Ultra-high-tech Modern Metropolis
29 November 2008 | Kuhla Lumpur
Karen
We'd sailed 2 uncomfortable days with the wind and current on our nose and expected the same out of Port Dickson. But the current was with us and after 2 hours of 4 knots Sora sped up to almost 10 for the rest of the day and made our 60 nm to Port Klang by 2PM. We'd dodged numerous fish traps and nets - had to turn 180 and head for the big boys' (large container ships) channel 3 times when we were surrounded by nasty little white buoys marking the nets. But we made it without mishap 'cause we had young eyes on watch for their flags, sticks, buoys, bottles, and Styrofoam markers. We were happy to make the port early only to find it filthy with the Yacht Club on the other side of the river from our pontoon slip. We're at the mercy of the little launch that runs on the hour sometimes whenever we wish to leave Sora.
You can tell that we are in the big city. The club is run down with a gym consisting of 1 machine covered with cobwebs, a shower that drips instead of spraying and no towels, pool with plywood deck, but it does have a lovely huge dining room open on 3 sides that offers good reasonable food with a little bar nestled in the corner. The employees are not friendly and their English is more difficult to understand than all the other places we've been in Malaysia.
No matter, Jeni is having a blast - so nice to have appreciative youth for us oldies to play with. She brings a fresh dynamic to our music games and is a better window shopper than I. After a fast spin through 2 huge malls, we were fortunate enough to wrangle tickets to the Skybridge at the Petronas Towers, once the tallest buildings in the world. The Captain's mention of the fact that we'd traveled 16,000 miles to visit these vertiginous twins must have prompted the official to part with just 3 more tickets. We ate heartily of Korean Barbeque grilled right at our table in the mall beside the towers and emerged into the night with the buildings, fountains, and pools lighted and twinkling as if it were New Year's Eve.
Cheers to cosmopolitan cities, magnificent views, and SHOPPING, KK