If I Knew Then What I Know Now

The power of hindsight is a wonderful thing.

Looking back on decisions you've made it can be easy to over-analyse them when things either do, or don't work out the way in which you have planned.

On my travels, one of the most difficult tasks is to try to figure out how much time to spend in each city, and also each day how many different things to try and accomplish. Obviously, some days are going to be busier than others and this is largely dictated by what I am going to be doing. I think I have realised in my time here that it's better not to try and cram to much in and expect alot of myself, choosing instead to prioritise the things which I feel are the things I will look back and remember the most.

I guess only using the power of hindsight will I know whether or not I have made these decisions correctly and often it can be mighty confusing as I wrestle with my thoughts trying to strike the balance between all of the things I want to see and do whilst on the continent. Some days I feel like I get it right, others, not so much.

It's hard to believe that I have been in KL for two nights already, the time has travelled by really quickly whilst I have been here, but I feel like I am definitely enjoying my stay and time travelling so quickly is perhaps a good representation of that fact.

Today I woke up slightly later than I'd planned - I'm not sure whether it's the late nights, exhaustion from the heat, comfy bed or blackout curtains (perhaps a combination of them all). I had a shower and got dressed fairly rapidly having to forgo breakfast in the hotel for the second day in a row as I had booked my tickets to go into the Petronas Towers this morning.
Sometimes I feel like I'm happy to just look and photograph major landmarks, but the KLCC Petronas Towers (to give them their full name) are something I couldn't miss the opportunity to experience first hand. Tickets cost about 100 RM (about £20) and I was hoping that the incredible views from the top and just the moment of being there would more than make up for that it was pretty much the most expensive thing I have done on this trip outside buying flights, booking hotels or purchasing a new camera!

My 'check-in' time was 10:45am, and I arrived just after that and joined the queue of people waiting to go through security and being given the briefing about the experience we were about to have. I'm not sure exactly how many people are on each tour, but as I explained yesterday, sometimes tickets are sold out in advance so I think it must be somewhere around twenty. Firstly, I think this is dictated by the size of the lift and the amount of people they can cram into one, but also too many people in one place would definitely spoil the experience.

Having had the great views from the KL Tower the previous day, I was hoping that it wasn't going to be an anti-climax being able to see the same city sprawl, but with a slightly different monument standing out in front of me - I needn't have worried too much. Standing at a height of 452 metres, the KLCC towers are one of the tallest buildings in the world (7th at the moment I believe), and the tallest set of twin towers on the planet. Riding the elevator up to the 42nd floor we were first taken up to the sky bridge which is 60 metres off the ground and is a pretty spectacular place to be:

We were given about ten minutes to walk around in this area so I took as many pictures as possible, enjoying the freedom to roam around between the two towers and just generally see how miniature everything below looked. Obviously the towers are the outstanding piece of architecture in the city and even though they were now missing from the view of the city, it was amazing to look out and see all the buildings disappear off into the distance. There wasn't quite as much haze over the city as when I did this at the top of the KL Tower yesterday, and it was possible to see things quite far into the distance:

After ten minutes of walking around here, we were ushered back to the elevator and then taken up to the 80th floor where we got out and were separated into two smaller elevators which took us up the remaining five floors to number 85 which is where the observation deck is. Unlike many similar sights, the towers aren't circular so it wasn't a case of getting a completely panoramic view, but being that high off the ground, it didn't really make a difference.
I was able to pick out a few of the similar sights to the ones I had stopped yesterday and spent some time looking at a model of what everything you could see below actually was.
There were two groups at the summit of the tower at one so it was quite busy, but in my fifteen minutes up there I managed to see everything I could possible want, and even spent some time getting a closer up view of things by using the binoculars which were placed around in several windows:

Our time was a sadly up around 11:45 am, but it had been an enjoyable three quarters of an hour. Once we got to the bottom there was a small souvenir shop where you could by everything imaginable relating to the attraction. Having not eaten breakfast this morning I decided to head in the direction of some food, so walking back towards my hotel I eventually found a convenience store where I picked up some noodles to snack on.

I was planning to spend a little bit of time walking around KL Forest Eco Park which is just down the road from the KL Tower and had I had a bit more time yesterday before going to the KL Tower I probably would have explored it. The main entrance of the park looked to be closed, but I managed to walk up a path and through a gate which led to an open section with a sign pointing towards a jungle canopy.
Bukit Nanas, as the park was previously known, is one of the oldest forest reserves in the country and is the only remaining tropical rainforest in the heart of the city. It comes as something of a surprise that it still exists considering the amount of pollution and fumes there must be in KL, but it makes a welcome change from the often sterile surroundings of big business skyscrapers.

