Taipei 101

Taipei 101 (traditional Chinese: 台北101 / 臺北101), also known as the Taipei Financial Center, is a landmark skyscraper located in Xinyi District, Taipei, Taiwan. The building ranked officially as the world's tallest from 2004 until the opening of the Burj Khalifa in Dubai in 2010. Taipei 101 comprises 101 floors above ground and 5 floors underground. The name of the tower reflects its floor count.

Location : Xinyi District, Taipei, Taiwan
Constructed : 1999-2004
Owner : Taipei Financial Center Corporation
Mixed use: communication, conference, fitness center, library, observation, office, restaurant, retail
Floor count : 101
Cost : NT$ 58 billion(USD $ 1.80 billion)
Architect(s): C.Y. Lee & partners
Structural engineer : Thornton Tomasetti

Symbolism
Taipei 101, like all spire structures, participates in the symbolism of a world center where earth and sky meet and the four compass directions join.The height of 101 floors commemorates the renewal of time: the new century that arrived as the tower was built (100+1) and all the new years that follow (January 1 = 1-01). It symbolizes high ideals by going one better on 100, a traditional number of perfection.

The main tower features a series of eight segments of eight floors each. In Chinese-speaking cultures the number eight is associated with abundance, prosperity and good fortune. In cultures that observe a seven-day week the number eight symbolizes a renewal of time (7+1). In cultures where seven is the lucky number, 8 represents 1 better than 'lucky seven'.

Entrance of Taipei 101

From experience, most of the observatory towers have long queues so its advisable to avoid peak periods to beat the crowd!

LCD panel inside the lift

The million dollar view from the top

Be mesmerized by the changing colours of the neon lights!

Thornton-Tomasetti Engineers along with Evergreen Consulting Engineering designed a 660 metric tons (728 short tons) steel pendulum that serves as a tuned mass damper, at a cost of NT$132 million (US$4 million). Suspended from the 92nd to the 88th floor, the pendulum sways to offset movements in the building caused by strong gusts. Its sphere, the largest damper sphere in the world, consists of 41 circular steel plates, each with a height of 125 mm (4.92 in) being welded together to form a 5.5 m (18 ft) diameter sphere. Another two tuned mass dampers, each weighing 6 metric tons (7 short tons), sit at the tip of the spire. These prevent damage to the structure due to strong wind loads.

One of the unique feature of Taipei 101 is the annual fireworks show which is preceded by the sequential display of numerals in lights on each section to count down the last eight seconds to midnight. Since 2007 the building has been completely darkened, then fireworks begin to launch sequentially from the lower to upper sections.

location map

See comparison with other skyscrapers

Useful links - Taipei 101 official website

Petronas Twin Towers

Located at Suria KLCC, the Petronas Twin Towers (Malay: Menara Berkembar Petronas) (also known as the Petronas Towers or just Twin Towers), in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia were the world's tallest buildings from 1998 to 2004, when their height was surpassed by Taipei 101. The towers remain the tallest twin buildings in the world.

Type : Office
Location : Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Owner : KLCC
Started : 1992
Completed : 1998
Height : 451.9 metres (1482.6 feet)
Floor count : 88
Cost : $ 1.6 billion
Architect : César Pelli
Structural engineer : Thornton Tomasetti

Suria KLCC is an upmarket retail podium measuring 1.5 million sq. feet located at the feet of the Petronas Twin Towers. It features mostly foreign luxury goods and high-street labels. Its attractions include an art gallery, a philharmonic theater, an underwater aquarium and also a Science centre.


Interesting to know - 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 the Pasukan Gerakan Khas, eventually leading to Connery's capture and Zeta-Jones's escape.


location map

See comparison with other skyscrapers

Useful links - Petronas official website

39 Ways to Annoy Your Co-Workers

Came across this article by Karen Burns which I find extremely hilarious. Truth be told, we will definitely have one or more of these characters in our workplace!
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Coworker relationships are like no other. You don’t (usually) get to choose your coworkers. Yet you have to spend considerable amounts of time with them, and you have to get along with them well enough so that you as a team can produce whatever product or service it is that you produce.

All this, whether you like these people or not!

Sometimes dealing with problem coworkers is your biggest job challenge. But mostly, coworker trauma arises out of the little annoying everyday stuff. No one (usually) sets out to drive coworkers crazy. But it happens, and it happens every day.

