some cards could

appear very expensive, given the fact that you have to add

The London card, the one-day card, is ?55.

If you want to include public transportation it will cost

That is a lot of money for one day's pass.

One thing you do get with the pass itself is a little brochure

with all the attractions, all of the discounts you can get,

the dining experiences, and a lot of suggested

itinerary, so it really lets you pack in as much as possible

Looking through the brochure, I decided the next

attraction to see was the Butterfly Park, and it

Have a look at this - a little oasis in the middle

This type of pass has its advantages.

Here in KL's Butterfly Park it has saved me a few pence,

a small saving but they could add up, so a saving

All right, this is a perfect end to a very busy day.

The butterflies, the batik, of course on and off that bus,

but here at Marini's On 57, a flash of the KL Pass,

and of course a reservation for dinner

will get you a free mocktail, which is the best thing at the end

of a very sweaty afternoon in Kuala Lumpur.

But what better way to see the sunset than at probably

The card has come in handy - the discounts, yes,

they are helpful, and if you don't like carrying too much cash or cards

around in a strange place, then they're a great idea.

But to really get the best value out of these

visitor passes, you have to plan your day well,

hit the streets early and stay out late.

Which is great if you're squeezing all that you can

out of destination, but perhaps not so much fun if you to take your time

Stay with us you're on The Travel Show, because coming up:

Christa gets her gloves on in LA, and get a lesson in self-expression.

This is the hardest my brain has ever had to work.

The Travel Show, your essential guide

Up next, we head to London and one of its

grandest hotels as it celebrates its 150th anniversary.

To mark the occasion, the Langham has opened

what it claims is the most expensive suite in the city.

The price to stay here is an eye-watering ?24,000

MUSIC: Easy Living by Billie Holiday

London's hotels have always attracted high society's

best and brightest, and the city's luxury travel market is booming.

According to global brand MasterCard, by the end of 2015

London will be the most visited city in the world,

with luxury travellers spending billions of pounds.

But these traditional institutions face

competition from a new breed of modern luxury hotel,

situated in iconic London locations who say they

now cater for the globetrotting super rich elite heading

So are the capital's grand hotels at risk of appearing a little...

The Langham, London was built in 1865, opened by the Prince of Wales.

It is a hotel which is celebrating today its 150th year.

The space planning of the hotel is quite unique.

We have wonderful wide corridors, where in the old days they used to

have two dresses and two ladies go past quite easily.

Our Palm Court is the original location for

The Langham Hotel has, because of its history,

We have four or 5% that come from the Middle East.

We have about 10% comes from the far east, including China.

A market that is growing substantially.

New markets bring different expectations, so these old hotels

are under pressure to modernise the services they offer.

I think that grand hotels are experiencing something

Up until now they have done things their way for decades, right

since the beginning, and it has been in a very starchy, formulaic,

formal sort of way and people don't really want that any more.

They are looking for something much more informal.

Is everything well with the customers?

What we have learned in the last decade, when you're

talking about iconic suites is very often they want more space,

so I have just finished working with very great international designers,

to give something to London that is extremely functional.

To help mark their 150th birthday, in July the Langham opened

staying there will set you back ?24,000 - over $36,000 - a night.

On its opening it was crowned the most expensive suite in London.

The adornment in the drawing room is a tremendous size.

I still need some more time to finish with some items...

The master bedroom itself has a sitting room area

This is my favourite part of the Sterling Suite,

and again worth to mention here that we have wallpaper that's handmade.

The artwork we put in there is eclectic, with the very best

of British art, European art and a touch of Asian aspect as well.

Most of the contract is in the suppliers, they were leaving

the suite at about six o'clock and actually arrival was at nine

I wish that hotels would stop vying with each other in this way.

I think it's completely a marketing ploy and I think it is

I also think it is rather old-fashioned,

because the modern luxury traveller, he may be incredibly wealthy -

or she - but they may be dressed in jeans or trainers.

