Hotel Malaya

I noticed this hotel right in the middle of China Town (Petaling Street) for some time and had been curious about it. Never stayed there or anything but along some of my photowalks, I tended to pass by the old art deco-inspired building.

But last weekend when I passed by along during the Scott Kelby Photowalk, I was surprised that the hotel was closed. In fact, the entrance looked like it was about to be demolished. Maybe a renovation was in the card since the location of the hotel was really central. Backpackers and tourist on a budget would love such a place!

Would definitely be watching what would happen to the place. I did some searches on the web, but the returned were all about the past review on the hotel - which I would diplomatically labeled as "mixed". No entries talked about renovations or demolition. It was just that Agoda and the likes had stopped taking bookings, and that was about it.

A Quick Breakfast

I had an hour or so to spare after my ward round this morning before leaving for the airport. The boys were still in bed, so I called Puan Anita up telling her to get dressed and we had a quick drive towards Petaling Street for breakfast at the rustic Merchant's Lane.

It was the first time that Anita been there and she was really impressed. She spent most of the times taking photos and messaging her friends about the place. I would not be surprised if they would be spending a few mornings there in the coming weeks.

The place was still relatively empty when we arrived within half an hour of opening. I took her to the seats at the back, more secluded and more cosy. We had a lovely coffee and meal, and it was a shame that we had to leave so soon. I had a plane to catch ....

Merchant's Lane

Even the name stroke a cord. This is the new cafe - opened in the last couple of months, located at Petaling Street. It was at the quieter end of the street, towards Bulatan Merdeka, located right next to Advanced Tertiary College.

Nicely tucked away on top of a stationary shop, if could prove to be tricky to find as the sign leading up the stairs were pretty small.

But once you got into the cafe, you would surely be charmed by the rustic surrounding and ambiance. You might mistaken to be in either Penang or Melaka. An old pre-war building, a converted shophouse - apparently it used to be a brothel! - with the exterior and anterior walls preserved.

The ceiling was opened up letting in natural light making the place appeared bigger and cosier. There was the main part where the coffee counter was located with an open seating area, but should you venture towards the back, there were more seating, and this time it was out in the opened. A pretty unique find and from now on, I would definitely be sitting at the back!

I stopped there to join my KLickr friends during the recent photowalk, and I would definitely be taking Anita along the next time. She would definitely love it.

How was the food? The menu was still pretty basic, and they were heavy on the breakfast and comfort food. I ordered some fried salmon with wasabi mayo. It was really nice, plus a hot mocha. A definite retreat away from the hustle and bustle of town life.

There were parking lot right opposite as well if you plan to drive in. In my case, I was on foot all the way from Central Market with the rest of the gang. Certainly a great little cafe with plenty of potential. It would sure to generate plenty of Instagram photos and Swarm check-ins. Highly recommended!

Pasar Karat KL

Karat literally translates to "rust" in English. We were not talking about diamonds here, but sure enough Pasar Karat is a flea market near Petaling Street in KL, and one could unearth some gems from time to time!

Some dubbed it "Market of Thieves" and certainly one can't help but wonder why such term was coined when you walk around the market. They were filled with antiques and certainly some stolen goods as well.

How to get there? It ran parallel to Petaling Street (KL Chinatown) in the middle of town, within walking distance from Central Market, and it formed part of the route for our #WWPW2015 - Scott Kelby Worldwide Photo Walk - the other day. It opened every Saturday and Sunday as early as 6 am, and one had to get there early to get the best bargain.

We entered the market from the Jalan Sultan entrance, making our way into Petaling Street proper. When we arrived there at almost 9, the place was already packed. They were all makeshift stalls and tables, the wares being left displayed in the open for us to bargain on the price. The main stalls by the entrance were selling proper antiques. The deeper you go, the dodgier the business were until right at the back where you suspect that those were all stolen items.

But it was all in good spirit. The sellers were pretty approachable, but be sure to ask their permission before you take their photos. They can be a bit touchy. After all, it was their turf.

After walking for around 20 minutes, talking to some of the sellers, we sat by a coffee stall to have a drink. According to the owner, Pasar Karat had been around since the early 80s. It used to be exclusively Chinese but in the last 10 years, foreigners came into the picture, and with that some rougher characters. There were always some plain clothed policeman around patrolling the area and see if there are any disturbances. One had also had to be wary about your pockets, and make sure you keep your personal belongings to yourself. But generally speaking the place were quiet peaceful.

