9 posts tagged “kuala lumpur”
Puduraya is probably the busiest bus depot we have. A hundred counters line up to sell you bus rides to any town on the Peninsular. Though the booths are stationary, ticket pushers gather around the main gate to get an upper hand. As I walk into the depot they try to sell me tickets to places I have no intention of going. They badger and follow me until they find other people to badger and follow. This place gets its smell out of a cocktail of car fumes and bus smog from below. It is hot. I doubt there is technology advanced enough to cool down an open bus depot crowded with hundreds of people. If there is we cannot afford it here.
Three counters tell me that they've sold out all tickets to Penang. I'm desperate and decide to get a ticket from a ticket pusher for double the usual fare. He says its because it is a special bus. This does not comfort me. I walk down towards the buses and wait beside what used to be a garden. I assume that all the plants were suffocated by years of bus fumes.
The other passengers and I start to worry after an hour's wait. But then things start happening very quickly. First a 3 foot tall midget comes round and demands that we pay him more money to bring us to our bus. He is the meanest midget I have ever met and we submit. Then he leads us up the stairs, quickly pass the crowds and out of the depot. Some of the passengers are left behind while we cross the street, walk up another block of buildings to get to a gas station where there is a bus. As we try to get on the bus driver starts shouting at the midget. Midget shouts back. I'm hoping this is about the extra money we paid him so we have a chance of getting it back. The shouting goes on until both decide to leave, leaving us stranded beside the bus. 30 minutes pass before a replacement driver comes to let us into the bus. I thank god the air conditioning works.
I'm preparing to do a map on KL highways and thought I'd share the information I've gathered so far. Experienced KLites will balk at me for not already having this information in my head, but the idea is to be able to produce an easy to read map so I don't have to think about this crap any more. Please let me know if I missed out on your favorite highway. Watch this space for more information on individual highways in the future.
KL Highways
- [2] Federal Highway (Seputeh ↔ Klang)
- [28] MRR2 (Sungai Buloh ↔ Sungai Besih)
- [E1] NKVE (Jalan Duta ↔ Klang)
- [E6] Elite (Shah Alam ↔ USJ)
- [E10] NPE (Bangsar ↔ Subang Jaya)
- [E11] LDP (Damansara ↔ Puchong)
- [E20] KL-Putrajaya Expressway (KL ↔ Putrajaya)
- [E23] Sprint (Damansara Utama ↔ Jalan Duta)
- [E37] Seremban Highway (KL ↔ Seremban)
- [E38] SMART Tunnel (Jalan Tun Razak ↔ Sungai Besi)
All information courtesy of Wikipedia.
Some of the places I've been to the past few weeks and would love to go back to. Once I've run out of new places to go to. I'll be the first to admit that the choices I've made are totally subjective and are probably influenced by the company I had.
$ + ★★★
- Sang Ha Mee at Jalan Imbi - As a bonus they also sell pretty good satay there too.
- Night hawkers at Yulek - AFAIC they have the best dessert soups + chinese buns in town.
- Chicken wings at Jalan Alor - Right behind where Cathay cinema used to be (god bless that place). Best wings in the world.
- Seafood Curry Mee at Seapark -Seafood + Curry is always good.
- LYJ Restaurant at Sungai Buloh - Good cheap food. Worth the trip to one of the uluest places in town.
- Banana Leaf rice at Bangsar - Good cheap food. Hard to believe its in Bangsar.
- Nathan's near old Klang road - ★★★ Cheese Naan. Life's not worth living until you've tasted this.
$$$ + ★★★
- Ikiru at Faber Towers - So nice that its near my place too.
- Relish at Changkat Bukit Bintang - Best burgers in town.
- Delicious burgers at 1Utama and Bangsar Village - Second best burgers in town.
- Aoyama at Sri Hartamas - Had the most expensive meal of my life there. Everything came in tiny portions. Can't believe I haven't been back there in a year.
- Chef & Brew at Plaza Bukit Damansara - Loved them in Penang. Love them here. They sell the best sambal burgers in the world.
- Domes everywhere - Everything they make is just good. My theory is that they use the best ingredients they can find.
Not exactly for the food
- Apartment at KLCC - Love the deco.
- Desserts opposite Plaza Sunrise - The food wasn't that great but I loved how laid back and quiet the place was. Here's hoping it won't close down soon.
- Marketplace near KLCC - Another nice, quiet place. Perfect for intimate parties.
- Alexis at GE Mall - Great music + Martinis.
★★★?
- Chow tau foo in Connaught Pasar Malam
- Jogoya at Starhill
- Chee Cheong Fun by the roadside at SS2
- Ah Yat Abalone Dim Sum at K Avenue
- La Bodega at Pavilion and Bangsar
- El Cerdo at Changkat Bukit Bintang
Friday, The measles finally subsided so I decide to hang out at a bar in town. It'd be a nice way to hang out with colleagues. We get raided. That means waiting for 3 hours for the police to make us pee into a plastic cup. It's as bad as it sounds.
Sunday, I take a 4 hour ride up to Penang to comfort a friend. I get back around 2 in the morning only to get stiffed by cabbies. At least I had something to do during the weekend.
Wednesday, At work the team starts talking about all things French. Chris, who has lived in Paris, starts spouting authentic French words. French sounds good and catches on. I decide to name my new assignment Project Versailles (pronounced VEE-AK-SAI).
Friday, We celebrate Hooi Ling's birthday in a quiet bar in town. Colin also proposes to May on the same night. Congrats guys and gals! I missed both of it by coming in an hour late.
Saturday, We get stuck in an elevator when it decided to stop between the 6th and 7th floors. I suspect it was because we were jumping all around the place while it was going down. We made it out in one piece. The elevator repairmen will be confounded.
Friday, on the way to work my car got hit from behind while stopped at a traffic light. The bumper almost came off, the lights were off and the boot couldn't close anymore. It would be 7 hours later before I get the police report done for the accident. Mau bids, "Welcome to KL!" after I tell him about it.
Saturday, not wanting to drive with a broken car I decided to bus around KL. Caught a movie, spent time shopping for the GRD and wondering why everyone is either working or studying now. It was a pretty good day actually. I come home and find my entire face and body covered with red dots. Oh great, sunburn. Must be because I haven't been out in a while. Day ended with drinks and jazz in Alexis.
Sunday, "This isn't sunburn." someone says over breakfast. A doctor later confirms that its measles instead. I sms everyone last night to let them know about it in case they have symptoms. Most are amused. Hooi Ling was even nice enough to get me some food for the night. I also tell my mum about it and by night she's already here with my dad. Thank god for friends and mums.
Monday, I'm both irritated and relived that my mum is here. Luckily they spend most of the day out on errands. When they are back I spend most of my time asleep on the couch. I don't have to work till Thursday, which may not be such a good thing since I haven't been out of the apartment for 2 days now.
Tuesday, my parents leave me enough food for another day and depart for Penang. I'm bored. Only later do I discover that someone left their Wifi router open for public use. Thank you anonymous dlink owner.
Wednesday, my spots which were bright red at the start have finally become pale brown. I feel better. Frankly I'm glad that I'll be going to work tomorrow to see actual live people and be out of this place. And to spread the disease.
The big ass malls of KL After spending a week in KL I'm ready to stop going to these busy spots and find other quieter places to hang out instead*. Since I still don't have an Internet connection at home where can I find nice air conditioned places to spend with my laptop? The Minor Malls of KL of course. Here are some that I've been to, Does anyone have a place to recommend? * I'll make an exception to Midvalley since it's 5 minutes away from my place Update 8/2/08: Thanks to all Aput and Aran for suggesting more places for me to blow time
- Bangsar Shopping Center
- Sunrise / Plaza Mont Kiara
- Subang Parade
- PJ Digital Mall
- Times Square
This was my first tall building. My dad used to bring us here from time
to time for the exhibitions and seminars. As a kid I used to be freaked
out by it. The dim lights, the claustrophobia, the silence in the
halls. It was so easy to lose my way here. How I miss having those
feelings now. Most of the time I travel around the world just to get
lost.
I will be making a short trip down to KL tomorrow and it got me thinking. I'm still quite ambivalent about the city. On one hand, I grew up there and used to think that this was the best place in the world. On the other, there is the dust, the heavy traffic, the lack of green spaces, the dirt that's everywhere, the crowd, the high prices for everything, the lack of parking spaces, the heat etc.
Despite that, I'm still in love with it. There is nothing like watching KL during the night. Or how she smells after the rain. I guess it really does grow on you like fungus.
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