Petronas towers

March 28th, 2013

Bangkok, Thailand

Song of the Day: Canon in D by Pachelbel

Mood: Sore after a full day in a classroom of 8-12 year olds

Petronas towers

The Petronas towers stand in the center of KL. They were the tallest building in the world from 1998 to 2003 and remain the largest twin towers in the world.

Source: Wiki

They are a key part of the city skyline.

They overlook a beautiful park complete with fountains

A tourist's first view is from the sky bridge on the 42nd floor and then he or she can go to the 86th for the top view. Even from the sky bridge, you can tell how high up you are:

Then you realize how tall the towers are when you get to the top

Brief aside for neat gizmo

The introductory video is projected onto smoke

Top of the world

Everybody wants to be the best and prove that they are the best. On the 85th floor, there is a gallery of all the tallest buildings in the world from the Trump (423m) to the Burj Khalifa (828m)

 

The Petronas towers panel is correctly placed between the International Commerce Center in Hong Kong and the Zifeng Tower in Nanjing, but the scale is completely changed for that panel:

Petronas at 452m is a mere 2m taller than Zifeng (450m)

This panel makes it look massive and is totally misleading. This reminds me of how people often pick and choose parameters to support a point they are trying to make. 80% of drivers in the US think they are above average drivers. In Minnesota, we say that every child is above average. Realizing illusory superiority is important for maintaining humility on a personal level. As well, always question people who claim they should rank highly, and ensure the criteria that inform their conclusion are acceptable.

Practical jokes

I don't like practical jokes because they can go wrong so easily, but I seem to forget this rule once every year or two. The latest bout of amnesia occurred while my new friend and I were taking pictures of the Petronas Towers from afar. We saw and bought Guy Fawkes masks to surprise the Nation Builder at her office after her meeting ended at 10:30pm. She wouldn't be scared because she would realize it was us right away based on our clothes and body types. We would laugh and everything would be great. What could possibly go wrong!?!

Almost there...

Well, it turns out a lot can go wrong. Instead of being at her desk, my friend was walking through the hallway. I passed by a window, and she only caught a glimpse of me. Obviously if you were at your office alone and you saw a masked man, you would be concerned. Unfortunately, when she called out asking who's there, we were going to the back door and could not respond. We made it to her desk, but didn't find her there. We realized that she had rationally made a break for it. Unsurprisingly, when we called her and she realized what happened, she was not amused.

Not funny guys

I am officially back in retirement from practical jokes.