In fact, it’s possible that maybe even you, wonderful you, are guilty of a few less-than-ideal behaviors. Not likely, mind you. Just possible.

Therefore, in the interest of greater workplace sanity and happiness, not to mention productivity, here’s a list of things not to do in the workplace. They’re not illegal or immoral. They don’t all apply to every kind of work. Some are even not that bad in small doses. But there’s enough here to provide food for thought for pretty much everyone.

(Who knew there were so many ways to be a pain?)

Your workstation is a sty.
You brown nose.
You complain.
You gossip.
You carelessly “reply all.”
You come to work sick.
You try to convert coworkers to your religion.
You try to convert coworkers to your political cause.
You tell dirty jokes.
You use bad language.
You loudly chew gum.
You conduct personal grooming, such as clipping fingernails, in the workplace.
You bring smelly food for lunch.
You over-share about your personal life.
You forward junk E-mail.
You smell of strong perfume or cologne.
You smell.
You brag about your successes.
You are a drama queen or king.
You borrow things and do not return them.
You steal people’s lunches/snacks.
You leave long rambling voice mails.
You stand behind people and read over their shoulders.
You shout over cubicle walls to ask questions or make remarks.
You play music loud enough for others to hear.
You leave a mess in the workplace kitchen.
You burn popcorn in the workplace microwave.
You walk so noisily that others can hear you coming and going.
You make maddening little noises (tongue-clacking, knuckle-cracking, humming).
You click your pen, or tap it on your desk.
You set your cell phone to an annoying ring tone.
You talk on your cell phone in the restroom.
You make loud personal phone calls others can hear.
You share detailed descriptions of medical procedures.
You repeatedly use “amusing” expressions such as “Working hard or hardly working?” or “Are we having fun yet?”
You take credit for other people’s work.
You are frequently late.
You are never around when you’re needed.
You are dishonest, or unreliable, or just plain bad at your job

Source : U.S News Money

Park Royal Kuala Lumpur

This was our 2nd stay at the hotel within a span of 3 years. The first was in Year 2008 at the orchid executive club which even though the room was at a premium, was a pleasurable experience. This time, we decided to opt for a deluxe room instead due to a longer travel period.

Location
The location was main reason for choosing park royal. With close proximity to major shopping centres like lot 10, sungei wang and times square, you could spend days just shopping in this area alone.

Room
We loved the king size bed as it virtually can fit 3 normal sized adults no kidding!

I am also pleased with the full range of amenities provided and the spacious room. Our room rate also came with free internet service which was great and we encountered no problems with connection or speed. Generally, we had a comfortable stay but we do have a few complaints –
* the furnishings are outdated even though it’s a deluxe room. As commented by some reviewers, most hotels have upgraded to flat screen TVs but not this one and the channels are rather limited. I agree we are not here to watch tv but then we need some entertainment in the early morning and late evenings.
* There is some problem with the water heating system. On our first morning, the water took sometime to heat up. On our last morning, the water refused to heat up and worse, the water that came gushing was yellowish. We had to call housekeeping and problem was fixed after the technician looked into it. We don’t know what was done but imagine waiting around for almost half an hour just to fix this.

* I was spooked by the centralized room system one night. I remembered I tuned the air con to low but it turned full blast in the wee hours and the alarm also suddenly went off when I did not set it.

Facilities
The pool was not fantastic but it was good enough for us to lounge around and for a good swim. We did not try the gym though.

Food
We enjoyed the breakfasts as it has a good variety so we do recommend tagging this to your room. We did not try the other restaurants though.

Service
Most of the service staff are all smiles and polite. The concierge was useful for arranging day tours for us and there is a free shuttle to twin towers at about half hour intervals.

General Comments
There is some improvement in KL taxi system as some taxis are now willing to turn on the meter rather than haggling over a fixed price. In fact, most taxis now have a signage on their doors that spells “metered taxi”. Still, old habits die hard and there are still many who refused to abide.

We also do not recommend getting a taxi from the hotel driveway. We tried getting a taxi from there with our luggage in tow and the concierge was all too eager to persuade us to take the blue limo taxis, which I think charge a premium. When we asked for a normal taxi with meter, he looked unhappy. In the end, the taxi that came charged a fixed price and obviously, the concierge lent us no helping hand.

