Tourists in Green Kuala Lumpur

Notes from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Sent: Sunday, February 27, 2011 9:09:54 PM


My wife June (architect June Morales-Mercado,UAP), and I arrived in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia last night to see some changes.

The old Puduraya bus station, where buses from Singapore and Thailand, as well as the buses coming from the different states of Peninsular Malaysia, is under renovation. The bus station was temporarily transferred to a place far from the city proper.

So we had to take a taxi from there to the city. Before we reached the city proper, the taxi conked out, and so we had to take another cab. Fortunately, we reached the city proper safely. It was already past 11:00 PM.

We stayed in a hostel called "Backpackers' Hostel", just opposite the old Puduraya bus station which has been undergoing renovation for a year.  My, it is really having a "facelift". So different from it was in 2009 when I was here. I have been to KL more than 10 times. This is the second time my wife visited this city.

In the morning, around 7 AM, we took a taxi to the world-renowned "Petronas Twin Towers", and had a simple breakfast there.

We went out of the building afterwards, and had photos with the "twin towers" as background.

Outside the building, we met four Filipino tourists( all Muslims from Marawi City), and befriended them. Two of them are medical doctors, a couple. The two others are females, working with PhilHealth.

From the Petronas Twin Towers, we took a cab to the Kuala Lumpur Tower. I have been there twice. So I told June to just take the lift to the peak, while I read "The Sun", a Malaysian daily.

My wife met two Filipino women at the peak of the KL Tower. She said they are OFWs.

From the KL Tower, we boarded bus No. 79, and journeyed to the Chinatown. The bus ticket costs us only one(1) Malaysian ringgit each. On the other hand, a taxi from Backpackers Hostel to the twin towers cost fifteen(15) Malaysian ringgit, and from the Petronas Twin Towers to the KL Tower is another 15 Malaysian ringgit.

Lesson : If you wish to go around a foreign city, and you can help it, take a bus.

We took our lunch at a nearby McDonalds  in Chinatown, afterwhich we came to this internet cafe for a rest and to communicate to the outside world.

Here in Kuala Lumpur , we are tourists. It's a green city, and I wish Metro Manila is as environment-friendly as Kuala Lumpur and Singapore.

It's also a relatively peaceful city.