Malaysia’s Favorite Petronas Twin Towers, Kuala Lumpur

Petronas twin towers are the most recognizable feature of Kuala Lumpur and Malaysia. Anyone with a camera cannot but be mesmerized by the twins standing tall majestically. So was I, and I realized that with Petronas towers in sight, there is nothing else that catches your eye. You keep looking at them and think of one more angle to click them.

I came home only to realize that no picture can actually do justice to the marvelous structures. No camera can be as good as your eyes. But let me share my rendezvous with these towers through my 6-day stay in Malaysia.

Petronas Twin Towers of Kuala Lumpur

I landed in KL early morning, sleep-deprived after an overnight flight. The taxi driver told me that the hotel is at least an hour away from the airport. So as soon as I sat in the cab, I dozed off. When I opened my eyes Petronas towers were right in front of me, almost center-aligned in the frame through the car window. But, wait a minute they did not appear as tall as I had imagined them. More importantly, they did not stand alone as I had imagined from the pictures I had seen in promotions.

They were surrounded by a lot of other tall buildings that from a distance looked almost as tall. I asked the Taxi driver if these were indeed the Petronas towers and he confirmed they were. So, I kept looking at them as we almost circled around them to reach the hotel.

Photographing the Petronas Twin Towers

As luck would have it, my first day in KL was a full moon day. And it was fun to see the moon flirting with the towers. Creating different scenes as it moved in the sky and I moved around the city. I tried my best to capture them through the glass window in the hotel but managed only with limited success. The next day, as we went close to the towers to attend the Bloggers Awards Night, I saw the reflection of one tower in another glass building. I think it looked beautiful in that haze reflection. I saw them from the KL Tower or Menara Kuala Lumpur viewing deck and got a side view from the top through the glass windows.

Visit Petronas

On my final day in KL, I went to the towers, though did not go up the deck. I roamed around the Suria KLCC Mall, its amazing bookstore, and some of the galleries that it hosts. I finally got to see the towers up close. This is when they looked really powerful and taller than anything around them. I saw people trying to do all kinds of things to get them in the camera frame, to strike those funny touristy poses with it, and just looking at them in awe.

The design of the Twin Towers

I saw some exhibits explaining the building of the structures, but no one gives better information than our beloved Internet. It is well known that the towers have been built on the Islamic concept of an octagonal star that is made by placing intersecting squares on each other. Here is a site that explains the structure in detail and also the process of how it was built.

Interestingly, making these ‘once the tallest buildings in the world was a truly global effort that involved designers and construction companies from across the world. I was also amazed to know that towers actually sway a little bit when the wind blows. Has anyone seen or felt their sway?

While anyone who has seen them appreciates them, my thoughts go to the person who conceived them in his or her mind first. And all those who worked together to make it a reality. If all of us could work towards creating miracles together, the world would be a much better place to live. And we would have many more wonders to keep our eyes wide open.

Recommend you to read the following posts on Things to do in Kuala Lumpur.

Walking through KL Bird Park

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Food & more food in Malaysia

Malaysia’s tallest structure – KL Tower

Heritage walks around Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia