Beautiful and stunning images of KL skyline

In my previous post, I have highlighted on skyscrapers present in Kuala Lumpur, the city I’m living in for the past 21 years since I was born. I took architecture study and now I am in the architecture career. Hence, looking at buildings in the city and how great the city’s skyline is are my interest. Sometimes, I would find some time to search for some impressive images of the skyline of KL. I myself didn’t have the passion to take amazing photographs and I’m not a professional in such area. But if I am given the opportunity, I would love to have a day of break, then exploring around the city to find great angles or locations to capture the city’s skyline at its best.

But for now, I would like to share here some stunning images of my city’s skyline to my blog readers. These images are taken by others who are kind to share it out in skyscrapercity forum. A picture tells a thousand words. This is in fact true. So, less words here and let’s enjoy the visuals. (Click on it for larger and for much breathtaking effect)

 

 

 

My everyday’s view to the city can never be better than those seen in photographs above. Well, I think there is heavy editing works to make it to look more fantastic. Eventhough KL is still lacking behind in terms of skyline quality compared to bigger cities like Hong Kong, New York, Shanghai or Chicago, but I am still proud of living in this city that does not only provides an impressive skyline, but also iconic for its multi-cultural architecture found in traditional and modern buildings in the city. I believe, to further boost the ranking of KL in terms of skyline, it has to have more magnificent-looking buildings, more highrises, and better urban planning and management.

(Images in this post are from various sources throughout the world wide web.)

Kuala Lumpur’s Top 10 Tallest Buildings in 2013

It is usual for me to update the list of world’s top 10 tallest buildings for like once in a year. However, I find myself not doing that to another list that I believed I have created quite a long time; top 10 tallest buildings in Kuala Lumpur. KL, my home city, is the capital of Malaysia and is the home to world’s tallest twin buildings and other astonishing skyscrapers or highrises. The city which is not too dense allow ‘breathing’ or free spaces for greeneries and also gives opportunity for buildings to rise and soar to the sky prominently.

According to Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH), Kuala Lumpur is ranked no.10 in the list of world’s tallest urban agglomeration. KL is also ranked no.8 in the famous Diserio’s ranking in the list of world’s best skylines, defeating many other much famous or bigger cities around the world. Besides than that, the city had also achieved quite an impressive ranking in many other similar lists related to tall buildings available in the respective city. So, I’m a bit proud of my own city, eventhough there is still a lot of improvement needed for KL to become truly one of the top. (Click on images below for larger and much stunning view)

In recent years, there are quite a number of prominent developments in the city, with some projected to go beyond 200 metres in height when built which would be a great addition to the magnificent skyline of KL. Hence, I believe I should post up the latest list of top ten tallest buildings in Kuala Lumpur in year 2013. The previous list I have previously produced back several years ago should be ignored already. Here it is, the latest list in order: (Before scrolling down, if you are a Malaysian, try to guess which buildings in KL made it to the list as one of the tallest in the city. And check how many you have guess correctly).

1. Petronas Tower 1 – 452 metres. 88 floors. Completed in 1998. Former world’s tallest building to architectural top, and still the current world’s tallest twin buildings together with Petronas Tower 2.

2. Petronas Tower 2 – 452 metres. 88 floors. Completed in 1998. Former world’s tallest building to architectural top, and still the current world’s tallest twin buildings together with Petronas Tower 1.

3. Menara Telekom – 310 metres. 55 floors. Completed in 2001. It was the world’s tallest building constructed in year 2001.

4. Carigali Headquarters Tower - 267 metres. 58 floors. Completed in 2011. Also known as Petronas Tower 3.

5. Menara Maybank – 244 metres. 50 floors. Completed in 1988. It was once the country’s tallest building before the construction of Petronas Twin Towers.

6. Vista Tower – 238 metres. 62 floors. Completed in 1994. Formerly known as Empire Tower.

7. Menara Felda – 216 metres. 50 floors. Completed in 2012.

8. Menara Maxis – 212 metres. 49 floors. Completed in 1998.

9. Menara Am Bank – 210 metres. 50 floors. Completed in 1998.

10. The Troika Tower 3 – 204 metres. 50 floors. Completed in 2010. Current tallest residential building in KL and in Malaysia too.

