KLIA(쿠알라룸푸르 국제공항) 공항의 모습은 한 마디로 기대 이상이었다. 이것도 사진을 보여 줄 수 있다면 좋겠지만…. 면세점에서 구입한 디지털 카메라는 말레이시아에 머무는 동안 불미스런 일로 인해 잃어버리게 되었다. 이 이야기는 아마 나중의 Episode에 하게 될 것이다. 그 만큼 그것은 고군분투 말레이시아 체류기에 빠져서는 안될 핵심적인 내용이기 때문이다. 아마도 Episode5 나 6 쯤에서 하게 되지 않을까?
지금 기억에 남는 KLIA(쿠알라룸푸르 국제공항) 공항의 첫인상은….. 한국 같은데, 한국 보다는 왠지 좀 더 좋을 것 같은 느낌? 사실 생각보다 그렇게 확 이국적이지는 않았다.
하지만 시원스럽게 높은 천정과 중앙홀에 있는 거대한 나무가 한국과는 또 다른 풍경이 앞으로 펼쳐지겠지…하는 기대감을 불어넣어 준 것 같다.
우선 나는 숙소를 잡기 전에 배를 좀 채울 필요가 있었다. 비행기 안에서 기내식을 먹었다고는 해도 기본적으로 내가 선택했던 Sea Food가 맛이 없었고 그래서 의식적인 노력에도 불구하고 다 먹지 못했고, 지금 나가서 숙소를 잡는다 해도 숙소에 언제쯤 들어갈 수 있을 지 확신할 수 없기 때문이다. 캐세이퍼시픽을 타거들랑 Sea Food는 선택하지 말길 바란다. 자신의 선택을 저주하게 될 것이다….
KLIA공항은 쿠알라룸푸르 시내에서 상당히 떨어진 거리에 있다. 따라서 식사가 급하더라도 저녁 시간대에 도착했다면 일단 공항을 벗어나 쿠알라룸푸르까지 간 후에 식사를 해결하는 것이 안전하다. KLIA 공항에서 Express 기차를 타면 한 시간 이내로 KL(쿠알라룸푸르)에 당도할 수 있다.
난 KL Central역에 내려서 먹을 만한 것이 있나 둘러보았다. 내가 발견한 음식점은 그 유명한 Star Bucks 바로 옆에 있는 퓨젼 레스토랑이었다. 일반적으로 말레이시에서는 물이 나오지 않는다고 하여 음료수를 주문 했는데 이 음식점의 경우엔 서비스로 음료가 나와서 괜히 음료수를 시켰다는 생각이 들었다. 그렇게 간단히 요기를 하고 미리 봐둔 게스트 하우스로 이동했다. 게스트 하우스는 K.L Central역에서 버스나 전철을 이용해서 20분 정도 거리인 차이나타운에 인접해 있었다. 지금 떠올려보니 그곳은 짚시들의 은신처 같은 곳이었다.
Hi, This is a Titicaca Monkey. Today, I've got Petronas Twin Tower. Can you See the twin tower?
Bird eyes view
3D View
This Building Located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The towers are the tallest twin buildings and office building in the world. Tower 1 was built by Hazama Corporation and Tower 2 by Samsung Engineering & Construction and Kukdong Engineering & Construction (both of South Korea). Designed by Argentine-American architect César Pell.
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The Petronas Twin Towers (also known as the Petronas Towers or Twin Towers), in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia were the world's tallest buildings, before being surpassed by the Taipei 101. However, the towers are still the tallest twin buildings and office building in the world. Tower 1 was built by Hazama Corporation[2] and Tower 2 by Samsung Engineering & Construction and Kukdong Engineering & Construction (both of South Korea). They were the world's tallest buildings from 1998 to 2004 if measured from the level of the main entrance to the structural top, the original height reference used by the US-basedCouncil on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat from 1969 (three additional height categories were introduced as the tower neared completion in 1996). [3]
In accordance to CTBUH, the pinnacles attributed the overall height of the towers. Thus surpassing the Sears Tower.