I didn't buy anything since I couldn't bother to carry them on the rest of my walk. Certainly not a place I would come alone. Safety in numbers, that was the key. The vendors could tell if it was your first time there, and how good could you bargain.

The items sold there were also rather dodgy especially the electronics. One could get an 32Gb SD card for around RM30, but one couldn't guarantee if you can safe more than 4Gb of data on the card if you know what I mean! Watch out for bargains that were too good to be true! And everything has a price!

As for photo-ops, certainly there were plenty to snaps. There were some nice looking murals on the walls and the patron there tended to be characters as well. But be sure to ask permission before you snap. More likely than not, they would say yes. And if they say no, move along. Just google "Pasar Karat KL" and you would sure to get the directions to the place. Happy hunting!

Petaling Street

Welcome .... to McDonald'sFinally! I think I have the route pretty much sorted out. I was praying that it won’t be raining in the afternoon of the planned walk - 24th July. If so, then the plan would be to head for Petaling Street - KL’s famed Chinatown. The centrepiece of Petaling Street was this long canopied walkway flanked by shops, hotels and restaurants. Located just a 5-minutes walk from Central Market, 10 from Puduraya and situated right next door to ‘Bangkok Bank’, access was never a problem. Last Sunday, I had the chance to breeze through this area in the late evening as part my scouting exercise for the upcoming Scott Kelby Photowalk.

Winsin Hotel - one of the landmark of Petaling Street, located right next to Bangkok BankI parked my car just behind Bangunan Sultan Abdul Samad - what used to be called the High Court, right opposite Dataran Merdeka. For that weekend, Dataran Merdeka was temporarily transformed into Dataran Bola, with a huge screen erected to beam the World Cup Final match live from South Africa. There was a street carnival planned for the evening and by the time I was about to leave for home, the whole area was starting to fill up by dwellers young and old. During the day, there was a five-a-side football tournament being played there.

After Dataran Merdeka, I went straight towards Masjid Jamek to check out the restaurants there - the planned venue for lunch. There was a mamak outlet called Restoren Jamek. Right next door was a half-decent Malay Restaurant called Restoren Dapur Kampung. Further down, there was a 7-Eleven, Burger King and McDonald’s. Don’t think lunch going to be a big issue. I then walked towards Lebuh Ampang, then turning left just before Central Market towards Bangkok Bank. Before I knew it, Petaling Street was staring straight towards me.

The place certainly has changed since the early 90s - a time I was more familiar to the area. I would have described the place to be agricultural if you understand what I mean. You would think twice before heading there alone, and made sure you did not take a wrong turn. Now, the place was fully covered with a row of roof-top level canopy, three stories high, shading from both rain and sun. Coming from Bangkok Bank, the place initially appeared open and inviting. You will soon reach a central area where another perpendicular path cut right across. The landmark here was the chestnut stalls. Turning right will take you to Hotel Malaya, the biggest hotel here in Chinatown. A left turn would take you to China Town Boutique Hotel.

Hotel Malaya at one endBeautique Hotel at another

If you are looking for a serious bargain rather just wanting to enjoy the sight, you should go straight on where the serious business were carried out. Here, the streets were narrower and was packed with stalls selling mainly bootleg material - watches, clothing, handbag and shoes - what Chinatown was famous for amongst the tourist. The transaction here were carried on using the universal translator - the calculator to type out the price. Haggling was a must!

In terms of photo-op, I don’t think the vendors would be amuse should we kowtow into the narrow stalls with cameras blazing. Might as well stay away from this part during the photowalk. We wold not want any drama, would we? Even if you were not looking for any bargains, there were plenty of colourful characters and facets to photograph. That being a Sunday, the crowd were certainly building up. To my surprise, the majority were either local or Indonesian, rather than your typical Mat Salleh. There were a few Arabs as well, but I was sure that they can aford the real thing.

Good bye!After an hour or so, I walked back towards Central Market, before tracing my route back past Masjid Jamek towards Dataran Merdeka where my Kelisa was parked. The place was already starting to pack up. I will publish the final route for the photowalk in a later entry.