There are four more buildings that reach over 200 metres in height respectively too that I wish to mention here as an extension to the list. That means now KL had 14 buildings beyond 200 metres in height. Quite impressive, eventhough this doesn’t match to the record of bigger cities like Hong Kong, New York, Shanghai and Dubai.

11. Berjaya Times Square Tower 1 – 203 metres. 48 floors. Completed in 2003.

12. Berjaya Times Square Tower 2 – 203 metres. 48 floors. Completed in 2003.

13. K Residence – 202 metres. 50 floors. Completed in 2008. It was once the tallest residential building in KL before being overtaken by The Troika Tower 3.

14. Lot G Office Tower A – 200 metres. 37 floors. Completed in 2013.

By end of this year, there would be another building joining the list of top 10, kicking The Troika Tower 3 out of the ranking. The building is KKR2 Tower which is projected to be completed by end of this year. The building under construction now is at its final stage and has topped out to its final height of 210 metres. Once built, it would be in the top 10 list, putting the number of buildings in Kuala Lumpur that reach over 200 metres in height to 15 in total.

Also not to miss out is the KL Tower. It is one of the tallest towers (telecommunication and observation) in the world with a height of 421 metres. Currently, it is seventh tallest tower in the world. Together with Petronas Twin Towers, KL Tower has been a very prominent landmark in the city.

And that is going to further increase tremendously in the second half of the current decade when Malaysia is getting nearer to Vision 2020 as there are currently many constructions and proposal of future projects underway in the city. Great! Looking forward to see more of not only mere tall buildings, but also fantastically-looking skyscrapers in the city.

(Images in this post are from various sources throughout the world wide web)

Earth Hour 2013 around the world…KL is not doing that well.

Earth Hour 2013 was officially over with quite a remarkable success around the world, with more participating countries, cities, towns and people. It is now proven to be the world’s largest mass voluntary action, started by Sydney in Australia back in 2007. Have you turned off your lights on that particular night of the Earth Hour? Have you told or encourage others to do so? (it would be a good move). How do you go through that night with no or less lights? The feeling is kind off great right, and it gives us opportunity to enjoy the only source of light from the stars and the moon up on the sky. At least, we were part of this global event this year!

Here below are some of the very beautiful images of famous landmarks or places around the world taken before and during Earth Hour 2013. I guess you don’t need me to name each landmarks shown here. The images begin with the founding city of the event, Sydney of course.

Yes, the last picture, that’s the Petronas Twin Towers in my city, Kuala Lumpur. Hmm…the city is actually not doing that well for this event. Only iconic landmarks like twin towers, KL Tower and several popular buildings and shopping malls switched off their lights in the city. Many other buildings still have their lights on as I observed. The impact before and during Earth Hour at that night in the city is only somewhere around 10%. It’s mainly because the city is typically dark every night due to lack of decorative lightings on the buildings in the city (except the twin towers and KL Tower obviously), unlike others like New York, Shanghai or Hong Kong. So, actually, KL celebrates Earth Hour every day.

That night, I was there passing by the twin towers after the Earth Hour. Opps, I didn’t manage to see the towers switching off its lights for the event. When I passed by the area, the twin towers were back to brightly lit state. But I’m very annoyed by the Earth Hour concert held right in front of the towers on the plaza. It’s Earth Hour with objective of saving electricity, and yet, those people were organizing things that waste much more electricity. It’s noisy with a lot of speakers, a lot of spotlights or moving lights were installed for the show, and people (typical Malaysians) threw rubbish everywhere. What the…!!! There’s no more meaning of turning off lights of the twin towers when you guys are crazy wasting up electricity below in event under the name of Earth Hour. Total irony. KL! Be like other cities please…many are not supportive, while some whom are supportive are doing it the wrong way.

On the other hand, next year’s Earth Hour is confirmed to be on 29th March 2014.

(All images in this post are from various sources throughout the world wide web)

What’s happening to the Four Seasons Place in KL?

Right after I published my previous post regarding the newly-opened JW Marriott Marquis Dubai hotel that is now the world’s tallest hotel building, I was reminded back to a particular project back in my home city, Kuala Lumpur. Few years ago, it was announced that there would be a development by Four Seasons Hotel on a site besides the iconic Petronas Twin Towers, the world’s tallest twin buildings. Well, that was several years ago when this proposal is called out.

At that time, there are already some renderings released which indicates how the development would looks like once built. It would be a complex of two towers (one higher that goes over 70 storeys and another one much shorter). That was the first proposal. Well, it is good since we are going to have new a supertall building in KL soon and that would be Malaysia’s tallest hotel. Time flies, and there is an amendment to the proposal not long after. The development is now limited to only a single tower of around 60 to 70 storeys and is to be called as Four Seasons Place, the first in South East Asia and third in the world.

Fine. I saw the site besides the Petronas Twin Towers was cleared quite long ago to make way for this construction. However, there seems to be no progress over at the site at all after so many months (or even years). What’s happening to it? On-hold or what? I hate when such an ambitious project gets on-hold and it’s just right besides our twin towers landmark. Then, today I checked upon its status. Luckily, it was now not on-hold. It is officially launched last month as Four Seasons Place, a 65-storeys building comprises of luxurious residences and hotel rooms as well as a huge shopping mall (I find there is too many shopping malls in KL alone). It would also have the highest swimming pool (at over 300 metres above ground) in Malaysia and South East Asia.

 

Once built, it would be the third tallest building in Malaysia (right behind its neighbour, the Petronas Twin Towers) and the tallest hotel residences building in Malaysia. Then, I checked on the renderings and I was surprised that the design looks almost completely changed. But this latest outcome is much better and more appealing to me than the previous design. But I don’t know who is the architect behind this…I’m looking forward to the completion of this project which is expected to be in year 2016 or 2017. Go..go..go..let’s build this thing fast. It’s already been delayed for several years. I’m looking forward to have this beautiful skyscraper in KL. It’s going to be over 320 metres tall too (around 10 metres taller than Telekom Tower). That is generally tall enough to offer great views over the surrounding city of KL. The site of the development shown below (the empty lot on the right side).

(All images and information in this post are from skyscrapercity forum.)

 

South Korea’s Golden Disk Awards 2013 in Malaysia

Golden Disk Awards, dubbed as the Korean Grammy Awards is the most prestigious awards show honouring the best of South Korean’s music industry for the past year. It was held once every year in South Korea itself, up until last year, when it was first held outside the country, in Japan. The intention is probably to have the awards to gain much more attention overseas and to further globalize the K-Pop sensation. This year, the decision remains the same to have the awards show in oversea, and it’s quite unbelievable that Malaysia was picked as host to this year’s Golden Disk Awards that concluded yesterday’s night. A grand K-pop event in Malaysia! Of course, I’m going to have a post for this! (eventhough I’m not a fan of K-pop).

(Image source: http://i776.photobucket.com/albums/yy41/joshuaongyscom/2012%20Others/TheSamsungGALAXYThe27thGoldenDiskAwards1.jpg)

The 27th Golden Disk Awards was successfully held in two days at Sepang International Circuit, on 15th and 16th January 2013. The event contributed the largest gathering by South Korean singers oversea. Wow…many wouldn’t want to miss that. It’s now the era of K-Pop which attracted world wide interest particularly targeting the youngsters, and so this awards was no doubt a hit, even in Malaysia. But for me whom had no interest in K-pop, I’m still trying hard to find a reason why K-pop is so popular now. K-pop is blindly influencing teenagers worldwide now. Don’t know what they are singing, but fantasized by every words spoken by them. The two-days show was attended by very high number of people, mostly screaming fans that couldn’t wait to take a look to the present star-studded artists and to watch their performance. Many have even waited for their arrival at the airport. They are so free….By the way, it’s a huge stage (as can be seen below)!

