Sorry, that should be Ambassador Hotel for six hours inside the SIN airport.

Cameron Highlands by bus. Georgetown by train.

Thanks thursdaysd. I'm googling.

Georgetown, Penang is just a delight. Some of the best hawker food in the world.

See here what KL has to offer:
http://www.molon.de/galleries/Malaysia/KL/

Regarding the places to visit, what are your interests? By the way, if you only have 10 days, I wouldn't spend three days in KL.

Go to Langkawi (it's quite near Penang) if you like beaches.

http://wikitravel.org/en/Langkawi

Hi,

If this is your first time to Malaysia and where time permits, in addition to KL, you may want to explore Penang and Melaka which are the World Heritage Sites listed by UNESCO. Provided that you can still change your booking for the room in KL, You could try this:

17/3 - Explore KL Town - Heritage walk, Petaling Street area etc (easily accessible by train, i.e. LRT);
18/3 - Catch an early bus (7 or 8am) to Melaka. Journey takes about 2 hours and ticket costs RM12+. Stay Melaka. There are plenty of budget hostels around so shouldnt be difficult to get one within your budget.
19/3 - Explore Melaka. Take an overnight bus (10pm or so) to Penang. Journey takes approx 8 hours and ticket costs RM45-50.
20/3 - Explore Penang. Stay Penang. Again, plenty of backpacker's inns.
21/3 - Penang. Alternatively, you could take a 3 hours ferry to Langkawi and spend a night there.
22/3 - Penang/ Langkawi.
23/3 - Take bus back to KL. Journey takes 5 hours ticket costs RM35.
24/3 - KL - Batu Caves, Twin Tower, KL Tower etc etc. Stay KL.
25/3 - KL to next destination.

Hope it helps.

In KL it very much depends on your interests but for me, the Islamic Arts Museum, Jamek, Mosque and Petaling Street were highlights. I wouldn't bother with Batu Caves. China Town and Little India have some great cheap food. if you enjoy Indian food check out the banana leaf restaurants, no cutlery or plates but amazing food!a couple of days is probably enough for the time you have available.

Other places I enjoyed on numerous visits to Malayasia are Penang ( mainly Georgetown, but there are other places worth a look on the island), the Cameron Highlands are very scenic ( and a bit cooler) but are not really a budget destination as accommodation can be expensive and it is best visited with a car. Taman Negara NP is the place if you want a rainforest fix. I would google to see if you can find a cheap tour there, but you can go independently by bus.

Langkawi is good trip with some great hotels and beaches but we couldn't find any cheap accommodation the last time we were there so we moved right in.

Melaka is " interesting" and the Nonya food is bth fantastic and a lot different from anything else in Malaysia.

Thanks so much for your posts. Could I take the ferry up to Langkawi for the day from George Town?

We got the ferry from Langawi to Penang and, as I recall, it was quite a fast boat, I think the journey time was a couple of hours but do check this out. You should be able to find schedules on line. The trip along the coast was very pleasant and it made a welcome change from buses! Langkawi is great for beaches but the main town Kuah has little of interest. You could maybe organise a trip to the mangroves which is nice for a few hours or get a taxi out to one of the many, many beaches.

Things can obviously have changed, but when I was in Malaysia in 2002 there was plenty of budget accommodation in the Cameron Highlands in Tanah Rata, and day trips available at a reasonable price.

I agree that KL deserves at least a couple of days and would add the Bird Park to crellston's list.