Archive for September 26th, 2006
From 1998 to 2004 the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur were the world’s tallest buildings. Stay tuned to hear about a visit to the skybridge connecting the two towers. Welcome to Traveller’s Tales. I’m Yvonne Gomez.
On what used to be the site of Kuala Lumpur’s race track now stands the Petronas Twin Towers.
Constructed mainly of reinforced concrete, with a geometric Islamic floor plan design of two interlocking squares forming an eight-point star, the towers are 88 floors high with 765 flights of stairs.
The towers are currently the world’s tallest twin towers, at a height of 452 metres above ground.
Jeffrey Xavier is a British tourist who travelled from Singapore to Malaysia on a whirlwind 24-hour trip just to visit the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur.
When he returned to Singapore, I asked him about the trip.
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There are several timing restrictions for the tours up the Petronas Towers. Was it very difficult for you to get tickets?
JX: No, it wasn’t very difficult. It just took very long. The whole place opens at 8.30am but there were people who were lining up there…it must’ve been from like 6 o’clock in the morning, because when we got there, it was already five rows deep, and they were long queues.
What exactly is involved in a tour up the towers?
JX: Well, after waiting in line, you go into another waiting area, which has loads of information with the history of the building, the design, comparisons with other tall buildings in the world and their structures. Actually, there’s a really interesting one where it measures how tall you are and how much bigger the building is compared to that. I was quite impressed with that. And then there’s another waiting area. That’s another thing…you think you’re finally going on the tour but then there’s another waiting area after that. But this one’s more interesting because there’s a visual focus, with a TV. So you get to see the whole history of the building in a 15-minute video. It was quite interesting because you get to see how it’s all planned out and the construction of it.
When you finally did get to go up the towers, where did you go and what exactly did you see?
JX: When the actual tour started – and it was only for like five minutes – most of it was in the lift, where it took about 90 seconds to get up to the 41st floor. That was onto the skybridge, which is the perpendicular section between the two buildings which connect them. It’s an emergency route or passageway between them, whichever way you want to see it. It’s quite an amazing view, although it’s only from the 41st floor, although there was a lot of smog in the morning. But the views were quite spectacular all around. It was quite impressive. The other thing that was good was that the staff helped to take photographs and told us some interesting facts like, how the building sways about 75 centimetres or 1-metre due to winds, and you can actually see where they’ve designed this into the building. The tour guide also told us that the highest recorded wind speed recorded in Malaysia is sixty kilometres, and that the building had been designed with a safety factor of three, which allows for winds of up to 180 kilometres per hour. So you really feel safe on the bridge. It’s also double-decker – the 41st and 42nd floors – but we only went to the 41st floor.
So did you manage to get to the top of the building?
JX: Well, I thought that as soon as we returned to the lift, we were going up to the 88th or a higher floor but it went straight down. I thought, well here you have a building which is 88 stories high, which you don’t get in many places, and coming from London where we don’t have anything even good enough as that, but we didn’t go up and went all the way back down. I thought “What? We’re not going up?” But that was it. That was the tour. It was a bit of a disappointment. I guess it was all free so you can’t really expect that much. They stated it was because of security reasons but they have x-ray machines and other security measures, so I didn’t see it as too much of a problem.
And after the tour, most of the visitors go down to the souvenir shop, which is located near the ticket counter. Did you go there?
JX: Yeah, I went to the souvenir shop, which was really good. The thing is, it should open earlier because when one of you is waiting in the queue, the rest in the group can visit it. There are quite a lot of ornaments or sourvenirs you can buy and the prices, for me, with my British pounds, was quite cheap, and they accept different currencies, which is even better because I didn’t have that much change in ringgit. I bought some keyrings, pencils, pens, a little glass ornament for my mum which I hope she likes, and some postcards. The staff were really helpful and friendly.
Most people visit the reflecting pool and fountains outside, at the foot of the towers. Did you take the token photographs that every other tourist takes when visiting the Petronas Towers?
JX: Whichever tourist site you go to, you’ve got the take the token photographs. I had a good friend with me who took my photographs and they were quite impressive. Even the area where you take the token photographs is really nice and well done. You’ve got to give it to them – they’ve done a good job of the site.
source : www.rsi.sg
September 26th, 2006
It’s all well and good to wax poetic about beautiful, natural landscapes, but sometimes nature’s beauty comes at a price.
Stay tuned to find out about an adventurer, who had to endure a very cold night indeed, just to enjoy the views at a scenic lake above the tree-line.
Welcome to Traveller’s Tales. I’m Yvonne Gomez.
Half Dome at Yosemite
Yosemite National Park in California is a world heritage site with its spectacular geological features. The park is also home to Half Dome, the largest monolith of exposed granite in the world.
Johan Khor visited Yosemite many years ago to satisfy his twin passions for trekking and nature photography.
Having escaped encounters with hungry Black bears, that roam the park, Johan heeded the advice of park rangers, and managed the enjoy much of what Yosemite had to offer campers.
JK: But there were some incredibly stupid hikers in America. One example was the trek to Half Dome, which is probably the most famous monolith formation there. It’s a five-hour walk one-way, so you have to start very early, and when we were coming down on our way back, we still met hikers climbing up at the half-way point. There was n way they could make their way back without torches and it’s stupid to climb down in half-darkness anyway. But these people were so determined that they didn’t even pause to listen to any warnings. They just had this focused glaze in their eyes and they were sort of storming up the hill and the next morning, we heard all these choppers, and they were bringing people down with open fractures and it was just horrific.
Well, you were lucky to escape the Black bears, but not so lucky when you went above the tree-line.
