Life in a year full of Saturdays: Kuala Lumpur

Our second day in KL started out with a quest for coffee as it appears that both JJ and I can't get the engine running until we have caffeine well and truly running through our veins. Thankfully there was a Starbucks about 200mtrs up the street from us, and whatever your take is on their enterprise, their enviromental/social/political conscience, blah, the fact of the matter is that at the bottom of their double shot cappucino's was an opportunity for me to feel energized - accepted well and truly, thankyou very much.

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Now, onto cultural faux pas' and the pleasure that you get from watching other people struggle. To set the scene, let me say this, KL is more often than not a humid place and the temperature, whilst not excruciatingly hot, is well above the comfortable mark on most days. Taking this into consideration, JJ, as could be best rationalised in her mind, decided to deduct long sleeved, conservative options of dress for, how shall we say, less culturally atune attire. I fortunately or unfortunately realised this before we left for the morning but thought that she might be able to escape from public judgment with casual glances and the odd disapproving look...but oh, how I was mistaken! Every Malaysian man in KL thought it was 'his day' when JJ was walking down the street and every female in KL was throwing her, and I, that disturbingly disapproving look of 'How dare you be out in public like that'. I know, our fault, we assume full responsibility. In an overwhelmingly Islamic country where females generally cover up, JJ was not really following their line of thought, and whilst KL has many Western influences, showing more skin than is accustomed does not really sit within their range of tolerance. Needless to say, I had endless amusement walking with her the whole day and staring down each and every person that was either checking her out or throwing us an evil stare...muchos funos in my books.

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Deciding that alcohol for right at this moment was not what we were going to do, we made our way via Skytrain to KLCC Central in an attempt to get onto the Skybridge at Petronas Towers. Now let me also add, why the hell is it that most cities in the world can get their public transport systems right and yet Sydney languishes like a third world leper and can't decide on whether urban infrastructure should or shouldn't be built, where it 'may be built' or whether its actually required? It's so infuriating to see city after city do it far better, smarter and with obvious consideration for moving their population around the city with the efficiency that's required than Sydney. In the public transport stakes Sydney simply sucks.

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Petronas was the destination for the morning, which made the agenda after ofcourse some lunch and a few drinks at, I believe, the Mandarin hotel - which incidentally had a great view over KLCC park. After wondering from the hotel to Petronas and enduring a 10min 'How wonderful is Petronas Petroleum and aren't we just the representative of ALL things good in the world', we headed up to the Skybridge.

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Now, some quick facts on Petronas - during the years 1998-2004 they were known as being the tallest building on earth and are still the tallest twin towers on earth standing at 451.9 mtrs. The Skybridge resides on the 41st and 42nd level of the building and is known to be the tallest double storey skybridge out in the market, coupled with that, the bridge is not bolted onto the tower but rather is allowed to slide in and out of both towers so that during high wind it doesn't buckle or break.

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Below are some of the shots taken of Petronas on this day.

KLCC Park taken from Petronas Towers - Kuala Lumpur

Petronas Towers taken from KLCC Park - Kuala Lumpur

Petronas Towers - Kuala Lumpur

The towers themselves are impressive but the view from the Skybridge it has to be said is a little underwhelming. I mean, Kuala Lumpur itself is probably not the most aesthetically appealing city going around but that's not to say that it's not interesting. I've been to many a city that isn't considered as being picturesque but certainly packs a punch in a cultural, historical or social sense. Anyway, lets get back to standard programming, am going off on a slight tangent here.

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With our time at Petronas up we managed our way back to Chinatown where JJ and I decided to pull up a couple of stools at the Reggae bar and drink...and drink some more...and perhaps took the option of having some more after that. Kicking off proceedings was Marley, more than apt for the bar and more than providing a chilled vibe when kicking back with a few drinks in hand. I only wished that the bar maintained their standard and didn't drop into RnB later in the evening, it's what made the place 'reasonable' rather than fantastic. Our other tag alongs, Jason and Audrey joined us for a few beverages later that evening before heading down to one of the many dining options in Chinatown, where it must be said, we had an unbelievably fantastic lemon chicken...seriously, it was the culinary highlight of our journey (well...almost, I'd have to say that the 'massive burger' I had in Vang Vieng beat it hands down)...but that is another story for a later date. On this evening however, we downed many more Tigers and made our way into inebriated heaven with the full knowledge that the next day we would be in the Land of a Million Elephants.