27 Jun Kuala Lumpur – a glance at the cosmopolitan hotspot of Asia
Discovering Kuala Lumpur is like travelling through a future and present at the same time. One minute you wander across town on the modern monorail past ultra-modern skyscrapers, and the next minute you are at street level, standing among rows of antique shops and colorful food stalls. In one moment you will fell like you are somewhere on the fashion show, and get the feeling that fashion here is everything that city lives for, and then few minutes later you will see people sitting near the street selling their traditional handicrafts, dressed very simple and looking as they don’t care about gigantic billboards and high class shops all around. Urban city lights, exclusive hotels and superb architecture make a great picture when you combine it with the vivid city life where you can meet people from all around the world gathering together.
Kuala Lumpur sits at the halfway point of the west coast of the Malay peninsula, 35km inland in the Klang River Basin ,and spanning over 243 square kilometres. The city is packed with historic monuments, skyscrapers, lush parks, mega-sized shopping malls, bustling street markets and trendy nightspots.
As we were only passing through Kuala Lumpur on our way from Krabi in Thailand to Kalibo in Phiilippines we only had one and a half day stop over in this bustling city that was not quite enough to experience more than city centre and some most usual city scenes and hot spots.
Colonial, business, village, fashionable, any style you want you will find it Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur’s old city centre is highlighted with the colonial style, and sights such as the Jamek Mosque and Independence Square are found here. South of this historic heart is the Chinese-inflected Petaling Street. To the northeast of the confluence is Kuala Lumpur City Centre (KLCC), the new city centre with its famous Petronas Twin Towers, which sits in the financial district known as the Golden Triangle. North of the colonial core is the Indian Muslim enclave of Masjid India and the garment district of Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman, which leads to the laid-back Malay village of Kampung Baru. South of KLCC is the popular shopping district of Bukit Bintang. Kuala Lumpur is widely recognised for numerous landmarks, including Petronas Twin Towers, Petaling Street flea market, and Batu Caves, which is over 400 million years old.
Petronas Towers – the highest twin tower building in the world
The 88-storey twin towers with 32 000 windows are the tallest in the world at nearly 452m and their floor plan is based on an eight-sided star that echoes arabesque patterns. They look particularly impressive when illuminated at night. Petronas Towers were designed by Argentinian architect Cesar Pelli as the headquarters of the national oil and gas company Petronas.
They are number one attraction in Kuala Lumpur, and visit to the city is uncomplete without a picture of you standing in front of the twin towers and afterwards enjoying the adjoining park and shopping center. The sun sets around 7 pm in Kuala Lumpur so be sure to visit during the afternoon. If you want to see the view from up high you have to buy a ticket to the observation deck which is located on the 86th floor or walk from one tower to the other by using the world’s highest double-decked sky bridge situated on 41st and 42nd floor. The bridge is set on the two floors, 170 metres high, and 58 metres long.
China Town – colours wonderland and fun centre of Kuala Lumpur
More traditional feeling of Kuala Lumpur we had in China Town, better say when we were exploring famous Petaling Street, and its numerous food stalls with abundant food offerings in every possible colour and shape. Any typical Chinese dish can be found here from roasted duck to hokkien mee and original clay pot dishes. But this is not only a place to eat a wonderful food but also a place to have good time in open air bars on the streets.
KLCC Park – best place for family time in Kuala Lumpur
When visiting Kuala Lumpur with kids this is definitely a place to spend a half a day as the temperature thanks to the lakes, swimming pools and trees, that are beautifully allocated all through the park make a very humid days much easier. KLCC Park is a 50-acre garden set close to Suria KLCC shopping centre. On the park grounds is a 10,000 sqm manmade lake (Lake Symphony) with a 43m bridge that cuts across.
Unquestionably, Lake Symphony is the reason most people frequent the park; it has water fountains that can shoot water up to a height of 42m. These daily water shows occur at noon and in the evenings and are popular with kids. KLCC Park has over 1,900 indigenous trees from 74 species, and besides the various waterfalls, fountains, cascade and reflecting pools scattered around the park, there are a variety of facilities at KLCC Park including a two-acre children’s playground, a 1.3km-long jogging track, shelters and benches, patterned footpaths and sculptures.
Impiana KLCC Hotel – swim in the infinity pool with futuristic landscape panorama
Although it is located in the business centre of Kuala Lumpur hotel Impiana KLCC is not a hotel that you will avoid thinking that it is only intended for business travels. The stylish hotel is conveniently connected via a fully air-conditioned sky bridge linking Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre to the lively Bukit Bintang area where the major night life is happening, and where you can meet the whole world in one place. The hotel also looks over KLCC park that gives you a great opportunity to have a walk whenever you want and to breathe in the city where sometimes the hardest thing is to breathe normally. What makes it even more special is its beautiful infinity pool with spectacular view on neighboring busy area and futuristic architecture. Swimming in the pool surrounded by giant buildings and Petronas giving you a shade makes really unique experience.
More info about hotel Impiana KLCC
Photo credits: magic4.club, Impiana KLCC, FreeImages