Saturday Walk

It wasn't much of a Saturday today. I spent yesterday night sorting out my slides and despite cancelling the clinic this morning, I was in hospital all morning sorting out the few patients I had to see in the morning.

I didn't make the faculty lunch in time and got to the conference venue just before my session started.

Once my session was done, it was time to unwind. But it was raining cats and dogs outside. And the traffic? Atrocious!

Settling down for dinnerTime to orderThe main lobby was transformedNow, that's one giant monkeyThe main Bukit Bintang entranceAfter the rain stopped, I decided to take Anita out for dinner. For some reason, I felt like having Arab food. Off to Pavilion. Bad move! Bukit Bintang was packed and I only managed to park at Fahrenheit, walking across to Pavilion for our dinner, having a peek at the CNY decorations which were already being erected.

I wasn't really in the mood for photography at the time. Food was foremost on my mind, plus bed later ....

End of the Road?

Since the closing of Bukit Bintang Plaza, its sister Sungai Wang Plaza seemed to have aged considerably. It was slowly turning into a dump unfortunately. Certainly it had not aged gracefully.

When I was there yesterday, quite a number of the business had closed. Some of them had moved across to Berjaya Time Square just along the road. Some of them had packed up while most of the IT vendors had moved to Low Yat next door.

It was a Sunday and usually the place was the buzz capital of townApparently the main foyer was occupied by a K-pop dance event. It was already done.In the past years, there were still plenty of vendors selling phones at the main foyer and walkway. It uses to be multiple floors of them. Yesterday, it was down to just a single floor. And even then, you can't get the really up to date gadget any longer.

This was one of the earliest "Famous Amos" store in the country. And still serve the best cookies.But it was depressing to look around everywhere ....I was convinced that its days are numbered. Maybe once the MRT station operational the situation might improve but at the rate it was going things were. It looking too good. The whole of the third floor was practically empty. I didn't even bother going up to the loft where there used to be a big eating area.

Time had certainly moved on ....

How About Fahrenheit?

Located across the road from Pavilion, I thought I have a look at the decorations there as well. Not much interpretation here. Just a simple Xmas celebration, Father Xmas and his helper.

Plus reindeers of course. Much more subdued than past years, which reflected how business had been over there. It had gone rather quiet I was afraid ....

Pavilion Xmas Decor

One of the advantage of a multi-cultural society is the regular festivities that we had. And during this period, the shopping malls in town would be lavishly decorated, filled with night lights and gimmick. Despite the economic slow-down and the recent haze, everybody were still looking forward for a bit of flair and creativity.

As of every year, I looked forward to what Pavilion had to offer. This year, it was more glitters than snow, with Swarovski being the main sponsor at the lobby. They had a five-storey Xmas tree on show, filled with crystals and lights. The train and the grotto made a comeback and the area by the main entrance and the fountain were filled with lights as well.

Last night, I had the chance to explore the place at night, trying to absorb the light show. The main lobby was still closed for installation last week, so yesterday was the first time I explored it as well.

It was the ASEAN Summit weekend and with Obama in town, we were expecting some traffic flow problems. Despite that, there were still plenty of people out on the Saturday night. I wonder what Nu Sentral and 1Utama have in store ….

A Hazy Outing

I had to settle some business in town and ended up walking in town in the worsening haze this afternoon. The API - Air Pollution Index - was around 120 in central KL at the time, well into the unhealthy range.

After the business was taken care of and a spot of lunch, I decided to have a quick walk towards Low Yat - none-the-less - to have a look at a few things. I brought my camera along to see how different the cityscape looked like.

Spare some thoughts to this working in this condition

I was walking without a mask and by the time I reached Low Yat, my throat had already felt the irritation. I stopped for a drink - indoors of course - before walking on. Had a look at a few items before returning back to Pavilion where I parked. There was an event by KakiSeni going on, plus other campaigns and roadshow taking place in the open. How I pity those sales people having to endure such elements.

By the time I drove home, it was already threatening to rain. The haze was still lingering thick after the rain was done and we decided it would be no school for both Idlan and Irfan tomorrow. Another day of havoc at home! We found out that other parents had also decided against bringing their children in due to the bad air quality. Should the situation deteriorates, even the school may be closed ...