A Sunday Morning Around Central Market

After planning for so many days, everything finally fell into place on Sunday morning. The weather was gorgeous, there were hardly any traffic in town, and more importantly, I managed to wake up early that morning.

It was Sunday and it was early. The vendors were still setting up their stalls.Most of the work were just out in the open over night. I was sure there was security.And the artwork were pretty amazing.The mix of the rustic and new .....I set off from Central Market at around 9.30am and was already back home by 11. So where did I go?

I mingled around the street next to Central Market, called Kasturi walk. The vendors for the weekend market were just opening their stalls then. I then walked towards Lebuh Ampang, snapped more photos there, passing by Jalan HS Lee, before doubling back. Walked inside Central Market as the shops were being opened, before heading back home. Using the X100, people were less suspicious when I was snapping away. Handy.

Setting off by Lebuh Pudu, running parallel to Central Market.The eye-catching roof of Kasturi Walk. Nice and interesting.The stalls were just being opened. But sadly, the majority of the workers here were foreigners, kinda sucked as this was one of the hot tourist spots in town.This used to be a McDonald's outlet. I guessed the influx of foreign workers had something to do with this ....More stories as I ventured out a bit further.

The area around the market was still empty as on Sunday, it was normally filled by foreign workers meeting their friends and visiting shops around there. At 10am, it was still way to early. I only saw pockets of people ascending down. I was sure it would be packed by noon. The portal for this photowalk entry is here.

Lunch after the Walk

It started to rain right after the teh tarik session with Kam Raslan, and the planned meeting at KLCC was a couple of hours yet. Some of the troupe members were yet to have lunch, so even though I have already had some noodles, I decided to go on for some nasi daun pisang.

We walked for about 10 minutes in the rain and by the time we settled in, it started raining heavily outside.

We had lunch at Restoran Kader. Been here a couple of times. It was not bad, but most o the food had already run out, this being Sunday and all. But what I enjoyed more was the company. A great lunch in the end, especially with the heavy rain outside.

The highlight - Magnus ordering iced lemon juice - singo beng, tok seh butir. You do the translation.

A Walk with Kam Raslan

It was only a short walk, but was a fascinating one. More of a history lesson, but it was not the political-laced, race-biased kind that was thought in schools nowadays. It was about our heritage. The legacy which made Kuala Lumpur what it is today. And it was all thanks to our guide for the morning, Kam Raslan.

Right, I wouldn't want to say much about the gentleman. The last time I made praises for a certain somebody, I ended up with a surat layang - at least I knew then that I had hit the big time when you receive an anonymous letter about somebody you mentioned in your blog. But I digressed. Just check his website here or google him to find more about him.

The walk started behind Bangunan Sultan Abdul Samad opposite Dataran Merdeka, which was teaming with people this morning. No, they were not there to join the walk, but it was the crowd from the KL Marathon that morning. Kam started talking about Masjid Jamek, the Dataran and Bukit Aman, and we later moved on towards Lebuh Ampang.

We then doubled back towards Central Market, stopping at a Chinese temple along the way, to meet one of the main character who built Kuala Lumpur, Yap Ah Loi. Kam did not do this walk regularly, but it was very clear that he enjoyed doing it, and certainly he had the passion for it. His knowledge of KL certainly would put the locals to shame.

For those interested, he would be doing another session next Sunday. Please take a look here for more details. The best way to find out about KLickr's activities or to join us, please visit our Facebook page here.

Covent Garden

For the first couple of days in London, I had been trying to convince the others in my group to give Covent Garden a visit. Yes, some of them did ask if there was a garden there. Resisting to laugh, I explained to them that it was an old market, smack in the middle of town, right next to Chinatown. But on the first day, we were too tired to venture out, and on the third day, we went towards Bayswater instead. Finally, on the sunny Saturday afternoon, I got my wish.

I set out from Oxford Circus, taking on the crowd, walked through Carnaby Street and Soho towards Chinatown. I then took one of the back alley to the Cath Kidston Store - more on that later. Another turn, and I was right into the market. The bright sunny afternoon really lifted my mood - unfortunately the mood included shopping, after which I was broke. I spend a good couple of hours sat at the cafe, enjoying the scene as well as mingling with the crowd. There were many open cafes and beer gardens round there, and also street performers aplenty. On one side of the market, they had rows of stalls selling high quality artwork, which unfortunately did not come cheap. But if you actually have some extra cash, it was definitely worth spending there. I bought a few shirts for my boys at David and Goliath.

I topped off the afternoon by having some halal ramen at Chinatown. At the time, the West End crowd were building up for the evening show at the theaters. It was getting dark when I finally left. A nice day out indeed.

KB Photo Walk

The famous Pasar Siti KhadijahOne peculiar thing about KB during my stay there was the gorgeous weather during the day, but it will start to rain late afternoon, making evening stroll during the golden hour a bit of a challenge. I decided to take my camera out during the late morning instead but unfortunately time was tight and I only had a couple of hours on my hands on the Monday morning for a walk.

There were quite a few places to visit reading through the various blogs. The ones I wanted to visit was definitely the famous Pasar Siti Khadijah - not for the shopping I must add - the War Memorial, the State Museum and Islamic Museum. Unfortunately time was tight, I plotted a round route taking me to the Memorial, Pasar then the State Museum.

Can't remember what this was called, but it was partially run down alreadyThe War Museum basically chronicled the struggle during the Japanese occupation. The materials were decent, plenty to read and ponder, even though there was not much in terms of exhibits. The ground floor was mainly on the World War while on the first floor, there were rooms housing royal mementos and the such. Took me close to 45 minutes to read through. Realising I was running out of time, I headed straight for Pasar Siti Khadijah.

Remember staying at this hotel during my first trip to KB back in 1988The Pasar - or market - was unique in the sense that it was under a big dome, and the majority of the sellers were Malay ladies. It has a central wet market, while the two upper floors mainly do packed food and clothes. If you were into clothes, you should check out Pasar Buloh Kubu next door instead. But be prepared to haggle. Make sure you have a local with you since the moment you open your mouth, people can tell if you’re from Kelantan or not - 50% discount if you were local trust me!

If you read websites or brochures about Kota Bharu, Pasar Siti Khadijah would definitely be a feature. From a vantage point on the second floor, you can see all the business taking place, a neat place to snap photos. It was too conspicuous of me to carry my dSLR walking around the market snapping picture on my own, so I stayed at the vantage point instead.

Puan Anita's favourite makan place in KB - Sun Two and Hoover

The Kelantan State MuseumNext was a quick stride across town to the State Museum, passing rows of old storefront, and Hotel Temenggung. I think I must have stayed there in 1988 on my first trip with my Mum to Kota Bharu. The hotel still looked the same. In front of the museum was a round-about with a newly built clock tower right in the middle. The museum was showing an exhibit on snakes - which was a hit amongst the local. I could see schoolbus-load of students coming through the entrance as I was making my way in. The locals - at least their children were pretty mesmerised by snakes. The exhibit was rather corny when I learned that part of the draw was a lady sitting in a glass room full of poisonous snakes - “Gadis dengan Ular Berbisa”. I switched off after that. I was hoping more on historical account of the state, wau bulan, gasing, wayang kulit and the likes.

My two hours was up. I had to go to Pengkalan Chepa for lunch right after, followed by a drive to Rantau Panjang for more shopping.