Not all the Langham's wealthy guests shares

To successfully market a modern luxury hotel,

they must attract high-profile celebrities, and a recent appearance

by Lady Gaga gave them a golden photo opportunity, one which can be

I was setting up the cake and all of a sudden she walked down,

from the front of the hotel, very graciously, you know.

She came to me, give me a cuddle, a kiss, and she said, thank you.

She held my hand. She walked in front of the house and post fuller

paparazzi. I felt over the moon. The happiest day of my life and I didn't

expect her to do that. I think that grand hotels, especially in London,

have to be very careful not to become ridiculously exclusive. It

would be a huge shame if grand hotels forgot their core guest. If

British, London, grand hotels forgot British people living in the country

who want to, to London and have a of old-style glamour, and I think it is

very important that they don't lose sight of that. There are clientele

around the world who are asking for the very, very best. Their attention

to detail on the luxury stage is second to none. They can set the

style, the fabric, the durability, the choice of colours. Luxury today

is about entertainment. There's been a tremendous change in the last 20

years in London and it is not just hotels, but fashion, restaurants,

bars. It is a fashion icon of the world.

And the end of this week we're heading to Los Angeles. Over recent

years it has been the birthplace of several different dance graces, from

joking to cramping. -- crazes. Now a different type, performance art, is

sweeping the West Coast. We went to check it out. This film contains

flashing images. This hypnotic type of dance first

became popular in Adelaide, on the West Coast of the USA, it is now on

the way to spreading further afield. -- in LA. On the year the best of

them converge here, just south of LA, for the international

championships. Glovers perform what are called light shows, kneeling in

front of one person to take up their entire field of vision. It has

transformed from novelty proper to a form of dance, performance art or

even a sport, with its own terminology and scoring system. It's

a very strange thing, all of this. You can see how much training has

gone into these performances. Kind of amazing. Five years ago, Brian

created what is now one of the leading company -- companies that

makes these clubs. This made a huge community of glovers and host the

championships each year. My girlfriend actually got me into

gloving. She put gloves on me in a club in LA and I just fell in love.

We created an event called Friday Night Lights. The first that it was

20, they're dirty, then 50, then 100, then it was just like, get the

hell out of here! How do they work? It is quite simple. These are the

microlights that go inside the fingertips of the gloves and they

know when to change the colours, when you move. Blitson is one of the

top female glovers on the scene. She makes videos of herself doing it

around her home town of Adelaide. Backstage, I catch up with her while

she is getting ready for her light show. It started as expression and

now I do it because I really enjoy the excitement that I see from my

fans watching my light shows. Is it a growing movement? Something that

is taking off? Most definitely. I can guarantee that you will start to

see it in things, like music videos, more in the news. The last video I

was in went viral. In two days it had 2.5 million views. But it hasn't

always been an easy ride for glovers. Some bases have banned

them, considered it may have unwanted associations with drug

culture and that people watching light shows could cause a fire

hazard. That's why we created the hashtag loving is not a crime. They

are not criminals. Today you see these glovers here, they are

harmless kids, just trying to practice their art form. These

competitions, where you have over 50 judges, you have a scorecard where

you are ranked on what makes a great light show. It really legitimises

the artform itself. Back inside, the competition is hotting up.

So, time to give it a go myself. He was a runner-up in the context. It

comes from one single move, which is the single role. That is what

everyone says. This is the hardest my brain has ever had to work! This

could lead into going here, going here, going here, here, here, here,

here, here. A little bit quicker. One, two, three, four, five. Boom!

Boom! And I couldn't let him go before he gave me my very own light

show. Oh my God. Well, that is tougher

than it looks, but really good fun. Who knows? I might make a glover

yet. Well, that's it for this week. They

give very much for joining us on our travels. Catch us next week when...

I will be looking back at 2015 here on The Travel Show. Over the past

year we've travelled the globe to bring you stories from the -- from

all over the world. Join us as we revisit some of our favourites. From

me and the rest of The Travel Show team here in Malaysia, it's goodbye.

What does the weather have planned for us this weekend?

The plans will vary quite a lot depending on where you are

There will be rain at times and also some snow in places.