Ending Raya Break Part I

I took a whole week off for the recent Hari Raya and getting back to work was a pain especially with the backlog of patients waiting for me at the clinic. Luckily, I had a couple of days to get my feet back on the ground before starting my calls.

Deciding where to head to ...Looking up ...Making my way across to Avenue KOne of the newer shops in town - RobinsonsA quick stop at the Leica StoreYes, it is big!For the last day of the break, I decided to take my camera out for a spin. Just me and the camera with my Touch and Go card to take me across town using the MRT/LRT.

Alighting at Masjid JamekMasjid IndiaPlease pay hereHello Kitty!Looking good ...Some of the roads undergoing upgradesLuckily the weather turned out to be superb, and it turned out to be an enjoyable day. When I was finally done, I clocked around 300 snaps.

I parked my car to start the journey at Suria KLCC. From there, I walked across to Avenue K, having a few snaps at the Twin Tower as I was passing along. I was tempted to stop at Robinson’s - the new shopping mall at Four Seasons just across Suria but decided against it.

Red shop ...Pertama Complex - one of the oldest mall in KLLooking out from Medan MARAThe SOGO entrance was rather flowery ...Back to Masjid IndiaTime to settle down for lunchI stopped at the Leica Store while at Avenue K before taking the LRT to Masjid Jamek. I walked along Masjid India, then towards Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman, before doubling back to Lebuh Ampang for lunch at one fo the banana leaf restaurant there.

Continued here in Part II ...

Sunny Walk

My favourite kind of Sunday would be when I was not on call, it rained early in the morning, and then the cloud cleared up by midmorning, in time for me to finish my rounds. From then on, it would be sunny all day, capped off with gorgeous sunset and serene blue hour!

They were few and far in between but I had such a Sunday recently. So, I decided to bring my gear out and just walk around town.

Sundays in the centre of town nowadays felt like you were being transported to another realm. The area around Central Market were filled with foreigners enjoying their day off work and truth be told. It could be off-putting and intimidating. This was especially so when they appeared in such large group. You often fear for your safety and walking alone, I do not fell safe carrying my expensive cameras anymore.

But my Ricoh GR was no slouch and I was able to snap around without much notice. It would have been nice if I could have hooked up with a few mates ....

Decided on Me Time

Enough was enough and I decided to devote my Sunday .... to me. Good thing that Anita was out with her friends, I went into town, had some biryani lunch at Masjid India. Took my camera out and walk around town.

Catching my ride from my parking spot, KL SentralFirst stop would be to get some biryaniThe biryani here at Restoran Shahira is not bad at all. A hidden gem!Managed to catch an exhibit or two, before sitting down for a long lunch. For the last 6 straight Sundays I had been at the hospital and it was high time that I stayed away for once. I also had a few days leave lined up from next weekend, so I decided to switch off.

Seeing what's cooking in the bazaar ...Plenty of people coming and going ....Before I walk across to Medan Pasar ....The weather was nice for a walkabout, and I used the time to get myself acquainted with my new camera bag. Yesterday I put a couple of camera bodies in them and it felt a tad too heavy. It had better balance with just one, plus an iPad and some dongles. That was better. And I didn't have to worry about my wallet as well. Everything was in the bag. I only wished that the sides were a bit more sturdy and it tended to lose its shape if I didn't put the content the right way.

Off to Suria for some coffeeThat escalated to some bite ....And a bit of blogging ....So, I planned to enjoy another couple of hours to myself and hopefully there won't be anybody ringing. Happy Sunday!

Masjid India

After we said our goodbyes with the bigger group, I broke off around Masjid India on my way to the LRT near Masjid Jamek. Some of my photographer friends decided to have dim sum lunch at a nearby restaurant but since I had to return back to the hospital, I had to give it a miss.

Very colourful place but very warm at the same time since the sun was already high up. The fact that the place didn't have much win blowing also didn't help.

There were shops there mainly selling snacks, clothes and bootleg items. In fact, Masjid India was famous for that.

Time to head home ....In the end, there weren't much to see as I was rushing. Took the LRT and that was the end of my photowalk for the day.

Semua House

I was sure that I have written about this place before. It used to be the heartbeat of Masjid India and Jalan Bunus in the 80s. This, plus the Campbell Complex not far behind were the place to be, before walking further down towards Pertama Complex. Those were the time before SOGO and Maju Junction been built.

There were also only the locals and Indian Moslems running the business there. Nowadays, Semua House and the surrounding area were filled up by Indonesian, and I was sure that before long, maybe the Bangladeshis and Nepalis. They far outnumbered the locals nowadays. The business might be owned by the locals, but certainly the sales staff weren't from around here.

Not many shops were running at full speedLooking down towards the entrancePlenty of the lots left vacantA sad state

The main tenants there seemed to be specialty shops for Malay wedding. Plenty of tepak sirih, stuff for the pelamin as well as wardrobes were on the second floor. Other than that, there were nothing special. Plenty of shop lots were closed for rent, and there were not much activities going on in the inside. There were more things happening in the surrounding area.

I reckoned the business had been siphoned away to the nearby bigger malls - SOGO and Jakel Mall included. I think the days of Semua House were numbered.