Malaysia
Current time in Kuala Lumpur:
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Current time in Kuala Lumpur: |
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In October 2006 I made a stopover in Kuala Lumpur. Kuala Lumpur is the capital of Malaysia. About 1.8 million people are living in this metropolis. Day 1 - Wednesday October 18, 2006Around 12:00 p.m. I leave with a Boeing 747-400 of Malaysia Airlines from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur. The flight to Kuala Lumpur takes about 12 hours, during the flight a distance of 6.320 miles is tide over. We are flying over Germany, Poland, Ukraine, Russia, Afghanistan and India. Day 2 - Thursday October 19, 2006Around 6:05 a.m., local time, we are landing on Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA). Upon arrival you're confronted with the strict drugs policy of Malaysia. Directly after landing you get a warning that you get the Capital punishment for drugs possession! You're also confronted with your nose on the facts when you complete your immigration form. From the airport you have several possibilities to go to the city. The airport lays about 47 miles from the centre of Kuala Lumpur. I choose for the taxi because the way in this metropolis is up to now not in my knowledge. The handiest way to go to the city is to become a ticket in the arrival hall. With this ticket you're dropped for a standard price at the front of your hotel. Because I don't have any Malaysian ringgits yet I have to take money from the ATM-machine. Luckily you have plenty of possibilities for this at the airport. This is a good thing because just at the third ATM I become some money. Meanwhile I'm approached by some crawling taxi drivers. Unluckily for them I bought a ticket in the arrival hall. The ride to the city takes about one hour. On the airport it's still dark when we leave. There is some haze visible because of forest-fire in Indonesia. When we approach the city it's become luckily a bit lighter. During the ride we pass by Sungai Besi Airport. From 1952 to 1965 this was the most important airport of Kuala Lumpur. When we reach the centre I see for the first time the Petronas Towers. My hotel is located into the Golden Triangle on the Jalan Bukit Bintang. Unfortunately I can't go into my room because the check in-time is at 2:00 p.m. luckily I can leave my luggage at the hotel so I can go directly to the city. Because there're daily a limited number of people allowed to clime the Petronas Towers I went directly to the Petronas Towers. Petronas TowersThe building activities were round off in 1998. Until October 17, 2003 this was the highest building of the world. The successor of this building is the Tapei 101 in Tapei (Taiwan). From ground level the Petronas Towers are 1.483 feet high. There is between the two towers a sky bridge at 479 feet. Daily from 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. you can visit this sky bridge. On Monday the sky bridge is closed. On Friday the sky bridge is from 1:00 p.m. until 2:30 p.m. closed because of the Friday-prayer. From 8:30 a.m. they hand out beneath the tower 800 tickets for the sky bridge when it's opened. When I arrive there is a short row of people waiting. After approximately half an hour they hand out the first tickets. Meanwhile the row of waiting people has doubled. Because I'm early I can go pretty soon up. There are also people who have to come back in the beginning of the afternoon. I'm in the third group who's going up so I have still some time to see the visitor's room. You can see a movie about the building of the towers and there are some models to see. Also there is a small survey about the highest buildings of the world. After half an hour the people of the third group are collected and going up with an elevator to the 41st floor. Once up you have a mighty view over Kuala Lumpur. Because of the haze the view today isn't bright. After fifteen minutes we have to go down and there is the next group waiting for us. By way of the Jalan Sultan Ismail I went back in the direction of the hotel. In the meantime its time to eat something. Near the hotel are some hawker stalls. This hawker stalls exist out of some stalls who are selling different dishes. So you order at one stall for example fish, by another you order a curry-dish and again by another you order your drinks. Then you sit down at a table and when your dish is ready they serve it to you. Day 2 - Thursday October 19, 2006 (Kuala Lumpur, continuation) |
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