New Look Bukit Bintang

It must have taken at least four years to get the MRT done around the centre of town. That was how long that famous intersection at Bukit Bintang was thrown into chaos, followed by the closure of Bukit Bintang Plaza - which is still being rebuilt.

Still some landscaping needed doing ...Another entrance round the cornerThose iconic landmarks ...It had finally be opened and the place had been cleaned up quite well. The traffic were starting to build but the flow was a lot smoother than it used to be. It looked less chaotic but I was sure once the new Bukit Bintang Plaza was built, the chaos would return.

Let's go across ...Passed the old Bukit Bintang towards Capitol Hotel and Low YatThe old car park being torn down ....The new MRT station there was still spankingly clean, transforming this area.

Back to Bukit BintangThere used to be a nice cafe there, which had been closed earlier this yearI am sure this crossing would be iconic in the futureI was at the intersection a few Sundays ago to have a feel of how the place had become. More cosmopolitan but on the whole rather too sterile for my liking. Maybe in the months to come, the place would acquire a character of its own, if not back to the old charm.

End of the Road?

Since the closing of Bukit Bintang Plaza, its sister Sungai Wang Plaza seemed to have aged considerably. It was slowly turning into a dump unfortunately. Certainly it had not aged gracefully.

When I was there yesterday, quite a number of the business had closed. Some of them had moved across to Berjaya Time Square just along the road. Some of them had packed up while most of the IT vendors had moved to Low Yat next door.

It was a Sunday and usually the place was the buzz capital of townApparently the main foyer was occupied by a K-pop dance event. It was already done.In the past years, there were still plenty of vendors selling phones at the main foyer and walkway. It uses to be multiple floors of them. Yesterday, it was down to just a single floor. And even then, you can't get the really up to date gadget any longer.

This was one of the earliest "Famous Amos" store in the country. And still serve the best cookies.But it was depressing to look around everywhere ....I was convinced that its days are numbered. Maybe once the MRT station operational the situation might improve but at the rate it was going things were. It looking too good. The whole of the third floor was practically empty. I didn't even bother going up to the loft where there used to be a big eating area.

Time had certainly moved on ....

Walk at Sungai Wang

Anita got her wish yesterday. I took the afternoon off to drive her to Sungai Wang. She wanted to buy some clothes there, as well as having a walk at Metrojaya there.

The place was surprisingly quiet even though the drive into the area was terrible. Combination of heavy traffic and roadwork was not kind.

Anita managed to get her stuff, while I walked around at Low Yat having a quick look around. Items of interest? The Sony RX100 mk 3 and the Samsung Note Pro. The Note had a very high resolution and the combination of portability, a slick keyboard cover as well as LTE as an option did strike my fancy. But my main issue was it running Android. For some reason, I wouldn't trust it for word processor as yet - yes, I use my iPad for word processing nowadays, with my trusty Logitech folio keyboard cover. And my iPad ran at LTE speed - most of the time.

Suffice to say, I didn't buy anything. I didn't plan to shop any way and I was not in the mood for clothes.

Maybe I should was until the Surface 3 Pro arrived before giving portable computing another look. It would be from Microsoft after all. But rumour had it that the version in Malaysia would be all wifi only. A shame.