The Petronas twin towers is an iconic structure in Malaysia. At present, it is the tallest twin towers in the world at a height of 451.9 metres(88 floor towers). They were designed by Argentine-American skyscraper specialist César Pelli, a world renowned architect who also designed New York City’s World Financial Center.
The Skybridge that connects the two towers is the highest two story bridge in the world. It connecting the two towers on the 41st and 42nd floors. The twin towers was built to house the headquarters of Petronas, the national petroleum company of Malaysia.
At the feet of the Petronas towers is a shopping mall-Suria KLCC. It features mostly foreign luxury goods and high-street labels.
Within the Suria KLCC precinct lies the KLCC Park, a 50-acre urban garden. The park features jogging track, children playground, mosque, man made lake with water fountain that incorporated light show every night.
If you are not sure where to have meal in KLCC, let me recommend to you Madam Kwan’s. This restaurant serves Malaysian foods and there is always a long queue during peak meal times. The prices is on the higher side, about 2-3 times what you normally pay at hawker stall, but if you compare about dining in the comfort of a cafe-style restaurant and having a delicious food it is worth spending extra money.
Recently I stumbled into an exhibition – Bernard Chandran Dreams & Reality, it is at Fahrenheit 88, Bukit Bintang. He is a very well-known fashion designer, unfortunately I have little knowledge about his works. Since there is no fee for entrance, I take this opportunity to learn about Bernard Chandran’s designs.
Tori Amos, Estelle, Lady Gaga & Paloma Faith are among the top superstars who has dressed in Bernard Chandran’s creation.
Super luxury for the super iconic – Bernard Chandran
A whole new glamorous baju kurung designed by Bernard Chandran
‘With Petang Raya, I knew I wanted the press to take the news to print, not just for other customers but also for other designers. I wanted to say, ‘copy my clothes’- get new ideas, get inspired, and think beyond four meters of material!. Today, every Malaysian designer has a Raya collection, and that was my vision’-Bernard Chandran.
This trip was a chance to relax and reward myself.
My trip partner for Manila is my younger brother. We came out from house at 5:30am and reached airport at 6:30am. Since we don’t check-in our luggage, straight away we proceed to the security check.
It took us about half an hour to complete the check-in process, from the security check, passed thru immigration and walked to the boarding hall. At boarding entrance, again the airport staffs check the passport & air ticket. They request to show return ticket, according to them the security check to Philippines is a bit tight. So keep your return ticket handy!
The Airasia fight was supposed to depart at 8:20am but it got delay for more than 30 mins. The pilot explained that this was due to unforeseen circumstances. He was from different plane & just landed, but he has to take over this flight. I admired his dedication.
Normally we will be given Arrival Card in the flight, but its different for Manila. The Arrival Card you have to fill up once you arrive at the airport. Instead they gave the Health Check Form, require you to state where have you been travel for the last 30 days, if you got any symptom running nose, coughing, fever(MERS-CoV).
The journey to Manila tooks about 4 hours, finally at 1.40pm we arrived at Ninoy Aquino International Airport, terminal 3. The immigration check went smoothly. Once exit from the baggage claim area, on the left side there is a Globe booth where I got my free Traveler Sim card. But you have to buy Sim reload, since I only going to be in Manila for 4 days, I bought 5 days reload for PHP300, which PHP200 is for the unlimited data plan.
Before came here, I have already booked for airport transfer via City-Discovery.com. We proceed to the AVIS counter just outside of the airport. The car that picked us up was Toyota Vios. It will drive to Ortigas area where I booked for 3 nights stay at BSA Twin Tower. This is where our Manila experienced began. The famous ‘Traffic Jam’, we were stuck in the traffic. Cars all moved very slowly , I took this opportunity to enjoy the view. It took 2 hours to reach the hotel instead of less than 1 hour.
Jollibee is the largest fast food chain in the Philippines
BSA Twin Tower. cr: Agoda
When we arrived, around 6 people were queuing up at the reception. We were told that our room was not ready and asked to wait for 1 hour. So we decided to spend the time at SM Megamall which located just across the hotel. SM Megamall is one of the biggest mall in Manila. For shopaholic this place can be consider Heaven, the mall is huge-comprises of 2 buildings and divided into 4 sections Mega A, Mega B, Atrium & Fashion Hall. I have never experienced soo many people at shopping places, imagine just to take escalator you have to queue up. We just walked around window shopping.