 

(Image source: http://www.17.com.my/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/1.jpg)

The two-days show was attended by huge line-up of Korean artists; BtoB, B1A4, Juniel, EXO, CN Blue, FT Island, KARA, SHINee, B2ST, Infinite, Super Junior, Ailee, Huh Gak, B.A.P., Teen Top, K-Will, Miss A, Secret, F(x), SISTAR, Epik High, G-Dragon, Lee Hi. So, there is no doubt the price of the tickets is very high, but still Malaysians were willing to pay that much to join the fun of screaming to their pretty or handsome idols. The official result of the awards are posted everywhere, so there is no need for me to post it here, since I actually don’t care who wins or what. I only knew few of them. But wait, where is Psy? He gets the biggest part of K-pop last year for his ‘Gangnam Style’ that reached to worldwide recognition and obtained over 1 billion views in YouTube (the highest ever), and yet, he isn’t here in Malaysia to receive the highest honour of award; Digital Daesang (song of the year). So, no Gangnam Style in the show. What,….Even Big Bang is nowwhere to be seen in this awards show.

Short interviews are conducted with the attending artists and all seems to try to gain more Malaysian fans by saying ‘I love this place. I love the warmth here, unlike in Korea where now it’s freezing cold. Looking forward to see my fans. Going to plan for a concert here soon…blah, blah, blah…’ They must be surprised to see so much of their Malaysian fans over here. Anyway, they were received very well anywhere in Asia too, right? Well, the awards show ended but K-pop still rules and rocks the world now for at least another …(few) years probably. We have Gangnam Style last year. This year, what we are going to have? Another much crazier hit? Who knows…maybe.

Ilham Baru Tower, a soon-to-be addition to tall buildings in Kuala Lumpur

Eventhough Kuala Lumpur (KL) has much lesser buildings compared to other mega cities like Hong Kong, New York, Shanghai or Tokyo, but the city stands out due to its impressive skyline (ranked no. 8 in the world) and is home to the world tallest twin buildings, Petronas Twin Towers. Besides that, the city has also a number of highrises, having over 10 buildings that reach above 200 metres in high. However, there isn’t much beautiful buildings or structures with amazing design found in this capital of Malaysia.

Ilham Baru Tower ( New Inspiration Tower) would be certainly an exception to that.

The design is striking and visually appealing. It is a skyscraper project comprises of office and residences under construction along Jalan Binjai near KLCC. Once completed, the building would have 58 floors and would rise to 274 metres. It is also speculated that the tower would goes up to 300 metres. The estimated year of completion would be on 2014 and if completed, the building would be the fourth tallest in Malaysia. It is designed by Foster and Partners (lead by famous architect, Norman Foster) whom have previously designed a tall and iconic residential towers (Troika) located nearby too.

I am in awe by the renderings of the building, and now I wish that the building once built would look much the same with what’s appear in the renderings. It’s a cool building, and at one point, I find the design of the building resembles a bit like the much taller Bank of China at Hong Kong. It would be much better and outstanding if the building is taller, since height plays a role too. But anyway, this is also considered tall already. I will share some of the renderings here from skyscrapercity forum, but not much. For more beautiful renderings of the building, you can go to the skyscrapercity forum discussing on this topic: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1119813. From there, you can check on its up-to-date construction progress too. 

Not only the exterior looks stunning, the interior looks very contemporary and good too. I would love to have a visit to this building once built, but usually I won’t be allowed to do so unless I’m a staff or resident in there. KL seriously needs more buildings with outstanding design like this one. Currently, the construction progress of this building is quite slow, but I think by next year, the building would rise very fast and then, the city’s skyline would be changed again.

KL voted by CNN as 4th best shopping city in the world

Not long after gaining a very impressive standing as the second best shopping city in Asia (behind Hong Kong) at Global Shopper Index announced not long ago, my capital, Kuala Lumpur is making another breakthrough. Recently, KL is voted as 4th best shopping city in the world (not only in Asia) by CNN, the famous US news channel and network. And this time on this list, KL is ahead of Hong Kong, but still second best in Asia (Tokyo is leading). Well, KL at least beats off Bangkok, Manila and even Singapore (sorry) to get to the top of this ranking in South East Asia region.

