A visitors guide to the Petronas Towers, Kuala Lampur, Malaysia

Even though we had this holiday last October, I thought I would write a review on the Petronas Towers which we visited while we were in Kuala Lumpur. It was certainly worth the visit to say the least, so I hope the review does it justice.

The History of the Petronas Towers.

This was once classified as the worlds tallest structure but due to changes in measuring these things it falls a little short today to the Sears Tower in Chicago.

These were designed by a Norwegian Dawid Muano and the construction got underway in 1995 and was completed in 1998. The 88 floors are mostly constructed of re-enforced concrete with a Stainless steel and Glass front. When we arrived through the ticket collection point we were shown a short video of the construction. In the video it stated that the design resembled that of a Islamic motif and was a reflection of Malaysia’s Muslim religion.

Because of the bedrock below the site of the Towers the foundations are the biggest in the world at 120 metres!

What I found fascinating was that they used two separate companies to build a tower each and therefore created a sort of rush or race to complete each one in turn. The builders of Tower 2 won the race to complete even though they started a month later than Tower 1!

Obtaining Tickets.

Now I obtained the tickets on a Sunday morning and had to leave the hotel we stayed in in Kulua Lumpur’s Golden Triangle at about 7am to follow the well signposted directions to the Towers. This took about 20 minutes on foot from our hotel.

Upon arrival I walked to the basement of the towers and was probably about 15th in the queue which I was rather impressed with!.

The ticket booths opened at 8:30am and by the time I would say 200 plus people were queuing to obtain tickets.

When you get to the member of staff handing out the tickets you are requested to state at which time you would like to visit the towers and this is booked in half hourly increments.

We decided to visit the towers at 1pm so we had the morning to wander around the City and make the journey back towards the Towers.

There is actually no cost to visit the Towers that is why it is very important that you get there early on the day you visit as they only allow 1400 ticket sales in any one day, so to avoid disappointment get there early.

Visiting The Tower

The purpose of visiting the tower is to learn a little bit about the history of it and also to visit the Sky Bridge which is on the 42nd floor. Unfortunately this

Kampung Baru – Where You Can be Satisfied All the Way!

 

An enclave comprised mostly of the Malay Muslims in heart of Kuala Lumpur, Kampung Baru is among the oldest Malay settlements in the area since the early ages. In 1900 Kampung Baru was considered as Malay Agricultural Settlement under British administrators in consequence of which, it was developed into a higher economical standard and modern-city living turned it into a political symbol of Malay culture.

 

Kampung Baru, which is one of the most valuable land areas in Kuala Lumpur, is worth about 1.4 billion US dollars and various kinds of vendors and restaurant can be seen on both sides of the streets. People from various parts of the world get attracted to this commercial area in order to satisfy their diverse needs such as tasting variety of cuisines at fascinating restaurants or feeling the utmost of night life entertainment or acquiring excellent health care.

 

In this area, Malay wooden and brick houses can be seen everywhere accompanied by modern skyscrapers such as Petronas Towers, known as world’s second tallest structure. Kampung Baru is very famous for its “Bubur Lambuk” which means “rice porridge” in Malay and which is cooked at the local mosque and distributed for free During Ramadan. More over one can enjoy almost all kinds of traditional food items such as Tauhu Sumbat, Kuih Cara and Putih Naga etc.

 

Also in this land which is about 250 acres, racial clashes have took place between ethnic Malays and Chinese in 1969 and the rebellions began when Chinese opposition parties protested in the village during general elections in the year. Especially, people who belong to each different ethnic group in this area respect and protect their culture and traditions very strongly. In spite of the past the people in current Kampung Baru get along harmoniously while preserving their own ethnic Malay lifestyles.

 

For any tourist who seeks comfortable stay at an affordable price, there are a number of budget hotels in Kuala Lumpur which offer great comforts and convenient access to these landmarks.

