(Click on slide show to view pics in picasa)

We went to Malaysia for the weekend. If somebody had told me this earlier I would be quite intimidated but considering that the countries here are really small……. the size of each being equivalent to some of the cities of our country, it is almost like going to Shirdi for the weekend from Mumbai. Only difference is that you need a visa.

Going to Malaysia was almost like going home to India. Sometimes you could imagine being just there. We had gone to the capital….. Kuala Lumpur. It takes 6 hours by road any taxi from Singapore can take you there. I will confess I had my reservations about going there but after you have crossed boundaries of your own country your inhibitions vanish. Malaysia is quite liberal even though it has Sharia and quite tolerant of tourists.

My most favorite part of the trip was crossing the border. It is the first time in my life that I have walked across to another country. You enter the customs and immigration in Singapore and walk out to Malaysia and vice versa on return. Then after you cross a 3 to 5km bridge everything changes – the roads, the scenery, the trees, even the air smells different.

I wasn’t allowed to take pics of my crossing but honestly I wish I could. Flying across the border or taking a train across is different but walking through the border was amazing.

Didnt do much sightseeing there because we were there only for a day and getting on the twin towers itself takes a lot of queueing….. people start queueing from 5:30 to 6:00 in the morning and by 8:00 it is full. Only 1800 people are allowed on the twin towers (Petronas Tower) each day which houses finance companies, a huge mall, a philharmonic theatre, and Petronas itself. They allow you to go only up to the sky bridge which connects the two towers. That means you get to go only up to the 41st floor out of the total 110 floors. The speed lift takes under one minute to take you there that means it takes less than one second per floor.

I also visited the palace of the king of Malaysia and the Mosque which can accommodate 15000 people at one time. I didnt enter either because I wasnt properly attired as per the custom. In the end was tired to the bone. Will make another trip to Genting, Malacca, Langkawi and Penang.