Gambling at Genting

We never had a plan to go for Genting Highlands. I heard a lot about the place but did not really plan for it in this KL trip. As we were able to cover Petronas, KL Tower, Batu Caves, Times Square Berjaya, China Town and the Night life in just one day, we thought of checking out Genting on the second day. Genting is basically a hill top entertainment weekend getaway for the Malays and there is not much for tourists really.

Genting Highlands Resort

View of the Resort from the Flying Coaster Area

Even though it was in the morning 4 that we came back to hotel we were ready by 9AM to go for Genting. We wore 4 KL Tshirts for the trip which would look alike. We had our breakfast at the lodge before heading down to Genting. We took a taxi to the lower station for the rope car which is located near Gohtong Jaya. I was looking forward for Genting Highlands was just for the ropeway. It is currently the world's fastest and South East Asia's longest cable car system.

For safety reasons, it undergoes periodic maintenance checks. And we were the most unlucky people as the maintanence started the day we went there. Hence it was closed. During the maintenance period, they use Awana Skyway, which is a bit less exciting than the Genting Skyway. But after seeing the queue there and the time limit that we had we thought of avoiding it. We took a taxi straigh to the Genting resort.

Flying Coaster

Train Experience to see the whole resort

We reached there and took an entry for the outdoor amusement park. There were three different types of entry tickets. One for the indoor, one for the outdoor and one for both. We were excited about the roller coaster and the flying coaster rides. We took some of these exciting rides and then headed for the casino. This is the first time ever that I was going to a casino. Actually speaking it was first time for all 4 of us on the trip. Even though we lost 100 Ringgits which we thought is the limit for first timers, it was a wonderful experience.

Me at the Casino Entrance

People stay in the Genting resort hotel over night to enjoy all this fun. They have bowling games, Indoor theme park, nice buffet for lunch and dinner and a theater. But of all these I would say Genting has three primary attractions which are Casino (Casino de Genting), Theme Parks (Indoor and Outdoor) and the Rope ways (Genting Skyway and Awana Skyway).

Aquarium inside Casino

Fishes at the outdoor theme park

On way back

Things to be taken care are:

It rains there most of the time - take umbrellas, raincoats etc.
You need not stay overnight - best plan to go early morning and come back to KL in evening
Vegetarians - Do carry something
Ropeway - take a call looking at the weather - do not judge weather in Genting with that of KL

Night Life at KL

aIn KL we booked a hotel by name Pondok Lodge through the Hostel World. I have read some reviews and just booked it. When we reached there in the morning at 8AM we saw that the street was empty and deserted. We went out for the full day tour of the city and came back to hotel at 8PM. When we reached there we couldnt recognise the hotel. The road which seemed so calm in the morning was looking wild with music and people all around. Now we understood that we were staying in one of most happening streets in KL.

We got ready and started to check out the night life there. First pub we visited was just below our lodge. The crowd and the music there was awesome. As the place was really small we couldnt really stay there for long time. We went forward asking people about the beach pub. Following the directions we reached the beach pub. There was huge crowd dancing around. There was some live band playing really nice songs from different genres. We further went down and reached Aloha pub. The music here was simply superb and I would say one of the best I have seen till date.

The roads at 2AM in the morning were full with cars, taxis, bikes and people. You would never feel that you are on the road at 2 in the morning. While coming back we also saw that McDonalds and KFC were still open and were serving. But avoided both of them and sat at a local food court road side. The time travelled so fast from 9 to 4 that we did not realise that it was already 4 in the morning by the time we reached back to hotel. Finally I would say After Phuket, Night life at KL rocks.

KL Tower & Times Square Berjaya

Most of my second day in KL wound up being a tall buildings tour. From Batu Caves we headed over to KL's forgotten tall building, the Kuala Lumpur Tower well known as KL Tower. Its actually a fifteen minute walk from the Petronas. We saw that there were lot of counter at the KL Tower reception. We found out and took 4 tickets for the KL Tower observatory Floor. Once we reached there we felt it was well worth to go there. Unlike the Petronas Towers sky bridge, the KL Tower offers panoramic views that are from a much higher vantage point.








We took many pics from there and came back to the ground floor. We were feeling hungry and inquired about any restaurant near by. We were surprised to know that there was a revolving restaurant above the observatory floor. We booked 4 seats and again went into the lift line to reach the top floor of KL Tower. When we entered the restaurant we were excited to see our selves in a revolving restaurant at such a height. The view from here was much much better than from the observatory.



We sat down and asked what was in there for the menu. The menu was total continental which also had some rice. We were able to eat well and there were lot of varieties of icecreams too. Meanwhile we took many many pics of the city. We were also able to see the Batu caves from the tower. It was an awesome experience. We spent for about 2 hours in the restaurant. We then headed for the Times Square Berjaya.

