Kuala Lumpur 两日游

FRIDAY, 19 MAY 06
Last Friday was a really hectic day!!
It started with a visit to the Istana (AGAIN!!) in the late morning.


Met some familiar faces there.
I think one of them is my secondary school mate, but she looked rather different.
I dunno.

Then we rushed to the lawyer's to settle some paper work.

And eventually, we made our way to Grand Copthorne to board the 6.45pm bus to Kuala Lumpur.
This is our trip together!!! WOO HOO!!!
I is EXCITED!!!

We took Aeroline, First Class.
It cost SGD47 per person per trip. One meal is served on board. And the trip takes about 5 hours via Tuas Checkpoint.


The journey was rather comfy.
I slept through most of it.

We got to Kuala Lumpur at around midnight, and the bus dropped us off at Corus Hotel, very near Petronas Towers.

I think it's a professional hazard.
The moment we got into Kuala Lumpur City, I was like...
"Eh... The urban planning here anyhow one..."

But seriously...
I think the road system within the city has to be improved, because the max 3-lane and average 2-lane dual-carriageways cannot support the intensity of the developments.
Some major planning work needs to be carried out, man!!

Anyway... The friend whom we were meeting, TC, had warned us against the cabbies. He said,"My place is very near. So, no meter, dun want hor!"
So we had to wait for a while before we got ourselves a meter-teksi and made our way to Jalan Alor.

TC and his flat mate were having supper at 牛记.
We also order Beef Hor Fun from this little Ah Beng.
Wanted to take picture of him, but I wasn't on form yet. =)))

The soup was quite good, but I didn't really fancy the beef sauce on the Hor Fun. Maybe I was queasy after the bus ride.


After supper, we went up to the apartment.
Where I found something really familiar-looking!!!

Eh?!! A Worker's Party flag in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia?!!
I was stunned for a moment.
This is too much for my spinning head!!!

After we dumped the bags in the guest room, TC insisted that we had to go for foot reflexology and to look at the illegal VCD shop.
Dun ask why. We didn't understand either.
TC's flat mate said it was part of his standard package whenever he had guests over.

Ok lor... So, we made our way to the illegal VCD shop.
BUT WE DID NOT BUY ANY HOR!!!
REALLY!!! =))))

Made our way through a very buzzy night market.
I was surprised that shops and stalls were still opened.
TC said the foot reflexology shops opened till 3am. FWAH!!!



SATURDAY, 20 MAY 06
The next day, I woke up to this view at the balcony.
Can see Petronas Towers in the background?



While waiting for 'Good Fren' to wake up, I checked my blog and email, and looked out of his window.

Then I looked downstairs.... Heh Heh Heh...
I is pervert!!


TC suggested Dim Sum at Concorde for lunch.
So, we took the Monorail.
It's actually quite strange to take the Monorail in the City, coz for me, monorails are like toy-trains, which one only takes in a theme park, like Singapore's Sentosa Island!!

Construction sites are very common in Kuala Lumpur City. The completion of the Petronas Towers must have raised the profile of the city and kick-started an investment frenzy.

If I am not wrong, the Concorde Hotel in Singapore has this Xin Cuisine restuarant as well.


We ordered a lot of food.
The Char Siew was very good. =)))


A few things amazed me.
Firstly, halfway through lunch, 'Good Fren' went,"Baby... The music you hear is not piped-in leh!"
I turned around and saw this guy playing.

Secondly, my orange juice came with a cherry.
How old school is that?!! Very cute!!


Thirdly, the dessert spoon came with "Non-Halal" which I only realised after I have started on the dessert.

Last, but the most freaking amazing, is the choice to smoke while having the Dim Sum.

YEAH!!!!!
IT'S FREAKING AMAZING, OK!!
IT'S LIKE I FELT LOVED OR SOMETHING!!

So I did it. =)))

FWAH!!! So happy, you know!!

Anyway... After lunch, we made our way to the KLCC where the Petronas Towers were.
While waiting for a cab, I was trying to convince TC and 'Good Fren' that I could speak Malay too. So I strung together a sentence with all the Malay words I know.

"Tiga orang pergi Petronas Towers. Jurpat Jurpat, Abang. Terima Kasei. Merdeka!!"
[3 of us wanna go to Petronas Towers. Faster Faster, Brother. Thank you. Progress!!]

TC said I could try to tell the cabbie that, but he was quite sure we wouldn't end up at Petronas Towers.
HAHAHAHAHAAHAH!!!

Though TC worked in the towers, he couldn't bring us in on a Saturday.
And the tickets to go up to the bridge HABIS oredi. =)))



So, we decided to walk around the development.
FWAH!!! It has a rather nice garden with a large pond at the back, which linked up to the Convention Centre next door.


Eh... Question...
If the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre is KLCC, then KLCC (where the shopping centre is) stands for what?
'Kuala Lumpur City Centre'??
Isn't that uber confusing?!!

Just as we were trying to flag a cab to head for Chinatown, I went,"YUPPIE SHOP!!!", and pointed excitedly at the shop across the road on the 2nd floor.
TC and 'Good Fren' were very amazed.
"这样也给你看到啊！" said TC.