The Petronas Twin Towers were the tallest buildings in the world until Taipei 101, as measured to the top of their structural components (spires, but not antennas), took over the record. Spires are considered integral parts of the architectural design of buildings, to which changes would substantially change the appearance and design of the building, whereas antennas may be added or removed without such consequences. The Petronas Twin Towers remain the tallest twin buildings in the world.
The Sears Tower and the World Trade Center towers were each constructed with 110 occupied floors – 22 more than the Petronas Twin Towers’ 88 floors. The Sears Tower and the World Trade Center’s roofs and highest occupied floors substantially exceeded the height of the roof and highest floors of the Petronas Twin Towers. The Sears Tower’s tallest antenna is 75 m (246 ft) taller than the Petronas Twin Towers’ spires. However, in accordance to CTBUH regulations and guidelines, [4] the antennas of the Sears Tower were not counted as part of its architectural features.[5]Therefore, the Petronas Twin Towers exceed the official height of the Sears Tower by 10m, but the Sears Tower has more floors with occupied office space at a higher level.
Designed by Argentine-American architect César Pelli, the Petronas Towers were completed in 1998 and became the tallest buildings in the world on the date of completion. They were built on the site of Kuala Lumpur's race track. Because of the depth of the bedrock, the buildings were built on the world's deepest foundations. The 120-meter foundations were built by Bachy Soletanche, and required massive amounts of concrete.
The 88-floor towers are constructed largely of reinforced concrete, with a steel and glass facade designed to resemble motifs found in Islamic art, a reflection of Malaysia's Muslim religion. Another Islamic influence on the design is that the cross-section of the towers is based on a Rub el Hizb (albeit with circular sectors added to meet office space requirements).
In an unusual move, a different construction company was hired for each of the towers. Tower 1 was successfully completed by Hazama Corporation. The builders of Tower 2, Samsung Engineering & Construction and Kukdong Engineering (both of South Korea) found a problem during the construction, the tower was estimated to lean 25mm on the ground with its own weight. The Tower 2 construction team succeeded one month earlier than tower 1.
Due to a lack of steel and the huge cost of importing steel, the towers were constructed on a cheaper radical design of super high-strength reinforced concrete. High-strength concrete is a material familiar to Asian contractors and twice as effective as steel in sway reduction; however, it makes the building twice as heavy on its foundation than a comparable steel building. Supported by 23-by-23 meter concrete cores and an outer ring of widely-spaced super columns, the towers use a sophisticated structural system that accommodates its slender profile and provides from 1300 to 2000 square metres of column-free office space per floor.Below the twin towers is Suria KLCC, a shopping mall, and Dewan Filharmonik Petronas, the home of the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra.
Other buildings have used spires to increase their height but have always been taller overall to the pinnacle when trying to claim the title. In the aftermath of the controversy, the rules governing official titles were partially overhauled, and a number of buildings re-classified structural antenna as architectural details to boost their height rating (even though nothing was actually done to the building).
Spanning 17 acres below the building is the KLCC park with jogging and walking paths, a fountain with incorporated light show, wading pools, and a children's playground.
Suria KLCC is one of the largest shopping malls in Malaysia.
The towers feature a skybridge (constructed by Kukdong Engineering & Construction of South Korea) between the two towers on 41st and 42nd floors, which is the highest 2-story bridge in the world. The bridge is 170m above the ground and 58 m long, weighing 750 tons. The same floor is also known as the podium, since visitors desiring to go to higher levels have to change elevators here. The skybridge is open to all visitors, but free passes (limited to 1700 people per day) must be obtained on a first-come, first-served basis. The Skyway is closed on Mondays. Visitors are only allowed on the 41st floor as the 42nd floor can only be used by the tenants of the building.
