KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA
Last night I decided to walk around the city, and found myself drawn like a moth to the brightly-lit Petronas Towers, ultra-modern twin skyscrapers that define KL's skyline, and which until a couple of years ago were the tallest buildings in the world. (They're also prominently featured in the James Bond flick Tomorrow Never Dies). They're only about a twenty-five minute walk from the hostel, and they are really impressive up close. The interior was closed for the night, so unfortunately I couldn't go up to the top, or even up to the walkway that connects the two towers, but I took a bunch of photos from the street-level plaza in front of them. I have to say that as giant buildings go, the architecture is strikingly elegant; very Art Deco, with a hint of Muslim influence in the twin spires.
Today after having lunch at the mall a block from our hostel (they have a really good pan-Asian food court), Pete from the hostel was nice enough to drop Chris, Selena and I off at Kuala Lumpur's zoo for a couple of hours. It's not listed in our guidebooks as one of KL's must-see attractions, so I wasn't expecting great things, and... well, it's a good thing, because it wasn't really that enthralling.
Well, it's not that bad, and it's fairly large as zoos go, it's just a little old and in need of a makeover. And some of the exhibits were closed today (including the aquarium, darn it). Selena had wanted to see the bears, but was disappointed, because their cages were empty--it looked like they had all gone on vacation.
Still, it was good to see the animals that were there, which included some familiar faces from our time in the Bornean jungle: bearded pigs, silver leaf monkeys, civets, hornbills, and macaques. Actually, the macaques weren't in cages; they were roaming free, just swinging through the trees, and probably stealing food from all the caged animals! Hopefully they have enough sense to stay out of the tiger enclosure....
There was a slight bit of drama later on when 1) Pete was a half-hour late picking us up, and 2) on the way home we had a blowout! Pete's spare tire was damaged as well, but he decided to change it out anyway. Chris, Selena and I then took the monorail home, so he wouldn't have to carry our extra weight on a bad tire. It was a good chance for us to check out KL's monorail system, though, which is pretty nice.
Last night I decided to walk around the city, and found myself drawn like a moth to the brightly-lit Petronas Towers, ultra-modern twin skyscrapers that define KL's skyline, and which until a couple of years ago were the tallest buildings in the world. (They're also prominently featured in the James Bond flick Tomorrow Never Dies). They're only about a twenty-five minute walk from the hostel, and they are really impressive up close. The interior was closed for the night, so unfortunately I couldn't go up to the top, or even up to the walkway that connects the two towers, but I took a bunch of photos from the street-level plaza in front of them. I have to say that as giant buildings go, the architecture is strikingly elegant; very Art Deco, with a hint of Muslim influence in the twin spires.
Today after having lunch at the mall a block from our hostel (they have a really good pan-Asian food court), Pete from the hostel was nice enough to drop Chris, Selena and I off at Kuala Lumpur's zoo for a couple of hours. It's not listed in our guidebooks as one of KL's must-see attractions, so I wasn't expecting great things, and... well, it's a good thing, because it wasn't really that enthralling.
Well, it's not that bad, and it's fairly large as zoos go, it's just a little old and in need of a makeover. And some of the exhibits were closed today (including the aquarium, darn it). Selena had wanted to see the bears, but was disappointed, because their cages were empty--it looked like they had all gone on vacation.
Still, it was good to see the animals that were there, which included some familiar faces from our time in the Bornean jungle: bearded pigs, silver leaf monkeys, civets, hornbills, and macaques. Actually, the macaques weren't in cages; they were roaming free, just swinging through the trees, and probably stealing food from all the caged animals! Hopefully they have enough sense to stay out of the tiger enclosure....
There was a slight bit of drama later on when 1) Pete was a half-hour late picking us up, and 2) on the way home we had a blowout! Pete's spare tire was damaged as well, but he decided to change it out anyway. Chris, Selena and I then took the monorail home, so he wouldn't have to carry our extra weight on a bad tire. It was a good chance for us to check out KL's monorail system, though, which is pretty nice.
People met today:
- Amer, a friendly guy of Indian heritage living in KL, who I had a good conversation with at the bar across from our hostel, and who later bought me an apple pie at McDonald's. Thanks, Amer!
posted by John Kuge at 10:41 PM
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