As always I am a person easily convinced to get out of my new tiny home city (Singapore) whenever this a long weekend looming. Melissa invited me to join her and her daughter, Sherlyn for a 3 day holiday to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. This time instead of taking a flight, we took the coach. The ride was uneventful and comfortable. However, I did not manage a few winks as I was so engrossed to finishing the book of Dan Brown, The Da Vinci Code. By the time we reached KL, I finished the book! I have visited KL before (twice I think). On both ocassions, it was a business trip so no time really to enjoy and just relax. This time around, I made sure that I enjoyed every minute of it. Though I realized that really, KL is very much like Singapore with mostly shopping malls for adventure. However that does not mean I was successful at not buying anything. In fact, I bought quite a few items, all not necessary but seemingly essential for me right now: one Esprit short pants (I noticed recently I have not bought one for the past 2 years), track suit from Esprit again (i thought wearing them would be more comfortable during my Pilates class), Spiderman toy for my dear nephew Jedi (his birthday request), shoes (of course lah) and books (inlcuding one that says, 'How to get married after 35'). Funny hah! Melissa said it is worth buying this book since there are 3 out of the F4 are over 35 and still single. Maybe we need to learn a thing or two from the so called experts. Well I hope at least one of us would be successful at getting herself hitched soon (hints and hints lah). So what are the unforgetable moments we had at KL? Staying at the 33 rd floor of Crown Princess which was cool! Having breakfast at the Crown Club (which has a very good view of the skyline of KL and the sunrise) Taking a bus ride for two hours from KLCC to Chinatown (a short distance in actual life) I was so amazed that KL traffic seem now to be worse than Bangkok! Remember I was in BKK last June? Meeting up with Uncle Dong ( a good friend and a former colleague in the Philippines who is now based in KL, still working with the trade union movement). Now this was the most fun part of our vacation. He took us (me, Melissa and Sherlyn) to a bar inside the Federal Hotel where there was a Filipino band playing. There I was surprised to see that Sherlyn can dance beautifully and gracefully. However since she is still shy at her age (surprisingly as well for me), she only danced in her seat. The trek to the Petronas Towers was a let down. First we tried going up on the Saturday but at 10 am were informed by the staff there that we cannot since they have already given out all the tickets for viewing that day! Really huh at 10 am? They informed us we have to come back the next day and should be there before 8.30 am (when they open). So next day, after a hurried breakfast wherein Sherlyn kept on reminding her Mom that we need to go off early to be able to go up to the towers, we arrived at Petronas Towers at 8.15, with so many people already in queue! Wow, and we thought we are the only ones interested enough to come down early? By the time out turn came for the tickets, our schedule was set at 1.15 pm! 1.15 pm and we were there only at 8.15? And we had to leave KL at 2.30 pm? So we ended up just going around KLCC that morning until our time came for the viewing. Why a let down? Because I suddenly realized that visitors at the Petronas Towers are only allowed to go up to 41st floor where there is the connecting bridge. 41st floor? China Club and Equinox Bar in Singapore are much much higher than this. And of course, Auckland Tower is higher. And really nothing to see from there. In fact, I also realized that Petronas Towers is more interesting to be viewed from the outside, from afar rather than from within. Maybe this is true for most buildings! Thank God for Singapore's National Holiday falling on a Monday this year! Gave us the long weekend we were all waiting for.