The skybridge also acts as a safety device, so that in the event of a fire or other emergency in one tower, tenants can evacuate by crossing the skybridge to the other tower. However, the total evacuation triggered by a bomb hoax on September 12, 2001 (the day after the September 11 attacks destroyed the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City) showed that the bridge would not be useful if both towers need to be emptied simultaneously, as the capacity of the staircases was insufficient for such an event. Plans thus call for the lifts to be used if both towers need to be evacuated, and a successful drill following the revised plan was conducted in 2005.
The main bank of Otislifts is located in the centre of each tower. All main lifts are double-decker with the lower deck of the lift taking passengers to odd numbered floors and upper deck to even numbered floors. In order to access an even numbered floor from ground level, passengers are required to use an escalator to access the upper deck of the elevator.
From the ground floor, there are three groups of lifts. The "short haul" group of 6 lifts take passengers to floors between level 2/3 and level 16/17. The "mid haul" group of 6 lifts take passengers to floors between level 18/19 and level 37/38. There is also a set of shuttle lifts that take passengers directly to levels 41/42. In order to get to levels above 41/42, passengers are required to take the shuttle lifts and then change lifts to the upper floors. These connecting lifts are placed directly above the lifts serving levels 2 to 38. The pattern now repeats with the upper levels, one set serving =levels 43/44 to 57/58 and one set serving levels 59/60 to levels 73/74.
Apart from this main bank of lifts, there are a series of "connecting" lifts to take people between the groups. Unlike the main lifts, these are not the double-decker type. Two lifts are provided to take people from levels 37/38 to levels 41/42 (levels 39 and 40 are not accessible as office space). This avoids the need for someone situated at the lower half of the building to go down to the ground floor in order to gain access to the upper half of the building.
The lifts contain a number of safety features. It is possible to evacuate people from a lift stuck between floors by manually driving one of the adjacent lifts next to it and opening a panel in the wall. It is then possible for people in the stuck lift to walk between elevator cars.
During an evacuation of the buildings, only the shuttle lift is allowed to be used. This is because there are only doors at levels G/1 and levels 41/42 therefore should there be a fire in the lower half of the building, this enclosed shaft would remain unaffected.
The service building is to the east of the Petronas Towers and contains the services required to keep the building operational, such as dissipating the heat from the air-conditioning system for all 88 levels in both towers.
On March 20, 1997, French urban climber, Alain "Spiderman" Robert, using only his bare hands and feet and with no safety devices, scaled the building's exterior glass and steel wall. Police arrested him at the 60th floor, 28 floors away from the "summit". He made a second attempt on March 20th 2007, exactly 10 years later, and was stopped once again on the same floor (though on the other tower).[6]
On the evening of Friday, November 4, 2005, a fire broke out in the cinema complex of the Suria KLCC shopping centre below the Petronas Twin Towers, triggering panic among patrons who fled screaming and coughing in the thick, acrid smoke. There were no reports of injuries. The buildings were largely empty (except the shopping mall, Suria KLCC) because of the late hour; the only people affected were moviegoers and some diners in restaurants.[7]
The Petronas Towers were a setting for some scenes in the 1999 film Entrapment starring Sean Connery and Catherine Zeta-Jones. It ends in a dramatic pursuit of the two stars by Pasukan Gerakan Khas as SWAT teams, eventually leading to Connery's capture and Zeta-Jones's escape. The towers also feature in three levels of the game Hitman 2: Silent Assassin where the player travels from one tower to another using the sky bridge, though it is unlike the real sky bridge; instead of being a narrow passageway, the sky bridge is wide and entered by breaking a panel of glass. The PS2 game Burnout Dominator features the Twin Towers as Spiritual Towers. Episode 22 from the anime series Cowboy Bebop shows what closely resembles the Petronas Twin Towers being blown up by a terrorist. This episode was taken off the air for a short time post-9/11. The Petronas Towers are also a major setting in the 2006 Bollywood film,Don - The Chase Begins Again, starring Shah Rukh Khan. A major fight takes place on the towers.