Congratulation to my lovely city of KL! Eventhough I have to admit that KL is still far behind from becoming a truly developed city with high quality of living, but the city is now making a good progress to achieve that goal. With construction of the new MRT in and around the city (the on-going construction is contributing quite a mess to the city currently), recent completion and opening of air-conditioned pedestrian bridge connecting major places in Bukit Bintang and KLCC as well as the establishment of BBKLCC (Bukit Bintang Kuala Lumpur City Centre) as the premier shopping destination in the capital, KL is certainly doing great with visible development to attract more tourists and to gain further international fame and recognition. And this ranking the most recent proof to what KL had achieved so far.

 

(Image source: http://www.kosmo.com.my/kosmo/pix/2012/0910/Kosmo/Urban/ur_01.2.jpg)

It is no doubt that KL offers wonderful shopping experience to visitors. There is already over 10 shopping malls in BBKLCC region alone, and not mention some other famous malls not that far away too. The most distinguished malls would be Pavilion KL (very modern with beautiful decoration during festive season), Berjaya Times Square (huge mall with an indoor theme park), Suria KLCC (right below the iconic Petronas Twin Towers), Starhill Gallery (a very high class and distinctive mall from its outside to interior as well). Public transportation is good in that area with high number of tourists and locals too eventhough their service can be quite bad sometimes. Furthermore, the variety of delicious food offered here would treats well to the shoppers when they are hungry in the middle of shopping spree.

I realize there is quite a huge criticism over that list and some said its quite inaccurate. Well, different people offers different opinions. However, I believe that those people who made up the list from CNN must be in professional capability and had did out thorough observations in many categories to sort out the ranking. And I’m quite surprised also to see the list where KL gets such a high spot. Hmm…KL is really improving, and I do hope that the city would excels in other categories too. After writing for so much, I realized only now that I have not even list down that particular ranking provided by CNN. Here it is:

1 – New York, United States of America.

2 – Tokyo, Japan.

3 – London, United Kingdom.

4 – Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

5 – Paris, France.

6 – Hong Kong, China.

7 – Buenos Aires, Argentina.

8 – Vienna, Austria.

9 – Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

10 – Madrid, Spain.

Well, you can check out the analysis of how these cities are being selected in few categories with points allocated. Here is the source: http://travel.cnn.com/worlds-10-best-shopping-cities-193776. Well, you may give your comment over the list at here too. Hmm…KL can still improves on this ranking, and let’s see whether it can goes up to top 3 soon. I think more decorations (especially during festive seasons like Christmas and Chinese New Year) should be provided not only in malls but also along shopping streets and roads to enhance the atmosphere. Public facilities is of course a priority too. Some kind of public street art would be a great addition to ‘wow’ visitors too. KL has the potential to offer the most convenient and best shopping style and experience to locals and tourists around the world. BBKLCC rocks!

(Image source: http://www.bbklccmalaysia.com/uploadfiles/image/Others/About/about-bbklcc.jpg)

Spotted two very interesting new buildings in KL today…

Today after a meeting on drive back to office, I spotted two very interesting new buildings in a part of KL that I have not explored before. The area is somewhere behind Bank Negara Malaysia (National Bank of Malaysia) building nearby the Dataran Merdeka (Independence Square) and the DBKL Building. From that part of the city, what you can see mostly are trees surrounding and not highrises. The Memorial to Tun Hussein Onn (former Prime Minister) is also located there.

The first building I spotted is a tall highrise under construction. What attracted my attention from the building is its’ twisting form. I thought I would only see this kind of building in Western countries or in Singapore (as seen from The Reflections at Keppel Bay by Daniel Libeskind). I didn’t expect that KL would have its own twisted building too. Fantastic. Even the gigantic columns at the lobby area are tilted too. Cool…Then, from the detail provided from the information board, I found out that this iconic building is designed by GDP Architects, one of the leading architecture firms in Malaysia.

