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Published: December 10th 2007
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When we left Krabi we also left Thailand. A minibus took us across the border and into Malaysia where are first stop was the city of Georgetown on the island of Penang. In Georgetown we stayed in a place called Love Lane Inn on Love Lane, which is a pretty cool name for a street. Georgetown is split up into Chinatown, little India and a Malay section. Of course our first port of call was little India to get a good curry. Donkey and I both bought cheap dvds of the Bollywood films we watched in India. On the night we went for drinks in Chinatown but found ourself in an English style pub. When we came out of the bars we went to a street stall which sold really cheap nice curry, which beats a greasy kebab anyday.
The next day we properley explored Georgetown after having a tandoori brunch. First we visited a place called Cornwalls fort. We visited this because it holds a memorial to Francis Light who once governed Penang. Donkey (Jon Light) felt this could possibly be his ancestor so he should check it out. We went to the top of some old lighthouses giving
a good view over the city. When we first went in the museum we were allowed to pose with a musket and captain's hat in front of Francis Light's statue. The fort's best attraction I felt was its talking parrott, who could repeat most things. After the fort we went to the Komtar tower which is by far the tallest building in Georgetown at 65 storeys high. We went up to the 60th floor where we got to look over the whole city and out to the hills beyond. We then visited the shopping mall which was quite big and had a cinema at the top. We decided to watch The Heartbreak Kid with Ben Stiller, which was pretty funny but I would wait till its out on DVD.
The next morning we left for Kuala Lumpur where we are staying in Chinatown. We headed straight out to explore. The amazing thing about Kuala Lumpur is you always see something which makes you think 'whats that?'. The city is full of unique buildings. On our first exploration we visited the national mosque which has an unusual bright blue umbrella shaped roof. Upon entering the mosque I had to don
a massive purple gown as I had to cover my legs. This made the experience more interesting and we met a really nice guy called Hameed who explained all about the mosque and the muslim way of life. Just over the road from the mosque there is the old train station and its headquaters. When we got to the station we saw there was a classic car show being held. We got to walk round and have a look at some really cool cars, my personal favourite being the cadillac.
On our first full day in Kuala Lumpur we got up early and headed to the two stadiums near our hostel. The first stadium we visited was open but was being prepared for a performance by my chemical romance on the night. It wasnt a very impressive stadium and neither was the other stadium as we were not allowed in. After the stadiums we took the monorail into the 'Golden Triangle' of Kuala Lumpur. The golden triangle has loads of huge shopping malls and attractions. We came here though to watch the Ricky Hatton fight. The pub was full of fans for the hitman but I we were all
gutted to see him knocked in the tenth. To cheer ourselves up we headed to the KL tower which is a 420m high telecommunications tower. We bought a ticket and went straight to the top. The observation room was really good as they gave us a free portable video walkman to guide us through the views all around the tower. After the KL tower we thought why not top that and go see the Petronas towers. I cannot fully describe the amazement you feel when looking up close at this huge structure. The two 490m high towers are held together by a small skybridge. Unfortunately you cannot go up to the top of these towers but there is in fact a 4 floor shopping mall inside. Our next stop was a shopping mall in Imbi, which was absolutely huge. It has 10 floors, a cinema, a bowling alley and even its own theme park with a loop-de-loop rollercoaster which goes flying past customers. This time we just had a quick look around and went to the cinema to watch The Golden Compass (Northern Lights). I absolutely loved this as a book but it was possibly one of the worst films
I've ever watched. It told the story so badly and was not helped by poor acting, poor script and average effects. I won't go on but it just really disappointed me and I would suggest you read the books before the film puts you off. After wasting 2 hours of my life it was dark so we went back to the Petronas towers to see them at night. They are amazing in the day but at night they are something extra special. Simple white lights, illuminate the steel and glass giving the impression that the buildings shine like a star in the middle of the city. I could have sat and looked at them for hours and I think they are the most impressive structures I have seen so far. On the way back home we popped our head over the stadium gate to see my chemical romance if only for a few minutes.
After being wowed by the towers we got up early next morning to queue for tickets to go up to the skybridge. The first 1200 visitors get to go free up to the skybridge from after 9am but you need to start queueing about 7:30am.
The view is impressive but I think the view from the KL tower was better. The best way to enjoy the Petronas towers is to stand outside at night and look a long long way up. After this we went back to the shopping mall in Imbi. Our first stop was the theme park which is mostly for kids but is worth the entrance fee for the rollercoaster which is just totally surreal and actually quite a decent ride. We then had a quick frame of bowling for less than a pound before browsing round the shops.
I have only spent a couple of days in Kuala Lumpur so far but there is a lot more to see and what I have seen has been excellent. It is fast becoming a favourite city.
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