Chinese New Year in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Stuck in Kuala Lumpur during Chinese New Year?
Don't know what to do?
Are the shops or attractions open?

Chinese New Year or Lunar New Year is a celebration welcoming the spring. In Asia, it is celebrated in countries with significant Chinese populations such as China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia. Some of these countries observe from one to three days of public holidays where by most of the shops or attractions will be closed starting from the eve right to the third day of Chinese New Year. As it is based on Chinese lunar calendar hence the date is not fixed, travelers are advised to check before embarking their journey and to plan well especially during the first few days. Having said that, it can work well to the travelers benefit. How? Read below suggestions *smile*.

Visit the Temple(s)
Drop by a Chinese temple(s) as it is beautifully decorated during this festive season; the lanterns are all up, ang pau hung at lemon trees (kid you not), families give offering to their ancestor and praying for prosperity for the upcoming year.

Ang pau hung at lemon trees.

Thean Hou Temple is one of the must visit temple if you are in Kuala Lumpur, it is built by the Hainanese community and it is dedicated to Tian Hou Goddess. Located near Mid Valley Mall, one need to take a taxi to reach here as it is situated on Robson Hill overlooking Kuala Lumpur skyline. Try coming here at sunset to enjoy the city view as well as the beautifully lighted up lanterns.

Thean How Temple
Address : 65 Persiaran Endah, Taman Persiaran Desa, Kuala Lumpur
Tel : 603 2274 7088
Entrance Fee : FREE 

Chinese Lantern Showcase
I just found out about it this year and I highly encourage everyone to pay a visit to Fo Guang Shan (FGS) Dong Zen Temple in Jenjarom, Banting. Dong Zen temple celebrates Chinese New Year with a lantern showcase every year and the theme goes according to the animal zodiac. This showcase lasted for 15 days or through out the celebration.

Wishing tree.

How to get here? If you are from Kuala Lumpur, take the Kesas highway and head towards Klang, after the 3rd toll, take the Banting exit on your left and drove for another 10-15 minutes. You will see few FGS Dong Zen Temple signage along the road hence not to worry, upon seeing MyMydin shop of your left, you will need to keep to you right immediately where by you will see a KK Mart on your right, right at the traffic light. Turn right (at the Police Station/Jalan Sungai Buaya) and you are there *smile*.

FGS Dong Zen Temple
Address : Jalan Sungai Buaya, Jenjarom, Banting, Selangor, Malaysia

Tel : 603 3191 1533
Entrance Fee : FREE  

Lion Dance Show
What is Chinese New Year without Lion Dance right! Drop by any mall in city centre, you'll bound to catch them performing. Trust me on this, I watched 3 shows in a day while strolling in the mall. And it will be greater if you get to watch the one where they perform on stilts, it is really an impressive balancing act. The Chinese believed that the lion dance brings good luck and wealth to their business.

Gymnast lion at work.

This one was performed outside of Starhill on the sixth day of Chinese New Year. Despite that Wushu and Lion Dance Club is available in my secondary school and that they practice weekly, I still enjoy watching it again and again till now. It's too entertaining to give it a miss.

Lion Dance Show
Address : At most shopping mall in Kuala Lumpur
Entrance Fee : FREE  

Mall Hopping
You will be surprised of the malls' decor, it looks as if there's a mall decor competition going on. Some malls' decor are more elaborate than the other, and you will never be bored with it. As for the theme, it is according to the animal zodiac which makes it even more fun.

Animal zodiac decor in shopping malls.

The bigger the mall, the fancier the decor, thus the trick is to visit those big malls such as Suria KLCC, Pavillion, Mid Valley, One Utama and etc. Not to worry if you feel weird doing mall hopping as us locals do the same as seen on the picture above *smile*. At times, you can even sample local titbits shared by the mall operators.

Mall Hopping
Address : At most shopping mall in Kuala Lumpur
Entrance Fee : FREE  

 

Still worried of traveling to Malaysia during Chinese New Year?
Hope this will put your mind at ease, visit us anytime of the year, there are bound to be an activity for you.

FREE Things To Do In Ipoh, Perak

Now, it's Perak's turn. Again.

I know, I know, I have been blogging on Perak like crazy last year and it ain't gonna stop (with the snap hand action and all [boleh bayangkan tak?]). Hahahhahaaa.... For those who want a quick getaway from the city and are bored with the 2 hours drive to Melaka, why not head up north to Ipoh instead, a true gem in the rough. And the best thing is that, you can self drive to Ipoh or take a train (ETS) there, easy peasy. And you can even start your walk from the train station itself.

So, there's 2 ways of doing this in Ipoh :

1) FREE Walking Tour (offering 2 routes - map + contact detail at the end) or
2) Create your own walk, allow your eyes to lead the way.

Let's start!