It's called 'Galleriiizu'.
It sells local works and sometimes hosts events such as auctions.


This chick, Suzanne, was attending to TC, while 'Good Fren' and I made fun of him.
Heh Heh Heh...

Ok... No time to lose oredi!!
Zharboh can talk to another day.
Now we need to get to Chinatown!!

Eh... Chinatown, where Petaling Street is, is covered by some clear blue canopy. Erm... This one hor... Looks very familiar leh!!
I think some parts of the Singaporean Chinatown also looks like that.
Ok, I don't want to go into the Who-Copied-Who hor!!


TC recommended this Longan drink.
It's very good!! Yum Yum!!
They should bottle it and sell at the petrol stations!!

Actually, there is nothing much to buy at Petaling Street.
We were more intrigued by the fruit seller.
His fruits were so enticingly large and juicy, that we bought 4 water apples and 4 mangoes.



Water Apple & ME!!


Then TC said we should try to make our way to Times Square.
YEAH!! Moby told me about the indoor roller coaster earlier.
We had to see it!!

So we made our way to the LRT station.
And along the way, we saw these yummy drinks.
I was quite tempted to buy a drink to wash down the sticky sweet mango, but somehow I could hear Angry in my brain, reminding me of my lousy stomach.
I is mad!!

So, I just a pic of it.

Ok, I still have no idea why this building is called Times Square. Maybe because it looks kind of New York-ish?


It's a mega shopping centre with an indoor theme park from the 5th - 8th floor.
TC got damn excited!! He wanted to go for the roller coaster!!
To get into the theme park, we paid RNG25 each, and were entitled to unlimited rides.


You see the orange tracks above?!!
That's where the roller coaster goes.

At first, I was quite keen.
Then 'Good Fren' went to the loo for a very long time, while TC kept our stuff in the locker.

Meanwhile, the butterflies in my stomach started to go mad.
And I wanted to chicken out.

I kept thinking... FINAL DESTINATION!!!!
YIKES!!!
No good!! I want my body intact!!!

Sorry, no pics of the ride coz no cams allowed.
TC was damn suay. The seat beside his had puke on it.
WAH LAU!!!
That was bad news for me, ok!!!
Made me even more gan cheong!!!

Erm... I closed my eyes for most of the ride.
I is CHICKEN, can?!!!

Here is a queasy Blinkymummy, forcing a smile, while taking a pic with the mascot and 'Good Fren'.


Here is a video of the indoor theme park.


I cannot oredi. Too much excitement for the day.
We rested at Dome.
They had coffee, while I had this cool Apple Crush thing.
Very Good!!!


Then we made our way to Bangsar for dinner.

Bangsar is really like Holland Village.
Except it's bigger and more diverse. I like it.
Feels like San Francisco.


Bangsar Village is a upmarket shopping centre, which reminds of those suburban shopping centres in the US.
I bought some huge-ass gumballs!! =)))
[Btw, I now have jaw ache coz I've been chewing gum non-stop.]

We walked around some more to look for the final dinner place.
Actually, we were in denial.
Coz earlier on, we saw this place called Bar Flam, which was offering oysters and alcohol, and had oredi made up our greedy minds.
Heh Heh Heh...


Once the wine was in our system,
'Good Fren' fell asleep,
I turned red,
And TC kept saying,"开心, man!"

Hee Hee Hee!!!

On our way back to the apartment, we met TC's colleagues/friend on their way to some goth party.
FWAH!!! I would have gone, if not for the fact that I was dead-tired!!!


This morning, we took the 9am bus back to Singapore.
Got to Singapore at around 2pm.
......................

Because this is the first time I have been to Kuala Lumpur City, it made me think quite a bit.
We were discussing about how different Kuala Lumpur City and Singapore were.
And of course, it's inevitable to wonder if Singapore would be what she was today, if Malaysia had not ousted her back in 1965.

Our conclusion was simple.
Singapore would have turned out very differently.
Probably still snobbish, but as the southern province of Johore, and always in direct competition with Kuala Lumpur, but not allowed to be as progressive.
The Malays would probably move northwards, while Chinese would flock to it and Johore in general.
Perhaps that Singapore would have been more Chinese, if you know what I mean.

I am not too familiar with Malaysian history.
But it's clear that Kuala Lumpur is picking up on lost time, and Singapore cannot keep thinking Malaysia is just another backward neighbour.
Actually, the main shopping belt in Kuala Lumpur reminds me of Bangkok. It think it's the spilling of activities onto the pavement and the scale of development, i.e. tight and cosy interaction of buildings and human activities.

Back to the neighbour analogy.
In fact, Singapore is like the only upmarket condo in the Southeast Asian neighbourhood, with adjacent humble neighbours sitting on huge tracts of land.
When the neighbours get their act together, Singapore will be dwarfed.

At the individual level, I felt (literally) that the air in Kuala Lumpur is quite bad. I didn't even feel like smoking that much, because I could feel my lungs struggling.
'Good Fren's eyes felt dry.

PLANT TREES, man!!!
Create Green Corridors!!!