The Wheel and Axle

It seems Malaysia is my transit destination this year. First was on the way to Myanmar in February, then en route to Persia less than two months ago. Now, for the third time, I find myself in Kuala Lumpur for about 18 hours, this time on the way to Maldives.

We chose to stay at the Capsule by Container Hotel right in the airport. It’s a transit accommodation option that allows up to 12 hours of stay. We’ve long wanted to try these capsule-type places if only for the experience, and generally we were not disappointed. The price was reasonable, the facilities sufficient, and the location convenient. My only minor complaint was that you can’t adjust the temp inside your “capsule,” and I prefer sleeping in a colder environment; however, other folks would find it just right.

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En route to Tehran, we had a layover in Kuala Lumpur. This was actually my second time transitting through Kuala Lumpur this year, the first time being on the way to Yangon last February.

Whereas last time I had an entire overnight to see some places in the city, this time we had roughly five hours before we needed to check-in for our next flight. The great thing is, the KLIA Ekspres can bring you from the airport to the city proper within half an hour, where the connecting KL Sentral train can then bring you to the famed Batu Caves in another twenty to thirty minutes. Dammit, I wish we had such efficient train systems in the Philippines.

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So I finally got to see the famed Petronas Twin Towers. They used to be the world’s tallest buildings (from 1998 to 2004), and they remain to be the tallest twin structures. Well, until Orthanc and Minas Morgul prove otherwise.

From afar, they didn’t seem all that tall, but then you come closer and you realize, damn, those things are freaking massive. I went last night after checking into my hotel. I could only view it from outside from the surrounding KLCC Park, along with possibly hundreds of other tourists, but it was gorgeous against the KL nighttime skyline.

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