If you’re in for a fun day out with the significant other or your family, Suria KLCC is a good place to head to. Situated at the base of the iconic Petronas Twin Towers in the heart of Kuala Lumpur, the place offers good dining options, shopping (albeit rather pricey), a large green park perfect for evening walks, an oceanarium and a science centre. We went to the latter two during E’s visit in KL.

Featuring over 250 species of oceanic and river life, the place is spread across 60,000 square feet of space. There are various ‘themes’, from rivers to mangroves, coral reefs and the deep blue sea. Entry prices can be a little pricey, but Malaysians get a discount. Entry is RM38 (Malaysian) and RM50 (non-Malaysian). Kids go in for RM28.

We were greeted by a tank full of innocent looking Piranha. One could mistake them for their milder cousin, the Pacu.

There was also a tank housing giant fish from the Amazon river, like the Arapaima which can grow up to 2m. Chinese people like it because it is considered lucky, and if you buy ‘numbers’ on the scales of the fish, you might strike lottery. lol

A giant bottle-like structure in the middle of the exhibits are a replica of an Amazonian river ecosystem, with dozens of different fish swimming in the clear water while a tree rises up in the centre like a pillar. The effect is rather magical.

We next went through an underwater tunnel, with sea life such as sharks, stingrays and Manta rays in the foray. Visitors can choose to walk or stand on the very very very slow conveyor belt thing.

Whenever I see a shark, I’m reminded of that shark episode from BBC’s Funny Talking Animals series. Youtube it, it’s hilarious.

If you’re up for it, you can go diving in the Shark cage for a fee.

Some sort of weird sea snake. E said they looked ‘cute’, like Pokemon’s Digletts.

We finished our visit in less than two hours, since Aquaria isn’t very big. We next went on to Petrosains, the ‘Discovery Centre’. The place is owned and run by Petronas, our local petroleum company (which is what the twin towers are named after as well).  With a space of 70,000 feet, the place is large and chronicles the scientific progress of petroleum mining and geology.

There was no line since it wasn’t a weekend or public holiday. Couldn’t cheat on Malaysian price because cashier asked for IC lol. We sat in a black ball on a track which took us to the main viewing area.

When it first opened in 1999, everything was considered state of the art. Sadly, not much has been done to spruce up the place and almost all of the exhibits have not been replaced since then (that makes it what, 15 years?). I think Petronas should really pool in some money to upgrade the centre, being a multibillion dollar company and all.

They did have a newer machine where you can experience a ‘storm’ with winds up to 128kph. It looked like a space pod with an eerie red glow.

The place was kind of perfect for E because he loves puzzles, and there are lots of ‘experiments’ that you can try, ranging from simple to a bit more complicated. The bad news is  that he has slight OCD, so he had to try and solve everything, lol.

For RM15, I’d say Petrosains is okay for a day out if you’re bored of shopping. We spent less than two hours in this place. I really wished they would upgrade the stuff because some of it is as old as a full-grown teenager by now and it reflects sloppily on the Malaysian tidak-apa attitude, which is always ‘build something to impress first’ and then never upkeeping it (I mean, look at the Bukit Jalil stadium we built for the 1998 Commonwealth games. It’s a white elephant now.) That aside, it’s a cool place. Coming here as a nine-year-old and a 24-year-old is definitely nostalgic.

Til next post!