New Look Pertama Complex

The main entrance to Pertama Complex had been under constant renovations for the last couple of years. That made access to the shopping mall rather inconvenient, putting off people planning to go in.

Yesterday, on my way to Kandaqstan launch, it seemed that the renovations were completed. I felt compelled to enter the building and have a look.

The central foyer by the main entrance appeared brighter and more openThe back lane remains the sameThe main change I saw was to main lobby. The facade was ageing before, not been given a new coat of paint. I also though that the lighting had been changed, the whole area looked more cheerful. Deep down, it remained the same old Pertama Complex. The old leather shops were still there on the upper floors.

I also made my way to once-mighty Foto Selangor. It had definitely seen its best day. Half of the shop now stored electronic goods rather than camera. Sad really. I supposed that was what the digital photography revolution did to the old brick and mortar photo shops. And they were only mainly selling consumer-grade cameras there now ... Had to look elsewhere if you want those fancy lenses.

There were more activities at the back rather than the frontThe once-mighty Foto Selangor looked to have downsized big time ...I remembered that there were I plenty of food stalls back in the days. They seemed to be missing now. Maybe the renovations had phased them out. I guess, in years to come, old malls such as this and Campbell would start to diminish a la Ampang Park, Sungai Wang Plaza and Yow Chuan. Unless these places managed to reinvent themselves to sell niche items to cater for a specific demographic of consumers. Leather goods maybe?

Kandaqstan

I'll give that 3 bendi! Or words to that effect!

Yesterday, I attended a book launch by a certain Jahabar Sadiq, somebody who's writing I had admired from afar for quite some time. It was great to meet the man himself albeit briefly.

He wrote a book on his appreciation of nasi kandar, traveling from Penang to KL to sample them all and give his review. Rather than stars, each venue were given scores in terms of bendi. You'll catch the flow when you read the books.

The launch was at Coliseum Café at Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman. A fitting venue if not for the errand Facebook directions. I was sent to a different part of Chow Kit upon parking my car at Maju Junction. Should've followed my instinct than the online directions.

Ini kari lah!The launch was scheduled for 4 pm with lunch from 3 at a nearby Ibramsha Nasi Kandar - appropriate plan. Unfortunately it was 4.30 when I finally made it to the door of the café and missed all the talks and speeches. Luckily I managed to grab the very last copy of the book and managed to get the man himself to autograft it. The extra 2 km walk was well worth it ...

Looking forward to read the book and try a few of the venues. I am familiar with some of them - Kudu bin Abdul which was my late Father's favourite came to mind. So, let the nasi kandar hunt begin ...

I am sure Kandaqstan would be available at many good book stores - and some not so good ones - around town. Do try to check it out ...

Capital Cafe

This was one of the old café from the heyday of 60's KL. At the time, the newly formed Malaysia was still searching for their identity. The place was still thriving and Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman formed the hub of the business district.

It was kinda a trip to the mall when you go out on a Saturday at Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman back then, and no shopping trip would be complete without a meal.

Zol reminiscing about the good old daysDone with the hailamShe recognised some of us ...And age-old cooking techniqueIn the good old days, Capital Café used to be a famous joint. Until this day, it was still famous for its mee hailam, although you had to be lucky for the" uncle" to fry you one as he had many helpers. The helpers didn't cook as well as he did.

During our walk, one of our friend suggested that we stopped there - just as we did a few years back. I had some mee hailam of course and I must say it wasn't as impressive as I hoped. Maybe the times had moved on.

Sunday at Maju Junction

We planned to have a look at MARA Digital last Sunday lunchtime and were deciding on where to park. Traffic was light though but sometimes you might get trapped in long queues. We do not mind a bit of walking.

In the end, we parked at the basement of Maju Junction and as we walked up, we noticed a nice cosy eating area run by Parkson. A nice surprise indeed as the place appeared to be well maintained and the food were reasonable. Not crowded at all for a Sunday Afternoon. Easy decision.

I had some nasi ayam"Real Food, Real People"Everything was nice and cleanMaking our way across to MARA DigitalI had some nasi ayam and Anita had some noodles. Next came the walk to the next block to Medan MARA where MARA Digital was located. We would definitely park here again. Access in and out of the car park was also quite straight forward ….

Part 8 Masjid India

By the time we left Capital Cafe, it was already well past noon. Masjid India was already crowded by then, and as customary on every Saturday afternoon from 3 pm, Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman would be closed for the night market.

We could hardly go anywhere without bumping into people, and the big dSLR which some of us carried looked awkward in this crowd.

Still in the spirit of MerdekaBlind street musician. Had been a feature here since the 80s.Sweet stuffNot your typical "Gadis dan Bunga"A couple of things I noticed about the place. Firstly, the crowds were mainly local, which was a change from Chow Kit. And secondly, there were too much bling here. There were goldsmiths everywhere, and the place must have the highest concentration of money changer in town. It seemed that on one of the rows, every other shops were money changers. I wonder what was the crime rate like at this area?

"Reserved"Lost count of how many jewellers and money changers around hereMore money changers and jewellersThe sun was bright. And we just had lunch. Not really in the mood to venture too far from the route. We ended up entering one of the Indian cafe and again, talked to one of the owners. This particular shop sell ladoo to the airlines and made them fresh everyday at the shop by hand. Some of them were sold at the shop next door, while some of them were transferred to a small warehouse in Sepang to be sent to the airport.

The gentleman I spoke to was there to help out his family after he retired, and he spoke in perfect English. We asked what did he retired from, and it didn't come as a surprise when he used to work as a journalist. He certainly got plenty of story to tell.

The place was also full of Indian candies - ladooRead the signs - Palaykat!Stopped by a ladoo shop, where they actually prepared the candies on siteWe even interviewed the ownerTime to move onAfter lingering on for another half an hour, it was time to meet up at the last destination sadly. We gathered at a cafe next to Masjid Jamek for one last meal ……

Links to the write-ups here.