Roadwork at Bukit Bintang

Clearly Bukit Bintang would never be the same anymore. Especially looking at the amount of digging they were doing around the iconic intersection between Jalan Bukit Bintang and Sultan Ismail. And it had been going on for the last couple of years, with an almost constant changing of the road layout around that particular area.

This development also had contributed to the closure of another famous landmark, the Bukit Bintang Plaza.

So, on my way to Low Yat Plaza last weekend, I went past the famous intersection again. There were still a big crowd mingling about, but the layout had changed again. The pedestrian walkway was still preserved but getting across the road could be a bit tricky.

I saw a few Mat Salleh stopping at the junction trying to get around the place. I was sure they stayed at a hotel nearby and wanted to explore the area. Not a good time for that mate!

Some heavy gear there ...I sure hope that all these distractions would pay dividend at the end of the day. There had been a lot of investment here and I hope that it would all be worth it .....

Low Yat Look

Since I had some free time last Sunday, I walked - with the camera - towards Low Yat, enjoying the gorgeous weather. The MWC at Barcelona last weekend came with plenty of announcement - the HTC M9 and the Samsung S6 Edge to name a couple. I was keen to see if there had been any discounts going on at the plaza with the impending release.

No such luck. Business as usual from the look of things. I had a good look around at some cases for the iPad but nothing took my fancy. I was thinking of upgrading my 2 year-old Nexus 7, but the recent Lollipop update gave a new life to the ageing device. Although the battery life suffered big time, the new upgrade offered plenty of new excitement, especially in the notification department. The system also felt snappier than before.

And to be honest, the 7-inch Android tablet market had not been exciting for a while now, and certainly not after the release of Nexus 6, and the announcement that Google was not planning to replace the Nexus 7.The next up would be the Nexus 9, which personally felt to big. Samsung had a couple of offerings, but not much of an upgrade to my current tablet.

Frankly speaking, nothing much to see really. Maybe the next month would be interesting with the release of a host of new devices.

Back with the Cron

After taking the new zoom for a couple of spin, it became very clear that I should stick to primes for photowalks. Zooms were good for the family outings and general use, but for my own snaps, definitely prime lenses were the way forward.

I just was not impressed with the new zoom despite it being top of the line. And I don't think it was the fault of the lens per se. It was more of a personal choice and the fact that I had been spoilt by the quality of the Leica lens I had with me.

So, to prove the point that I still possess some photography mojo, I went for a quick walk around Bukit Bintang last Sunday. With me came the Sony Alpha 7 mark II with the Leica Summicron-M 50mm through an adaptor of course.

The result? Stunning photos. Definitely the lens - and the fact that the Sony was full-frame made a major difference. The colour rendition was a lot better and I don't mind the manual focusing. It took a bit longer to get the snaps, but I was a lot happier with the setup.

The main difference was the micro-contrast on the lens. The Leica had them in abundance. I would still use the zoom, but only when the need arise. For my usual walk-about, the Alpha 7 and Cron combination looked to be with me for a while.

BTS CNY

Berjaya Times Square, Chinese New Year.

So, with Anita and the boys off to Ipoh, I ventured out, camera in hand to sample more decorations around Bukit Bintang as well as having a look at Nexus 6 at Low Yat.

The grand entranceThis must have cost the management a bomb!ProsperityMy God! There were tons of people there. Not like what it was last year when the place was subdued even around Chinese New Year. Apparently plenty of the vendors from Bukit Bintang Plaza - which was recently closed - had moved across. Plenty of people about and luckily I parked at Pavilion and just walked across. Otherwise finding parking spot here might be painful. Monorail would have been a better bet.

Anyhow, I wasn't able to do much shopping and most of the restaurant there were full. I just walked around having a look. Nothing I fancied. I noticed that most of the customers there were Malays, and this being a Sunday, I guess they went out to shop. Maybe most of the Chinese family had done their shopping or had already drove out of town.

I didn't have time to go to the amusement park though. The last time I went to the park was with my boys. Maybe I'd bring them after the CNY crowd quieten down.

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!