Kuala Lumpur 1
Trip Start
Sep 03, 2007
1
165
220
Trip End
Jun 17, 2009
Kuala Lumpur,
Wilayah Persekutuan,
Malaysia
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Immigration cards were issued and we boarded the train at 7.35 and eventually departed at 8.10, passing slowly through the suburbs of Singapore and then into the forested countryside.
After just over an hour we stopped at a Malaysian controlled station on the Singapore side of the 'Straits of Johor', which separate Singapore from Malaysia
Train to Malaysia
. We had to leave the train and go into the station buildings where our Singapore documents were collected, exit stamps put in our passports, Malaysian immigration cards stamped and our thumb prints scanned. The one thing that wasn't stamped, for some reason, was our passports. All this took place in silence with limited, abrupt instructions given by the dour officials. Our luggage on the train was meanwhile being checked by a border team using sniffer dogs. After the formalities we all waited in a large hall, until we were allowed back on to the train. Overall a quite stern exercise.Setting off again we immediately passed over the Straits, a wide stretch of sea with the rail bridge also carrying two metre diameter water pipes into Singapore. The adjacent road bridge was queued with cars and trucks waiting to cross the Malaysian border at the other side of the Straits. We did not stop again and crossed into Malaysia.
Our mixed fellow travellers were an extended Aussie family going to an Indian wedding in KL, an Indian lady visiting parents, a young Scottish backpacker couple and a London post grad, who was conducting research in the Malaysian jungles. We all swapped travellers tales and it was a very friendly trip, interrupted only by the 'in flight' snack of a bottle of water and a piece of cake
Malaysian jungle
. There was a dining car but we passed on the excitement of Malaysian railway catering.The train passed mostly through forested jungle ranging over the high hills, broken only by the occasional town where the houses ranged from modern concrete blocks, through old, run down brick tenements to corrugated lean-to shacks at the side of the railway. There seemed to be chickens everywhere and people waiting at every station.
We crossed rivers flowing with orange, muddy water, great plantations of bananas and palm oil trees and frequent logging sites with great tree trunks piled up where a forest once stood.
It was well after 4pm when we reached the suburbs of Kuala Lumpur and our first view of skyscrapers and the famous 'Petronas Towers' in the distance. Soon we were lost in the urban sprawl and finally pulled in to the KTM (national railway) station.
One of our KL priorities was to buy tickets for our future train trip, on to Bangkok, whose civil troubles we had been watching on the TV for a few days. Whilst we were at the station we bought tickets for the nearly three days and two nights rail journey
Malaysian town scene
. A taxi then took us through the (very) congested city streets, with more skyscrapers than Singapore, to our hotel at the city centre.Kuala Lumpur is an amazingly modern city, which blew another of my assumptions about the east. In the centre there had been a colonial horse race course that moved to more modern facilities. This left a great area available for re-development in the early 90's and it was laid out as a big public park, complete with a lake area, fountains, wading pool, children's play area, walking and jogging paths and surrounded by skyscrapers, the Petronas Towers being the crowning glory. The area is simply known as KLCC - Kuala Lumpur City Centre and the effect is spectacular.
Our room was booked in a modern hotel next to the park (nice one Nina!) and for a ridiculously small premium we upgraded to a superior room overlooking the park and the Towers, with complimentary snacks, cocktails and drinks. This was seriously plush and we intended to make the most of it before we set off into Malaysian Borneo.
The Petronas Towers were directly opposite our room and were a fabulous sight in the afternoon sun. After our evening 'snack' we went up to the hotel's 'skybar', where we looked out on the fully illuminated silver towers, standing like a pair of Saturn 5 moon rockets against the night sky
Nearing Kuala Lumpur
. What an impressively fabulous sight. We had met ex-pat Marc and his wife Magdalene at tea and found out he worked with the Malaysian national orchestra, Dewan Filharmonik Petronas. Norah talked about her orchestral background and a conversation on orchestras, conductors and musicians followed. Marc very kindly offered us tickets for a concert tomorrow and we looked forward to a classical musical evening.
