A Grand Day Out - KLPac Open Day 2011

So I found myself in KL last weekend.

This time my Firefly ticket breaks the previous record of being the cheapest ever for a BKI-KUL return trip. Woot! Being a little bit kiasu pays sometimes :P

Having ditched earlier plans to go daytripping I decided to stay in the city and go around checking out books, running stuff and some windowshopping. I am also pleased to say that I managed to drag myself went for a run at KLCC Park for the first time on Saturday morning, followed by a walk at the Lake Gardens on Sunday morning. Most enjoyable! I think BackHome just cemented its spot as the perfect location for me to stay in KL.

Lake Gardens, 15 minutes away - nice place for a walk/run.

Earlier plans for Sunday morning got ditched, hence I had to find something to do to kill time. Fortunately I saw Reza Salleh's tweet about being at KLPac Open Day, so what could be better than to drop by there and stalk him, right? :)) After breakfast I made my way to Sentul (first time ever).

(Note : Me still cameraless, these limited pics taken with my N95)

Yes - slippers, shorts, singlet.

They hung pictures of all KLPac team members. Performances were happening everywhere throughout the day - outside at The Lawn, The Deck, Lobby, Pentas 2, Indicine, Pentas 1 as well as the four studios. As it was an Open Day, one could access all these places for free and take part in the activities and workshops.

KLPac is a favourite place on Google Earth.

Look who's manning the tee-shirt counter? Faridah Merican no less. Both were so friendly! The tees were selling like hot cakes.

When I arrived, this 'performance' was taking place at the lobby. It was titled Green & White, or maybe it was White & Green. The two girls in white were carrying ...er, cardboard chickens?? Seriously, too arty farty for me to understand.

Young KL Singers were superfantabulous! As their last song they sang the BEST EVER rendition of the 1Malaysia song I've ever heard. I had goosebumps on my arms and tears (!!) in my eyes - yupp, they were that good! I think TV should hire them to perform all our patriotic songs.

This is a vocal quartet who call themselves Caipifruta. Wonderful talents who have made it to international stage - they'll be heading to Prague in April. Oh, I fell in love with their rendition of Sting's Fields of Gold. Goosebumps!!

The Sickbay looks more like a lounge. I would not mind :P

Outside at the deck, I enjoyed this improv comedy from AI:IA group, their acting had the audience in stitches! These two guys were the FUNNIEST of the bunch. They performed again at the Lobby stage later to a packed crowd, definitely a favourite.

At The Lawn, I found who I was looking for :). Meet Reza Salleh, a very talented singer- songwriter I just saw on TV earlier in the week. I had bought Reza's album - REALIZE - the day before, and got him to autograph it. His very pretty sister had a booth at the lawn and he was helping her to man it. So, YEAY! mission accomplished! All the rest of the other fun happenings at KLPac were added bonuses. (To get to know Reza and to listen to his songs online, go to rezasalleh.net)

And, this, ladies and gentlemen, is my first Stracciatella at Lecka Lecka :) Yummylicious.

I had expected that KLPac would be a serious place for the arts - I was so wrong. It is serious FUN. Why, I am already thinking that I should be back next year!

BackHome @KL

This is where I stayed last weekend; had wanted to check it out after Acat mentioned it and coincidently it's conveniently located near Central Market, where I could take the bus to Batu Caves.

I actually got lost for about 10 minutes because I exited from the wrong side of the LRT station. Haven't been to this part of KL for ages; it's been almost, what, 20 years? since the last time we used to hang around Kota Raya cos the bus to our college stopped there.

Anyway, moving on...

View of BackHome from the street. It's located at No. 30 Jalan Tun H.S. Lee. Less than 5 minutes walk from LRT Masjid Jamek.

The reception counter; open from 7 am to midnight.

Next to the reception is the lounge area, with TV, free wifi, two desktops for internet, bookshelf. The glass doors open to the al-fresco/airwell area. This is also where self-service breakfast is available in the morning; I didn't have breakfast here though. Coffee and tea is available FOC throughout the day.

This is how the open air area looks like.

402 : a female-only quad room where I was 'upgraded' to for the second night as one of the guests wanted to extend his stay in the mixed dorm and I was the only one who could move out. They write our names in on the door :) so you know which room you're staying in.

My bed in 402. Very very comfortable. No squeaky noises, solid and sturdy as it's purpose built; the top bunk is safe even for big people. My only grouse - no biggie - was that the pillow was too soft for me. Blankets and towels are not provided though, so you can rent them from the reception if you didn't bring any. Oh and if you're a light sleeper, bring your earplugs!

This was my bed in 801.

Each bed has its own power socket to charge your stuff with, reading light/night light, foldable writing 'desk' and lockable compartment. The personal reading light is really nifty as you don't need to switch on the main lights at night and disturb other roommates. All rooms are with air-con, no fan option. A good thing is they don't have what I call the 'air-con curfew' like in some places; you can have it on the whole day.

The lockable cupboard was spacious, it could fit an 85l backpack. And has proper shelves. No hanger rail though. Bring your own padlock or you can rent one from them.