This information from Wiki media. Thanks to WiKi media project.
공항 면세점에서 무언가를 사야 하지 않을까? 비싼 돈 들여서 비행기 타는데 면세점에서 뭐라도 사야 나중에 후회하지 않을 것 같다. 그래서 20여만원짜리 캐논디카를 샀다. 2~3달 전에 내 생애 첫 디카를 잃어 버렸으니 이것은 내 생애 두 번째 디카인 것이다. 아무튼 내가 생각했던 가격 보다 저렴하게 디카를 산 것에 만족하며 비행기에 올랐다. 말레이시아에 도착해서 마음껏 사진을 찍고 다닐 내 모습을 상상하며…. (면세점에서 산 이 디카는 말레이시아에 도착 후에 있을 어떤 사건을 통해 분실하게 된다. )
케세이 퍼시픽 CX415편, AM 8:45분 출발
사실, 비행기에 자리를 잡고 앉은 후에도 내가 정말 말레이시아로 가긴 가는 건지 긴가민가했다. 태어나서 두 번째 타는 비행기였다. 지난 번에는 비행기가 작아서인지 비행기가 아닌 통일호 열차를 타는 느낌이었다. 그것도 레일상태가 매우 안좋은 구간을 통과하는….
이번에는 좀 비행기답게 날아갔으면 하는 바램이다.
내 생애 두 번째 비행이자 가장 긴 비행이였다.
이 비행기는 일단 홍콩에서 정차하고 나는 내려서 다른 비행기로 갈아타야 한다. 주어진 시간이 한 시간 남짓이었기 때문에 한 번쯤 꼭 가보고 싶었던 홍콩에 왔지만 공항 대형 유리창 너머로, 그것도 무빙워크를 타고 지나가면서 볼 수 밖에 없었다. 쿠알라룸푸르로 가는 비행기로 갈아타고 나니 다른 점은 첫째, 빈자리가 한국에서 홍콩오는 비행기 보다 훨씬 많다는 것. 둘째, 그 몇 안되는 사람들이 다 시커멓다는 것이었다. 내가 한국을 떠나 동남아시아로 왔다는 것이 실감나는 순간이었다.
말레이시아 KLIA공항에도착해서 출입국 수속을 하려는데, 내 여권에 찍힌 편도 항공권 구입가능 스탬프를 가지고 걸고 넘어진다. 아니, 그런 것 같다. 사실 뭐라고 말하는지 잘 못 알아 듣겠다. 발음이 이제까지 들어오던 영어발음과 많이 다르다. 이것이 과연 영어가 맞는가? 이 인간 지금 말레이어를 구사하고 있는 것 아닌가?여행책자에는 말레이 사람들의 발음은 표준에 가깝다고 했는데… 너무 당혹스러운 상황이다. 비자에 문제 있는 사람들끼리 모여있는 방으로 들어가라고 손짓하는데 어차피 계속 설명해 보아도 저쪽도 이해 못하겠다는 눈치고 일단 작전상 후퇴다.
난~ 비자에 문제 있는 사람들만 모아 놓은 방에 들어와 있고! 순서표를 뽑는 기계를 찾아 보지만 그런 건 보이지도 않고!이 많은 사람들은 대체 어떤 순서로 일이 처리 되는 것인지 알 수 없었다. 여기서 내 순서가 되길 기다렸다간 필시 밤이 되기 전에 공항을 벗어날 수 없으리라.
나는 말레이시아에서는 비자가 없어도 3개월은 머물 수 있다는 사실이 떠올랐다.
‘그럼, 저 사람한테 관광목적으로 왔다고 얘기하고 일단 들어가자, 그리고 나중에 학원에 가서이 사실을 말하고 도움을 요청하면 되겠지…..;
그렇게 나는 첫 관문을 다행히 통과했다. 그러나, 그것이 내 고행의 시작일 줄은 누가 알았겠는가? 말레이시아는.... 내겐 너무나 가혹했다.
