Travels in Asia: 2005

Well, we've made it to Singapore.

Kuala Lumpur was fun.  The city was a nice change form most other big cities recently visited.  It was more western than anything I had seen since China and the order somehow made me relax.  You could actually get around easily - with metro and sky trains everywhere and it just seemed western - high rises everywhere but simulatneously a lot of really nice architecture. 

August 31st is their independence day so it was a bit crazy on the paitriotic side as they were all preparing for huge festivities.  The number of flags flying around wwas just nuts.  There would be buses whose entire roofs would be covered by hundreds of little flags. We saw one highrise, probably a good 40 floors, which had a 4 foot flag hanging out of every single window - all 4 sides of the building.  Just nuts.

And the Petronas Towers were simply amazing.  Architectural feet.  GTS would have loved the steel contract for that - 452 m of stainless steel tubing around the outside, not to mention eveyrthing else.  All in all 88 floors and the facts are stimply staggering.  13,200 cubic meters of concrete poured into the foundation over a continuous 54 hours to set the groundwork.  A 800+ seat philharmonic theater under the lobby designed to the best of accustic standards.  Research libraries, 5 star restaurants, and just wow!!!!  The place was stunning and the view from the sky bridge staggering although it is only located on the 41st floor.

We did some shopping there too being completely amazed by the shopping center filled with designer stores that would empty most peoples wallets not to mention max out quite a few credit cards - most girls dream come true and most mens (husbands, boyfriends etc.) nightmere come true.  Yet this eneded up being nothing to what we saw in Singapore today.

Take Robson street and make it 3-4 times longer.  Now take Metrotown Mall and place about 25 or so of these on each side of this street.  Now elliminate all the crap stores that you find in Metrotown and Robson street and instead fill these 50 gigantic malls with designer label stores such as Prada, Gucci, Ralph Lauren, Versace, Zara, Giordano, etc. etc. etc.  The list could be over a mile long as would be the number of zeros attached to most credit card bill coming out of there.  It is simply mind blowing.  And I trully do wish I were a milionair.  The stuff is amazing, beautiful and you have everything.... absolutely everything.  And yet I have nothing, my bank account long since depleted and the big minus sign infront preventing me from going on a shopping spree of my life.  Oh well... guess you can't have everything.  But when those Law jobs finally take hold and the money starts rolling in (as it better do), then I know where to come back - screw Paris, New York or London - Singapore is definitively the place.

Tomorrow we're off to the Zoo and Night Safari - for a relaxing day out.  Then one more day of bumming around and we might treat ourselves to a highly recommended dinner on the 70th floor of the Swiss Hotel  and then off to the airport for Jordan to catch his 1am plane and me await my 8am flight out.

Till later,

Kasia