Kuala Lumpur 1 - Shopping/Food [28/01,29/01]

28th January (Thursday)

This is a family trip to Kuala Lumpur. The last time I went for a family trip was around 20 years ago and it was also to Malaysia. It is organised by my eldest brother this time round, so I do not have to do much study or research on the places to visit.

We rendezvous at Transtar's Lavender departure office. The office has a waiting lounge for passengers, the interior is beautifully decorated and it comes with free flow of refreshments. Each premium bus service comes along with a lovely cabin crew.



Here is how the interior looks like. Each seat is a massage chair and comes with a personal entertainment video system. Needless to say, the seats are large.



We were served meals on board. After boarding, we were given Pastamania's Pasta Sausage. 2 hours down the road, it is another snack time of a choice of coffee/tea with snacks.



After the second link, it is a 4 hours journey northwards to KL. We arrived at KL around 1.30pm. The Petronas Twin Tower and KL Tower greeted us from afar.



From the bus station in Pasar Rakyat, we took a cab to Jalan Sultan where our hotel, the Five Elements Hotel is. Jalan Sultan is in the Chinatown area.



Our rooms are actually connected by a common door.



And off we go for lunch. Crossing the road, we came upon the many BBQ Pork stores. Here we have a shop helper barbecuing along the road. It looks so tempting that we went to buy some immediately.



Here is the T-junction of Jalan Heng Lekir and Jalan Sultan. Many school children walk along this road as at the end of the road is a chinese school.



The many signboards found in a typical overseas chinatown. (notice the school name in the background)



We went to this shop along Jalan Heng Lekir for their Wan Tan mee.



Here is what I have ordered (medium size)



Thereafter we turned into Jalan Petaling street: the official chinatown street.



This street is famous for all the imitations goods and local food products/pastries. I do not buy imitation goods as their quality is inferior to non-branded goods. So I skipped through most of the stalls while keeping a lookout for any good delicacies.



There is a durian shop along Jalan Sultan, so we stopped by and sample a few durians.



Many shops are gearing up for the coming Chinese New Year. They are all beautifully decorated in preparation for the festive season.



We went back to hotel to rest a while before going to the main shopping area of Bukit Bintang (the Orchard Road of KL). Our first stop is the Pavilion Mall. The entrance to the Pavilion is also decorated for the Chinese New Year holiday.



It is indeed a sea of red (mall interior).



Here we are crossing the junction of Jalan Sultan Ismail and Jalan Bukit Bintang, the busiest traffic junction in the area with the LRT running above. We proceeded to check out Sungei Wang and Low Yat Plaza.



Here is Berjaya Times Square, a large shopping mall up to 10 over storeys high with indoor roller coaster.



We proceeded down to Jalan Alor, which is a famous food hang-out in this area. We walked towards the end of Jalan Alor (next to Jalan Tong Shin) where we settle down for this seafood restaurant. As my brother has been to KL many times before, he knows where the best food and places to visit. The Salted Egg Crab is fabulous!!! (It's actually my third crab cuisine in 2 weeks. 2 weeks ago I had chilli crab, last week i had pepper crab)



29th January (Friday)

Our hotel package comes along with free breakfast. Here is the dining hall in the first floor.



I ordered Malay noodles during the first morning.



And western style during the second morning.



Thereafter we proceeded onto the Central Market which is a short 10mins walk from our hotel.



There are a lot of local crafts in the Central Market.



And also all kinds of interesting t-shirts.



We went on to a RM2 shop. I noticed that the badminton rackets only cost RM2 to RM5. No wonder Malaysia is one of the best in badminton sports.



In the afternoon we went down to Mid-Valley Mall (as my colleague like to say it, it is located in the middle of the Klang Valley). There is some lion dance performance in the afternoon in the middle of the mall.



There is also a World of Fengshui by a famous Malaysia Feng Shui master.



It started raining in the afternoon and we went back to the hotel. At night, we had BBQ prepared Portuguese-style. It only cost RM36 for 4 people. It has stingray, prawns, calms and octopus.

Kuala Lumpur 2 - Lake Garden [30/01]

I managed to set aside one day to visit some sights in KL. From our hotel, we took a cab to the National Monument in the Lake Gardens. Along the way, we passed by the Jamek Mosque. This is one of the recommended sight in the Historic Heart of KL. The architecture is remarkable.



We alighted along Jalan Parlimen and walked northwards towards the Tugu Negara (National Monument). Along the way, we passed by some stonehedge structure.



There is a quiet pond in the area. The midday sun is not up and the pond gave a clear reflection of the surrounding trees.



Walking along the path and appreciating the diverse vegetation of the equatorial climate.



Here is a memorial for the world wars.



The building leading to the National Monument. The sun cast perfect shadows in the building.



A symmetric national monument feel from the front (with a lady pretending to be a monkey on the right)



Let's take a closer look at the sculpture. This symbolises triumph over communism.



We took another path down from the National Monument southwards. Just in front is the ASEAN Sculpture Garden with a lot of funny looking exhibits and stonehedge like sculpture.



The national flower of Malaysia is hibiscus. Of so many flowers, I like hibiscus the most. There is a certain grace to it.



Through the Lake Garden, we came upon a dinosaur park. This is perfect for kids.



The plants are shaped like dinosaurs.



There are many water coolers around.



I find this part of the garden to be very special. It is circular and perfectly symmetrical. That is what I like about islamic art and architecture, everything is so beautiful.



Here is the start of Lake Garden. It is also a perfect venue for wedding shots.



Visitors can rent boats from here. It is very cheap, only RM6 for 30mins.



There are several bridges and pavilion in the park, so visitors can slowly cross it and rest under the pavilion. Ideal to visit the park in the early morning or evening, and avoid the hot afternoon sun.



We walked up the hill. It's quite a climb and I'm surprised that Lake Garden is quite hilly. Along the road in front of the Memorial Tun Razak, there is a sign telling motorist of monkeys crossing.



A family of monkeys (man's best friend).



The Memorial Tun Razak, it seems to be closed though.



Next, we decided to visit the Orchid Garden, since Orchid is the national flower of Singapore. The entrance on weekends is only RM1.



Walking along the covered walkway to the nursery and bazaar.



Multi-coloured orchids lined the bazaar.



A nursery where orchids are being grown.



We returned back to the bird park which is just opposite the Orchid Garden. We noticed there were different pricing between foreigners and locals. Locals who have a MyKad (Malaysia IC) only need to pay RM15 for adults, while foreigners have to pay a whooping RM42!!

Anyway, from there we hop on a taxi back to our hotel to wash up and get ready to check out. Along the way, we pass by the National Mosque.



The taxi driver told us the coming Monday is a City Day, where cities in Malaysia celebrate their holiday. So here in the open field, they are preparing for the City Day celebration. Notice the large flag pole in the distance.



After lunch in Chinatown, I decided to visit the Guan Gong temple in the area. I always like to visit places of worship as these are places where locals seek solace and peace.



The main entrance to the temple.



A dragon ready to soar.



The many incense hanging at the entrance of the temple. I learned this perspective from FP the last time we were shooting images in a similar temple in Singapore.