There are also some hits and misses in terms of food outside of the hotel. One thing we learnt is that while some are bang for buck, there are a few eateries that charge tourist prices and worse, the quality does not justify these prices. If you have recommendations for good eateries around the area, do share!

view from our room

bath room

working area

minibar area with outdated TV

lift lobby

location map


Useful links - Park Royal KL

Meritus Pelangi Langkawi

Spent two nights at Meritus Pelangi Langkawi and here's our experience.

Location
The great thing about the location is that it is very near to the airport and just a stroll away from the beach. It could be the scorching heat or I must have shorter limbs because as opposed to the many reviewers, I found the walk to the local shops and eateries quite a distance away. Also take caution that when night falls, the lighting along that stretch of road is not very good.

Facilities
The environs of the hotel charms with beautifully flowered trees and shrubs. The gardeners are a hard working lot, sweeping away the fallen leaves daily and yet will still greet you with smiles. The lobby is open air but the dark woods provide really good shade from the sun except for the little café right beside the lounge which was covered in glass and hence felt more like a green house to me. The only gripe was that you could tell most furnishing is rather aged and there are stains all around. And do check before you lean or put your hands around anywhere as insects and ants are aplenty. I was trying the hammock on the beach and was almost fell off when I found a HUGE red ant crawling on my arm. The pool was nice and huge with plenty of lounge chairs. Even though its considered peak season, you never really feel that the place is over crowded which is kind of amazing. As echoed by a few reviewers, there’s definitely no free wifi in this part of the world but you can use their internet service at a charge. Many complained about expensive charges but I think they are referring to hourly rate? They do charge a flat rate for 24 hours use (I think RM 50) which I think is very worth it. The only complaint was that the service was down from 11am to 7pm on the very day we subscribe but after giving our feedback, charges were waived immediately so cheers to that.

Room
We booked a double deluxe with pool facing view and was given a 2nd storey room. We liked that it was just a short walk from the lobby. I was put off by the musty smell when we were first entered the room but once the air was cooled, you kinda get used to it. Again, furniture and furnishings definitely needs some refurbishing though the old “malay kampong” feel certainly has its charms. The air con seems old as it failed to cool the temperature quickly especially during the day. I think the high ceiling is an attributing factor. We were also fascinated by the vat of water just outside each hut (apparently it is a malay custom to wash your feet before entering the house), which proved to be very useful after a day at the beach to wash off any remnants of sand.

Food
We tried almost all the restaurants in the hotel except the BBQ boat house. The food at the spice restaurant was horrid in our opinion - sandwich doesn’t taste fresh and my companion’s lasagne had an overdose of salt. The breakfast was served from the same restaurant so the quality failed to excite us as well. As there are cats in the compound, I also observed them jumping onto the tables with the table ware, so you pretty much can imagine what extra “ingredients” you had in your food. The thai restaurant is only opened in the evenings and though there was a smart casual dress code, I think they don’t really bother. The thai noodles had more veggies than noodles and the dessert was really too sweet. Even the ice cream I tried at Horizon bar at poolside was not too good. However, I must say I liked the ambience and deco of the restaurants but the quality of food failed to impress.

We did venture to the local shops but be prepared that 99% of them are not air conditioned and with the hot weather, your appetite really takes a nose dive.

Service
We had a rather smooth check in and most staff were cordial and ever ready to smile and greet you. We had one huge issue on the last day though. We booked for a day tour online from another agent in advance but to our dismay, the agent did not turn up! We went to the tour desk for assistance but as most tours are booked they could not offer any alternatives at all. We felt that they could offer some assistance as it was our last day and we do not wish to leave the island with regrets.

Verdict
The location wasn’t fantastic, food was horrible, service passable and if not for the beautiful landscape, our trip would have been terrible. Not to mention the rates are not cheap either. We would probably give this hotel a miss unless it offers very attractive discounts.

The lobby

Surroundings

malay kampong style room

double deluxe room

view from our balcony

bathroom

toilet

adjoining walk in wardrobe

minibar

This is the Spice Restaurant that serves buffet breakfast

One of the appetizers served with lunch at the Spice Restaurant

hotel pool and sea view at far end

massage hut on the beach

This is the vat that won my approval as it helped to clean your feet after a day at the beach.

pelangi beach resort on the map is the location of meritus pelangi