I didn’t really have much fun in KL, and didn’t really take to the city as a result. There were two dominating factors that caused my discontent, spending a great deal of time at the Burmese Embassy, and illness.
We arrived late at night and checked into a dingy Hostel that we had made a booking for prior to our arrival. When we arrived there were no twin rooms left, even though I specifically requested one when making the booking. There was a room available with a double bed and sofa, so we took it. Nev won the coin toss so I had to sleep on the sofa cushions on the floor.
After a surprisingly good sleep we woke up and made a plan for the day. First off we went to the Burmese embassy to apply for our visa. It takes two working days and we were keen to get it done asap, the weekend was coming up and we didn’t want to hang around KL for too long. We took the subway to the stop nearest the embassy. We then walked in the baking heat for around an hour before we found it to find out that it was closed for a holiday. We walked back rather dejected with the news, knowing that we’d wasted a journey and that time was running out before the weekend.
We decided to change Hostels, the sleeping arrangements weren’t ideal and there were plenty of other options around the area we were staying in, yet another Chinatown. We checked out and after a bit of a mission we found somewhere that was half decent, we went back to get our bags and then checked into our new accommodation.
After we were finally settled we decided to check out the Petronas Towers. There’s a sky bridge linking the twin towers about a third of the way up. As a tourist this is as high as you can go, you can’t get to the top which seems like a bit of a wasted opportunity. Unfortunately when we were there the sky bridge was closed for maintenance. There’s a big shopping mall at the base of the towers, if you get the underground you have to traipse through it before you can get a view of towers from outside.
The first time I was in New York I visited the Twin Towers, the summer just before 9/11. I remember standing at the base of the Twin Towers absolutely spellbound, staring straight up with my mouth wide open, in awe at the sheer size and height of the buildings. The Petronas towers are taller, and I expected to have the same reaction when we finally made it through the throngs of shoppers and outside to inspect the view. When I looked straight up my mouth stayed firmly closed, I wasn’t gripped as I thought I was going to be and I was a wee bit disappointed. Maybe it’s because I’ve seen a lot more sky scrapers since I visited New York for the first time, or maybe the tapered design of the Petronas Towers don’t make them look as big and bulky.
The location of the Petronas tower is pretty special. There aren’t any other giant buildings around and they stand out like a beacon, well a pair of beacons. Just outside the Petronas towers there’s a picturesque park with water fountains, ponds and various other water features. There’s a children’s play park and stage for various events. It’s like Kelvingrove Park in Glasgow, but slap bang in the middle of a city centre, surrounded by tall buildings including a pair of the tallest buildings in the world, with palm trees and no neds.
We strolled through the park and this is when I started to appreciate the architecture of the building. It was partially government funded and they specifically requested for a design that would symbolise Malaysian Islamic culture. The Petronas towers have a very geometrical design which typifies Islamic architecture. Jagged triangle edges and squares are in abundance on the exterior steel frame. They look modern and definitively Eastern, very unlike a typical sky scraper. They have the added advantage that they are a pair, linked with a sky bridge. This makes them a lot more unique and iconic. There was a particular spot in the park we came to where they looked magnificent glimmering in the sunshine.
The next two days we spent most of our time trekking to and from the Burmese embassy first to apply for our visa then to collect it. Unfortunately it was around this time that I started becoming ill. On my quest to find good local food, we came across an area full of cheap street food vendors with plastic chairs and tables on the street. We went for some Malaysian food which was very tasty but I think was the culprit for the subsequent two week long stomach problems I had. We didn’t have AC in our guest house, and it was roast boats. I had a few sleepless nights lying in the heat with stomach cramps having to run to the toilet every five minutes. It wasn’t much fun.
Chris recommended to us the Skybar at Traders Hotel for the best views of the Petronas towers. So, we went there for happy hour. Traders Hotel is on the opposite side of the park from the twin towers, and the view from the Skybar is spectacular. We liked it so much that we decided to check out of our Guest House the next day and stay in the Traders Hotel for one night.
We chose a room with a view facing the Petronas Towers. We had a great view from our room, we watched at dusk as the lights came on, it was good to get a different perspective of the buildings as the night grew darker. I still wasn’t feeling great and we had a fairly early night. We went to sleep with the curtains open, Nev was in heaven.
The next day I woke up early and went for a jog around the park. There’s a running track through the park and the people from KL make full use of it. It was probably one of my favourite jogs ever, I literally had to walk about one minute from my hotel before I got to the track, and the views while circling the park were fantastic. It’s really cool jogging around with loads of sky scrapers above your head. After my jog I went for a swim in the swimming pool at the Skybar interrupted with visits to the Jacuzzi, steam room and sauna. It was good to relax and get a bit of spa treatment after feeling pretty rough for the last few days.
We were flying to Burma in the evening, so we left our bags at reception while we got some lunch. We went to eat at the food hall in the Petronas Towers shopping mall. After lunch we wandered around for a while, picked up our bags and then got the train to the airport. Next stop Yangon.
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