Malaysia Photo Diary: Petronas Twin Towers

Day and Night at the Petronas Tower
*with a throwback from 10 years ago on the bridge connecting the two towers

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Little by little one travels far.

~ JRR Tolkien

Malaysia Photo Diary: Genting Highlands and Chin Swee Temple

Genting Skyway - Resorts World Genting - Chin Swee Temple

 

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"Travel is better with friends."

Malaysia Photo Diary: Walking Around KL

So it was our first day to go around Malaysia and all was swell. We walked around the city and took the train and bus to reach different parts of the city. So after going to Batu Caves in the morning, we had lunch then headed to the Freedom Square where the big "I Love KL" can be found. Taking photos was very easy and organized. There was a line and each group was allowed a few minutes for picture taking. Adjacent to the "I Love KL" spot is a huge field (Dataran Merdeka) where people can have picnics. And across the field was the Sultan Abdul Samad Building, which houses the Malaysian Ministry of Information, Communication and Culture. The architecture of the building was really impressive. I could just stare at it the whole day. At the other end of the field was the fountain and across the street was the Cathedral of Saint Mary (which we did not visit anymore). We then headed to some malls in the city and then to the Central Market to get some souvenirs. It was a very tiring day since it was also unbelievably hot but it was also a nice way to experience Kuala Lumpur.

And oh, we went to the Petronas Towers as well. Will have a different post for this one. :)

Sultan Abdul Samad Building

Dataran Merdeka

Empty train station

We were lucky this train was quite new

Malaysia Photo Diary: Thaipusam Festival

It was very timely that the Thaipusam Festival (last weekend of January but the actual holiday was February 3) of the Hindus coincided with our trip to Malaysia. Of course, one must visit the Batu Caves, which is about an hour away by train from Kuala Lumpur. Thaipusam is a Hindu holiday where the Indians pay homage to Lord Subramaniam (also known as Murugan). Some carry jars of milk on their heads and they climb over 200 steps to reach the temple in the caves.  They do this as a form of penance to cleanse away their sins. We didn't go up anymore as the line was extremely long and it was really crowded. The whole area were full of Hindus and tourists, several tents were erected on the sides that sell various Indian snacks, art works, accessories, clothes and other stuff.

On the square in front of their god, people just left their footwear everywhere since they have to climb the steps barefoot to keep the temple holy.

It was interesting that we were able to visit the place with all the hustle and bustle but I think it would also be nice to go back on a regular day where there's peace and quiet.

Hanuman, the monkey god

The tallest statue in Malaysia: Lord Muruguan 

The stairs behind the Lord Murugan has over 200 steps that will lead to the cave.

See all those slippers? And the ones in the plastic bags are not garbage, they're more footwear!

Some Hindus with jars of milk atop their heads.

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If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion and avoid the people, you might better stay home.

– James Michener

Colorful Bricks and a Happy Heart

 

One of the playgrounds for kids

Oh yes, we tried the kiddie rides as well

Still cool inside the shark's mouth

Eww!

After about an hour in the park, we just had to buy caps. The heat was just craaazzzyyyy!

Goofing around as we go round and round

Afternoon nap

Hello Lego people!

I braved this one - a bit bitin pa nga!

Scared?

One of the interactive attractions where you have to pull the rope to go up!

Earthquake!! Can your building survive the earthquake?

Hello Petronas towers, we meet again!

More Lego characters!

So right after our visit to Universal Studios Singapore, we went to Legoland Malaysia. We were crazy about amusement parks then and we expected to have a blast in Legoland. But boy, it was very different from Universal Studios. Legoland is the land of kids. Several, if not all rides are kid-friendly.

The attractions or rides had more interactive features like pulling stuff, racing, pedalling and other stuff. There were also attractions which were exclusively for kids and there are some where an adult-kid tandem were needed. I think that these are great because not only do kids have fun, but they learn to cooperate and learn things while they play.

I particularly loved the Lego characters spread around the park. It just amazed me that small bricks can make something colorful and beautiful. Plus, these lego characters talk. I almost jumped with surprise when an old lego lady talked beside me. Looks like they had speakers inside the lego stuff.

And of course, I could not and would not resist the beck and call of the roller coasters. I rode all three coasters and believe me that even if all three were kid-friendly, I still screamed a little bit. And towards the end, we felt that the thrill was cut short. Was it because the cars were not fast enough? the ride was not steep enough? Or was it because there weren't any loops?

The only ride that we missed were the water rides since it started to drizzle. We were also not able to go around the whole of Miniland as we were so exhausted already because of the sweltering heat (the place had no roofing or covering at all!).

And oh, they had photographers all over the park. They gave us a card with a barcode and they just scanned this everytime they took our pictures. Guests have the option to have their photos printed in one of the shops.

Overall, it was a nice park but it was really meant for kids. Even if the park was open til 10, we opted to head back to Singapore at 4:30 instead of our original plan, which was 5:30.

How to get to Legoland Malaysia from Singapore:

We went to the Singapore Flyer and there's a terminal there going to Legoland Malaysia an Hello Kitty World that leaves every hour. Return trip should be scheduled in the morning. We just got lucky that there were vacant seats the bus leaving earlier than our scheduled time that's why we got to leave early.