KL Petrona towers and train station

---

---

We got up at 6:30 to start a big day. We caught the train into KL sentral station we were going to take a teksi but decided to save our money “and NO, it’s not a spelling mistake”! They spell words how they sound, and I think that is the best idea I’ve ever heard. I can’t stand the stupid English language. A quick train swap and we were off to the Petrona towers. They are twin towers that pretty much dominate the skyline where ever you are in KL. They both are 88 storeys high and stand 452m high, they are built out of steel and concrete and the external cladding is stainless steel and glass. Petrona is the main petrol company in Asia, and rivals BP, Shell and Mobil and judging from the size and cost of these towers they do alright for themselves.
We had to go early to pick up tickets as they only give out 1700 free tickets per day. They run out around 9:30 and we were lucky to get any after standing in a 100meter line that snaked its way backwards and forwards throughout the building. With the tickets in hand we were booked in at 2:15 to go up in the viewing bridge which sits halfway up the building.
Time for breaky and we stumbled along a back alley on our way to the tourist info centre. It was all Indian cuisine and we scanned over the street food for something yummy. We decided on a Roti, which is a pastry type pancake stretched out onto a hotplate with an egg cracked and spread around the middle. With the whole thing cooking he starts to fold the edge into the middle and then flip it over to cook on the other side. They were served with a side of curry dipping sauce, Mmmmmmm very nice.
We finally got to the Tourist info around 2km away and then walk to the KL tower which is the main communication tower for KL. It stands around 421m high to the very tip and we were keen to go up and have a look from the top. It was quiet expensive at 38rm each which is around $25 Aus all up, but it also included free entry to the Animal Park, Formula 1 simulator and pony ride.
We caught the lift to the top and they gave us a real dodgy set off headphones and a little electronic video guide that explains the buildings to you as you walk around from one zone to another. The view was incredible but hampered by the glass that had not been cleaned in some time. They got a fail on the feedback cards for the dirty glass and the dodgy headphones.
We decided to have a look at the animal park as it was thrown in with the deal. We didn’t know what to expect because there was only a small entrance into a small building. At the entrance there was a large cockatoo and a Macaw they both look like they didn’t want to be there.
Inside there were snakes everywhere in glass tanks. Some snakes were as little as 1ft long and there was one snake that must have been 5 meters long. There were snakes from all over the world and also frogs, spiders, monkeys and birds.
Along the way I saw a sign that said 5rm or $1.80 Aus to feed the animals, I didn’t think much of that until I saw the live rats in the cage and I instantly knew that I would be 5rm poorer. I was able to pick the snake to feed, and Burmese python was the call of the day and he look very lively and hungry.
With the rat picked up with a pair of long nosed tweezers the guide opened up the lid of the glass tank, the rat shat himself “as would I” and Jacinta could not take the squealing of the rat. The snake rose up to meet the rat halfway and with one quick strike the rat was coiled up in a split second and the rat had for filled its purpose in this world.
I enjoyed the snake feeding as much as the animal park and KL tower. There are things you can do in Malaysia that you would never be allowed to do bake in Australia.
We decided to skip the pony ride, “for obvious reasons” and I was keen to try the Formula 1 simulator. It was merely a room that was filled with fibre glass F1 cars a steering wheel and TV screen in front. Never the less I had a quick go.
Back to the Petrona towers for our sky bridge at 2:15 tour. As usual in Asia, no one tells you where to go or what to do. We were early by 15min so we waited in the Petrona museum, they had a lot of photo’s and specifications of the building under construction. They also had simulators of the building swaying in the breeze and comparisons of other buildings. The simulators were totally useless and totally missed the point of what they were trying to teach, I’m sure they must have been broken. A guide quickly asked us if we were on the 2:15 tour, we said yes and he hurry us out the door into a small theatre room were a movie was playing about the history of the towers. They also handed us some 3d glasses to watch the movie with. We must have come halfway through the movie because most of it didn’t make sense and we both couldn’t understand why it was in 3D. We were then escorted to another room which looked like a small airport baggage scanning machine and we then had to sit and watch a short film on security that last around 5minutes in English and then we also had to watch it in 3 other languages for the rest of the crowd, we just about fell asleep. We scanned our bags and went into the high speed lift. The control panel was full of buttons to each floor and within a short time we were looking out the amazing view with one big massive tower either side of us. Once again we could see another storm rolling in from the hills to have another afternoon shower and storm
OUR PEAK HOUR TRAIN EXPERIENCE: We headed back to KL sentral station to get our last ticket back to the unit. We must have just missed the train as the platform was empty and we had to wait 30min for the next train. Slowly the people started to roll in and it got quiet crowded. The train finally turned up after being 10min late so we headed for the crowd and lined up ready to get in. We couldn’t understand why everyone crowded around the door of the train when there were people trying to get off. It seemed logical to just wait and let everyone off first and then get on. People started to exit the train and Jacinta and I got bottle necked between a column and the train. We then got separated as people were trying to exit and split the crowd, Jacinta made it around the column out of sight from me as the crowd started to really pack in to enter the train. I started to push my way through to at least make eye contact with Jacinta as she was no more than 1m away from the entrance of the train. There was a look of horror as she was slowly getting squashed closer to the entrance as the crowd pushed harder to get in but there was no room in the train. We were only 2 meters apart but it was impossible to move as the crowd packed tighter and tighter. The whistle blew and the crowd slowly realised its grip of death as the doors closed on the train and the realisation that we had just missed out on our ride home. We looked at each other confused and I think my exact words were “WHAT THE FUK”! So we ended up having to wait 45min for the next train. With determination and some idea of what was in front of us, we lined up well in advance of the train turning up. Our feet were already hurting from a big days walk, and standing on them for another 45min was tough.
The whistle blew letting everyone know that train was coming. I positioned Jacinta in front of me so I could keep an eye on her, she had a tendency to blend into the Asia crowd really well and her short stance and dark hair was the ultimate camouflage. The train started to slow down and there were as many people crammed inside the train as was out. What I had not counted on was the train doors being in the right position for us as the train started to stop. The doors roughly spanned 5 to 6m apart and if we were in-between those doors there were many determined people that also wanted to get on the train. I heard Jacinta say “oh no” as she realised the same thing I had, and the train had almost come to a complete stop with a door not even close to us.
Just when we thought all hope was lost the train was still slowly rolling and the train stopped with one single entrance door right in front of us, we both couldn’t believe our luck as the doors opened and “WE” started to push our way in the train as people were trying to get off. By this time we didn’t care about the people trying to get out as we were determined to get

---

Photos

Photo 4
front of Petrona towers

KL tower
This is individually hand cut mirrored glass in the foyer cieling

Animal park
Jarge python

Petrona towers
Taken from KL tower

Photo 13
KL afternoon storm

Comments

[peter]

"Teksi" is "taxi" in Malay. Then "bas" is "bus" in Malay. Quite a lot of Malay words are similar to English.