Berjaya Times Square KL is a building containing a huge shopping centre and two five star hotels. It has the largest indoor amusement park in Asia. It also has wide range of 900 retail shops, 12 levels of entertainment and shopping, 65 cafes, bistros, restaurants, fast food outlets, 9 screen cineplex and 2 departmental stores all under one roof. Me and Srinivas were excited about the mall as there was a amusement park which had roller coaster in the building itself. We have never experienced a roller coaster ride till date. We went to the 7th floor where the entrance for the amusement park was available. Firstly me and Srini took the tickets to get in while Nagraj and vidya were taking our pics.







We wanted to sit in the first seat of the roller coaster, so we skipped one of the ride which was going on. We did not think about any other ride which was available. We got our turn and we were sitting in the front seat. Finally it started and we were going a bit slowly at first. It went on and on and on and finally picked up the speed. It was a great experience. We were going up and down and side ways and up side down and there were lot of things happening before we could even realise. It was just a 2 minute ride. We had great fun.

We then convinced Nagraj to come into the amusement park while Vidya went out to talk to his son. Nagraj and Srini tried Robo Crash. I just stood outside and took the pics of them. From there we went on for DNA Mixer. This ride was dangerous in a sense. We will be upside down most of the times. The ride was a bit jerky and hence I did not feel good once the ride was complete. I was not in a mood to go for other ride as I was suffering from headache. We further went for the Spinning Orbit ride which only Srini tried. We took many pics and finally came back to the starting point. We then started off for the Petronas Sky Bridge walk which was scheduled for 6.30PM.

Murugan at Batu Caves

3 years back when I was a working in Goldstone I used to get lot of forward mails. One such mail had pictures of the worlds tallest Murugan statue. It was simple superb. The idol was 42 meter height in golden color. At that time I didnt even know where it was located, but actually wanted to visit that place once. Finally after 3 years when I went to KL, I was able to visit the place. Before going to KL when I was searching for places to visit in KL, I came across Batu Caves. When I read about that caves and saw the picture of the same murugan statue, I was excited and immediately thought of going there.

Batu Caves

First I would write some facts about this place. Batu Caves is one of Malaysia's most famous tourist destinations especially for the colourful Thaipusam festival. This attracts up to 800,000 devotees and spectators; the highlight is seeing devotees in a trance carry kavadi, a metal frame attached to the body. The Murugan status is standing at 42.7 meter (140.09 ft) high, the world's tallest statue of Murugan, a Hindu deity, is located outside Batu Caves, near the city of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The statue, which cost approximately Rupees 24 million, is made of 1550 cubic metres of concrete, 250 tonnes of steel bars and 300 litres of gold paint brought in from neighboring Thailand.

Worlds Tallest Murugan Statue

When we went to KL the first place we visited after Petronas was Batu Caves. We took a taxi from Petronas to Batu Caves. It was located about 13km North of Kuala Lumpur city centre. Once we reached there Me and Srinivas were very much excited as we both just saw those pics online and never thought one day we would be there. We took some pics out side the caves with the Statue.

Entrance

First Steps

There were 272 steep steps to reach the caves. We started climbing the steps watching the beautiful caves. The flora and fauna of the region was also really beautiful.

On the way up

Monkey with another monkey

View from 272nd step

huh end of the steps

Finally we reached the caves. It was so beautiful. Once we entered the cave the ceiling was almost 100m from the ground. The cave consisted of the ornate Hindu Shrines.

Entrance of the cave

Hindu Shrines

Look at the tall ceiling

Temple

There is also a murugan temple inside. There are again about 50 steps which would take us to another temple.

View from the inner cave

We took many pictures of the cave, the temples and the monkeys seen around. On the way back we saw one more cave which was referred as the dark cave. This cave has some amazing rock formations and has different types of bats inside. We didnt really show interest in going there as it was like an educational tour and it would take more than an hour. We saw a guy with a python around his neck. We gave him 10 Ringgit and we (Me and Srinivas) tried the same.

Scared the shit out of him :P

There is one more cave which is an Art Gallery Cave located at the foot of the steps. Statues and wall paintings depicting Hindu deities and mythology are displayed here. The walk to the entrance is itself quite a pleasant experience through a lake and ponds filled with hundreds of colourful fish.

Colorful Fishes

We did not go in as we were not interested in that art and gallery and also we had very less time to finish off many things. We took pics of those colorful fishes and started back to KL Tower in the same taxi which was waiting for us.

My experience at Petronas Towers

Petronas at Night

When we planned for a trip to KL the first thing that comes to mind is The Petronas Towers. Firstly something about this tall structure. We never knew what Petronas is, we always felt that the name was given to the building just like that. After entering the building and seeing the movie about the Petronas company, which is the largest company in Malaysia, we came to know how the name came to that building. In the CBD area 90% of the land belongs to Petronas and they built this building. This building is a perfect blend of modernity with a traditional Islamic theme.

By the time we reached the room in KL it was 8.30AM. We asked the hotel owner if we could get the tickets for the Petronas Towers. He told if we were lucky we can just give it a try. We just dumped our stuff in the room and rushed to Petronas. The experience of the first look of this towers was simply superb. We have just seen that scene in some photos online. Now its a reality before us. We reached Petronas just before 9 and went inside. To our shock the line was so big. There are around 650 tickets per day that they distribute and I guess we were able to see those 650 there. Nagraj and Srini stood for sometime in the line and later me and Vidyadhar stood in the line.

Nagraj and Srinivas in the queue

Me and Vidya in the queue

Thats me with the tickets

Petronas backdrop

The tickets were given away in every 15 minute time slot. By the time we reached the counter the time slot running was 6PM. We asked for the 6.30PM slot which was the last one. After taking the tickets we had our breakfast, then went to Batu caves, then to KL Tower, then to Times Square and we returned back to Petronas exactly at 6.20PM. Firstly we were given goggles and a blue ID card and were asked to enter a amphitheater.

Goggles and Blue ID card given while going up

I could see people with Blue and Green ID cards. Thats how the group was divided and would be allowed to go to the 41st floor. In the movie shown to us I came to know some more facts about the Petronas Company.

Exactly at around 6.35PM we were asked to go towards the lift. There was a little security check and then into the lift. I was very excited as it was something which I have never thought a year before. Once we entered the lift, the lift man told us how fast the lift would go up. It would travel 41 floors in 40 seconds. We were ready for that roller coaster ride in the lift. By the time we could really realise we were in the 41st floor and there was the sky bridge.

On the Sky Bridge

It was in the evening at 6.40PM that we were there on the sky bridge and we could see the sun setting, the huge sky scrappers, and some part of Malaysia. We took many pics there and our excited did not last long.







We were allowed to stay there only for 10 minutes and we came back. We came out and took some more pics before the Petronas Towers. Finally I would like to add some facts about Petronas which I have found online.

Shopping Mall in Petronas

• Petronas Twin Towers were the tallest buildings in the world until 2004, when Taipei 101 took over the title.
• Petronas Towers are still the tallest twin buildings in the world.
• There are 88 stories in Petronas Twin Towers.
• Petronas Towers were designed by Argentine-American architect César Pelli.
• The foundation of Petronas Twin Towers is as much as 120 m deep and was built by Bachy Soletanche.
• Reinforced Concrete is the main material used in the construction of Petronas Towers.
• Petronas Twin Towers make use of glass facade that was designed to resemble Islamic art motifs.
• The overall height of Petronas Towers is 451.9m (1483ft), from street level.
• Petronas Twin Towers measure 378m (1240ft) high, without the pinnacle.
• Petronas Towers spread over an area or around 341,760 sq. m. (3.7 million sq. ft.).
• The sky-bridge of Petronas Twin Towers is at 41st and 42nd level and is 58.4m (192ft) long. It weighs 750 tons.
• There are 10 escalators in each building of Petronas Towers.
• The entry to Petronas Towers is free, but only a limited number of timed tickets are provided on a daily basis.
• Petronas Twin Towers have 32,000 windows.
• It cost US $1.2 billion to build Petronas Towers.
• Petronas Twin Towers also include an art gallery, an 840-seat concert hall, and an underground parking lot.
• The main occupant of the Petronas Towers is Petronas, the national oil-company of Malaysia.
• Below Petronas Twin Towers is a shopping mall, Suria KLCC, and Dewan Filharmonik Petronas, the home of the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra.
• Accenture, Al Jazeera English, Carigali Hess Bloomberg, Boeing, IBM, Khazanah Nasional Berhad, McKinsey & Co, TCS, Krawler Networks, Microsoft, and Reuters are some of the companies that have rented offices in the Petronas Towers.
• There is a service building located to the east of the Petronas Twin Towers. It contains services required to keep the building operational.
• Alain "Spiderman" Robert, a French urban climber, tried to climb the Petronas Towers on 20th March 1997, with his bare hands and feet. He reached the 60th floor, where he was arrested by the police. He again tried the feat, this time on the other building, on 20th March 2007. This time also, he managed to reach only 60th floor and was arrested by the police.