 

(Image above showing the rendering of the KKR2 Tower from 
http://www.gdparchitects.com/img/projects/KKR-tower/kkrtower_photo02.jpg
)

 

(Image above showing the tower under construction and is expected to be completed by next year. Image from 

)

 

The building would be used for Ministry of Public Works (Kompleks Kerja Raya 2) and would have 37 floors. The building would reach up to 175 metres. That’s quite tall. Would be much more impressive if it’s taller (over 25o metres), but it’s current height now is already sufficient enough to express its interesting form as compared to mostly bland-looking buildings in that old part of the city. The tower is also targeted to be the first Green Building Index (GBI) Platinum ranked building in Malaysia. (Info from 
http://www.gdparchitects.com/projects/current/KKR-tower.html
)

The next appealing building nearby would be a much lower structure. Sometimes, height isn’t a matter on determining how striking a building can be. The building is called Sasana Kijang under Bank Negara Malaysia and it functions as a museum/gallery or better known as Financial Services Resource Centre as stated by the architecture firm behind it; Hijjas Kasturi Associates, another famous architecture company in Malaysia. The very interesting cladding caught my attention while the overwhelming use of steel and glass at the lobby area is fascinating. It clearly showcases the beauty of materials and striking contemporary design but I find the building would be better if it’s situated at Putrajaya.

 

(Image above from 

)

 

(Image above from 
http://fc01.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2010/355/9/a/sasana_kijang_bnm_by_ciinx-d35daoq.jpg
. Click on it for larger view)

According to the website of Hijjas Kasturi Associates (
http://www.hijjaskasturi.com/
) regarding this project, it is mentioned that ‘the plan, the building and the expression of the facade are inspired by traditional monetary and cultural forms’, but to be honest, I hardly see the link.  It is inspired from the shape of the Cowrie shell, a popular form of money in the Malay Peninsula during the 3rd century with its building façade derived from the geometric patterns of traditional Malaysian songket motifs, reflecting the hand woven fabric designs. (Info from 
http://www.bnm.gov.my/index.php?ch=8&pg=14&ac=2326
)

Finally, I can see increasing number of buildings with amazing architecture in Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia. The city seriously needs more beautiful buildings like these!

Wow…KL ranked No.2 for best shopping city in Asia Pacific

Wow! This is quite unexpected.I was like quite surprised just now when I first read on the news regarding this matter. According to the latest Globe Shopper Index in Asia-Pacific region where twenty five cities are assessed, Kuala Lumpur is ranked second best shopping city in Asia Pacific. This is cool! Well, at least there is a positive ranking for Malaysia after being involved in rankings for the bad stuff recently (worst taxi drivers, etc) To check out the full list of ranking and more information regarding the Globe Shopper Index, go to its website:
http://www.globeshopperindex.com/
.

All the cities were assessed under five categories shops; culture and climate; hotels and transport; affordability; and convenience. Kuala Lumpur achieved the second highest overall score of 65 out of 100. (this marks isn’t high either, but considered high compared to most others). Only Hong Kong scored higher 68.5 edging other cities for its safety, dependable city transport and variety of shops and brands, cementing its position as one of the leading cities in Asia in variety of categories. Shanghai was third with a 63.1 score with Beijing placed fourth at 60.7.

Singapore (60.2) and Bangkok (57.1) were ranked fifth and seventh respectively. The other big cities ranked included Sydney (58.4), Tokyo (56.4) and Seoul (54.8). Well, when I first read this allocation of points, it is hard to believe that even Tokyo gets lower marks compared to KL. And KL only needs 3.5 points or higher to defeat Hong Kong to be on top of the ranking. This is a good sign that our shopping industry had been well received globally with presence of multiple great shopping malls particularly in Bukit Bintang (means Starhill in English) and KLCC (Kuala Lumpur City Centre where the iconic Petronas Twin Towers are) regions. That is where the Golden Triangle of KL is, where it is the place with most people at most of the time in the capital of Malaysia.

