Kuala Lumpur, In A Weekend

Posted on 01.18.08 to Clare, Family, Food, Personal, Photography, Travels by Joan

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So what do you do when you want to take off for the weekend but don’t quite feel like splashing the money on Sentosa? You drive up to Malaysia, that is. For our dating anniversary, we headed 300km up north to Kuala Lumpur on a spur-of-the-moment decision. My mum tagged along, which was actually really good because [a] she knows KL pretty well, having driven there many times herself; [b] she and her friends knew where to get good grub; [c] she helped look after Clare, which gave me some precious hours at Suria KLCC to shop with abandon.

Here are five things you can do, within a 48 hour window away from home.

 

1. Check into a hotel within the shopping district. In this case, within Kuala Lumpur City Centre. We had special rates for the executive suite at the Novotel Hydro Majestic Hotel. We initially booked a room at the Corus Hotel, which is located right next to Suria KLCC (the mother of shopping centres) but decided to try something new instead. And, ‘new’ it wasn’t. The hotel wasn’t very well-maintained: chips on its furniture, the sink was loose, handrails damaged and removed from the elevators, and the carpark was a labyrinth of scraped concrete walls, damaged by the big cars that bravely ventured before me. Oddly too, the elevators’ ‘open’ and ‘close’ buttons were located right at the bottom, where even I (who really isn’t very tall) had to bend down to reach them.

We weren’t impressed that our double bed was actually two single beds zipped together and the breakfast at the executive level was a waste of calories. The only redeeming factor about the hotel was the location: it was a less than 5 minute walk away from the newest shopping centre, Pavilion.

 

2. When in Malaysia, shop like the Malaysians do – at Vincci. The shoes are really cheap (compared to Singapore prices) and I left Malaysia with seven new pairs of shoes, at an average of SGD$20 each. This Malaysian brand is a big hit with almost everyone I know, for their variety and price range. At each outlet I visited (only two!), it was bursting with customers and I am thoroughly amazed at the staffs’ ability to remember mine and many other’s requests.

I only had time to visit Pavilion on Saturday afternoon and Suria KLCC on Sunday morning. Apart from the Malaysian brands such as Vincci, Padini and Seed, one can easily find other international brands in the megamalls – Zara, Mango, Topshop, etc. The price point for these brands aren’t too far off from the ones we find back here in Singapore, so shopping at those outlets wasn’t a particularly exciting experience. It was very nice to see our homegrown brands Tangs and Raoul making their footprints there though.

 

3. In a city known for food, it’d be a crime to eat room service or cup noodles. We first had lunch at Overseas Restaurant. I particularly enjoyed their noodles and roasted duck, char siew and roasted pork.

For dinner, we went to Jalan Alor at Bukit Binang and ate at Wong Ah Wah with Ming. Typical zhe char fare but really delicious. The marmite spare ribs, sting ray and the chicken wings were above par. The marmite pork ribs I get from Sin Hoi Sai near my place can’t compare.

Before we left Kuala Lumpur, my mum’s friend brought us to eat yong tau fu at Ampang. She ordered two huge plates of the different varieties of the dish and we washed it down with a very cooling water chestnut drink. My mum’s friend said that the stall she brought us to was the most authentic of all, as it stuck to the tradition of stuffing the vegetables and beancurd with fish meat and not pork like the others have done.

 

4. Meet a friend. In this case, an internet friend I got to know off Flickr. Ming brought Terence and I to eat at Wong Ah Wah and we had a great time getting to know each other over dinner. We also had a short photo walkabout around the area after that. Ming, quite possibly, is the smartest person I know right now. He graduated from Oxford, with his masters in cosmology at the age of 16. SIXTEEN!!! He’s not sixteen now, but is at a pretty young age and has already accomplished so much. And did I mention that he takes great photos too?! It was a highlight of the trip getting to know him, discussing photography and making a new friend from across the causeway.

  

5. Use a very expensive camera. Not mine, unfortunately. Ming was reviewing the latest Canon 1Ds Mark III for a magazine he writes for (apart from his regular job). After dinner, he told me to stick my CF card in and take the camera for a joyride. The thrill of it is like how a car enthusiast would feel driving the latest Ferrari. It was even more thrilling due to the fact that the camera has not been launched in Singapore yet.

I was in so much shock, I was holding on to the camera for a long time without shooting anything. I was just clutching it to my chest and feeling it’s metal body against my skin… oh, the sweet sensation! I also made sure that the camera strap was safe and secure around my neck because I’d freak out if I dropped or even scratch that SGD$14k burning machine. I did grab some street shots eventually, after fumbling around with the dials.

In this trip, it was the first time in a long time that I shot for fun. It actually felt weird that I could shoot whatever I want and pass anything off as creative. Oh, the freedom and the luxury to waste CF card space! It was a good time for me, because it renewed my passion for photography and I’m feeling all fired up now to shoot more, for work or not, and to experiment with more creative angles.

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This trip was also my first time driving up to KL on my own. It was a really fun experience but not as nice as driving along the Australian coast, which was what we did on our honeymoon, driving from Sydney to Melbourne. I will definitely do it again, but will make sure I leave for home earlier, instead of rushing back only to feel totally drained and not getting to unwind properly before going to bed.

You can view the rest of the photos here.

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