After a long start to the day, which included a tour of a Kuala Lumpur war memorial and Chinatown, our GLCM group made its way to the famous Petronas Twin Towers. 

The Petronas Twin Towers are the tallest twin towers in the world, standing at 1,483 feet high, and 88 total floors. One fact our group found interesting is that the Petronas Twin Towers have a foundation that stretches down 400 feet into the ground. As many of us Chicago natives or U.S. citizens are aware, the Sears Tower stood as the tallest building in the world from 1972 to 1998, at 1,450 feet. As one may assume, the Petronas Twin Towers took the title when they were built in 1998. The land on which these towers currently sit used to be a horse racetrack. Our group arrived quite early to our 5pm reservation and decided to take a couple of neat pictures outside of the towers in front of some beautiful fountains. Taking some time to examine the exterior of the building allowed our group to appreciate the metal panels used in this grand structure. Before continuing to read, take 5 seconds to give a rough estimate of the total number of metal panels on the exterior of this building. Ready, set, go. Alright, 1…2…3…4…5. If you guessed 55,000, you would be correct. The total cost of the buildings was $1.6 billion USD. 

Our group then headed inside to begin exploring the towers. Walking inside the towers, we noticed that the first 6 floors of the towers are a shopping mall comprising some of the most luxurious stores. Our first stop was to go to the 41st floor, where the bridge connecting the 2 towers is located. This bridge is actually 2 stories high, where the 41st floor is for tourists to see and the 42nd floor is for the individuals who work in the tower offices. The image below shows the view of the Kuala Lumpur skyline from the bridge. One can also take the time to admire that, although the city of Kuala Lumpur has some fascinating buildings, it also has some beautiful mountains in the background. 

Just when our GLCM group thought we had gone high enough, we were taken to the 86th floor, where we got an even more breathtaking view of the city of Kuala Lumpur. The image below shows the view of the Merdeka 118 tower. Our GLCM students learned that this tower is actually the 2nd-tallest tower in the world, right behind the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, standing at 2,227 feet tall. 

Our group had limited time to take pictures on the highest floors. However, we still made time to show the lovely people of Malaysia what the GLCM program is about and took a group photo with the CEE flag on the 86th floor. With ears popped and eyes open, the GLCM students finished the day amazed at what they had seen.

Blog by Max Saucedo