Friday 29th August
The alarm clock sounded at 6.45 and I looked out of the room window to see the top third of the Towers covered in early morning cloud, which was a fascinating sight as they disappeared skywards. After a quick juice I was off on a mission, yes - at this time in a morning. Using the hotel shuttle buggy, a stretched golf cart, I was at the basement of Tower 1 and the Skybridge visitor centre just after 7.30. They issue a limited number of tickets for the Skybridge every day but if you're not in the queue early they're quickly gone. By the 8.30 centre opening time the queue of over 200 people snaked round the basement. Tickets obtained I was back at the hotel before 10.00 and breakfast from the extensive choice in the restaurant
Petronas Towers 2
. Today was the start of our malaria tablet course, which had to be taken with non dairy food, causing some interesting breakfast choices.We had an easy morning before going to the Towers for the 12.30 visit. Built in the mid 90's, the Petronas Towers are the Malaysian Petrochemical Company's headquarters and are 88 storeys tall, with a joining Skybridge on the 42nd floor. Remember the movie 'Entrapment', with Sean Connery and Catherine Zeta Jones, where they hack into a computer on millennium eve? That was filmed in the Petronas Towers, with a lot of action on the Skybridge.
After an introductory video we were taken in a small group up to the 42nd floor and out onto the Skybridge for fabulous views over KL city and the surrounding hills. We were only on the bridge for a short time but it was a fascinating experience to see part of this iconic building, which is a symbol of the modern Malaysia and its aspirations. I started to wonder when we would reach the under-developed 'Third World'?
We found out later that the offices in the twin 88 storeys are only used up to the 42nd Skybridge level, following the 9/11 attacks. I find this puzzling as Malaysia is a majority muslim country and yet they feel that there is a risk of attack. We really do live in a strange world!
From the Towers we went to the large shopping centre at its base, busy with shoppers, where lunch was a coffee and enormous piece of chocolate cake.
The Skybridge
Shopping resulted in a light pair of shoes for Imelda and we walked back through the KLCC gardens where children were splashing in the pool and people were walking or sitting relaxing in the parkland or watching the extensive fountains playing their water jet patterns in the afternoon sun.
It was a nice change to dress smartly and we met our hosts at the concert hall, where Marc had brought a (mandatory) jacket for me to wear. We also met their friends David and CBH. The concert hall was designed as part of the Petronas Towers and was based on a traditional European concert hall style in a modern theme, being all wood and light materials it was very impressive.
The concert for that evening was Smetana's "Ma Vlast" (My kingdom) and based around life in olden Czechoslovakia. The orchestra were crisp and very accomplished, giving a very enjoyable performance.
A post concert supper followed in a nearby restaurant and it was late when we said goodnight to our new friends and returned to the hotel.
Saturday 30th August
A sightseeing day after a late start
View from the Skybridge 1
. We took a taxi 10 miles north of the city to the 'Batu Caves', a great limestone outcrop which has 272 steps up to a Hindu shrine in the huge hollow caves. Guarding the steps is a great, golden statue of the god 'Muruga'. As we arrived a film crew were filming a 'bollywood'style feature involving enthusiastic children and as we climbed the steps we were checked out by long tailed macaque monkeys, ever on the prowl to snatch a bag.On our way back from the caves our taxi had a puncture and the driver had to ring a friend to collect us and bring a spare tyre. Duly collected, we went to the old KL railway station, a fabulous Moorish designed building that has sadly seen better days.
We were back at the hotel in the late afternoon and repacked our clothes for the week's trip to Malaysian Borneo, 900 miles away across the 'South China Sea'. We were taking only what we needed and leaving one case and valuables at the hotel. Packing done we had an early tea and then went for a drink in the lower bar, there being a noisy disco in the upper skybar. A liquer coffee for Norah and I treated myself to a long awaited Johnny Walker Blue Label Whisky, which was very smooooth but quite lacking taste, a big disappointment and I won't be swapping it for my favourite Tobermory
View from the Skybridge 2
. We then intended to have an early night...................except that it was the eve of 'Merdeeka - Freedom Day', when Malaysia had gained its independence from Britain in 1957. A great firework display was scheduled for midnight, followed by parades tomorrow, which we would miss. The firework display was due to take place around the KLCC and based on the Petronas Towers and a big crowd had gathered in front of the towers and around the gardens. Come midnight and the fireworks started but on the other side of the hotel and away from the centre, a slight communications issue. We still managed to see a small part of the display as the fireworks rose around the nearby 'KL Tower', 100 m taller than the Petronas Towers. So another late night.
Sunday 31st August
Up at 7, breakfasted, case stored, valuables in safe deposit box and we were checked out by 9.00.