Dazzling Malaysian Holidays

If you’re planning on a holiday in Malaysia this year, you’ll very likely enter a stunning country which is home to spectacular mosques, well-made green spaces and modern skyscrapers. With Kuala Lumpur as its appealing capital, this vibrant country has it all to attract you to it every year.

The following are some of Malaysia’s famous attractions which should not be missed by any tourist who wants to explore the true Malaysia.

Batu Caves

This tourist’s attraction draws a huge number of tourists and visitors holidaying in Malaysia. The caves can prove to be quite an experience especially during the Thiapusam festival.

Petronas towers

Petronas towers are a highly popular tourist attraction visited by a large number of tourists and visitors every year. Located in the heart of Kuala Lumpur, these are twin towers with an amazing structure that leaves many awestruck. A visit to Malaysia is always considered incomplete without seeing the Petronas twin towers. The sky bridge also presents a view worth capturing during your Malaysian holiday.

Mount Kinabalu

Located in the Borneo region of Malaysia, this tourist attraction is bound to get you enthralled with the beauty and the scenery offered by Mount Kinabalu. When on a holiday in Malaysia, mount Kinabalu acts as a great way to be able to spend some quality time with the family.

Terengganu state museum

For a great Malaysian holiday you must not miss the famous national museum of Malaysia. The museum is not just house to remarkable collections or artifacts, but is also known to be largest museum in whole of Southeast Asia. The museum has rich architectural value and holds different archaeological findings.

Langkawi Island

This island is rich in picturesque views, scenic beauty and Malaysian culture. When holidaying in Malaysia, make sure you visit this huge island for its view, history, beauty, and folklore.

Taman Negara National park

When on a Malaysian holiday with family, you must visit the world’s oldest jungle, spread over an area of 443 square kilometers. The park is a popular tourist attraction and has a lot of green, dense tropical rainforest.

Wayang Kulit

A remarkable shadow-puppet theatre, Wayang Kulit offers rich Malaysian culture and theater art to those holidaying in Malaysia. Best time to visit or holiday in Malaysia

Malaysia is rich with charming beauty and striking tourists attractions and can be visited throughout the year for a memorable Malaysian holiday, but from a tourism point of view the best time to visit would be the months from May to September.

The best place for shopping in Kuala Lumpur

Home to the world’s two tallest buildings, Kuala Lumpur City Centre(KLCC) contains 750,000 m² of office space, 140,000 m² of retail and entertainment facilities, parking for 4,500 cars, a conference center, a petroleum museum, a hotel, and a concert hall.

KLCC is the commercial centre located in the heart of the city that includes the Petronas Twin Towers, the Suria KLCC Shopping Mall, a park, a 5-star hotel and prime office blocks. KLCC is located within the Ampang district, it has a rich history; Ampang was the home of the tin barons that earned a fortune from Kuala Lumpur’s mining trade. Even today, Ampang is regarded as a place for up market people in terms of living and spending.

The KLCC Mall offers an international mix of eclectic cuisine and up market dining opportunities. This is the place to go for restaurants with ambience, class and enticing dishes, food inspired by different countries as far as the Middle East, America and India to the culinary delights of neighbouring Asian countries such as Vietnam, Thailand and Japan.

The Suria KLCC Shopping Mall lies between the Petronas Twin Towers, Malaysia’s highest man-made structures. Its location in the heart of Kuala Lumpur and accessibility by subway trains from locations around Kuala Lumpur make this a popular destination for both locals and tourists. The area around KLCC is Kuala Lumpur’s hotbed of night-time entertainment and excitement. Clubs, bars, pubs and lounges are scattered around with some prominent names like Hard Rock Café and Zouk. During the day, they assume a low profile but at night, partygoers gather at their favourite watering holes to party and dance the night away, especially on weekends!

A number of hotels can be found dotted around the KLCC area. A budget hotel that provides good service and easy access to the shopping district of KLCC is the Citrus Hotel, Kuala Lumpur.