Death Railway Monument
Located just outside the Ipoh Train Station next to Ipoh’s first musical fountain. Since 2013, the Remembrance Day that commemorate warriors who had died in the World War I and II, the Emergency, Indonesia-Malaysia Confrontation, and those who perished at the Thailand-Burma Death Railway. 

Death Railway Monument
Address : Ipoh Railway Station, Jalan Panglima Bukit Gantang Wahab, Ipoh, Perak
Entrance Fee : FREE

Ipoh Railway Station
Resembles Kuala Lumpur Railway Station, Ipoh Railway Station shares the same type of architecture; "Neo-Moorish/Mughal/Indo-Saracenic/Neo-Saracenic" style, unique at that period of time. It was said that it was originally meant to be a hospital prior turning it into a station. Built at the height of the tin mining industry, it is managed and owned by Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad that offers KTM train services and ETS services.

Ipoh Railway Station
Address : Ipoh Railway Station, Jalan Panglima Bukit Gantang Wahab, Ipoh, Perak
Malaysia Phone: +605 254 0481
Entrance Fee : FREE 

Ipoh Tree/Epu Tree
Ipoh tree or Epu tree is how Ipoh got its name. There are 2 Ipoh trees that can be found in Ipoh city, one is at Ipoh Railway Station and the other is at Taman D.R. Seenivasagam. It is said that back in the olden days, the Ipoh trees was seen everywhere as the sap is used by the aborigines for their blow darts for it is poisonous in nature.

Ipoh Tree/Epu Tree
Address : Ipoh Railway Station, Jalan Panglima Bukit Gantang Wahab, Ipoh, Perak
Entrance Fee : FREE

Ipoh Town Hall
Neoclassical in style, the Ipoh Town Hall and Law Courts are located at the opposite of Ipoh Railway Station, complementing the British Colonial feel of this city. Built in 1917, many official event have been held here, in fact it was served as the district police headquarters and post office in 1940s.

Ipoh Town Hall 
Address : Ipoh Town Hall, Jalan Panglima Bukit Gantang Wahab, Ipoh, Perak
Entrance Fee : FREE

Birch Memorial Clock Tower
The Birch Memorial Clock Tower is located  in front of the Ipoh State Mosque. Standing still since 1909 and designed in Victorian style, it was a dedication to the first British Resident of Perak, J.W.W. Birch, who was assassinated at Pasir Salak on 1875. What fascinates here is that there are 2 levels of this tower, the first represents loyalty, justice, fortitude and patience, which is the four "Virtues of British Administration" and the second level of the tower are of colorful murals, indicating 49 famous professions of different eras ranging from scholars, soldiers, astrologers and sculptors.

Birch Memorial Clock Tower
Address : Jalan Dato Sagor, Ipoh, Perak
Entrance Fee : FREE

Want to know more, check-out the map below and follow it closely. Go rediscover Perak, a gem in the rough!

 Ipoh Heritage Trail Map 

(courtesy of Google)

 A #VMY2014 #Perak Media Fam Trip in collaboration with #GayaTravel

FREE Things To Do in Kuala Lumpur (Part 1)

Being my normal self (read : slightly bored), I twitted that I wanted to look for stories for my upcoming Kuala Lumpur entries; already having few ideas my after coming back from #VMY2014 KL Fam Trip. I was fortunate that Janggel of Janggeltrekker's Life (Yeah, I call him Janggel) and Farah of ThatSoFarah (No, I don't call her 'That's' Hehhehee... [Get the joke?!]) joined me and we start our hunt at 10:30am.

Our first phase was looking for FREE Things To Do in Kuala Lumpur and this was what we found (and within walking distance of each other too).
Oh yah! Feel free to suggest new or old places, I will be glad to hunt/visit/blog about it, perhaps we can do it together too *smile*.

Dataran Merdeka Undrgrnd (Merdeka Square Undrgrnd/Underground)
This is the nearest to us yet the one forgotten. Often.
We always visit Dataran Merdeka (Merdeka Square) to snap a few photos of the iconic Sultan Abdul Samad Building (1897), Royal Selangor Club (1889), Victorian Fountain (1897), St Mary’s Cathedral (1894) and other surrounding buildings but we ignore what underneath it.

There's a few restaurants, souvenir shops, convenience store located at Dataran Undrgrnd, one cool shop is Metamorphosis where they sell tie-dye clothing which I think worth dropping by to.

It's more fun if you drop by on weekends as they have bazaar or flea market here too, artsy fartsy stuff, food stalls, local designer showcases, collectors items on sale and etc are available. For those thinking that it's a dodgy, dark and gloomy place, well.... it's not. Brightly lighted, clean, white walls (if one might want to know) etc, and the car park is on the same level too (easy peasy).

