Kuala Lumpur: Rising to the heights of modernity.

(From The Jakarta Post)

from THE JAKARTA POST -- SUNDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2006 -- PAGE 13 Kuala Lumpur has become a modern-day metropolis, but glimpses of the past remain. Even with its excellent infrastructure and a center of soaring skyscrapers, there still remain -- tucked away among all the steel and glass that shine in the brilliant tropical sun -- some outstanding and quite beautiful representatives of by-gone days

Alternative routes from the international airport into the modern city center of Kuala Lumpur offer contrasting aspects of the city

By road, there is really no hint of arriving at Malaysia's modern capital. Though the toll road is very well constructed and the limited traffic flows easily, the road carves through deeply forested hills that are in stark contrast to urban development

The distance from the airport to the city center is considerable, about 70 kilometers, and this makes the high-speed railway a perhaps surprisingly more varied ride into town. The pristine and high-tech train speeds the traveler through new industrial and suburban settlements that give much more of a clue that a major city is being approached

Whether approaching by …