Walking the City Awake

Please click the photo above to play the daily videoSunday started with purpose and good company. Azul and Robin were already waiting when I arrived — our walking group has become one of those fixtures that anchors the weekend properly. This morning brought a few new faces too: Jon, Andrew, and Santik, who folded into the group with the easy camaraderie that seems to happen naturally when people walk together. There's something about moving at the same pace that shortcuts the usual small talk.

Breakfast was at Al Baik, which set us up nicely for the miles ahead. But then came the gut punch. Light Capture Cafe — closed. Gone since January, apparently. I stood there processing this with the particular devastation reserved for discovering a beloved spot has vanished while you weren't paying attention. You always assume these places will just be there. They aren't obliged to wait for you, of course, but it stings nonetheless.

Medan Pasar remains under renovation, still wrapped in its scaffolding and promises. KL is a city perpetually in the process of becoming something — whether that something is better or simply different remains to be seen. We stopped instead at Makan.BUZZ, which was living up to its name with an energy that bordered on infectious. Full tables, good noise, the clatter and hum of a place that knows it's doing something right.

From there, we cut through Central Market and threaded our way through Chinatown towards Merdeka 118, the tower making its presence felt long before you're anywhere near it. The real destination, though, was the lobby — Azul has his work displayed there, which is no small thing. It's a grand space, all height and light and polished surfaces, and seeing someone you walk with on Sunday mornings represented in a building of that scale gives you a quiet thrill. We admired it properly, because that's what friends do.

The return leg took us to Dayabumi via the MRT, legs pleasantly tired, the morning's mileage sitting well in the bones.

At home, I caught the first episode of Star City over lunch — the new For All Mankind spin-off. Early days, but it has the feel of something that knows where it's going. Enough to warrant a second episode, certainly.

The afternoon turned domestic. A drive out to WMart and Bangsar Village for groceries, which is the kind of errand that passes for leisure when you're in the right mood. There's a meditative quality to choosing ingredients when you already know what you're cooking.

And what I was cooking was wagyu. Sunday steak night remains non-negotiable in this household, and wagyu elevates the ritual to something approaching reverence. Seared simply, rested properly, served without fuss. Some traditions don't need improving, only honouring.

A full day, but the right kind of full. The kind where your feet ache and your kitchen smells wonderful and you've seen a friend's art on the wall of the tallest building in the country.

Starting to Wind Down

With Raya only a couple of weeks away, the motivation to grind down to do the work had somehow gone down. I still have another call to do next weekend before I would be off for a week this coming Raya.

We decided to stay in KL this time around, shelving the original plan to return to Penang. With Anita’s father still weak and my Mum’s decision not to travel, the final decision was pretty straight forward. The boys also only had a couple of days off school. So travelling did not sound like an attractive option.

We will be spending much of the Raya at Bukit Antarabangsa. I would probably be relaxing, venturing on a photo walk or two. I was sure there would be plenty of visitors over those few days, which would keep Anita occupied.

I have at least four Berbuka event next week. And come Friday would be the last on call for Ramadhan - I had a total of four. My last clinic would be on the Wednesday before Raya. Hopefully things would be quiet by next week.

Xmas is Near

For the last few years, the Xmas decorations at Pavilion had been the benchmark for all the other shopping malls in KL. So, when I was there a couple of weekends ago, it wasn't a surprise that the main foyer had been cleared away for the Xmas treats to be reacted.

The area was still restricted when I was there. Maybe by this week, we could go in. Let's see what is in store this year ...

.... and Crossings

The second elements I wanted to concentrate on during the walk were the zebra crossings. White ones would be boring. Luckily around the path of our walk, they were bright yellow. And most of them seemed to look like they had just been painted.

Contrast that to the dark asphalt road and bright blue sky on a wide-angle lens, it looked really nice.

A perfect capture would include a colorful row of shophouses at the far end ...

I managed to capture a few of those shots before the weather turned dull. Sharp morning light were just perfect for these kind of photos ...

Of Arches

After studying the route for the year's walk, I was sure that we would come across a couple of features aplenty, the art deco like arches at many of the shophouses and the bright yellow zebra crossing at this traffic-dense part of town.

And they came along as promised.

This one was right opposite Central Market. In need of some restoration work ...

Many of the buildings and shoplots around the old Chinatown area still retain their colonial architecture and the walk ways were covered with arches. These were painted bright and framed my shots perfectly as patrons walk along doing their daily business. They sheltered the shoppers from the elements as well as protecting the walkers from the busy traffic.

As the areas where being developed, I was sure these arches would be preserved and the reflected the charm of old Kuala Lumpur perfectly.

These arches were not specific to Kuala Lumpur. Many of the old towns such as Ipoh and Penang retained such similar architecture and hopefully those would be preserved as well. The bright colonies really made them stand out, perfect for photographers killing for angles and lines.