Tag: Chinatown

Day 4: Chow Kit & The Monkeys

Chowkit is a contrast of KL’s urban setting.

Just RM8.0 away via teksi from our hotel is Chow Kit where the overwhelming modern urban KL transitions to a more subtle setting. This area is just the ordinary wet market where cheap produce and meat are sold and this is where Filipinos like us will surely find ingredients to cook our favorite adobo—sorry, except for pork.

What makes this place great is that most of the people here are accommodating and easy to deal with. In fact, one market vendor even gave us free chicken asses, or tongking (it is how it sounds to me), probably after noticing my reaction when it was separated together with the head from the poultry we bought—they explained that both are actually sold separately and usually cooked as kebab. (I’m ilonggo so I love this chicken’s rear part. Back home we call it isol. Yummy!)

We hurried home right after buying all the ingredients that we need and after grabbing the opportunity to buy a box of cheap mineral water—like beer, it is expensive in the city proper. It’s time for our first home-cooked meal and time to exploit our lovely kitchen in our hotel room.

The hearty lunch of fried fish, adobo and ampalaya with coconut milk prepared by the group, except me, made us lethargic and left us nothing to do but to monkey around. It was also the best time to open the veranda’s door and let the smell of fried fish out—they forgot to turn the oven’s exhaust hood on. ti abi.

A monkey right outside our window.

We discovered that just outside our room’s balcony is a rich monkey habitat. We spent almost several hours just observing them and at some point offered banana slices which they eagerly retrieved and ate. They’re not alone though in these trees and foliage. There were also squirrels and some endemic birds gliding back and forth along the branches.

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Enjoying Petaling street at night.

By nighttime, we decided to go back to Petaling Street. The decision was worth it. Chinatown was busier than it was in the morning and more vibrant and colorful as well. The red rounded Chinese lanterns dominating the area and the neon signs glowing with Chinese characters made me feel like a host of a famous travel channel or in a scene of an adventure movie.

Where to find and drink beer although pricey.

The sight of beer drinkers (mostly expats) in front of the restaurants added the sense of delight and longing. I kept reminding myself though that beer is expensive but later grabbed my beers from the nearest 7-11 store. My shopping-addicted companions finished with their haggling just in time for them to accompany me to buy a 1GB Sony memory stick at a mall before it closes. We’ll need the extra memory size tomorrow.

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Day 2: Haggling it out

After a breakfast of a variety of bread that we bought last night, we were off to the Central Market. From outside, the place looks a bit old and similar to most ordinary cheap market which is common in the Philippine provinces. Upon entering it, however, would change all that impression. Inside is mixture of souvenir items, watches, shirts, jewelry stuffs and other items that will surely make one dizzy at the same time thrilled. What I like about this place is that right in the middle of the market are restaurants, coffee shops and, once again, bread stores. We’d learn later, that all over KL, there’s Berry, Bread Talk, Bread Story and Bread History, to name a few and all of which sells almost the same product line, almost same good taste, but just different prices.

Inside the Central Market.
I conclude that Malaysians love bread.

Lunch for today was just at a nearby mall. What’s remarkable about the food courts here is that they are self-service. They’ll serve you rice on a plate and will then let you do the picking of the viands.  Prices are determined according to the amount of food on your plate–no set menu price. Nice, right?

After the hearty meal, we went to Petaling Street (aka Chinatown) which is just across the mall. This place is comparable to the Philippine’s Divisoria in terms of merchandise: fake watches, shoes, shirts, bags, and other items—mostly bootleg. It is also a good place to buy souvenirs here. Be ready though with your haggling skills.

Feeling the effect of the dizzying hunt for a good bargain, the group finally called it quits in Chinatown. We agreed it was time for us to see the famous mighty Petronas Twin Towers

From Petaling, we took the bus to KLCC. It was our first bus ride and it costs us only RM 0.7 each or just about 10 Philippine pesos. Other than the cheap fare, we noticed that Malaysian buses are numbered according to their route unlike in the Philippines where we our drivers hang destination tags in front of their windshield.

Stepping out of the bus we found ourselves facing the imposing Malaysian Towers. It was just an awesome sight and so tempting to just get in it but we learned from other people that a visit to the towers’ sky bridge is impossible in the afternoon so we tried to make the most of the day’s visit.

Situated between the two towering structures is the Suria KLCC mall. In the middle of its court is BMW’s team F1 car on display. Other F1 related activities like F1 simulator drive and ticket sales to Sepang are ongoing. Setting any embarrassment aside, we gave in to the urge and posed in front of the displays. This is one time when any opportunity to pose near an F1 artifact is worth risking. By the end of our coffee break at the mall’s Dunkin Donut outlet, we went across to exit at the other side. And yes, the two giants are still there.

Who else is on display but Team Petronas in the middle of mall.

One thing I learned from reading photography tips is to avoid cliché shots. But who cares? We are at the famous Petronas Tower. We can’t help but pose just as everyone did—get in the frame and make sure that the towers’ tip and structure is in the background. We repeated those cliché shots over and over. Different pose, different angle, different location. But both towers had to be there. We didn’t mind the weird stares from other tourists. For sure, they’ll do likewise anyway.

Petronas Towers, Malaysia
Can’t help but do what everyone does–pose in front of the towers.

After almost filling my camera’s memory card and after feeling a bit of neck strain we agreed that it was time to go somewhere else like Lake Garden. It was late in the afternoon already when we arrived. There’s an event at the park where throngs of people have gathered in front of the stadium and we learned it’s a rock concert. At that point I was actually curious and interested if the band would play songs in English or Malay. We tried to wait for it but the humidity’s taking its toll on us. We got tired, sweaty and hungry, and with my wife forcing a smile (a warning sign), we decided to leave even before the concert has started.

To end the day, we had dinner again at Bangsar but this time at Sri Nirwana, which serves mostly Indian food. The place was packed with a various customers, locals and foreigners alike. Again, they don’t serve beer, which again could have come great with the spicy food served on banana leaf. Once more, we dined alfresco.

We had a hard time flagging a teksi after the meal. The passing BMW’s, Benz’s, compact cars and a variety of interesting Protons somehow had a de-stressing effect on me while waiting for the elusive taxi which came after more than an hour later. Taxis are that scare in Malaysia.