CONCRETE WALL OF FAME

Are you thinking of finally building your dream house? A two-storey house perhaps? With concrete wall and concrete floor? A dwelling that will be with your family for generations. Well, before you contact a variety of concrete contractors let me assist you on knowing the very foundation of your home, let me educate you on some interesting facts about three famous concrete architectures.

First we have the Fallingwater. Built in 1991, Fallingwater was voted “the best all-time work of American architecture.” by the members of the American Institute of Architects. This remarkable creation is known to many as one of Frank Lloyd Wright’s most acclaimed work.

The Fallingwater property was designed in 1935 for the Edgar J. Kaufmann family of Pittsburgh; Wright concentrated on the beauty of nature around him, especially the waterfall that sings to the heart of anyone who’ll take a glimpse of its cascading body. Wright placed the house over the falls in a series of cantilevered concrete “trays,” anchored to masonry walls made of the same Pottsville sandstone as the rock ledges. Even though the house rose over 30 feet above the falls, the strong horizontal lines and low ceilings helped maintain a sheltering effect.

The next one is a famous building in Southeast Asia, The Petronas Towers. Found in Malaysia, the Petronas Towers was declared tallest in the world in 1998. Standing at a staggering 1,483 ft (452 meters), the building is one of the country’s most amazing accomplishments. It hasn’t been a smooth journey for the builder’s though, because of the fact that they are working on a budget; they have to think of clever ways to go about the lack of steel. This material is scarce in Malaysia and it is very expensive to import it, so the builders planned a way to push the project without the additional cost and decided to build the towers using a cheaper radical design of super high strength reinforced concrete. This is ideal because concrete is a material familiar to Asian contractors and twice as effective as steel in sway reduction; however, it makes the building twice as heavy on its foundation than a comparable steel building. Supported by 23-by-23 meter concrete cores and an outer ring of widely-spaced super columns, the towers use a sophisticated structural system that accommodates its slender profile and provides from 1300 to 2000 square metres of column-free office space per floor.

Last but not the least, we have the Marina City. A creation of the talented Bertrand GoldBerg in 1964, Marina City is a complex of two 60-storey towers found in Chicago. It is a complex of recreation complex, apartments, restaurants, offices, movie houses, concrete sidewalks and 18 stories of parking space.

This complex was at that time the biggest ever built in concrete and its exterior was in contrast with the norm of straight lines and small-spaced apartment buildings, the builders deemed it wise to use a cylindrical shape to have less wind pressure. They also found out that a concrete retaining wall would add to the depth of the building. The architect choose to work with reinforced concrete instead of steel because he wanted to create petal-shaped apartments and only this material will accomplish the said project.

These are just but three amazing concrete creations, there are more out there just waiting to be discovered. And who knows? Your house may become part of history in the future.

For more information about concrete walls visit this site on concrete contractors.

The Old Heart of Kuala Lumpur

Putra World Trade Centre is Malaysia’s and Kuala Lumpur’s main exhibition and convention centre. Construction on the building started way back in the year 1981 and was completed three years later in 1984, the Putra World Trade Centre was officially declared open by Malaysia’s prime minister at the time Dr. Mahathir Mohammed on Spetember 2nd 1985 during the first UNMO General Assembly.

Strategically located in the heart of the busy Kuala Lumpur city centre, the Putra World Trade Centre plays host to over 1,000 events annually. Perhaps the most high profile of the lot is the annual International Quran reading competition that has been held here since 1985. Known as one of the best most modern convention centers in South East Asia, this building is equipped with state of the art communication facilities. The PWTC has a floor area of 133,000 square feet and has a plenary hall, three exhibition halls, a press conference area and attached VIP suites.

The area surrounding the building is named the Putra World Trade Centre area and has become one of Kuala Lumpur’s busiest and most important areas. A large number of hotels can be found in the area, mostly catering to the crowds that come for exhibitions and conventions at the PWTC. Smaller discount hotels in Kuala Lumpur that cater for local businessmen visiting the Chow Kit area can be found. Among them a hotel that offers comfortable yet affordable accommodation is the Citrus Hotel Kuala Lumpur.