Each room has its own sink and mirror, very convenient.

The other rooms on the first floor.

My favourite feature; the open corridor leading to the common toilets and showers.

It looks down to the open air/airwell area on the ground floor.

Common sink - looks like a trough :)

Toilet and shower stalls.

This is the shower.

You know what this is.

Gents, Ground Floor.

Ladies, Ground Floor.

His and Hers Sinks, Ground Floor.

Guest Book. I forgot to write in it ... duh.

I read somewhere that this kind of design - bare unfinished concrete, exposed brick walls, chalkboard doors, clean lines, starkness - is called 'industrial chic'. Which is really fine by me, though may be not to some people.

By the way, this hostel is owned by Ng Ping Ho. Who's that, you might ask? He's the director for the local English series Kopitiam and Ghost and maybe some other TV series, I am not sure. The pakcik jaga who's on overnight shift (at first he thought I was a Filipina) told me that on some nights Ping Ho will be on duty, and sometimes even Cheryl Samad will man the reception too. If you don't know who she is, never mind :)

For those of you who enjoy quirky budget places, check them out next time you're in KL.

Kay El State of Mind

I was in KL for a few days last week, well, three days to be exact. And I actually managed to do a lot of things.

On arrival went to enquire at KTM at Sentral for a coming trip. Later after checking in my hostel, proceeded with my usual trips to Borders, MPH, Times and Kino. Found and bought 'Naked' by David Sedaris (my collection is almost complete), the rest of the books I wanted were not on offer sadly.

Went to Batu Caves late Friday night by bus - had to walk more than 1 km to the actual venue - and almost got crushed in the sea of thousands of people. The devotees and kavadi bearers started arriving after midnight, what a sight, especially those who were bleeding. Survival instincts kicked in for most people, as we pushed our way out towards the exit. Got back to the hostel at almost 2:30 am. Phew.

The one and only shot that was clear enough. Look at the steps, the people ascending looked like ants from afar.

Managed to whip out my camera to snap this before I got to jump away from his path.

And got my mehendi done :)

Went to Malacca on Saturday. Very very very hot day. These are my favourite shots.

Lovely sotong bakar that was sooo temptingly wanggiiiii and pedasssss. RM10 per packet, pricey but niceeeee.

Woke up 6:15 am on Sunday morning, queued for 2 hours to get Skybridge tickets. No one sold coffee :(. Reached KLCC at 7 am (I thought I was early, there were at least 80 people already there), counter opened at 8:30 am, got my tickets at 9 am.

Got up the Skybridge at noon...

The blonde girl is Ena from Germany (she just arrived in KL that morning) and next to her is Vannessa from Chicago; we stayed at the same hostel. I took extra tickets for them.

But before going up we had to endure a 7 minute 3D presentation on Petronas and the Twin Towers:P

After lunch at Nando's, spent the rest of Sunday afternoon shopping and window-shopping; 'damage' under control :)

All in all I felt it was a good yet tiring weekend, so I have to catch up with my sleep this week. Starting tonight. Right after this.

And oh, this time I stayed at this cool new place called BackHome. I like! Will write and post pics later.

Of Buses and Trains

A short trip.

I was in Shah Alam over the weekend for the adidas King of the Road (KOTR) event. Happy to say that I completed the 11 km run after contemplating to just run half way as I was still a bit unwell. Yeay for me!

I have never been to Shah Alam before, so along the run I saw all the main landmarks, the Blue Mosque, the buildings, etc. I thought the landscape was very .. dry, bland; reminds me of cardboard? Vibrant and fresh are words that don't belong here. I felt that there's just something missing. I couldn't quite put a finger on it.

Anyway, the highlight of this trip must be the bus journey from LCCT to Sentral. We boarded the Aerobus (yellow) instead of Skybus (red) as it was about to leave. Approaching KL, around MidValley, the aircon started playing havoc by spewing hot air, and a little while later it gave up completely. The driver tried to get some ventilation by opening up the roof windows but that didn't help much. The situation was further compounded by the extremely slow moving traffic (we found out later about the street demonstrations). Decided to step off, then the driver thankfully had another colleague with an empty bus a short walk away in front of the traffic. We got off and boarded the second bus after making sure the air con was cool and working (it was).

Then the driver slowly inched his way out of the main road and started towards Bangsar. I thought okay, he must know a short cut somewhere. Halfway up Jalan Maarof, he asked whether this was the right road! whaaa..t?

I laughed and thought this cannot get any worse, half expecting someone to jump out and shout to us that we've been punked or something. It could be a chapter in a Lemony Snicket book. We wasted another good 30 minutes getting into Sentral, had a quick lunch and then took the Komuter to Shah Alam.

This trip I made use of the KTM Komuter as well, so saved some money on transport. Taxi fares are sky high now, it really eats up into one's budget. I think I should write on 'KL on a Shoestring' one day.

My next KL trip will be to 'test that shoestring' :)

(Pictures are all in trouble-land. Hopefully I can salvage some later)