Visiting Kuala Lumpur

Kuala Lumpur (KL) is the capital of Malaysia, it was founded in 1857 at the confluence of the Gombak and Klang rivers as a settlement for tin miners.

Since tin mining proved to be a profitable activity, the settlement developed over the years into a major city.

Kuala Lumpur became capital of the Selangor state in 1880 eventually becoming the capital of Malaysia after independence. It has grown from nothing to a modern, bustling city.

Kuala Lumpur has expanded substantially during the boom years of the 1990s, with many skyscarpers being added, of which the Petronas Towers, until recently the world's tallest buildings, are the most famous.

Despite the frantic growth of the past 20 years Kuala Lumpur is a very nice and livable South East Asian capital.

Kuala Lumpur is a modern Asian city, but it retains much of the local colour that has been wiped out in other Asian boom-cities such as Singapore. It has plenty of colonial buildings in its centre, a vibrant Chinatown with street vendors and night markets, and a bustling Little India.

Some of its main attractions are :

Petaling Street

The center of Kuala Lumpur's original Chinatown. Petaling Street maintains much of its traditional atmosphere, particularly at night when vendors spread their wares out on the street.

Central Market

The art-deco structure of the Central Market is a centre for the display and development of Malaysian culture, arts and crafts. There are many performances, demonstrations, and activities offered here, including batik painting, fortune telling, shadow puppet plays, glass blowing, dance classes, art classes, and many others. Fifty years ago this site was occupied by a wet market, the building won the Coronation Architecture Design Award in 1953.

Twin Tower

With a height of 1,453 feet, twin tower is one of the world's tallest buildings rise above the skyline of Kuala Lumpur. They are called the Petronas Towers, and, inevitably, they have become the symbols for the astounding growth that has taken place in Malaysia over the last two decades.

National Zoo and Aquarium

Thirteen kilometers north-east of Kuala Lumpur is the National Zoo. It contains hundreds of different species of animals, birds, and reptiles. The aquarium has an extensive collection of marine and freshwater species. Both the Zoo and Aquarium are open daily.

My favourite get away, Tioman Island

Tioman Island is situated on the east coast of Malaysia, facing the South China Sea. Best time to visit Tioman Island is from March to October, the rest of the year is monsoon season. There are plenty of activities you could do on the island: diving, snorkeling, tracking and more. I still remember the first time I set foot on Tioman Island, more then 10 years ago. I could smell the fresh sea water and the surrounding nature was overwhelming. It was my ideal of a tropical island, with white sandy beaches and crystal clear sea water. There was no vehicle on the island and I thought to myself it's going to be a great holiday, just me and nature. For me the most peaceful time on Tioman Island was in the evening, watching sunset, with a colourful sky, like you only see on postcards. I felt so warm inside me even though I could feel the cool breeze making my skin goose boom like from the chill wind. The sun was slowly descending, I imagined hearing the sun touching the ocean while watching it. The best food you can get on the island is seafood, most of the time it's fresh from the sea and in some restaurant you could even request them how you want it to be cooked. During day time you could hire a boat to go for a day trip or just to visit other beaches and if you don't have any snorkelling items, there’s no need to worry, you can always hire them from most of the shops. I felt in love with the island and have returned for more over the years. Every time I visited the island, I never felt tired of it and always had something to do during my stay. It was really a great place for a get away, especially if you work in a city. Tioman is also well known for diving and snorkelling. In Tioman, I had the experience to see a lot of fish swimming around me while I was snorkelling or swimming, it was magnificent to see lots of colourful and different sizes of coral and fish. The underwater life was amazingly beautiful. I even saw sharks for the first time in my life. It was a group of baby sharks and one of them which was bigger, I guess, had to be the mummy, but I was too afraid to go near them so I swam away. Later I told a friend of mine about the sharks that I saw and she told me that I had just wasted an opportunity which lots of people would love to see.

