Posts Tagged ‘Asia’

The Petonas Towers in the Malasyian Capital of Kuala Lumpur were the world’s tallest buildings between 1998 and 2004 until the Taipei 101 building in Taiwan took the crown.  Including antennas the towers both stand at 451.9 metres.  Unlike many of the other huge towers around the world that are open to the public, the tower’s viewing platform isn’t on the top floors, it is actually on the suspended skybridge between the two buildings on the 41^st and 42^nd floors.   The towers both have 88 floors and they are serviced by 78 elevators, with tower one being fully occupied by Petronas which is the Malaysian Government owned oil and gas company. The second tower has a host of different organisations as tenants.  Designed by Argentine American architect Cesar Pelli the tower’s design is rich in Muslim heritage with much of its detailed design being inspired by Islamic art. The exterior shape of the structure is based on the Rub el Hizb which is a Muslim symbol consisting of two overlapping squares. This design becomes more evident towards the top of the towers when the design becomes a series of overlapping stars.

Now for vistors wanting to visit the tower, you can not book but must visit early as only so many free tickets are available daily.

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Ha Long Bay meaning the Descending Dragon Bay is one of the most beautiful and tranquil sights of the South East Asian country of Vietnam. Located a few hours drive north east of the capital Hanoi the area covers around 120km of coastline and some 2000 islands or rock outcrops. Just over 330 square kilometers of this is made up of a UNESCO World Heritage Site which includes 775 of the islets. Local legend tells that the gods sent a family of dragons to help the Vietnamese people fight off the Chinese invaders years ago. The dragons spat out jewels and jade, as they would, and they turned into the islands and smaller islets we have today forming a great wall against the nasty invaders. The dragons are now believed to live in the area where they are joined by the dragon children overlooking the Ha Long region. The islands and rock outcrops offer great shelter and fishing for the people of the area and the biodiversity of the tropical dense forests are incredible with some incredible plant life including some very interesting endemic flowers. The forests are home to many varieties of bat and some beautiful bird life, lizards and even deer and monkeys. Most of the islands are not inhabited but the two biggest islands Tuan Chau and Cat Ba do have people living there and are home to tourist facilities including some beautiful beaches. A must for any visitor is to see the floating islands which are home and workplace to many of the fisherman of the area. People live in houses which are floating on huge barges where they farm fish in the beautiful clear warm waters.

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The KL tower or Menara in the Malaysian capital is a magnificent place to view the city. The tower is actually the city’s highest observation tower, the Twin Towers only offer public viewing from the skybridge linking the towers. Being the fifth highest telecommunications tower after towers in Canada, Russia, China and Iran the structure is a pretty impressive engineering feat. The tower features an antenna reaching 421 metres and viewing pod and revolving restaurant at 276 metres and offers some breathtaking views. The tower open-ended in 1996 and has been one of KL’s major tourist destinations ever since. The tower now features a mini zoo with some amazing native animals including reptiles, amphibians and monkeys, a interesting themed snow park complete with cement polar bears, penguins and snowmen and some magnificent rainforest including a 100 year old jelutong tree which was saved from construction of the tower.

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We did a story a few months ago in Lego Land in San Diego, well another one of the popular themeparks is being planned for 2013 in Johor State, Malaysia not far from the Singapore border. The park will cost about US$210 to construct and is the first step in making this part of Malaysia a huge family tourist destination.  Along with the park and some other yet to be announced tourist complexes there will be residential areas and a huge waterfront city the new precinct will be more than 2 1/2 sizes the size of Singapore when complete. It will be the first Lego Land in Asia with very successful parks in Denmark, California, Germany and Windsor in England. There are plans also for a huge park to open in Dubai in 2001.

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