Up KL Tower

This year, the boys' school trip would be up the KL Tower. And Idlan was afraid of heights. He had been up the tower a few times before, but always with us. Letting him loose alone next month may cause a bit of a worry, especially to Puan Anita. So, her brilliant idea today would be to take a trip there and familiarise Idlan, making sure he won't be creating a scene on his next trip.

How about Irfan? He preferred just to stay at home and play with his games. He was still recovering from the recent virus, so we wouldn't kind leaving him at home.

Apparently the restaurant up the tower had been renovated. It was now run by a different company. We didn't go to the restaurant this time, but from what vi saw on the leaflets things had changed. We went straight for the observation deck and lingered around there for almost half an hour.

The front line staffs were all Malay - not Malaysian but Malay. But the support staffs - those who manned the stores and security were all foreigners. Which defeats the purpose really as the high fees to get in put off most of the locals. Tourists being serviced by foreign workers at one of the main attraction at the capital? Should I be surprised?

Anyhow, the front line staffs were really helpful. There was a race being held there in the morning according to the posters. A race from the bottom up the tower using the stairs. Hmmm! Not my kind if race.....

At the walkways by the entrance, there was a mango exhibit taking place for the weekend. Unfortunately, there was not much left on the Sunday afternoon. After all, the Menteri and the likes had been and gone. No point showing their wares to the actual punters. Sad fact! But even the staffs there admitted to that.

After we were done walking around, we caught the sign that there would be a path leading up to the tower entrance through the Bukit Nanas Forest Reserve. It was still being built, but I'm sure it would be grand once it was completed. I would definitely be giving it a visit, although Anita insisted on doing the path from the top of the hill downwards. Not the other way round.

It turned out to be a good day out actually. With the hot weather, we could do with a nice drink right after. So, we headed straight to Pavilion.

Zoo Negara Part 1

The last time we visited Zoo Negara was back in 2008. I think it was the end of that year since both my boys were in their matching red England jersey then. And we still had our old maid with us. We lived quite close by, and during weekends, the place was full most of the time, putting us off from going there.

So, when the boys asked us to head over there during the recent Thaipusam break, I got interested. At least, I would be able to wipe off the cobweb on my 7D which had hardly been used since I got the X100, and the the X-Pro 1. Zoo Negara it was.

For a public holiday, the place was relatively empty. We were still to find a parking spot at the main carpark despite turning up close to 2 pm. It was also a bright sunny day, a Sunday. We were prepared for a long day, queues and all. But we didn't have that.

There were a few reasons for that. The entrance fees had just been hiked up from RM 20 to 30 for locals. And then you had to pay for almost everything. A simple little paper maps would cost you RM 2 and a ride on the tram - which was previously free would require a ticket purchase. RM 2.50 I thought.

But all the price increase did nothing to improve the sorry state of the zoo. In fact, it had gone downhill since our last visit. Shameful really, as this was supposed to be one of the main tourist attraction for the foreigners. Those visitors would be astounded at how bad things were there, and as local, I wouldn't impose such a trip to any of my friends coming over from abroad. A far cry really from Singapore Zoo. Even Zoo Taiping was in a better shape. And they charged a pittance to get in.

Continued in Part 2.