Day Two - December 24

Today we went on a tour of the city - which ended up being really interesting. They took us to the Kings Palace which was quite and amazing place. There were guards which every hour perfomed changing of the guard. A real tourist stop this was - could have been at Buckingham Palace!!

Drove past the worlds largest undercover bird park, butterfly park and stopped at Independence Square - a place that was especially built for the play of cricket and where the game of football was first introduced to Malaysia.

We were taken on a tour of the Royal Selangor Pewter Factory which was really interesting - they make all the formual one trophys and all sorts of awards for various functions around the world. Outside the factory is also the world's largest pewter tankard which holdsv 2796 litres of beer - it is hired by companies for social functions. I bought an nice pendant from the factory. They actually make some really beautiful pieces. We ended up buying another pendant from a store in a mall - they also have a store in Melbourne.

Went to the local museum which was really interesting - learnt alot about the history of Malaysia.

Being Christmas Eve we were booked into Gobo Chit Chat one of the restaurants in the hotel for a 5 course Degustation meal. The food was amazing and the service was great - we were served a different glass of wine with each course - seem as I am not really a wine drinker I was half cut before the 3rd course had arrived. All the wines were from Australia and New Zealand. We got a little gift for christmas (olive oil - can't take that home). After dinner we had arranged to go up to the skybar for a Christmas Eve Party which was a bit bizzare - there was a countdown to Christmas day and you could see firewarks over the city - apparently Christams Eve is a huge thing in Malaysia more so than the 25th. There were alot of locals there and we got talking to a few young girls - this was their local hang out most weekends. Drinks were quite expensive - about $15.00 for a local tiger beer - but what the hell its xmas after all.

There was a local DJ - not bad - no dancing though - a bit dodgy as you were around the swimming pool. But the atmosphere was great. Interesting to see how the locals interact.

So overall it was an outstanding dinner and fantastic night. And whata view at night. Those towers really are something.