Going up in the world

We have just had our 500^th hit on the blog so a big thank you to everyone who is following our adventure – and thank you for your comments John Docherty - John is now devoting more attention to searching for even more smutty place names and double entendres ………everywhere he looks.

 

The KLCC shopping arcade is identical to many in the UK with recognisable high street names  including M&S, Top Shop and Gap.  This familiarity is both reassuring and disappointing.  However, the opportunity to browse gadget shops galore was too strong and John spent a happy hour or two checking out gadgets, electronics and the latest 3D tvs. I managed to replace my battered trainers as the walk in the rain forest took the last bit of life from them, and unusually even John told me to go and buy shoes! (ermm not quite how I remember it – ed)

6.30 am – Alarm rings and we struggle out of bed – John wants to visit the Petronas Towers and the only way to get tickets is to queue – a limited number of tickets are available each day on a first come first served basis.  Sales start at 8.30am but by the time we arrive at 7.15 there are already more than 100 people waiting.

We join the lengthening queue and wait patiently.  We are assisted by the ver officious queue monitors who constantly push us into a single file line which snakes around the concourse. By 8.10 admission to the queue is closed and the patient waiting continues.  John takes some comfort watching a late comer in a Liverpool shirt being denied entrance. 

At exactly 8.30 the staff give out laminated numbers like the bacon counter at Sainsburys however, this has no impact on the speed at which ticket applications are processed.  John has ‘100’, it might as well be 1,000,000 as we wait and wait.  The queue inches slowly along, friendships are forged with fellow queuers and finally John is within touching distance of the counter.

“No more tickets today for the observation deck” – What? Steam starts to rise in the kettle which is John’s patience – at the counter however he calms down when he secures two tickets for tomorrow.

After 3 hours in the queue we have the day to ourselves so after a leisurely morning we set off to see Little India on the  Dang Wangi express. The humidity has risen considerably during the day and walking around the bazaars selling spices and old cloths or is that clothes and Old Spice is a little overwhelming.  We also realise that as we are in a Muslim area the chances of finding a beer are nil. We quickly backtrack to China Town to secure refreshments.

Back in Petling Street, the stalls have grown since our last visit and we have to push through the stall holders and shoppers. The outdoor market is in full flow and we are encouraged to look at the wares available.  We bought a couple of t-shirts and headed for the Titiwangsa train to get a little closer to home before the return of the rain and enjoyed a few beers before retiring to bed ready for the Tower trip

John is like a school boy being very excited and I have to stop him running up the road to the Towers.  We are given a green badge to wear before listening to the history of the towers.  Then its into the lift to be whizzed up to the 41st floor. 

 

The views from the Sky Bridge which joins the two towers are spectacular.  The weather is fine and visibility is good – we see the whole of KL set out below and realise that the place isn’t as big as we thought.  I’m not keen on heights and marvel at the window cleaner who calmly leans out of his cradle to clean the sky walk.

 

After taking lots of photos we return to the lift which zooms up to an ear-popping 86th floor.  Views from the top of the 450 metre tower are amazing and aided by telescopes you can see huge amounts of detail and incidentally spy into peoples penthouse suites.   The Doc would have enjoyed this part of the experience!

 Back on terrafirma we decided to relax by the pool for an hour or so before heading to down town KL.  Temperatures were well into the 90s and rising but the threat of a serious storm drove us to cover in the Hard Rock Café at 4.30pm. It gets a bit hazy from here on – Happy Hour, too many Frozen Margariettas on an empty stomach and cheap beer –

cue zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz