Quiet Night in Bukit Bintang ahead of the rally

Today is Malaysia Day, not to be confused with Independence Day that we just celebrated on August 31.

Malaysia Day, Sep 16, is historical for Malaysia as this is date marks the joining together of Malaya, North Borneo, Sarawak, and Singapore to form Malaysia way back in 1963. This year's official celebration will be held in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah.

Negotiating the streets of KL today might be tricky today as many major roads in the city are being closed ahead of the red shirt rally that is planned today from 12noon to 7pm. A check on Bukit Bintang area around midnight last night by The Star reporters showed a quiet Bukit Bintang. Here, take a look.



According to The Star, Hawkers and petty traders in the Imbi, Pudu and Lee Lam Thye markets in Kuala Lumpur, however, have decided to close today although some may remain open.


Shopping complexes in the city will be open however,

The rally, will see those taking part march from Federal Territory Mosque, National Mosque, PWTC and Karangkraf building heading to the assembly area at Padang Merbok. Police will close several major roads today.

The following roads will be closed:
Jalan Parlimen, Jalan Kinabalu, Jalan Sultan Salahuddin, Dato Onn roundabout, Jalan Raja Laut, Jalan Kinabalu/Jalan Hishamuddin, Jalan Pudu/Tun Tan Cheng Lock, Jalan Kuching, Jalan Raja, Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman, Jalan Munsyi Abdullah/Jalan Dang Wangi, Sultan Mohammad roundabout, Jalan Damansara, Hishamuddin roundabout, Jalan Kuching/Jalan Tun Razak, Jalan Sultan Ismail, Jalan Conlay, Jalan Raja Chulan, Jalan Leboh Ampang/Jalan Tun Perak and Jalan Sultan Ismail/Jalan Ampang would be done in stages based on traffic flow.

Alternative routes to the city centre are available for those who want to go about their business there. The routes include Jalan Tun Razak, Jalan Hang Tuah, Jalan Kampung Pandan, Pahang roundabout, Jalan Loke Yew/Jalan Hang Tuah and Jalan Bukit Bintang.

As for the haze, Kuala Lumpur is still shrouded in unhealthy smog - an API reading of around 200. It is clearly unsafe to be outdoors for an extended period of time.

Schools had to be closed yesterday, Tuesday, and it is still unsure whether school will reopen on Thursday. Today, Wednesday, is a public holiday being Malaysia Day.

The school holidays are set to start this Saturday in all states and a day earlier in Johor, Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu.

Happy Malaysia Day!


Latest update from The Star at 8:37am..

Red shirt protesters gather

Red shirt protesters have started gathering at various locations in the city centre on Wednesday.

As the small groups of people started trickling in as early as 7am, police also made their presence felt.

Federal Reserve Unit personnel and trucks were seen on standby at strategic locations, mainly at Bukit Bintang and Petaling Street, the gathering points for the protesters.



Source: The Star

Christmas at the malls in Kuala Lumpur

Merry Christmas, Everyone!

December is a great month to visit malls and shopping complexes for some Christmas cheer and be trigger-happy with your camera. We've seen beautiful Christmas trees and holiday lights all over the world, what about the decorations in our own malls, the KL malls?

I was downtown the other day. Downtown as in the Golden Triangle area, i.e., Bukit Bintang area. My girlfriend wanted to replace her home printer so we headed out to Low Yat Plaza, reputed to be the largest IT mall in the whole of Malaysia.

Decoration-wise, there isn't much at Low Yat Plaza. Their Christmas tree is set up right in front of the plaza, as in the picture below. You can see the KL Tower in the night sky at 1 o'clock. The road on the right of the Christmas tree leads to Jalan Bukit Bintang. Yes, Low Yat Plaza is easily accessible and a walking distance from hotels in this Golden Triangle area, one of which is the Federal Hotel which has the honour of being the very first major hotel in Kuala Lumpur. The hotel is right up ahead at the end of the street on the left along Jalan Bukit Bintang. Jalan is the local term for Road or Street.

This picture below was taken from the front porch of Low Yat Plaza looking out onto the street that leads to Jalan Bukit Bintang ahead.

A word of warning though if you intend to go to Low Yat Plaza, you'll have to be prepared to jostle with shoppers a bit especially on the lower floors. Low Yat Plaza IS a happening place!

Next, we wanted to check out the new 4G network, YTL's YES, so we headed over to Lot 10 where YES was being promoted in their roadshow there. (Btw, did you know that YES has been trademarked which means YTL has exclusive use of this as a name?) Jalan Bukit Bintang is one of KL's busiest streets. Here's what the traffic is like daily. This picture was taken from the pedestrian walkway linking Lot 10 and Sungei Wang Plaza, on the right,

and this is from where picture was taken.

Lot 10 Christmas decoration consists of Christmas trees spread out all over such as this tree near Debenhams department store.

Sungei Wang Plaza is somewhat better with some bell-shaped lightings above a smartly decked out lower lobby. Too neat for my liking actually. It needs some ruffles, more oommph! if you know what I mean.

I didn't manage to cover more malls but The Star has some nice pictures. Let me show you some of them.

Rhythmic Christmas at Subang Parade - where lights flicker and flash in-sync with theatrical music at Main Entrance 1. You can catch this unique show every hour from 7pm to 10pm daily.

Midvalley Megamall has a toy theme of giant cuddly bears, puppies and rabbits as well as toy soldiers, Nutcrackers, snowmen and other Christmassy figurines and items.

1Utama has a charming Christmas "town” theme. There are townhouses at both the Oval and Centre court concourses where you can also pick up Christmas goodies upstairs. These are charming townhouses reminiscent of the days of Charles Dickens as in A Christmas Carol.

A purple and white theme at Suria KLCC. I remember one year, they had a huge beautiful purple Christmas tree at their centre court. That was quite a sight.

Friends voted 1Utama as having the best Christmas decor this year. Which one is your favorite?

More at The Star..Christmas at the malls

Jalan Alor no more

Malaysia has a fondness for changing street names. History of the nation is being wiped out slowly but surely. The latest casualty of this history-wiping exercise is Jalan Alor in the heart of Kuala Lumpur. The street name, Jalan Alor, has been around for decades.

This street that runs parallel to yet another famous street, Jalan Bukit Bintang, is well-known by locals and foreigners alike. Jalan Alor is a food street and when night falls, the entire street comes alive with both human and vehicle traffic.

Jalan Alor serves one of the best Chinese food in Kuala Lumpur and some of the food-stalls and restaurants have been here for more than thirty years passing down the business from generation to generation. (The word Jalan is local for Street or Road.)

Yes, the famous Jalan Alor has been renamed according to The Star on Saturday. It is now known as Jalan Kejora. This change renders foodstall and restaurant names with "Jalan Alor" or "Alor" irrelevant. The owners of Nasi Lemak Alor Corner and the Alor Kai Yik (chicken wings) are among business-owners who are unhappy with the change.


The Star again headlined this issue today highlighting that Yahoo! returns more than 900,000 results. Indeed, it is that famous.

Yet, Kuala Lumpur City Hall is adamant that changing the name to Jalan Kejora - a move that has sparked a public outcry - is the right thing to do.

.....Another one bites the dust!