After 1 hour we went back to the hotel reception, our room was ready and our room was at Tower A room 4307.
Small dining table. Sorry for the blur photo.
After freshen up, we went out again to explore the mall. Both of us is not a shopping person. We just going with the flow and enjoyed seeing people doing their Christmas shopping . The hotel room has kitchenette, so I bought some groceries for tomorrow’s breakfast.
I also rewarded myself with 3 magazines featuring James Reid and Nadine Lustre. I’m so happy…
That night we slept early because we have half day tour the next day- Manila Old and New Intramuros, Fort Santiago and Makati City that I booked thru City Discovery.
I was in Manila last Saturday for 4D3N vacation. This is my 1st time visit to Philippines.
cr: lonelyplanet.com
What make me decide to go to Manila is because the current famous Filipino Teleserye – On the Wings of Love(OTWOL).
cr: Dreamscape. On the Wing of Love
From Wikipedia:
The romantic comedy centers around two different people — Leah, a simple girl with an American dream; and Clark, a boy living his American life — who are forced to marry in order to legally stay and continue working in the United States.
I’m so in love with the characters plays by Nadine Lustre as Leah and James Reid as Clark. They show beautiful places in Manila. I planned this trip less than 2 weeks and did all the booking. I did a lot of web research about the weather, history, food and places to go.
Flight – Airasia & Airasia Zest
Hotel – BSA Twin Towers, Ortigas
Tours – City Discovery
Finally on 5 December 2015, here I come ‘Mabuhay Manila’.
I love visiting aquarium, not only I can see all kinds of marine life but also learn about its natural habitat. Apart from gaining knowledge, the place itself promote the feeling of serenity. You will notice, people normally talk in a soft voices, walk in a slowly pace, just enjoying the moment.
My visit to Kaiyukan Aquarium, have gave me a new experience.
The moment I entered the aquarium, I saw a big group of kindergarten children with their teachers. I can hear they making ooh and the aah sound whenever the fish coming towards them. With their curious mind, they non stop asking questions. The teachers answered each and every questions patiently. It is very fascinating to see these young kids were so excited in learning new things.
Seeing their faces light up when fish is coming towards them, was precious.
Watching all the colourful sea creatures swimming around in larger-than-life tanks can seem pretty magical for them.
I had a wonderful time here!
How do I to go to Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan:
Once exit from the station, follow the direction to Kaiyukan Aquarium. You will be walking on a pedestrian bridge. Continue to walk until you see the 2nd staircase exit. Walk down the staircase and continue to walk until you see a big ferris wheel from a far (around 7mins). You will have to cross the road to go to ferris wheel, Kaiyukan Aquarium its just near that building.
Using the Osaka Amazing 2 days Pass, allow me to take subway ride for free. From the hotel, I took Midosuji Line. From Dobutsuen-mae station and stop at Shinsaibashi station for interchange to Nagahori Tsurumi-Ryokuchi Line, then continue the ride and stop at Dome-mae Chiyozaki station.
Follow the direction to Kyocera Dome once exit from the station. It’s very easy and this station is the nearest to the stadium compare to taking JR line.
The stadium has a unique architectural design, silver in colour makes it looks shining from afar. For me its resemble Spaceship, remind me of Star Trek ship XD.
There are many entrance gates, just go to Information counter inside the building and ask for assistance.
It is a normal procedure when entering concert venue, security staffs will check your bag and make sure no camera, umbrella & water bottle is allowed inside. If you happen to bring it, they will ask you to leave it at the counter and collect after the concert. My advice better don’t bring it, because you have to queue up to collect it after the show, time will be wasted there.
I find the security here is more strict, NO CAMERA, NO PHOTO & VIDEO TAKING. My friend was using her i-phone to take selfie photo, suddenly the security staff came & warned her, and this was before the concert even started. Imagine that!
Here is my most regretful moment:
I was sick on that day. Just before the concert started, I took flu medicine. I ended slept during the whole concert. Physically I’m there but I missed all the performances…hehe. What makes me heart sick was, my sitting place is facing my bias Junsu and so clear. Bianne JYJ, bianne Junsu.
Noona Small Step 