Ironwulf En Route
Tugu Negara, Malaysia’s National Monument and the world’s largest bronze sculpture
Emerging fresh from the underwater world of Aquaria KLCC we were brought to a couple of Malaysia’s significant national sites – the Istana Negara and Tugu Negara. The word “Negara” actually means “nation”, hence the former is the National Palace also known as the King’s Palace and the later is the National Monument.
Aquaria KLCC Ticket Counters
Coming from the Petronas Skybridge we went down the basement level of KLCC Suriya Mall and headed to a long pedestrian tunnel going to the Concourse level of Kuala Lumpur Convention Center to visit the Aquaria KLCC. I’m excited to see this and see how different it is from our very own Manila Ocean Park.
Impiana KLCC Pool with Petronas Towers View
Among the ASEAN Countries outside the Philippines, I think Malaysia is the one I have frequented most. I remember it being my first passport stamp out of the country when we climbed Mt Kinabalu in Sabah, and since then Kuala Lumpur has become a gateway for my travels in Asia but have never really gone out to explore the city except for climbing one of the nearby mountain peaks of Bukit Tabur before. So when Tourism Malaysia sent an invite for a Familiarization Tour in conjunction to their Merdeka (Independence) Celebration and suddenly my schedule got free on the said dates, I didn’t think twice of course. It’s an opportunity to get to know the country more.
Kuala Lumpur Petronas Towers
It was officially my last day of my two weeks trip around Laos. I can’t help but feel sentimental while I’m having my tea, toasted bread, jam and fruit breakfast at Lao Heritage Hotel. I was already awake by 5:30am just to get ready to go to the airport. Wattay International Airport is just less than half an hour away so I wasn’t in a hurry.
Cosmo’s World Theme Park Largest indoor amusement park in the world
Got a quick fun post here to answer a pending meme and still feature another travel attraction. I know it should be raining a lot these days but it isn’t. Aside from the afternoon short burst of rains, water levels are still at critical level and the morning to afternoon heat is just unbearable nowadays. That’s why browsing through some photos of my recent trip to Kuala Lumpur, I saw some pictures of Cosmo’s World Theme Park. It’s is dubbed as the largest indoor amusement park in th world. Boy wouldn’t it be great if we have one here? A park with controlled air con temperature and no worries about the rain?
Bamboo Forest Trail
Whenever I explore a certain place, I try to look more into areas and attractions closer to nature. And with this, I was quite impressed to find a forest at the heart of the cosmopolitan city of Kuala Lumpur. This is not just a recreational park at that or was made for that purpose of having a city forest, in fact it is one of the oldest permanent tropical rainforest in the country. Now let’s take a short hike into the Bukit Nanas Forest Reserve.
Jills and lake over Bukit Tabur, also known as Taman Melawati Hills
I have always been a nature person. Given a choice if I’ll hang around a mall or the countryside I’ll definitely choose the latter. With my friend already off back to Singapore by bus yesterday, I’m on my own on my last day in Kuala Lumpur. So what am I to do on this city of skyscrapers and railways before I fly out by night? I’ve already explored the Mini-forest at Bukit Nanas near the Menara Tower and been around the malls and parks in the city. So very early in the morning I went to the nearest LRT, bought a ticket and took the first train to Wangsa Maju station since I decided to go a bit out of town to climb Bukit Tabur in Taman Melawati.
View of the serene lake which is really a big Dam
Before I went on my trip, I researched around where I could find a nice nature tripping escape out of the city. There are lot actually around Malaysia, but most would take at least 3 days on which I have no luxury at the moment. Then I stumbled on some photo groups and individuals who were raving about their sunrise pictures at a place called Bukit Tabur which is only 30 minutes away from the city. So I researched more and found some bits and pieces of information and asked around as well. The place is not really a tourist spot so you won’t find it in any guide books around. So here am I again, going to another off-the-beaten path, riding on the train, armed only with a few notes and information, I was wondering if I’ll be able to climb the place or find it at all. It always give me a chilling feeling traveling to an unknown place not certain of what I’ll found. I remember my first lonely planet travel to Sagada on an unconventional means years ago, I felt a combination of fear and anticipation like now. I guess adventures are like that, you always start of with a cold feet, but once you step a foot forward, it makes all the difference and you move on.
