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| Thursday, May 17, 2012, 04.07 AM | |||||
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Home » FeatureStory
I also want to know why I’ve been told that I should go there before dawn. So we pack everything we think we’ll need – camera, coffee, magazine and snacks. “This should be exciting!” 5.40am As we aren’t sure if the car park at Petronas Twin Towers is open at this early hour, we park at a nearby 24-hour restaurant. The foyer of Tower 1 is empty. The entrance to the tower is locked. There is only a signboard directing visitors to the Skybridge Visit Centre at the lower ground floor. The arrow on the signboard leads us to the lobby of Dewan Filharmonik Petronas (DFP). Since the entrance to the tower is locked, we assume other entrances into the building are locked too. 5.50am: An African student of a college in Subang Jaya approaches us. He tells us he wants to take some friends from back home to visit the Skybridge. They’ve been in the KLCC area since 3am, after partying away in nearby Jalan P. Ramlee. Since no one else is around, we take a walk all over to enjoy the misty, grey morning. However, we are attracted by the goings-on in the building — the cleaning service contractors are hard at work. As we watch them closely, we do not realise we have walked past an automated door sensor... until the doors to the DFP lobby slide open. 6am: We’re sure we’d be the first ones in the queue but our joy is short-lived. Already there are 10 bags placed in a line in front of the shut door at the Skybridge Visit Centre. A woman and two men in batik shirts with tags that look like official tourist guide tags, are seated on the steps, apart from each other. They look uninterested. There is not a smile or word of greeting from them. Perhaps being here so early is part of their daily routine. Five minutes later, three more people walk down the unmoving escalator. Again, they display neither enthusiasm nor excitement as they place their belongings – a newspaper, a plastic bag and a foldable stool – to mark their place in the line. Twenty minutes later, two more visitors turn up. Since the wait is going to be awhile, I decide to move my car to the carpark in KLCC. 7am Instead of going back to the queue to join my friend who’s waiting patiently, I take the opportunity to check out the empty mall as I’ve always wondered what it’s like to roam in a shopping mall after operation hours. It’s like a silent film in full colour – the shopping floors are well lit but there’s no sound and little sign of life. Even the security officers are carrying out their morning assembly quietly. I see people emerging from the lower ground floor but they walk straight out of the mall. These are probably early commuters on the Putra LRT who get down at KLCC Station to walk to nearby offices. 7.20am: It’s unbelievable! The queue in front of the Skybridge ticket counter has grown to form a snaking line of about 200 people. No wonder I’m told to be there before dawn. Some people are sleeping while others are sitting down to read or eat breakfast that they have brought. There is a good mix of locals and foreigners. I’m amused to see that the locals are dressed like tourists while foreigners wear a “just out-of-bed” look. 7.40am: The queue has become longer and more alive. Everyone is on his or her feet. Maybe they’ve grown impatient or they want to create more space for latecomers as the queue snakes its way around the small lobby. A police officer is directing newcomers to join the line and to ensure a clear path for other visitors. Both staircases at the lobby are filled with people who take turns with their companions to stand in the line. 8am: The lobby, housing the Skybridge Visit Centre, Petronas Twin Towers Gift Shop and a gymnasium, is bustling and we have to speak very loudly to be heard. I stop counting the number of visitors as the crowd is too big. The air is thick with excitement. We’re thrilled to see a light coming on behind the electronic gate and we count the minutes till it opens. 8.20am The gate is slowly drawn open and a volunteer staff starts issuing temporary vouchers. Another staff member follows shortly with the actual tickets. Each person is allowed five tickets while authorised tour guides get 40. We can also choose the time of the tour. The long wait finally pays off for the man who’s first in the queue at 5am and he walks to the counter at 8.25am. The tour guide wants tickets for a midday tour. 8.40am: The first group is called in and given a visitor’s tag. Twenty are given red tags and 20 blue. We are ushered into a small theatre for a seven-minute 3D video presentation on the Twin Towers. At 8.55am, we are told to group according to our respective colours. Between both groups and a service lift is a metal detector machine, just like that in airports. The red group is allowed to enter the service lift first, after walking through the metal detector. The not-so-fancy lift is big enough to fit in all of us. With us is a staff member who briefs us on technical details with regards the lift and Skybridge. Exactly 41 seconds later, the lift opens on the 41st floor – where the Skybridge is located. 