(Image above showing the most happening intersection in Bukit Bintang. Image is from
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VOEDQ5C7efg/TVUJVYebBYI/AAAAAAAAAFc/QtF7woSevas/s1600/BukitBintang.jpg
)

(Image above showing Pavilion KL in Bukit Bintang which has became the new focal point for shoppers and tourists. Image above is from
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7171/6433906167_cf7168cd72_z.jpg
)

“Kuala Lumpur’s specific strength is its ability to combine low prices with a good range of products in a large number of stores, including three of the world’s 10 biggest shopping malls,” the index report stated. For your information, the three shopping malls are One Utama (ranked 4th in the world), Mid Valley Megamall (ranked 8th in the world), and Sunway Pyramid (ranked 9th in the world). Another mall close to the list of top 10 is Berjaya Times Square (ranked 15th).

The great development of shopping industry in Malaysia is to boost the nation’s tourism but I think it is the locals that love to shop that helps brought KL to such a position. And it’s good to see improvement being done over the Bukit Bintang area recently (new air-conditioned pedestrian bridge, cleaner street with presence of security guards, better infrastructures and more decorations added). All that (and more is needed) would certainly helps to bring up the city’s image globally not only in shopping category but also in other aspects. It’s time to push KL to become one of the most liveable cities in the world. Well, that objective seems too far to achieve, but I think we can do it. KL has the potential.

(Certain information in this post is from trusted source: 
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2012/10/28/nation/12237412&sec=nation
)

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, William and Kate concluded their tour in Malaysia today.

Today is the end of the three-days Diamond Jubilee tour to Malaysia by Prince William and Kate, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. They would fly to Solomon Island today to continue their Asia-Pacific tour representing Queen Elizabeth II for her diamond jubilee celebration marking sixty years of Prince William’s grandmother to the throne of United Kingdom. How lovely that we have the very much talked about royal couple, William and Kate to come to Malaysia for an official visit that ended today. I have written a post regarding the beginning of their visit few days earlier and now I would post more photos of their visit taken from The Star Online Gallery.

Prince William had spoken that he and Kate are extremely delighted to be in Malaysia. However, I find that their days here are too short and definitely insufficient enough for them to truly enjoy and experience the beauty and uniqueness of Malaysia. Hope that they would come again in near future, perhaps not in official visit that comes in tight schedule as observed in this recent tour. From this visit also do we learnt that William dislikes durian as introduced by our Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak in a luncheon hosted on the first day (last Thursday) the royal couple arrived in the capital, Kuala Lumpur.

And so, Kate had been complimented over the delivery of her first oversea speech at Hospis Malaysia. And she is further praised in showing respect by wearing hijab (a scarf over head) during their visit to the mosque at KLCC Park on Friday’s morning. Both of them also took off their shoes in respect of the rules in entering mosque. The most happening thing is that over thousand of people gathered at KLCC Park to catch a glimpse of the royal couple who had around half an hour with the crowd there for some time of quick chat and hand shaking. That is very generous of them. They then enjoyed a short cultural performance in the park before leaving to nearby Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre for a business luncheon hosted by British Malaysian Chamber of Commerce when Prince William delivered his speech.

Earlier, the royal couple had also attended a dinner with the King of Malaysia (Yang Di-Pertuan Agong) in the newly-built National Palace on Thursday’s evening. The royal couple looked so elegant during their three-days visit in Malaysia, particularly Kate who still looks very stunning despite on simple dress wore on the day they were at KLCC Park. Yesterday, they were in Sabah to visit Danum Valley, their final stop in Malaysia before flying off to Solomon Island today to continue their tour. At the valley where a primary Borneo tropical rainforest is located, both of them jungle-trekked and even had a walk through a long hanging canopy in the rainforest. That’s the time for them to enjoy the beauty of rainforest in Malaysia. Today is the end of their much anticipated visit in Malaysia and let’s hope that they left this place with memorable and delighted feeling to return once again soon.

(For more images of their visit in Malaysia, you can find more from The Star Online Gallery and even from many other sources reporting this visit also).