TKO in KL

(Rob)

What a difference a change of scene has made! We're loving it on Pangkor Island, especially Jenn! It's rustic in a good way, not rustic in a Dickensian way. I felt exactly the way Jenn did about the KL hostel, but I wasn't sick already. The bus ride out of KL grossed me out even more. But now, beautiful beach! We'll write more on that later, but this entry is about what we did see and do in Kuala Lampur.

Even the first night, we were so tired that we just headed for "Times Square," the biggest shopping centre in Asia. It's 10 floors, atrium-style. We soon realized it was the one with the indoor theme park, "Cosmo's World." No way we were getting out of this one, after what Anica had already cheerfully dealt with that day (bus breakdown, grungy hostel, smoggy streets, walking in the rain, not being able to hail a cab, slipping on the sidewalk tiles...). So we just said, "Anica, do you want to go the 'Cosmo's World' theme park?" She said it had suddenly turned into the best day of her life! There were a few really good rides, and some kiddie rides, and all three of us joined in. We stayed until the place was closing down at almost ten o'clock.

We made a point of going to get the free tickets to go up the Petronas Towers first thing on Wednesday morning. It's a good thing too, because, after waiting in a nearly two-hour lineup, they ran out of tickets JUST after we got ours. Good for us, except by then it was only ten in the morning and our visiting time was going to be 4:45. We enjoyed several hours (taking refuge from the rain) in yet another huge, posh shopping
mall. I had great Indian food for lunch, while the girls went with Western favourites - easy on the tummy.

When it cleared, there was still plenty of time for Anica to enjoy the splashpark and playground at the foot of the Petronas Towers. She stood under the horseshoe waterfalls and splashed around merrily.

The playground is also huge, but not at all coherent. What they seem to have done is bought around 30 separate playground sets and stuck them all next to each other.

The twin towers are quite pretty, mostly in shape and colour (due to their silver steel banding). They don't seem that tall, especially since the skywalk is "only" at the 44th floor. We had precisely seven minutes to spend on it when our allotted hour finally arrived.

So, not quite towered out, we headed for the KL tower. It's actually taller, but not free. It's not as tall as the CN Tower, of course, but it's in the world's top 10. Anica enjoyed the observation deck there, particularly the free telescopes every few feet.

Getting a cab back was typical KL, in our brief experience. First we couldn't get one at all, then only someone who would take us for 20RM. We knew that was a ripoff, and so we held out for a cabbie who would go on the meter. We got back to the hostel for just 5 RM, which shows our instincts were right. Unfortunately, the night was just beginning...(see last blog entry)!