As the whole thing appeared not to be open, and somewhat under construction, I wasn't going to be able to walk through the whole park, but I was able to step across several parts of the jungle canopy as it took me higher and higher into the trees, and gave me a great view of the jungle below.
I'm not a massive fan of heights so it was a little daunting to be walking on the bridges which were swinging slightly. I wouldn't say that I am scared of heights, mostly that I just don't enjoy them. I discovered this in 2008 when I walked up the Eiffel Tower in Paris and took about a year to walk down the steps as I was so worried about the great drop below. It's strange because I feel that behind glass as I was in the Petronas Towers earlier, I'm still a little weary, but when the space is open I think that's the bit that I like the least. Maybe I've seen too many films where people fall from heights like that, or perhaps it's just that I'm worried that I'll drop something and then have to stand there and watch as it falls to the ground and smashes into a million pieces.

Putting my fears to one side I managed to make it from one end to the other and back again before eventually coming back to the hotel for a quick shower and a little rest. I had planned to spend the afternoon cramming in a couple more activities, most of which were just going to see a few of the older buildings which represent the history in the city. I walked in the same direction as going towards the KL Tower and the Eco Forest, but instead of turning, I continued going on straight and came to the Masid Jamek mosque which is the oldest in KL. I have to be honest and say I didn't get a very friendly welcome from the people there. Perhaps they are tired with people photographing the mosque rather than using is for it's actual purpose which is a place of religious sanctity, but as I pulled out my camera one of the guards waved his hand in my face and ushered be backwards a few steps. I was a bit taken a back by his rudeness, so walked around the corner and got as close as I wanted to...

The mosque was in a bit of a state of disrepair - as was the whole Masjid Jamek area. There was a slightly unpleasant smell, and the roads were very littered.
It looked like some major repair work is going on which is still in the middle of being completed, and I feel like that unlike in Brunei where the mosques are a huge tourist attraction, here, despite it's age, this might not be the case. I continued on towards another stretch of buildings which sprang out from the old market square. This are was Merdeka Square which is the place where the Malaysian flag was hoisted for the first time in 1957 when the country gained its independence.
There is a massive area of grass which looks fit to host a cricket match, and all around are some very classy looking brick buildings. Several museums surround the area, and the central library sits curved against the north east corner of the park, but I continued on to my last stop of the day which was the central market.

Having witnessed Petlang Street last night, I'm not sure it was going to be able to compete with that, but it certainly had charm of it's own. This market was less about cheap designers goods and more about handicrafts and pieces of art relating to KL and Malaysia as a whole. I'm not really in the market for souvenirs on my stay, but it was good to look around and see everything that was available. Once again it was the case that if you made eye contact with any of the people or even stopped for a second then they would be trying to sell you their goods so I just continued at a steady pace around the whole thing, covering both the inside and the outside area.

That was the end of the sightseeing for the day, having done quite a bit of walking I was about ready for some dinner. I walked back in the direction of the Low Yat Plaza and Times Square feeling like I would certainly be able to find a food court or something in wait for me. I had my point proved that the Times Square mall is in fact way too big as it took me a good half an hour to find the food court. There are F&B outlets all over the place, but only the branded upmarket kind, so after a little searching I found the right place to be and ended up settle on a Chinese place which looked fairly busy but had a good menu choice.

Completely filled up by the generous size portion I headed back to my room and worked out what I would be doing on my final full day in the city.

No need for the power of hindsight here, it was definitely a good decision to go up the KLCC Towers. I think the views out of the top of there, and the whole experience itself is something I will remember for years. It was a throughly enjoyable visit, and I feel like even though the whole thing lasted less than an hour, having been up the KL Tower the day before I had just about the right amount of time to appreciate the views. It's a hard call, but I would say that visitors to the city should probably choose to do one, and not both - not that I didn't enjoy both.

It's a bit like in New York where you have the Rockafella Centre and then the Empire State building - both offering similar views, and being about the same height. When I was in the US back in 2011 I made the decision to go to the Top of the Rock based on the fact that I'd rather photograph the empire state building and therefore not going up it would be a better decision.

I enjoyed walking around the market, and although I didn't buy anything it's always interesting to look at what little crafty shops and places like that are selling. I'd much prefer to get my souvenirs from somewhere like that than at a store in the airport which isn't really in the heart of the action. With the amount of people walking around, I'm guessing that they are doing pretty well for themselves.


20/20
George Benson (1985)