Dataran Merdeka Undrgrnd (Merdeka Square Undrgrnd/Underground)
Car Park : RM6.00 per entry
Entrance Fee : FREE

Kuala Lumpur City Gallery
Housed in 114 year-old magnificent Mughal architecture building, located next to Dataran Merdeka (Merdeka Square), famous for its red giant size "I *heart* KL" backdrop, Kuala Lumpur City Gallery is set to promote Kuala Lumpur (KL) via its "Newseum" showcasing KL history during its tin mining era back in the 19th century, the largest scale model of Greater Kuala Lumpur and starting point for KL Walking Tour, one that I plan to experience in near future.

Aside from the miniature model of Dataran Merdeka (seen from aerial view), KL City Gallery also shares on how their team of carpenter (ARCH) prepares simple wood veneer gifts.

Now I know the original names.

Kuala Lumpur City Gallery
Address : No. 27, Jalan Raja, Dataran Merdeka, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia  
Tel : +603 2698 3333
Email :  klcg@archcollection.com.my
Time : 9:00 am - 6:30 pm (opens daily)
Entrance Fee : FREE

National Textile Museum
National Textile Museum took me by surprise, first I don't even know it exist, secondly it's free and finally it was fantastic. So many things for us locals to learn of our own heritage, here I learnt on Glod embrodery, Telepuk cloth, Scripted Textile and among others. Tucked away in Sultan Abdul Samad building, it is always missed out by visitors but trust me, it's a must visit place if you are spending some time in Dataran Merdeka area. Allow yourself an hour or two here.

What great about this museum is that it provides clear explanation of each textile both in Malay and English. The National Textile Museum are split into 4 galleries :

a) Pohon Budi Gallery - showcases the origin of textile, the beginning of textile production in this region, and the growth of the industry over the centuries.
b) Pelangi Gallery - exhibits selected heritage collections such as the different types of batiks and their growth over the years, collection of the Chinese community and ethnic Sarawakian and Sabahan textile collections.
c) Teluk Berantai Gallery - showcases the richness, fineness and beauty of the Malay heritage collections.
d) Ratna Sari Gallery - showcases a collection of jewelry, personal adornment of the various ethnic groups of Malaysia.

Cloth/textile sample is being showcased, visitors will get to see the material and texture themselves.

National Textile Museum
Address : 26, Jalan Sultan Hishamuddin, Kuala Lumpur
Tel : +603 2694 3455
Time : 9:00 am - 6:00 pm
Entrance Fee : FREE

Royal Malaysian Police Museum
Located in the Police Senior Officers’ Mess building in Perdana Lake Garden, the Royal Malaysian Police Museum interior is more impressive that what you see outside, do not be fooled (like I did). There were 7595 artifacts including the first aircraft of the Police Force, guns confiscated from the Communist Terrorists and May 13, guided time travel of our police force from the Malay Malacca Kingdom, Portuguese, Dutch, British, Japan and Malaya before country independence.


One can drive from Dataran Merdeka (5mins journey) to Perdana Lake Garden or take a short stroll of 20mins or so, yes; its doable *smile*.

One that fascinated me was the clothing division where they walked us thru the police uniform evolution and the different uniforms in Federated Malay States, Unfederated Malay States, Straits Settlements and police force in Sabah and a Sarawak.

This one of the most impressive section, firearm used in robberies, during May13, communist even the one used by Botak Chin.

Royal Malaysian Police Museum
Address : 5 Jalan Perdana, Tasik Perdana, Kuala Lumpur
Tel : +603 2272 5689 
Time : 10:00 am - 6:00 pm (except Monday)
Entrance Fee : FREE

Tun Abdul Razak Memorial
Tun Abdul Razak Memorial was originally the Sri Taman Building which used to be the official residence for Tun Abdul Razak, "Father of Development" (Bapa Pembangunan) and our Second Prime Minister of Malaysia (1970 – 1976). Visitors can find pictures and documents and the personal items belonged to Allahyarham and his families are also exhibited.

The memorial can be divided into 2 sections :

a) Exhibits approximately 650 materials and can be categorized into 3 main groups namely materials, museum materials, and library materials.
b) Exhibits approximately 1580 materials regarding Tun Abdul Razak's involvement and activities while serving as a Minister and as Malaysia's Second Prime Minister.

Tun Abdul Razak Memorial
Address : Sri Taman, Jalan Perdana, Kuala Lumpur. 
Tel:  +603 2693 7740
Time : 10:00 am - 5:30 pm (Tuesday - Thursday), 10:00 am - 12:00 & 3:00 pm - 5:30 pm (Friday), 10:00 am - 5:30 pm (Saturday & Sunday), close on Monday (except for the public holiday and school break) 
Entrance Fee : FREE



Find a day, go rediscover Kuala Lumpur!

A #VMY2014 #KualaLumpur Media Fam Trip in collaboration with #GayaTravel