KL Tower, Atmosphere 360 & Home Time ;o(

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Our flight was another very early one so we were up about about early and off to the airport. The flight was only a couple of hours and in good Air Aisia style landed early. Lots of turbulence so wasn't the best flight we'd had. Although we had landed at the international terminal we taxied over to the other one so we had to get the bus into KL Sentral rather than the train. It was about an hours journey which passed reasonably quickly. Once back at Sentral we were into the hussle and bussle and only had a one stop train journey back to China Town and Backpackers. When we got there, there was lots of luggage in the entrance and people waiting to leave for flights etc. We were very lucky and although we were early our room was ready. Rather than choose a shared dorm this time we had lashed out on a 2 bedded room as we had to be up early the following moring and thought it would be easier. This time our room was only on the first floor which I was really pleased about as my rucksack had been getting heavier and heavier!

Once we'd dropped our kit off and unpacked just what we needed for our short stay we made our way over to the Market in China Town to do a little bit of last minute shopping. I'd thought about buying some bargains for my daughters from the various stalls and send them home via DHL but when I priced it I was gutted to learn that it would cost me about £50 for half a kilo so definately not worth it. So the shopping had to be done with carrying everything in mind. I got quite a few bargains but couldn't persuade Neil to buy much at all. I must be slipping! After the market we had another wander around the outside and then back to the hostel to get ready to go to KL tower for high tea.

KLCC is only a few stops from China Town so we were soon back in the shadow of the Petronas Towers. We wandered round the shopping centre under them for a little while before starting the very hot walk to the KL tower. Once there the bus took us up to the top and we had a nice refreshing juice to fill in the time before we could go up.

At the designated time we picked our tickets up and were ushered into the lift which took us to the observation platform which is at 276m and gives breathtaking views of KL. We stayed here for a while and took some photographs before being ushered into the lift again to go up to the revolving restaurant. Here we had tiddly sandwiches and there was quite a selection of tiny cakes, washed down with the strongest coffee in the world! I would say it was reasonable value for money compared with English standards - maybe a little on the pricey side if you compared it with what you could buy and eat for the same money elsewhere in KL. Having said that you are undoubtedly paying for the experience and as you sit and eat your tea the tower revolves once an hour so that you see the whole paroramic view of the city. The restaurant has the poshest loos I think I have ever seen with an array of buttons at your disposal to change the height of the seat and its temperature, not to mention many other more 'delicate' alterations that could be made! Although officially tea is served for 2 hours, the staff seemed quite eager to give you your bill and have you gone after an hour or so as they were setting up for dinner. This did spoil it a little bit but overall it was a good experience.

After tea we made our way back to KLCC and then back to China Town to pack our bags as I was travelling home the next day and Neil was going on to Japan. Before going back to the hostel we had another wander around China Town and went to say goodbye to one of the stall holders we had bought some items from on our previous visit. He was pleased to see us and of course tried to sell us more items. After a quick wander round we went back and up on to the roof terrace to have some Tiger Beer as the sun set on our last evening in KL. Once we had packed as much as we could we had an earlish night as once again we had to be up very early because my flight was at 10 the next morning.

We'd done a little bit of research on our previous trip and found out that if you are flying with Malaysian Airlines you can check your luggage in at Sentral train station so Neil came with me the following morning to help me carry the monster rucksack ;O) Sure enough we got it checked in and I didn't see it again until I landed at Edinburgh! This made the journey to the airport much easier. We said our goodbyes and I caught the train to the international terminal.

The flight home was long, especially being on my own. But I watched a couple of films and some documentaries and did a bit of reading so the time didn't drag too much. The flight to Edinburgh was delayed - the first flight we'd had delayed in the three weeks and 7 flights that we'd had. It was great to see Amy and Mam and Dad at the airport and we were soon on our way home.

After a bit of reflection time I think we had had the adventure of a lifetime. There were so many highlights along the way. Singapore is without doubt one of the nicest cities I have ever visited. Everything about it was great. The people, the food and attractions. The Petronas Towers in KL are fab and are well worth going up to get views of the city but for more paroramic views the KL tower is probably better. Sabah, Borneo is a great place. KK is surrounded by mountains and rainforrest and without doubt the highlight of our time there was seeing the work of the nature reserve at Rasa Ria in rehabilitating orphaned orang utans. We were told here that if things done change, within 10 years they will be extinct in the wild. An awful thought. The work they do there is very valuable and of course the babies are adorable.



So the big questions remains...... Where next year? :o)

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