This month I spent 2 whole weeks in Kuala Lumpur. Normally, travel is a source of great excitement for me, and this time was no different – zero time lag in downloading the KL Lonely Planet guide, but I was prepared to be disappointed with the ‘normalcy’ of a big urban city. And yes, I DID expect to spot the Petronas Towers looming large on the horizon wherever I looked.

Then came the big letdown. We weren’t staying anywhere near downtown KL, just a far-off suburb, and had a very short ride to the office every single day. Subang Jaya would have to be the most boring suburb in the world, with nothing, absolutely nothing to redeem its ordinariness. The training program itself was predictable – a lot of rehash of old stuff, and a few new products. It all came back to me quickly – indifferent food, lots of coffee and cocoa temptations, heavy drowsiness as soon as the PPTs begin – as if I’d never been away. After 2 years of ‘break’, it was torture to follow a routine and get to office every morning. To add to that, the hotel room was chilled, even after switching off the air conditioner, and there were minimal opportunities to inhale fresh air. Grumble grumble!

I did meet some interesting people in the group, one of whom was as eager to hit the hotspots as me, so we teamed up to explore KL at every chance we got. So we walked around Dataran Merdeka, taking many pictures of the Sultan Abdul Samad Building and its lurid lighting, ogled at the Petronas Towers from every angle and found our way to Zouk KL looking for some good music. The weather wasn’t too kind to us – every time we hopped into a taxi it would pour, and ruin many sightseeing ops. But we persisted, and were well rewarded with some interesting sights.

I hadn’t expected to, but I admired the Petronas Towers all lit up at night. It’s rare that a modern structure gives me such joy, but they were truly grand by night. I just dislike those mass-produced pewter and other replicas they make as souvenirs of Malaysia. We spent a good hour people watching and photographing the towers, and later that week I even dragged myself to the KL tower to get a top view!

On the one day that we were let off early, ostensibly to prepare for the final exam, I chose to walk all over Chinatown, and then some. The walk was invigorating, but about the sights all I can say is, I’ve seen better.

Was I getting too jaded for travel? Thankfully not; I learnt soon enough, it was just that KL was boring (sorry, all KL-lovers!), and I happened to like Langkawi well enough 😉