The Petronas Twin Towers and Putrajaya

What? Petronas isn't the world's tallest building anymore? That was the question in my mind as I was on my way to the Sky Bridge on the 41st floor. Well, they are still the world's tallest twin towers but Taipei 101 is now the world's tallest building and Petronas ranks second.

The Petronas Twin Towers have 88 floors total. Visitors can go up until the Skybridge on the 41st floor and view Kuala Lumpur from there. Tickets are free although only a limited number is given daily. So if you want to catch a particular schedule throughout the day, go early (about 9am or before 9am?) and get your tickets.

Before going up to the Sky Bridge, there's a brief audiovisual presentation about the history of the place - from its conceptualization, to the meaning of its design, to materials used, etc., etc. It's an interesting/impressive piece to view and I sigh as I remember my beloved Manila.

Before leaving the towers, we saw a scanner which measures your height and compares it with the tallest buildings in the world. Having the machine scan my height, I discover that the Petronas Twin Towers are 292 times my height!

Another place we visited while in Malaysia was Putrajaya, which is known as the "modern Malaysia." Completed about 2-3 years ago, according to our KL-based guide, it serves as the location for government offices, the kings' palace and castle (there are 9 sultans, alternating as king - puwede kaya yun kay FPJ at PGMA?), as well as parliament. The parliament building is a very attractive green structure, probably not too conducive to "shut ups" and filibustering.

We likewise went to a mosque in Putrajaya and had to don pink gowns/outfits to be able to stay in the grounds around it. Entering the actual mosque would have required us to wear something on our heads so we just stayed right outside. From there, we were able to view this really interesting, uniquely designed bridge - although I don't know the bridge's name. Shame.

Putrajaya is a very attractive place and I couldn't help but think about Ping Lacson's ad (my visit was before the elections, remember?) and how the Philippine has been left behind by Malaysia, Thailand, and Singapore. Well, Ping didn't win and we wait if the next president can help us catch up with our Asean neighbors.

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