The are named after the PWTC extends from the from Jl. Raja Laut from the east up to Jl. Ipoh in the north and Jl. Sultan Ismail in the southern end and also includes the popular Malay neighborhood of Chow Kit on the eastern side of Jl. Tuanku Abdul Rahman. This area was the centre of the city until the ambitious Petronas Towers development yet many still consider this to be the heart of KL. Being an area with a distinct personality, though being dominated by a modern convention centre this neighborhood remains as a traditional Malay neighborhood at heart.

What to know about traveling in Malaysia

So you are coming to Malaysia for a business trip or to relax. Which ever it may be, you would like to know what to look forward to and what to bring along.

Firstly, if you are a resident of any of the commonwealth nations then you may enter Malaysia for 90 days without having to get a visitors permit. Arriving at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) might be a confusing experience, because of the language used on most of the directories not being in English. But not to worry, the people in Malaysia are very friendly and eager to help. Getting a taxi at the airport is very easy, or you can use the monorail to get to the city. KLIA is 65 kilometers south of the city, so taking a taxi to your hotel is much easier. Before you board your airplane to Malaysia you should exchange some money for the local currency, which is the Malaysian Ringgit. The currency exchangers at the airport self is a bit more expensive. So be advised.

Now you are here. What is there to do? Kuala Lumpur, or KL like the locals like to call it, has got everything you will need. The main past times in Malaysia is definitely dining and shopping. There is ample shopping malls, many fine restaurants, and if you are the type that is more into finding out what the locals are like then you should really try one of the many street food stalls. The temperatures in KL is hot and humid, so even the Malaysians try to stay out of the sun during the day. Therefore when night time arrives, the city is a buzz with people.

Places to visit in KL is the Petronas Twin Towers, KL Tower, Batu Caves, Petaling Street and Genting Highlands which is just an hours drive away and many buses travel there from the city each day. Other places to visit in Malaysia is Langkawi, which is situated in the north of the country.

If you are going to hire a car be sure that you have an international driving license together with your own countries driving license. Driving in Malaysia might look scary at first, but it is something to get accustomed to. Watch out for the many motorbikes. They swerve in and between the cars, so you have to keep a look out for them when changing lanes. Always have a map with you and money. Its very easy to get lost on the roads in and around KL and there are many tollgates on the roads. When paying with money at the tollgates, head for the gates to the left. Those that have yellow or blue signs above them is not for cash payment.

Most of the hotels and taxi’s do have air conditioning, but if you are going to be outside please be sure to carry fluids with you and sunblock. The sun is not very forgiving in South East Asia.

The spoken language of Malaysia is Bahasa Malaysia, Cantonese, Mandarin and English. Most Malaysians do understand and can speak English, but with a very heavy accent. Be patient and ask again if you didn’t understand anything they say.

Hopefully you will never get sick or injured when traveling through Malaysia, but if the scenario arises you will be in good hands. There are many clinics that are well equipped and inexpensive.

How to make your travels memorable

Memories are what you make them and no matter how you record them, there’s only way your memories will last forever.

My best tip to make travels memorable is to make the most of them: get out there, away from the tourist spots and see what the real country’s like. Take in some real local culture rather than the one offered by the hotel or holiday company. Anyone can sit in a room and watch pre-planned entertainment, but the real memories are those which show the locals doing what they do without all the hype around it.

Every country also has some excellent natural scenery and other sites which are unique to that area. So whether it’s the animals or the amazing sunset, the mountains or the lakes, or even the city sights, these are the things that make a holiday special and memorable.