JK: Well, yes. I went up to a place called May Lake which was beautiful. My friends had recommended that I go there for the scenery. They told me it was above the tree-line and that it could get a little bit cold so I went up there and it was very, very beautiful, with reflective images. But I’ll just fast-forward to the part after dinner. We had a marvellous dinner. I met an English couple there and they were having a campfire and asked me to join them. I thought that was great because I wouldn’t have had to build a fire. So I went over there with my provisions and they said they’d cooked a three-course meal for me with a litre-and-a-half of Californian white wine.
Helps to be a single guy travelling alone doesn’t it?
JK: Absolutely…so I learnt, anyway…Anyway, after dinner, and it was fairly late and it had got quite cold, I went back to my campsite and because tit was cold, I had got rather lazy and tired so I didn’t actually change out of my clothes. I was wearing two layers and I’d decided to have full length thermals and I had on a rugby top and jeans. So I thought I’d be lazy and climbed into my down-filled sleeping bag and thought I’d be pretty alright. But it was too cold to sleep. I thought I would warm up in a few minutes but it was getting colder and colder. And I must say I also had really think socks on, which you normally can’t wear in everyday use. But it got so cold and it was about one o’clock and my teeth were chattering. So I got up and put on another pair of thick woollen socks, a polar fleece top, so I was wearing three layers now. I looked like an Eskimo! I also pulled on a really thick pair of tracksuit pants over my jeans and thermal underwear…and you know what? I still couldn’t sleep. I had only my face exposed, because my sleeping bag was one of those mummy-form structures. I was debating whether or not to drive back down but I knew it was too dark and I could’ve encountered deer on the way back. So I just thrashed around in the sleeping bag but I could never get warm that night. So one night was enough for me…
Were you quite scared that you might have had hypothermia or something?
JK: Well, the thought did cross my mind but I thought I just had to warm myself up somehow. I wasn’t too cold, just uncomfortable enough not to be able to sleep but I wasn’t feeling out of control.
source : www.rsi.sg
September 26th, 2006
When you hear that sound at Yosemite National Park in the United States, you’d better hope that all the food in the vicinity is safely locked up in heavy, cast-iron lockers. Stay tuned for more on the park’s Black bears in Traveller’s Tales this week. Welcome to the programme, I’m Yvonne Gomez.
The Yosemite area in California has been inhabited by native Americans for thousands of years. It became a national park in 1890 and is a wealth of natural beauty, with waterfalls, lush forests and groves of giant sequoia trees.
Yosemite National Park also has its highs and lows, with towering cliffs offering spectacular views of Yosemite valley below.
Johan Khor is Australian and visited Yosemite National Park in California many years ago. He was very nearly stranded for a night because of a mix-up with his booking.
JK: But I was very lucky. I actually made my way from San Francisco where my friends lived, and rented a very small hatchback. I think it was probably the weakest and least powerful car in the whole of the United States. So I packed my provisions and camping gear and went there and I met another three or four groups of American youth. The Americans are incredibly generous. I had rocked up and when I brought out my food, they said they had heaps left over and that I was welcome to finish it, in fact, they said they were going to throw it away if I didn’t have it, and that pattern kept repeating itself. Everywhere I went; people would offer to share their food or other provisions. I thought perhaps it was because I was travelling alone that they thought I couldn’t take care of myself. It was an unusual experience, I must say.
Why did you choose Yosemite National Park to tramp in?
JK: Back in those days, I had a very strong interest in outdoor photography and was quite inspired by the works of Ansel Adams and that was where Ansel Adams did a lot of photography back in the 50s and 60s I believe. I did it for two reasons. One for photography and the other was to do some outdoor trekking, which I’m also very passionate about. We also went to one of the lookouts high above the valley. I think it was about 45 minutes’ drive from the valley floor, up to the vantage point, and there was nothing there and no established buildings apart from some ice-cream shacks that are used in summer. And right bang in the middle of all that beautiful, pristine nature, we saw a solitary Bell telephone outpost. Naturally all the Americans queued up for it to say “Hi Mom, I’m at the vantage point at Yosemite” (laughs)
Tell me about the campsites. There’s obviously a range of accommodations available for campers.
JK: It was quite a reasonable price you pay for the campsites. Obviously you could either rent equipment there or you could bring your own. In America, they really cater for everything. You’ve got powered campsites, shower facilities, and of course in Yosemite, because of the Black bear problem, they have special bear lockers. These are huge, heavy cast iron lockers which are army surplus, I think, and they have a latch and a padlock. Everyone is provided with a padlock when they register at the ranger’s station and you’re instructed to keep all your food in the lockers. The campsites vary in size. Some held 250, and others, up to 500.
You mentioned Black bears…how much of a problem are Black bears at Yosemite?
JK: They are more of a problem now, compared to say, several decades ago. I believe it was because the unknowing public was feeding them scraps. The Black bears usually live in the hills, but in the night-time, they become so accustomed to human interaction that they actually come down and you can hear them at night in your tents.
So they’re not put off by campfire or anything like that?
JK: No, the rangers do give you advice on how to scare them away by banging pans and flashing lights and so forth. They’re also very clear about instructions that all food has to go into the bear-safe containers. In fact, one unfortunate camper missed taking out one of his candy bars from his four-wheel drive. The next morning he woke up to find that not only had a whole panel been ripped off by the bear using its sharp claws, but the ranger actually gave him a very stern lecture and fined him on top of that!
The bear would’ve had to have a very keen sense of smell to have sniffed out a candy bar…
JK: Oh yes…
…presumably sealed as well…
JK: Yes, you’re right.
Did you have any dangerous encounters with Black bears…or did you see any?
JK: No, I didn’t see any myself but certainly heard them at night. (laughs)
So they only approach you for food, or also for companionship?
JK: Oh no, I think they approach solely for food (laughs)
source :www.rsi.sg
September 26th, 2006