First MRT Ride

It had to start somewhere.

Even though half of the MRT line connecting Kajang and Sungai Buloh had been opened for the last 6 months, this was the first time I tried the ride. After parking my car at NU Sentral, I walked along KL Sentral towards the connecting station at Muzium Negara. A nice walk - across at least 6 escalators which were moving faster that I used to.

This way ...Then up this escalatorWalk straight on towards the entrance to Le Meridien and HiltonAnd further on ...After about 10 minutes, I reached the station proper, tapped my Touch & Go card, down another escalator to the platform. Very frequent train - every 8 minutes on that Saturday afternoon - which each train stretching along the whole station. It must have been 8 coaches per train at least which definitely made the journey both pleasant and efficient.

The coaches were also more spacious that the notoriously cramped Monorel - which not only had less frequent services, only served a couple of coaches per trip. It was night and day.

Everything was well postedAnd then we go deep undergroundAnd we go deeper ....Finally we reached the terminal. And time to get the tickets ...On the whole, I was very pleasantly surprised. It was more in keeping with KL heading towards a World Class city. The shame was the project was delayed a few times. Such public transport should have been in place 10, if not 15 years back. The fear moving forward would be the investments put in for maintenance. Generally speaking, we are good at building but slow to act and service what is crumbling ...

Now we are at the platform ...To the left, or to the right?Make sure you catch the right ride ...Finally reaching Bukit Bintang. Another escalator up ...Definitely worth a try and I personally would be using it more as the trip from NU Sentral to Bukit Bintang was nothing but pleasant. Best to take advantage of the 50% discounts before Merdeka.

Maid Issue

Our maid was supposed to be back in KL by the New Year's Day. We didn't get any phone call from her the few days prior, and things got rather suspicious when she failed to turn up after a couple of days.

We just found out that she missed her flight from Manila this morning and frantically we had to arrange for her to come back. Suffice to say that we had to foot up the bill for the flight. And being this late, we really got jacked at the Air Asia counter. The flight back alone cost more than her original return tickets.

We went straight to the counter at KL SentralBut we hardly had a choice. I had to cancel our original plan to have a few days out of town from Monday, since she could only get the flight back on Tuesday. I sorted out her tickets after my Mum's kenduri and now I was broke!

Hopefully there would be no more drama after this and things could return to normal after Wednesday!

Update on Tuesday, January 5, 2016 at 8:13PM by Haris Abdul Rahman

Panic over! Our maid is back!

The LRT

The last I used the LRT was some time last year. I really didn't mind it. But for Anita, last Friday was the first time that she actually used the service in town. She rode once from Gombak to KLCC with the boys during quiet hours when the coaches were empty. This time around, we decided to take a ride on a Friday afternoon.

Getting onto the top of the platformI finished work early, and with the weather being gorgeous, we decided to head into town while trying to avoid the mad Friday afternoon traffic. The solution, we parked at Nu Sentral and hopped next door at KL Sentral to take the LRT. Two stops later, we were already at Masjid Jamek, taking the exit and walking towards the bazaar at Masjid India.

Coming back was rather more challenging as the brunt of the rush hour crowd had ascended towards KL Sentral. Again, we took the LRT train from Masjid Jamek for a couple of stops back to our car.

At Masjid Jamek stop where the ceiling was flooding during one of those heavy KL rainfallUnfortunately when I arrived at Nu Sentral, I received a call from the hospital. I had to sort out a couple of patients there, one at the Casualty. My plan to join the Nurse's Night Dinner were blown again this year ...

Nu Sentral

As mentioned, I had some for lunch today. I had always wondered what does Nu Sentral looked like as I passed through it a few months back. It was before the opening hours then when I joined a few fellow photographers venturing around Brickfields. So, I decided to have lunch there today.

I was surprised at how big the place was. Quite easily 8 floors of shops and each floor took some walking to cover. Not as big as Berjaya Time Square in terms of square footage but just as dizzyingly big. Bear in mind that not all the shops were opened yet.

Loving the curves and anglesAnd also at the outside courtyardGetting into the mall could be tricky if rounders not familiar with Brickfields. I drove from the centre of Brickfields towards the town centre with the mall being on my left. I then entered the parking lot from here, an easy drive as KL was still quiet after the Raya celebration. And the parking lot was practically empty.

As Deepavali was around the corner, the main foyer was filled with kolam, the colourful rice decoration on the floor. A competition was being held and the patterns looked very impressive.

And then the climbing started. I was sure that Anita would've been pleased if she were to come along. Most of the major outlets were there, including Godiva Cafe - Idlan's favourite. The outlet at Pavilion doesn't have any seating any more. Uni Glo, H&M, even Burton was there. The food court were located on the upper floors. The anchor tenant was Parkson.

Nice cafe ...Must say that the architecture did not reflect the surrounding neighbourhoodColourful kolam as part of the competition. Deepavali round the corner.From one of the upper floorsLooking downStaring at the ceilingIn the coming months, there would be a bowling alley and multiplex opening. By then the place would be impressive.

But what struck me about the place was the architecture. Impressive. Not just the inside. The outside walkway was also as impressive. The mall was linked to KL Sentral and Monorail, hence transport should not be an issue.

After walking around the place close to one and a half hour, I then settled in for some fast food before heading back to my apartment 10 minutes away for more reading.

Would definitely be visiting again, this time with Anita and the boys.

Out of Town

After a hectic week, and a hectic weekend. Just done with the boys concert - which I missed - and now on the ERL heading to KLIA to catch a flight to Kuching. A short overnight stay, to deliver a talk late tomorrow morning.

Had time to go through the slides but adjustments needed aplenty. Hopefully would be able to sort those out in time to board the flight. Reckon it would be full house.

Might be able to catch some sleep and some chill time at the hotel tonight. My return flight would be late afternoon, teaching KL by Maghrib.