9am The guide stops us at the beginning of the bridge to offer more information. He also reminds us to be ready to move when he calls for “the red group”. He then steps aside and we enter a passage to the bridge. As soon as I am on the steel and glass bridge, my mind screams: “This is it? This is what I sacrificed my sleep for?” The bridge is a squarish, mirror-walled tunnel. In the middle, there is a balcony located on each side. I must admit that the views are magnificent. On one side is the Public Bank Building against the backdrop of Tasik Titiwangsa, Setapak and Gombak. The rolling hills of Bukit Batu Tabur forms a huge wall protecting this area. On the other side, you see the sprawling KLCC Park and Bukit Bintang area. Almost everyone is busy taking photos and drinking in the magnificent vista. None of us goes to the other end of the bridge. 9.10am: The guide calls out: “Red group, time’s up.” Bemused, I ask: “Is this it? We don’t get to go to the other level?” With a smile, he answers: “This is it.” All of 10 minutes only! Without a protest, everyone starts to walk back towards the tower, but they continue to click away. I guess every second counts. The management has worked out an efficient system for controlling visitors. After the tour, we hand over our tags for the head count before entering the lift. Only when everyone is accounted for will the lift descend and then the blue group starts its tour. Back on the lower ground floor, the ticket counter is still busy and the crowd has grown bigger. In a corner, a flat-screen monitor announces: “Now issuing tickets for 2.45pm”. 9.20am: Because the queue is so long, the staff put a notice saying “Sorry, No More Tickets” at the end of the queue and advised latecomers to come back early the next day. Still feeling highly charged, we decide to check out the adjacent Gift Shop which stocks souvenirs bearing the iconic Twin Towers as well as Petronas F1 T-shirts and other merchandise. At 9.45am, we take a quick look at the monitor screen which indicates that tickets being issued are for the 4.30pm tour. My Verdict Though my idea is to get an experience of the Skybridge visit like that of a regular tourist, I find more excitement in the crowd at the foyer. Everybody – from locals and visitors from other States to foreign tourists – is here for a chance to stand on the world’s highest double-decked bridge. The crowd is well under control although there is only one police officer early in the day and another a little later. It’s vibrant energy and high spirits at the lower ground floor, like a big carnival but without the chaos. The energy builds up as it gets closer to opening hours. But some tour guides I talk to, feel that the ticketing system should be “as sophisticated as the Twin Towers”. Strangely, the carnival atmosphere is absent on the Skybridge. There, the mood is sombre and steely cold and even the visitors talk in hushed tones. In conclusion, the tour of the iconic Skybridge may be short but it’s worth experiencing at least once in a lifetime. Fast Facts The Skybridge is a major attraction at the Petronas Twin Towers. The 452m-tall towers have 88 floors and was listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the world’s tallest building — from April 1996 to October 2003, when the Taipei 101 tower topped it by 56m. However, the Twin Towers are still considered the world’s tallest “pair” of buildings. Located at levels 41 and 42, the Skybridge is 170m from street level. The double-decked bridge links the hollow space between the two towers and is said to be the highest double-decked bridge in the world. While it was designed to facilitate movement between the two towers and to serve as an escape route, the Skybridge was set as a symbol of a gateway to the future. Towers designer, architect Cesar Pelli, was quoted as saying: “The bridge, with its supporting structure, creates a portal to the sky… a door to the infinite.” Skybridge is supported by a “three-hinged arch” consisting of giant round bearings at the base located at level 29 of each tower and a “pair of legs” measuring 51m long. The cylindrical legs are bolted to a box girder below the centre of the double-decked bridge. Since it opened to the public in May 2001, the Skybridge visit has been a hit with locals and foreign tourists. For safety reasons, the number of visitors and tours per day is limited. Each tour is limited to 20 people for a 10-minute slot. From 8.30am, 1,600 tickets are distributed, for FREE, on a first-come-first-served basis. Come early as those who come late very often go home disappointed. Telephone and advance booking are not entertained. Tours of the Skybridge of Petronas Twin Towers are on daily, except Mondays, from 9am to 7pm. For more info, email skybridge@petronas.com.my or visit www.petronastwintowers.com.my.
 
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