I think it’s also nice to do something distinctive, whether it’s a meal or an excursion. These are the trips to that special place which you’re unlikely to do again. So my wife and I have been to Canada and seen Niagara Falls, we’ve been to Kuala Lumpur and had a meal in the Petronas Tower and been to Borneo and seen the orang-utans. These things made a trip around the world just that bit extra special.

There are different ways to record these memories, whether using the latest technology or the more traditional methods. You might decide to use a camcorder or digital camera, which you can look at again and again or download to your computer. Or you might opt for keeping a diary of events; maybe emailing friends and family back home if you can find a PC.

But I think by far the best way to make travels memorable is to soak up as much of the experience as you can. My wife and I often think of different holidays we’ve been on and can sit for ages talking about the sunset, or a certain city the sort of memories that nothing but our own heads can record. And it’s not just these memories which we talk about there’s also the things like taking a boat along the river in Bangkok and being refreshed by the lack of health and safety precautions, or laughing at the way our surname is pronounced in different parts of the world. Some things just can’t be documented easily.

So other things might help us recall certain things but our memory can last forever, even after photos have faded, the PC has crashed and your DVD has been scratched. Let’s face it, we don’t rely on batteries, interfaces or cables to look, listen and remember.

Reflections: Traveling in Malaysia – Part 1

As I finished two and a half years living in Taiwan, I wanted to take one more excursion within Asia before I flew back to America. My roommate and I settled on five days in Malaysia, based out of Kuala Lumpur. We got to see many of the wonders of Malaysia, but missed out on the Petronas Towers.

One of the highlights of our trip was a trip to Kuala Selangor to see the fireflies. Although we probably could have gotten there a lot cheaper on our own, we opted for convenience and booked a package tour through our hotel. We were surprised when the ‘tour’ actually consistently of a very comfortable sedan for the two of us and our own driver! We drove first to a lighthouse, where we got to see the coast and the dozens of monkeys who were comfortable around humans. We then were taken to dinner at a riverside open-air restaurant, where we ate traditional Malay dishes. While we were there, the sun was going down over the river with a beautiful display of colors. We finally made our way to the “Firefly Park Resort, where we boarded a boat to see the fireflies. What makes these fireflies unique in the world is that they flash in unison every evening for hours. All along the river, in every direction, we could see fireflies flashing in synchronization.

Another great day trip we took was down to the seaside city of Malacca. This historic port town was heavily influenced by traders from around the world, so we had what seemed to be authentic Indian food for lunch, complete with eating with hands only off a banana leaf. We explored the city, had a snack by a stream in a French-influenced cafe while cooling off in the heat of the day, visited the historic Christ Church, and went onboard the ship that serves as a Maritime Museum. We also visited the replica of a Malay palace that houses the Cultural Museum, with historical artifacts and furnishings.

The last outstanding event of our trip was visiting the Forest Reserve Institute of Malaysia (FRIM) to take their rainforest canopy hike. This is a series of rope & plank walkways strung between trees high in the upper reaches of the rainforest. It was fascinating to see the trees and ecology of the rainforest from that high up, but it also was a bit scary to have the walkways sway underneath while looking down at the ground far below.

When I think back on our trip to Malaysia now, an overarching memory is of the food. Malaysia has great food! There was a small snack stand outside our hotel, where we could sit outdoors and enjoy Malay chicken satay, Indian roti bread, and smoothies. There was another day that we went to an outdoor street market and enjoyed local delicacies.

The biggest disappointment of our trip was that we never got to go up the Petronas Towers, which were at the time one of the tallest buildings in the world. Although entry to the Petronas Towers observatory is free, it does require a timed ticket which must be picked up in person. We didn’t do enough research ahead of time, and so the first time we went, they were closed (as many attractions are on Mondays), the second time we went too late and the tickets were gone for the day already, and the third time was the day we were leaving, and by the time we got there, the times available were past when we had to go to the airport.

In spite of this disappointment, we thoroughly enjoyed our trip to Malaysia and heartily recommend it to anyone looking for a fun, English-speaking nation to visit in Asia.