Posts Tagged ‘Malaysia’

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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Gliding smoothly on a track high above the city streets in the tropical city of Kuala Lumpur is the KL Monorail. The monorail links the Golden Triangle sector of the city with the Sentral transport hub and stops at 11 stations. After a bit of a shaky financial start the system opened in 2003 and today over 21 million people use the 8.6km system every year. For the visitor to Kuala Lumpur the monorail offers a unique and easy way to visit some of the major attractions of the city and is in easy reach of many of the huge shopping malls including the massive Times Square shopping complex. The two carrige train can carry up to  244 people although fairly tightly, with 48 people sitting and 196 standing. There are 10 units of 2 car trains in service.   The KL monorail is one of a number of monorails in Malaysia others include the Sunway Monorail at Sunway Pyramid Mall just outside KL, and several other new or under construction systems in Malacca, Penang and Putrajaya.  There have been proposals to extend the KL monorail line but no firm funding or plans have been announced.  One interesting highlight of the system is special animal conservation at each station. Each station has been given the responsibility to look after an endangered or precious animal. You will see some pretty fancy birds and reptiles at many of the stations.

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Istana Negara  is the official residence of His Majesty, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, the King of Malaysia. The palace overlooks the Klang River and is set on 28 acres of lush tropical gardens complete with lake, 6 hole golf course, swimming pool and tennis courts .  The residence is not open to the public but the gatehouse is a very popular destination for tourists who want to see the changing of the guard ceremonies and the magnificent horses which are rode by the palace guards.  Like with many of the world’s monarchs a flag is flown if the King is in residence in the palace.  Constructions is currently underway to build a new bigger and more splendours Istana Negara at an enormous cost. It is expected the existing Istana Negara will become a museum which will give visitors an wonderful chance to see this beautiful building and grounds first hand.

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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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Melaka in on the central west coast of Malaysia is home to the oldest Protestant Church in South East Asia. The church dates back to 1753 when the colony was controlled by Dutch Rule. The Church is quite unique in this part of the world for it’s Dutch building skills, the inside beams have no joins and all the pews are hand made. There is also some beautiful artwork made of tiles depicting the Last Super. The church is situated in what is called Dutch Square which is also home to a really beautiful fountain and clock tower. Read the rest of this entry »