Welcomed Rain?

It hasn't been raining for quite a bit in KL. In fact it had been brilliantly sunny.

I was hoping that the good weather would last until the weekend when I should have some free time to do some shooting. It started raining heavily this afternoon instead. And as a result, I was stuck just outside the hospital after having some afternoon tea.

On call today, and the admissions had been piling in. It was a good thing if it meant I could have some sleep later at night, but at the rate it was going, I would be lucky if I managed to get any respite.

Now with the heavy rain, patients would wait until the rain subside until they turn up at Casualty. That would spell trouble.

Although I would appreciate the rain now - which brought the temperature down a notch, not to mention some fresh air - it might turn my night tonight into a nightmare. So, I would watch this space ...

The Decors are Out

Xmas was gone, and it was now time to look forward to Chinese New Year. It would be a busy time of the year for me as I would be covering my colleagues, but it also meant that the decorations would be out at the shopping malls. It may not be as extravagant as the last few years due to the economic situation, but the opening gambit at Pavilion was quite decent.

I have also seen photos from Nu Sentral and 1 Utama as well, but yet to find time to go out there. I also had the time to have a look at Suria KLCC, and as usual, they tended to be a bit conservative and predictable there.

It would be the year of the Goat. Last year, the Wooden Horses appeared in hordes at Pavilion, turning into a spectacular spectacle. For this year, there was a giant golden goat in the central foyer and lanterns all around. The entrance was nice however as the lanterns formed into an arch welcoming the punters through the Bukit Bintang entrance.

The angle from the famous fountain was nice, in fact many stopped to look and take photographs. Shame that there were so many constructions going around the area, clogging the place with traffic. I wished that the walkways would be exclusively for pedestrian, and the cars would be diverted away. That would open up the area into a large boulevard, connected to Starhill, all the way to Lot 10 and Bukit Bintang.

I went there before the rush of shoppers walked in - on an afternoon when I had no clinic. I had a chance to look around, but wished that I had more time to explore. Next would be Nu Sentral for me I think, but finding the time would be a challenge. Maybe this coming weekend.

Overnight in Penang

After clinic on Saturday, I took a drive - a long one - up North to Penang. There is a conference session I plan to attend there on Sunday morning, hence a quick drive up, attend the sessions then drive back home the next afternoon after lunch. Luckily I cancelled my Monday clinic, so as to have some recovery time before beginning the week in full swing.

But the sessions were great. I had the chance to explore the hotel after breakfast, before the talks begin. The hotel was built in the 80s and it was obviously so. It reminded me of Equatorial Penang where I stayed when I was sending my Aunt off to Mecca last year. It was from the same era. The architecture was also almost similar. A central covered courtyard with the hotel rooms going up in a tubular structure. It was popular those days I was sure.

After the talks were done, I drove to Sungai Petani to visit my Aunt but she did not answer the door. I then drove back to KL, stopping at a couple of places for quick drinks and prayers.

A short and tiring trip, but worth it.

Bye Bye BB Plaza

To be fair, the sign had been there for some time. Over the last couple of years, the place had gone quieter, not helped with the extensive MRT construction going on around the mall.

As early as 3 years ago, the tenants started moving out. It started with the MayBank branch right at the corner of the big crossroad between BB Plaza and Lot 10 by the Monorail station. They packed up almost overnight, and the the big Starbucks at the main entrance closed shop. It took longer than possible for the whole mall was closed actually. I was expecting the place to be gone last year.

A few shops left doing stock clearanceBut I wasn't sure about the plan. Was it a facelift? Was a big MRT station going to built there, which would be a boon since it would connect with the Monorail system and it would be a hub as there would be plenty of people using it, those going to Bukit Bintang, Berjaya Times Square, Low Yat, Lot 10 and Pavilion. It would've been strategic.

After all, the renovation at The Mall was still going on, almost 4 years since it started.

Then finally came the news that the plaza would be demolished. It would be replaced by a high-rise condominium project.

I was quite sad with the news. BB Plaza was one of the older mall in KL before it all went mega. It was basically a bazaar of small shops and it its heyday catered for almost everything new and trendy in town. From IT gadgets, counterfeit videos, clothes and hairstyle, a trip to BB Plaza would fix all that. It was the gadget hub before Imbi Plaza, and then Low Yat. Combined with Sungai Wang Plaza, the place was huge, with ample underground parking space in the old standard.

Metrojaya moved last weekI think this was a shoe storeThe panels being stripped bareThe top floors were already abandonedAnd then there was the iconic Metrojaya which was the main tenant there since I could remember. I almost worked there while waiting for my SPM result until my parents found out and put a stop to it.

I was sure quite a few of my friends felt the same. There was some kind of nostalgia, having got used to the place since the 80s. Time to move on I supposed.

I brought my camera along during one of the afternoons to have a look at what was going on. Most of the shops were already closed. Metrojaya was in the process of moving. The central foyer was left empty. The food court had been evacuated. The parking lot been cordoned off. The place was scheduled for demolition by March.

Bye bye Bukit Bintang Plaza. We had had a long relationship. And it's time to let go ... I'm getting sentimental in my old age!

Pandamonium

The 1600 Panda project was doing its round across Malaysia and for the final two weeks, them cute pandas would be stationed in Publika. It was a WWF project to raise awareness on the decline of the species and the 1600 pandas represent the 1600 pandas still left in the wild. Or at least when I was told.

I took the boys to visit today, and it was havoc. Publika was chock full of people. Parking was a nightmare and to make matters worse, we arrived during lunch hour and could not get any seat to eat. It was a struggle although we finally got one. Ben'd even had a 45 minutes waiting time. We went elsewhere instead.

The queue to get in to touch the pandasAfter we were fed, it was time to get into some panda action. The queue to enter the cordoned area to have a close-up of photos was just too ridiculously long. So, only a few selfies and snaps were done before we muscle our way out.

Best to come either late morning or maybe later on in the afternoon. Sunday lunchtime was definitely a bad idea in anyone's book.

The pandas were cute though. Smaller than I thought. Definitely worth getting the snaps ..... Shame that Publika would their final local stop. Not sure when they would return ...