The first thing I learned in Kuala Lumpur is that you should always check that the airport terminal you are flying into is actually on the same site as the airport it is part of - it was only on landing in KL that I found out that the 'low cost carrier' terminal is actually 5-10km from the main KL international airport. Which wouldn't have been a problem if Michael, my host for the weekend, wasn't picking me up from the main airport - eep! Luckily his wife had recognised my flight number as an AirAsia flight, and set him on the right path, so he was there waiting for me at the exit - phew! The second thing I learned there, was that you should never underestimate the hospitality of people you've never met - I only know Michael and his wife Claire through colleagues of my dad's, but they did an excellent job of looking after me during the two days I was in KL!

The first port of call, naturally, was the Petronas towers (for anyone interested, these are the third tallest buildings in the world, after towers in Dubai and Taiwan, and the tallest twin towers in the world). As Michael's office is in one of the towers, he'd sorted out tickets in advance, so we didn't have to queue to go up to the Skybridge, which connects the two towers at the 51st floor. There were some great views from the bridge (although it's a shame it's not a little higher up and you don't get more time to admire them). Below the towers is KLCC park, where we relaxed for a bit waiting for it to get dark enough to see the towers in all their illuminated glory. If you are going to KL soon, then I definitely recommend sticking around to see the towers at night - they look fairly impressive by day, but at night they're pretty spectacular. Every floor is lit up and it makes the towers look as though they are made out of crystal!

The next day we went to see the Prime Minister of Malaysia's house and the nearby Mosque, both of which were very beautiful buildings. There is a big lake nearby, which Michael told me was only built so that the Malaysian government could justify the fancy new bridge that they'd already built! We also saw the Sharia law court where people are sentenced to lashings and other such punishments - seriously. It rained too much to go to the Lake Gardens and bird park (is anyone spotting a theme here?!) so we browsed one of KL's many, many fancy malls and ended up going to the cinema to see Watchmen, which may not seem like the most productive use of my time in a foreign country, but it was nice to be able to do something non-travellery for a change!

It was a very enjoyable weekend, and probably wouldn't have been half as much fun without Michael and Claire and their friends who were also visiting, so I definitely owe them a tour of Bath the next time they come to England!

Byee for now!
Kimbob xxx

PS - if anyone's interested about the film, it was generally very good if a bit too long, violent but not gratuitously so, apparently very faithful to the original comic book, with a great choice of soundtrack music

PPS - This was the first time I have been travelling by myself after six weeks with Selina - a 5am start to catch my flight helped make saying goodbye easier, but I don't half miss having her around now!