I did not and I noticed not many people send Chinese New Year cards nowadays as most either sms or send e-cards. What the heck, even I don't mail out cards anymore!
I did receive a few though, like these three cards below. If you notice, one of the cards were from Pakatan Rakyat politicians, thanking me as a voter, though whether I voted for them or not in the last election shall remain a secret : )
The days leading up to Chinese New Year were terrible for me as far as the traffic on the roads were concerned. There were traffic jams everywhere! I was cursing and cursing like mad.
Did you know I was trapped on this road near the Sin Chew Roundabout (formerly Rothmans Roundabout) for almost one hour? Somehow, I don't think roundabouts are effective anymore in dispersing traffic.
And then, thinking I could escape the jam after passing that roundabout, I got caught again in another huge jam in SS2. This is the road in front of Poh Kong SS2 leading towards the LDP.
It took me about 2 hours to reach my destination when normally it would have just taken a mere 20 minutes! Next year, I am going to stay off the road the week before Chinese New Year!
However, it was totally different during the Chinese New Year holidays. Driving then was a breeze. There were hardly any traffic jams as most people had already 'balik kampung'. Since my 'kampung' or hometown is in Petaling Jaya, I had an enjoyable time driving around town!
With the low number of cars on the road, I took the opportunity to drive to KL just to discover new places. I drove around with my Street Directory map book and learnt some new roads in the process! While some people like to depend on their GPS, I prefer to rely on my useful Street Directory!
My friend from Penang came to visit me and asked me to bring him to KL Tower as he had not been there before. Actually, I have not been to KL Tower before either, but as I was too embarrassed to tell him that, I decided to play along and told him it would be my pleasure to bring him. I hope he will never get to read my blog. Haha!
We went to KL Tower on the first day of Chinese New Year. It was after dinner and I drove down to KL with him beside me. Luckily, I've passed by the place before so I knew how to get there and had absolutely no worries of him knowing I've never been up that tower before!
I was just a little surprised to find that the entrance fee was RM38 per person. Don't you think that's a little too expensive? I mean, what can you find up there except maybe a good view of Kuala Lumpur? Besides, the Tower would be closed to visitors at 9.30pm, and it was already 9pm! Half an hour tour for RM38? In my mind, I was thinking, I might as well spend that money on a delicious dish of yee sang!
But as my friend was very eager to visit this place, and since this was my first time going up the Tower, I guess I would just be fine with it. Furthermore, I found out that the RM38 also covers the entrance to the Winter Park, F1 Simulator and Animal Zone. So not too bad after all!
I managed to take a picture of the KL Tower against the night sky.
Each of us was given a bottle of mineral water that looked like the Tower itself. Not too bad as a souvenir item!
We took the lift and was met by a guide in the lift who told us that KL Tower is the 5th tallest communication tower in the world. He also mentioned that it would take about 50 seconds to reach the Observation Deck, which is about 276 metres from the ground floor. Me and my friend timed it and the guide was right - we reached the Observation Deck in 53 seconds!
From the Observation Deck, we were able to see how KL looked like from high up. Not a big deal really, as I could easily get such views at Look Out Point in Ampang, KL or at Genting Highlands, albeit much smaller views. The only good thing was, we were each given a portable MP4player that guided us as we walked around the tower. We also made use of the telescopes which were provided free to view close-up scenes of KL city.
After spending half an hour at the Observation Deck, we took the lift down and visited the Winter Park. It was really nothing much to shout about as you can see from these shots I took.
We did not go for the F1 Simulator as it was already closed by the time we went there. However, we went for a quick tour of the Animal Zone which was like a mini zoo complete with snakes, rabbits, turtles, birds, and racoons.
So was my RM38 worth it? My friend thought it was worth it, but I still prefer to spend the money on yee sang! Luckily for me, I managed to act as if I have been to KL Tower many times before, so my friend did not even have the tiniest suspicion that this is my first time there! Ha ha!
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