#28 See the Petronas Towers--ACHIEVED

Last July 2009, I got the opportunity to visit Singapore and Malaysia. I was really excited about this trip because I had never been to these countries and it was my first time to visit countries (in a while) that wasn't Japan or the United States. I couldn't choose which country I was more excited about. I had heard so many great things about Singapore but at the same time, it had been my dream to see the Petronas Towers. Although it was a very short trip (2 countries in 4 days), it was a vacation that I enjoyed tremendously.

Our first stop was Singapore. It's a really small country bordering Malaysia. I didn't know much about this country but what I did know for sure was that it was famous for being clean. It gives a whole new meaning to "fine country". I say this because they have many laws in Singapore. You can be fined for spitting, chewing gum, or littering. Probably one of the strictest countries I've been to. Take note, when we crossed the border from Malaysia back in to Singapore, we were told to dispose of all food, drinks, and chewing gum to prevent being fined at Singapore Immigration.

We flew in from Manila to Singapore during the evening so we didn't arrive at our hotel in Singapore until somewhere close to midnight. This was very upsetting because I was looking forward to roaming the city. But it was for the best since we had to leave for our overnight trip to Kuala Lumpur the following morning. We got settled in to our hotel but after a long night of traveling, we were all hungry. I looked out the window and spotted an open food court across the street from our hotel. This brought my spirits up because one of the things I enjoy doing when in a foreign country is trying out local food and drinks. So we headed down to get some late night snacks.

Photo of me drinking Singapore Tiger Beer

The street food was the best. I honestly don't know what I even ate since my dad ordered everything, but I was very satisfied. I was also excited to have tried Tiger beer. This beer is actually world acclaimed. I can't really decipher the difference between beers, but Tiger beer was definitely good. After our midnight snack, we headed back to the hotel to get some sleep for our Malaysia trip.

We had an early wake up call since Kuala Lumpur is a five hour bus ride from Singapore. I did not look forward to this bus ride at all because I was under the impression that Singapore and Malaysia bordered each other. Why were they so far? Well, I learned that they did border each other. The Malaysian border was actually a 10 minute drive from downtown Singapore. It was the city of Kuala Lumpur that was so far. As much as I thought I was going to hate the bus ride, I actually didn't mind it. We had the whole double deck tour bus to ourselves. It was decked out with recliners and foot rests and personal TV sets. Needless to say, I didn't mind at all. Plus I got to enjoy the scenery.

Highway to KL

When we finally approached Kuala Lumpur, I was more than excited. I couldn't keep still. Constantly snapping landscape photos of the city from afar. I could see the Petronas Towers rising high above the rest of the buildings in the city. The towers looks amazing from a distance, I could only imagine how they looked up close.

Since we were only in KL for an overnight trip, we decided to check out the towers right away. I was with some older individuals and they were not too keen on walking to the towers in the middle of the afternoon, even though it was only a few blocks. You could see the towers from our hotel rooms. Still, they insisted we take a taxi. This kind of irritated me because it was TRAFFIC. What would have normally taken us 15 minutes to walk, took us 30 minutes of riding in traffic. But I have to say, it was all worth it. The towers are beautiful. There's no way I can really explain it into words.

#28 See the Petronas Towers

The Petronas Towers are very distinctive, beautiful buildings. And they're nothing like I've ever seen before. I've seen a lot of pictures but nothing compares to the experience of standing at the foot of the Petronas Towers and viewing them in all their majestic glory. I had to compose myself a few times when I realized that I was staring at them with my mouth wide open. They are amazing, and that's all I can really say about it.

After a few minutes of photo opportunities outside of the tower and under the blazing sun, we decided to grab some lunch. Nothing too exciting there since the oldies chose to eat at TGIFridays. Not exactly what I had in mind, but a free meal is a free meal. And at that point, I was famished.

 A must do in any destination: photo with street signs

After our pretty delicious American lunch, we headed to the Menara Tower. There's really nothing special about the tower except that it overlooks the city of Kuala Lumpur in 360 degrees. Parts of the viewing deck floors were made of glass, which obviously, I was afraid of stepping on. One thing that was fun about the tower is that the restaurant revolves. So while we were eating our desserts, we got the full 360 degree view of the city.

By the time we got back to the hotel, the sun had already begun to set. And everyone was tired. Except me and my 14 year old cousin, Jazmine. We wanted to explore the city since this was pretty much a once in a lifetime kind of trip. So after persuading her parents to let her come out and explore with me, we headed out to see the city at night. KL is full of shopping malls. They're in every corner. We'd literally see a Louis Vuitton or Chanel every few blocks. Clearly, this city is a shopping mecca. Unfortunately, we're not wealthy nor were we interested in shopping so we decided to just take in the sights. Here are a few street photos:

We realized, after hours of walking, that Kuala Lumpur wasn't as small a city as we had originally thought. It's a small city, but when you're walking on foot, it's pretty overwhelming. We had wandered pretty far from our hotel so we decided we would either take a cab back or try the monorail. We had money to blow, so we didn't mind either choices. But when we saw the towers, beautifully lit at night, I came up with the bright idea of riding the monorail to the towers. The monorail map looked quite simple, and I figured, if we got lost, we'd just get off and take a taxi back to the hotel. It seemed simple enough, so we got on a monorail, with our Starbucks frappes in tow. We really had no idea what stations we were stopping at so we decided to get off when we saw the Petronas Towers in sight. The city is dominated by the majestic towers, and since they were illuminating the sky, we thought we could possibly pinpoint our location to them. Little did we know it was about five blocks away. They looked so near, I guess because they're so big. The walk though, was totally worth it.

I don't really think there is a "best time" to see them, as they look great against the sunny skies and the late evening. The towers look amazing in contrast against the dark night that shows off it's bright lights. Words don't do the towers justice, so I hope the photos help.

Honestly, I could have gazed in awe up at the sheer majesty of this structure for hours. But we were exhausted from a long trip and all I could think of was getting back to the hotel and taking a long shower and getting some rest since we had to leave for Singapore in the morning.

I think I was able to capture more than enough photos of the towers. I got to admire the wonderful views and take photographs. Suffice to say, if you're ever around Asia, make the effort to get a ticket to Kuala Lumpur. I've seen some amazing things in my travels but the view of the Petronas Towers ranks high among the best.