My favourite place to stay was Salang beach. I only stayed once in Paya beach but I returned to Salang beach because I prefer it more then other beaches. From my view Salang was best choice, it was situated at the end of the island and it was so much quieter there then any other beache. I always stayed in a small hut right at the end of the beach and always enjoyed my stay. My last trip to Tioman island was my seventh visit, which was four years ago. It was a trip with a group of my working colleagues. They wanted me so badly to organise a trip to Tioman Island as that year we had a long weekend due to Chinese New Year and it would be difficult for us to get another chance for a long weekend together. I did mention to them it was not a good time as monsoon was not over yet but they still insisted to go. In the end all six of us continued with the plan and it was the most frightening experience of my life. When we reached Mersing the mainland where we could get a boat to Tioman Island, there was only one boat which agreed to take all of us there. There were about twenty other people just waiting around hoping that a boat would take them to the island too. At first I could not see why it was too dangerous to be on a small boat during the monsoon until we were in the middle of the sea. The sea was so rough that the boat almost capsized twice, the engine stopped several times and people were throwing up everywhere on the boat, it was the most disgusting sight. There was a couple who brought along their baby on the boat, she never stopped crying, I really pitied that kid, and she was only just about a year old. Usually it only took us 45 minutes to get to the island from the mainland but that day it took us 6 hours or more. After a long journey in the boat we finally arrived safely, we checked in to our hut and immediately went to a restaurant without taking a shower because we were all starving. As we were ordering our food the waiter told us that we were very lucky to reach the island safely because there a boat capsized on the way to mainland. We were in shock and I had learned my lesson not to visit the island during the monsoon season. Other then that all of us did have a very good time and managed to do a lot of activities because day after the monsoon was over and the sea was back to normal.

Travel Malaysia

One of the most pleasant, hassle-free countries to visit in southeast Asia is Malaysia. It's buoyant and wealthy, and has moved towards a pluralist culture based on a vibrant and interesting fusion of Malay, Chinese, Indian and native cultures and customs. Malaysia is as diverse as its culture. The Federation of Malaysia comprises Peninsula Malaysia is separated from the states of Sabah and Sarawak by the South China Sea. To the north of Peninsula Malaysia is Thailand while its southern neighbour is Singapore. Sabah and Sarawak are north of Indonesia in Borneo while Sarawak also shares a border with Brunei.

Malaysia's love for Western-style industrialisation is abundantly clear in its big cities. Aside from the gleaming glass towers of the 21st Century, though, Malaysia boasts some of the most superb beaches, mountains and national parks in Asia.

Malays, Chinese, Indians and many other ethnic groups have lived together in Malaysia for generations. All these cultures have influenced each other, creating a truly Malaysian culture. The largest ethnic groups in Malaysia are the Malays, Chinese and Indians. In Sabah and Sarawak, there are a myriad of indigenous ethnic groups with their own unique culture and heritage.

Multiculturalism has not only made Malaysia a gastronomical paradise, it has also made Malaysia home to hundreds of colourful festivals. It's no wonder that Malaysians love celebrating and socialising. Malaysians are very laid back, warm and friendly people. One of Malaysia's key attractions is its extreme contrasts. Towering skyscrapers look down upon wooden houses built on stilts, and five-star hotels sit several metres away from ancient reefs. Bahasa Melayu (Malay) is the official language, but English is widely spoken. Ethnic groups also have their own languages and dialects.

For the perfect holiday full of surprises, eclectic cultures and natural wonders, visit Malaysia and you will never get enough of it’s warm, sandy beaches and rich, humid mangroves.

Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur

Visiting Malaysia can not be done without visiting the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur.
So after visiting family in Lumut we headed for Malaysia's capital.
arriving there at nighttime gives you the opportunity to look at the towers in their full grace.
Lighted like a Christmas tree it sticks out in the Kuala Lumpur skyline. And for once directions are not given like three blocks from this or that MC Donald's but by the position from the Twin Towers.

The towers where completed in 1998 and where opened for public in August 1999. With an overall height of 451,9 meters from street level they are the highest twin towers in the world.
With 77,000 sq m of vision glass, 36,910 tonnes of beam, trusses and reinforcement, 160,000 cu m of concrete in the superstructure and a total of 76 lifts, including 29 Double-deck high speed passenger lifts in each tower (Each double-deck can carry 26 persons), the Petronas Twin Towers are an Engineering wonder and something Malaysians can be proud of.

The petronas Towers cab be visited daily and you can have magnificent views from the sky bridge that connects the two towers at a height of 170 meters from street level.