Kuala Lumpur

I have been up the Petronas Twin Towers now. It's one of those “must do at least once in a lifetime” things, and despite visiting Malaysia in 2010 for a holiday and then living here for another six months, I still hadn't managed it just that once.

Yesterday, we rode to the Sky Bridge and then to the 86^th floor observation deck with our son and his girlfriend. It's not cheap, especially when paying for four, but it was a good experience, and we can now say, “been there AND done that”. The first stop is the Sky Bridge, which joins the towers on level 41 and 42. I actually found that the most thrilling, as you are standing in a suspended corridor, with nothing underneath. The guide who welcomed us was on the deck when the movement joint closed by 5 inches as a result of the tsunami earthquake. I think the year was 2002. The people on that day felt the movement, though we thankfully had an uneventful visit. The lifts sweep visitors at an astonishing speed, though to get to the 86^th floor, we had to disembark the high-speed main lifts at the 83^rd floor and enter two slower ones that go up the final three floors. They seemed frustratingly slow after the ear-popping ascent to the 83^rd. The 86^th floor observation deck affords 360 degree views of KL and the opportunity to photograph the other tower, though it was disappointing that the afternoon had become typically KL-hazy and cloudy, after a bright and clear morning. Still, we could see for miles around, as far as Batu Caves and the mountains. 

 

After the towers visit, we visited an exhibit called “The Sultans of Science”, about Moslem contributions to the Sciences, then drove from the KLCC Suria shopping complex to the nearby Pavilion Shopping Centre so we could all experience TGI Fridays. We created our own tapas menu by sharing a number of plates of appetisers and mains, probably the last western food we'll get at a restaurant for a while. The kids were thrilled to discover a shop that sells nothing but DC Comics merchandise. I was not thrilled that we took more than an hour to drive home, a result of a nasty chance collision of all of the usual KL driving calamities- traffic jams, difficulty getting the GPS software to run on my phone, and mistaking one of the numerous expressway exits for another, which as usual resulted in a 20-minute round-trip on another expressway and back again.

On Saturday we had also managed an exhausting dose of sightseeing, covering the wonderful technology shopping centre Lowyat Plaza, KL Bird Park and Petaling Street Markets. Having a car in KL does add driving and navigating stresses to the day, but an advantage is being able to pop back to the hotel for an hour or two rest, which the kids appreciated after their big day of travel on Friday.

In two weeks' time our daughter and her boyfriend arrive here, and we hope to be able to do some trips with them also. We have booked a few days at Genting Highlands for the six of us. How lovely to have family time together. No doubt you will be hearing more of our family adventures as our eleven Aussie guests start arriving in Kampar for our mega birthday celebration.

The cycle of life

The gaps betweek my blogs are becoming far too large. As we get more involved in various activities here, are lives are becoming busier, and it is harder and harder to set aside a few hours to write a blog. Also dominating my time of late have been the plans and organising for the imminent visit of 11 Australians who are arriving in bunches over the next four weeks. Mainly members of my family, our offspring and their partners, they are coming over for the combined celebration of the inventor's 50th bithday and my father's 80th, which both occur within days of Chinese New Year. We have numerous parties and sightseeing planned. I hadn't realised just how much work would be involved in finding accommodation, fitting out guest rooms, transporting and feeding this many people, but the main arrangements are now all sorted, and I can calm down at last.

Do you remember the old man with the bicycle piled high with boxes? I see him often, pushing the heavy, old machine up a slope, or crawling along patiently beside the hurrying traffic. Day after day he heads out on ricketly wheels and unsteady legs, in search of old boxes that he can exchange for a few coins to feed himself and his wife. Life is very different here. Poverty is different, and needing is different. One day when I have more time, I might join the thousands before me who have shared their thoughts on poverty, on life, and on humanity in general. For now I look forward to our visitors' arrivals, starting tomorrow with our son and his girlfriend. We hope that, like us, they can sit back and watch with appreciation and fascination the endless stream of humanity come and go, round and round, on this endless cycle they call "life".