Here we are, last post from the trip to Malaysia.
[Click on the image to see a larger version]
As a reminder, in the photo to the right (or possibly above if you are using a mobile device to view this), look for the two identical tall brown buildings in the middle distance. My hotel room was around three quarters the way up the right hand tower. Image taken from the 86th floor observation deck of the Petronas Twin Towers.
Now you know where I was, here’s some of what I could see.
So what could I see? Well initially, not much! Our mid-afternoon hotel check-in coincided with the arrival of a heavy tropical shower. [Pentax DA 55-300mm F4-5.8 @55mm]
To the west , the Al-Bukhari Foundation Mosque with its distinctive blue dome. [Pentax DA 55-300 F4-5.8 @135mm]
A somewhat better indication than my prior posts of what the KL Monorail looks like. Seen here leaving Hang Tuah station which is out in front of the mosque. [Pentax DA 55-300 F4-5.8 @230mm and moderately cropped.] The light underneath towering tropic rain clouds was really really dull even though it was only mid-afternoon, necessitating upping the camera sensitivity to ISO 1600 to get a half reasonable shutter speed. And a fair bit of pushing and poking in Lightroom back home afterwards to inject some semblance of contrast.
Petronas Twin Towers [Pentax DA 55-300 F4-5.8 @ 55mm]
Kuala Lumpur Tower [Pentax DA 55-300mm F4-5.8 @ 55mm]
Menara Maybank (“Maybank Tower”) [Pentax DA 55-300 F4-5.8 @ 55mm]
[Pentax DA 55-300 F4-5.8 @ 87.5mm]
A good view of the Golden Triangle area of Kuala Lumpur. [Pentax DA 10-17mm fisheye zoom @ 17mm]
A ring-in here, not from my hotel room, but downstairs in front of the adjoining Berjaya Times Square shopping centre. This photo didn’t seem to have a home in any of the other Malaysia posts, so I’ll decided to slide it in here! For the record (sorry for the pun), it stands 9.83 m (30 feet) tall and holds 22.5 m³ (roughly 5000 UK gallons) of capsules. [Pentax FA 43 F1.9 Limited]
[Tamron 17-50mm F2.8 @ 30mm]
As the sun rose above the horizon, these magic golden highlights appeared on the Twin Towers as the day’s first rays of light reflected off the stainless steel cladding of the towers. [Pentax DA 55-300 F4-5.8 @ 87.5mm]
[Pentax DA 55-300 F4-5.8 @ 55mm]
Sunset over KL. [Pentax FA43 F1.8 Limited]
Thank you to all who have followed the entire series. I hope you’ve enjoyed the journey.
Camera Gear
Pentax K-3 with a mix of lens – in fact I had a go with every lens I took to Malaysia. I’ve indicated which lens was used under each photo.
Other than the world’s biggest capsule machine, all were taken from inside my hotel room’s bedroom which was right on the corner of the building on the 30th Floor, giving me views both north and west. Windows were non-opening so I shot through the window glass, which turned out to present its own set of problems with reflections. I used a tripod but with the legs extended at awkward angles so that the front of the lens was as close to the window glass as possible. Even with this, elimination of reflections off of the glass was still a pain in the you know where and over several sessions I slowly cut out more and more of the reflections. It was bordering on the ridiculous in the end. Just when I thought I had got rid of every possible reflection, I still found I had the word ‘Pentax’ in reverse across some of the night scenes. That was the name embossed on the front of the camera being reflected from the window back to the lens. A matt black lens cleaning cloth drooped across the offending section of the camera fixed that final reflection.
To Learn More
My stay in KL was at the Berjaya Times Square Hotel. I would call my room good family grade accommodation, but not luxurious. The ‘room’ was really a small apartment, so two bedrooms, a living space, and a separate kitchen area. All this was good given four people were staying in it. Access to KL attractions was easy as Imbi monorail station was right out front. And there is an adjoining shopping centre and amusement centre linked directly to the hotel.
Berjaya also ran the resort we stayed at in Langkawi. From the two places we sampled, it would appear that Berjaya are targeting the family market and in my opinion do a pretty good job of it. All of the staff in both locations were very polite and helpful.
Photo Morsels 
Wow, great series of cityscapes. These posts have given me an appreciation for Kuala Lumpur I’ve not really had before. Thanks.
The room selection was pure luck, but once I saw the view, the photographic possibilities were immediately recognised.
You might spot a certain similarity between of one of this post’s photos and an entry in the ‘Best of 2014’ competition running in a certain online photography forum we both frequent (shameless plea for a vote here!).